THE WORLD BANK AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA: A CASE STUDY OF LOCAL EMPOWERMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PROJECT (LEEMP) IN BENUE STATE

Abstract

The study investigated the impact of word Bank intervention in rural development in Nigeria, with special focus on Local Empowerment and Environmental Management Project (LEEMP) in Benue State. The study examined rural development programmes under different successive administrations in Nigeria and also assessed the impact made by LEEMP as a World Bank programme in uplifting the lives of rural dwellers using the Community Driven Development (CDD) approach. The study set out to investigate why this new approach of LEEMP has succeeded amidst past failed rural development strategies. The study revealed that this new CDD approach has succeeded enormously in empowering the benefiting communities with authority and resources to be drivers of their lives by initiating and taking charge of their development agenda, through their priority needs and problems. It is this bottom-up approach that is responsible for the huge success of the World Bank programme and should therefore be adopted for all other future programmes. The method used to carry out the study is the descriptive survey. The theory adopted for the study is the institutional theory which talks about the relevance of institutions in the success of any programme. The findings for the study have indicated that even though LEEMP made some appreciable successes much still needs to be done to bring about rural development in Benue State. The study therefore recommended that community driven approach should be sustained and encouraged as a strategy for rural development in Nigeria and Benue State in particular.