In Nigeria, the rural people, thoroughly marginalized into a vacuous existence, make [p the other Nigerians forgotten and always for gotten. The Line is like a perpetually recurring bad dream, a tale of extreme want in the Midst of abundance.
There has been an Increasing upsurge of interest in the literature on development administration and in Planning circles on the positive role local government could play in National development. Usually, the emphasis is in terms of using local government as a strategic instrument for fostering, promoting and implementing rural development.
In Nigeria local government as the tier of government nearest to the grassroots, has, since the colonial era been recognized as an Institution capable of transforming the lives of the rural inhabitants for their better. Consequently, there have been continuos attempts either to create new local government or lamp the existing ones in the country with the objective of utilizing them as fulcrums of rural development.
1.1 GENERAL BACKGROUNDS TO THE SUBJECT MATTER
Rural development is a complicated process that defies easy definition. Its complexity is tested to by the multiplicity of reforms that rural development programmes have taken in the past and still take in many parts of the world “Mass action, “Communication” “popular action” rural reconstruction” “communication: extention and the like Rural development is also frequently confused with agricultural development or with the mechanization of the country side.
It is important to mention that rural development derives its meaning and objectives largely out of the context of the prevailing ideology of development. Our current Ideology and practices of development has been reliably and dependably productive of, and or preventative of, inequality. This is as a result of the Urban- oriented nature of our development strategy.
Accounting to learner, “a purely contemporary view of any problem s necessary limited and even distorted view. Every situation has its root in the past. political structure; government was based on clan or family heads. The units of government was very small, composed of family heads, and title holders who constitutes the council of elders Conserus was the basis of decision-making. In the Western part of Nigerian (that id Yoruba land), there existed a king of constitutional monarchy. In the Northern part of Nigeria, the Hausea / fulani emirates operated a highly centralized political structure, with the emirs commanding so much poser
The native authority system must thus be understood within the context of the political economy of primitive accumulation. The transformed nature authorities were incorporated into the colonial state structure to facilitate the appropriation of surplus from peasant production of cash crops, without the need for the massive coercive apparatus of the metropolis. They were therefore incapable of promoting rural development.
In the Eastern region of Nigeria, traditional ruler were created where none existed before the colonial intervention, insipte of resistance, and in some case, outright rebellion against this adulteration of the rural masses by the native authorities and warrant Chiefs are well documented elsewhere.
The despotic and exploitative nature of the native authorities and their in ability to promote rural development made tem objects of attack by their subject many of them were seen by those of their subjects who had embedded western education and who were denied participation in government as British stooges, agents of oppression and cousin the wheel of progress.
The attainment of independence in Nigeria in 1960, did not alter the exploitative role of local government. This was because, inspite of protestations to the contrary by bourgeoisie scholars. The post – colonial state remains the instrument of class domination. It makes the colonialism to be able to integrated Nigeria into the maturing global capitalist system as supplier of raw material needed for metropolitan industries. Metropolitan system has also imposition a new –colonial economy. Structural context of the functions of the state in peripheral societies has also turn to dictates the role of local government. Local government have also become an instrument for primitive accumulation.
For the purpose of this paper, rural development has help in the following ways: