Vol 2 - Cont J Soc Sci-2

Continental J.
Social Sciences 2: 1 - 5, 2009

©Wilolud Online Journals, 2009.
A STUDY OF UNCONVICTED AND CONVICTED PRISONERS IN THE NIGERIAN PRISONS:

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRISON CONGESTION (A CASE OF AGODI PRISONS IBADAN)
J’ David Agaba,
Department of Political Science, Faculty of Social Sciences
Kogi State University, Anyigba.
E-Mail: macdaveagaba@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT
The prisons are supposed to be a reformation and rehabilitation centre for convicted
prisons who are convicted for one crimes or the other and not for the unconvicted
ones who are still awaiting court trials. However, what has become of the Nigeria’s
prisons is the congestion of both the convicted and unconvicted prisoners. The study
is therefore an examination of unconvicted and convicted prisoners in the Nigeria’s
prisons and its implication for prisons congestion and the Nigeria’s criminal justice
system at large. The research adopted the primary source of data in collating
information which were derived directly from the records office of the Agodi prisons
Ibadan from 2001-2008 to correlate if there is a significant relationship between
unconvicted and convicted prisoners in the Agodi prisons, Ibadan . The result of no
significant difference is a testimony to the reasons for prisons congestion in Nigeria at
large and to Agodi prisons in particular. My strongest recommendation therefore, is
prison reforms that will expedite court judgment against the backdrop of incessant
adjournments of cases in other to reduce the gross injustice on unconvicted prisoners
to reduce prisons congestion for better prisoners’ welfares.
KEYWORDS: convicted prisoners, unconvicted prisoners, prisons, prisoners, Agodi,

Ibadan.
INTRODUCTION
This research is a study of the Nigerian Prisons system showing the relationship between unconvicted and
convicted prisoners in Agodi Prisons Ibadan and its implications for prison congestion and criminal justice
system in Nigeria. The study is an exploration into the roles and functions the prison in the rehabilitation
and reformation of prisoners and inmates in the face of delayed and unfair justice system consequent upon
the several court adjournment harsh, crude treatment and the over congestion of Nigerian prisons in recent
times.
The study will further examine if there is any difference in treatment and welfare of unconvicted and
convicted prisoners in Agodi prisons Ibadan and also examined if there is a behavioural difference between
these two classes of prisoners.
I became particularly interested in this study because of the way and manner in which prisoners are treated
in Nigeria which makes it very difficult for one to distinguish between the unconvicted and convicted
prisoners which negate the legal principle that man is innocent until he is proven guilty.
Statement of Problem
The statement of problem serves to elaborate upon the information implied in the title of the study. A good
point of take off will be to ask on self question concerning relationship between sets of variables on the
topic and focus on answering this question of relationship and effects on the research topic ( Umoru,
2004:24, Osuala,2001 ).
The statement of problem therefore is:

(a) Is there any significant difference between unconvicted and convicted prisoners in Agodi
prisons Ibadan?
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J’ David Agaba: Continental J. Social Sciences 2: 1 - 5, 2009
Purpose of the study

The purpose of the study is another important requirement that a research must contend with. This must
express very clearly the intentions of the researcher towards solving the problem posed by the study at
hand.
The general purpose of this study is an analysis of the Nigerian prisons system in Nigeria with a bias on the
Agodi prisons Ibadan. Specifically the study view:
(a) Examine if there is a significant difference between unconvicted and convicted prisoners in Agodi
prisons Ibadan.
Significance of the Study

The significance of the study attempts to reveal the benefits or values derivable from the study to the
Nigerian prison system and to the criminal justice system in Nigeria. The questions which the research
must find answer to here are; what are the reasons for prison congestion in Nigeria? How has the criminal
justice system contributed to prison congestion in Nigeria and how can these problems be resolved? The
result of this study will be a major contribution to the effective prison management and criminal justice
system in Nigeria generally and to Agodi Prisons in particular. The recommendations will also be of help to
policy makers and above all the prisoners and prison warders’ relationship will be further improved for
better welfares and treatments.
Scope and Limitations of the study

The scopes of this study “builds a fence” around the study so that the researcher can have a sharp focus and
firm control over the area of courage. This is so because the study of prison covers a large spectrum. Our
study therefore, is limited to the analysis of unconvicted and convicted prisoners of Agodi prisons Ibadan
between 2001-2008. The limitations of the studies however, have to do with some factors such as the cost
and rigors of search for data from one prison to another as well as other factor relating to the study, which
limits the researcher freedom in making generalizations about the study.
RESEARCH METHODS AND MATERIALS

This study was conducted in 2008 in Ibadan and adopts the primary source of data which were sourced and
derived directly from the record office of the Agodi prisons Ibadan in their raw form as well as some
secondary some source derivable from the review of extant literature. The major tool of analysis in this
research is the Pearson product moment correlation coefficient represented by (r). This is because the
method appears to be the most popular especially in hypothesis testing and in the use of statistical tables as
will be seen later in the course of our analysis of the data.
Research Question.
Once the purpose of the study has been properly constructed as earlier done by the researcher, the research
questions emerge from this purpose.
The research question of this study includes; to what extent has poor prison service complicated the
difference between unconvicted and convicted prisoners in Agodi prison Ibadan.
Hypothesis
Hypothesis is a proposition, which can be tested with a view to determining its validity. It is a tentative
answer to the research problems. However before we go stating our hypothesis, we must know that there
are two types of hypothesis: the null hypothesis represented by Ho and the alternate hypothesis represented
by H1.
Ho: there is no significant difference between unconvicted
and convicted prisoners in Agodi prisons Ibadan.
Hi: Ho is false.
2
Literature review and Theoretical Framework/models of Prisons.

Ahire (1995:40) identified two models in sharp contention over the conceptualization of prisons and their
role in society, which explains the theoretical basis of this study. These are therapeutic and social control
models. The therapeutic model is led by the functionalist social science, which portrays the prison as
institutions for the treatment and reformation of criminals and social misfits. This view is contingent upon
the conception of crimes as deviation from accepted social norms, and criminals as non-conformist to
social expectation on the account of inadequate or improper socialization by primary socializing agencies,
particularly the family. The prison is therefore, perceived as a form of benign intervention by the state to
correct behavioural problems which over burdened or malfunctioning families are unable to curb.
The therapeutic model simplistically assumes that there is a general consensus over what constitute
appropriate norms of conduct in society. By so doing, erroneously glosses over important distinctions based
on class, race, gender, religion, etc, which affects the perception of what conduct, is appropriate in different
situations (Prison Watch 2008).
It is on this basis of these unattainable assumptions that the prisons are view as agencies for the treatment
and reformation of offenders. This model therefore, denies offenders responsibility of their actions, and
portrays them as persons suffering from psychological or psychiatric illness who need treatment and
reformation. The treatment proposed is for states or conditions which may not appear to be problematic or
those being treated, and may also be for long and indeterminate periods raising questions of justice and
fairness (Morris 1980; Platt, 1978). Finally, there is no conclusive scientific proof that prisons are of any
significant therapeutic value, going by the high reconviction rate of these who have previously been
imprisoned (Kittrie 1971).
Radical and Marxist social science rejects in its entirety, the conception of prisons as therapeutic
institutions and posits more convincingly that prisons should be understood as a part and parcel of the
coercive apparatus of the state for the control of dominated groups and classes. From this point of view,
prisons are perceived as co-extensive with other coercive state apparatus such as the police, court and the
military, which serve the explicit purpose of coercive and subjugating subordinate group in accordance
with the moral and material dictates of the ruling class. Far from being agencies of therapy prisons are
viewed as agencies for the coercive control of criminals, radicals, dangerous or uncooperative groups that
threaten the established order (Spitzer and Scull, 1977; Melossi and Pavaimi 1981). The prison institution
mirrors the nature and effectiveness of social control in the larger society, and its examination can shed
light on the nature of society’s morality and its distribution of social power (Theophilus 1987).
Finally, the social control model examines the history of the emergence and role of the modern prison
institution to demonstrate the class affinity between prisons and the moral and material interest of specific
ruling classes.
From the foregoing, it is obvious that the Nigerian prisons system as it is today is a colonial creation and
exhibits all the colonial trappings of crude exploitation and maltreatment of prisoners in different guise,
political and socio-economics hence losing its basic roles of rehabilitations and reformation of prisoners.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Table 1
Unconvicted and Convicted Prisoners
Year 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Unconvicted
Prisoners 1991 1887 2632 2229 2578 2218 2159
Convicted
Prisoners 158 293 307 281 163 381 183
Source: Records office, Nigeria Prisons Agodi, Ibadan 23rd November 2006
3
Table 2: Data Analysis
N X Y X-X Y-Y (X-X)2 (Y-Y)2 (X-X)(Y-Y)

1999 1991 158 -253.9 -108.6 64465.2 11793.9 27573.5
2000 1887 293 -357.9 26.4 128092.4 696.9 9448.5
2001 2652 307 407.1 40.4 255.8 1632.1 16446.8
2002 2229 281 -15.9 14.4 110955.6 207.3 228.9
2003 2578 163 333.1 -103.6 723.6 10732.9 34509.1
2004 2218 181 -26.9 -85.6 7378.8 7327.3 2302.6
2005 2159 183 -85.9 -83.6 477598.8 6988.9 7181.2
∑2244.9 ∑266.6 477598.8 39379.3 97690.6
r = (X-X) (Y-Y) 97690.6
(X-X)2 (Y-Y)2 477598.8 x 39377.3
= 97690.6 = 0.71
137140,4624
Hypothesis testing
Ho: There is no significant difference between unconvicted and
convicted prisoners in Agodi Prisons Ibadan.
Hi: Ho is false
a: 0.05
d.f.: (n-2) = 7-2=5.
r = 0.71
Critical value: = 0.6694 (one tail test)
Interpretation: Since the calculated value r of 0.71 is greater than the table/critical value of 0.6694 we
reject Ho.
CONCLUSION: There is significant different between unconvicted and convicted Prisoners at Agodi
Prison Ibadan at the 0.05 level.
RECOMMENDATIONS: The unconvicted Prisoners should be separated from the convicted prisoners in
terms of their cells, wards, treatment to avoid any form of bad influence from the convicted ones as well as
for better counseling programmes.
Similarly the result of no significant difference is a testimony to the reasons for prisons congestion in
Nigeria at large and to Agodi prison in particular. My strongest recommendation therefore, is prison
reforms that will expedite court judgment against the backdrop of incessant adjournments of cases in other
to reduce the gross injustice on unconvicted prisoners to reduce prisons congestion for better prisoner’s
welfares.
REFERENCES
Ahire, P.T. (1995): “The Origin, Development and Role of the Nigerian Prison System” Annals of the
Social Science Council of Nigeria No.7 p.g 40-41.
Kittrie, N. (1971): The Right to be Different, London: John Hopkins.
4
Melossi, D. and Pavaimi M. (1981): The Prison and the Factory: The Origins of the Penitentiary System.
London. Macmillan Press.
Morris, A. (1980): Justice for Children. London Macmillan
Platt, A. (1978): The Child Savers, Chicago University Press Records office, Nigeria Prisons Agodi, Ibadan
23rd November 2006
Spitzer, S. and A.T. Scull, (1997): “Social Control in Historical Perspective” in Gneenberg, D.F. (ed.)
Correction and Punishment. Berverley Hill.:
Theophilus, C.A. (1987) “Social Interaction in Nigerian Prison” Unpublished M.Sc. Thesis Sociology
Department, ABU Zaria.
Umoru, T.A. (2004) Basic Research Methods; Competencies and Application. Lokoja, Onaivi Printing and
Pub. Co. Ltd.
Osuala, E.C. (2001) Introduction to Research Methodology, Onitsha: Africa- Feb Publishing Ltd Prison
Watch, September 2008
Received for Publication: 23/04/2009

Accepted for Publication: 12/05/2009
5
Continental J. Social Sciences 2: 6 - 11, 2009
THE NEED FOR SEX EDUCATION IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS WITH PARTICULAR

PREFERENCE SCHOOLS IN IGBO-EZE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA.
1
Momoh, M. A, Aroh, V.N and 2 Ejike, M. O.
1
Department of Pharmaceutics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.2School of Nursing and Midwifery, Bishop
Shanahan Hospital Nsukka
ABSTRACT
This study was conducted to investigate the need to introduce sex education in
secondary schools using a random sampling method, a total 100 student were selected
from five schools, twenty each from the senior students. The responses from the
question shows that, the student have little knowledge concerning the subject matter.
The students also show much interest in the subject been introduced in the school,
various to benefitted from the teaching include save sexual life and ability to manage
sexual activities, things like unsaved abortion, sexual transmitting disease and death
that often resulted from quack practice could be reduced or completely avoided. we
strongly suggested that government should enforce the teaching as well as including
the subject in the school curriculum. Teaching of sex education will also help to
compliment efforts being made towards the control of HIV/AIDS and unsaved
abortion.
KEYWORDS: sex, investigate, introduced, schools, need
INTRODUCTION
Early sex training among the youth is vital. Ideas about sex should be given to them as well as about
everything else in the world. No parents, however enlightened are able to give their children a complete and
wholly satisfactory education on the subject of sex and its many ramifications. One is supposed to begin to
learn about sex at once with his or her first squall.
Newspapers, periodicals, journals and magazines often carry sensational stories of teenage sex escapades,
pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases like gonorrhoea, syphilis and herps Oikeh et al, (1981). Most
recently (relatively) but more dangerous are the reported cases of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
(HIV –AIDS), while the reports of expulsion of pregnant students by school authorities were also common
Ehinmowo, (1981).
Sex is part of living whether one grew up at ease with his/her sexual selves depends to a great extent on
whether his/her parents accepted the first effort of self instruction affirmatively or negatively in a
progression of development. A baby must be the despair of sincere communist. During his early stage, he is
self centered individualist with imperialist capitalist tendencies. He wants what he wants and will demand it
such as when he is went he demands to be dry by crying. Quite soon he knows what gives discovering his
mouth and his fingers and can suck them. He also discovers his genital organs and perceives that touching
or moving them produces pleasant feelings. At this point his mother begins to instill the sexual attitude that
may affect his sexual adjustment. If the mother frowns or moves his hand away, she creates the impression
that this part of the body is different and touching it is bad and this affects the individual sexual life in
childhood, adolescence and throughout maturity.
At times boys experiment and until they are about twelve these experiment involved chiefly to their own
sex. They do show each other their genital organs and compare them. They masturbate alone or with their
fellow boys. Sometimes they experiment with the opposite sex. This psychological consequences because
most of the young stars by this time know that they are doing something they should not. If we have parents
or teachers who knew what was going on and explain in private talk that it would be better to wait for such
contact and not to masturbate that this might cause them to avoid activities which may worry them and
6
Momoh, M. A et al: Continental J. Social Sciences 2: 6 - 11, 2009
interfere with normal sexual love later in marriage. Some of our parents know the result of sexual
ignorance but are unwilling to agree to programmes to replace it with knowledge.
Ewuzie (1993) defined sex education as the giving of necessary facts about sex and encouraging questions
and discussions on sex and sex related issues. This she said gives every child the opportunity to fulfil his or
her potentials for sexual happiness at the appropriate time in life. Cowel (1977) views sex education as
process of acquiring sex knowledge, positive attitude towards sexual acts, male and female relationship and
the likely implication of any sexual activity. Oikeh (1981) behaves that sex education must include all
educational measures which in any way help young people prepare to meet the problems of life that have
their original centre in sex instruct and unavoidable come in some form into experiences of any normal
human being. Onyeoma (1996) believes that sex education is that aspect of fundamental education that
exposes the individual into understanding the anatomy and physiology of the human body and how to
effectively use the knowledge and its implication to effectively adjust to all biological drives.
Ewuzie (1993) in clarifying the confusion which usually arise from the real meaning of sex education
stressed that sex education does not mean instructing children in sexual techniques as it is wrongly
believed. Sex education according to him means giving the necessary facts about sex and encouraging
questions and discussions on sex and related issues.
Darden (1963) in his own clarification maintained that sex education should be distinguished from sex
information. He described sex education as character education and consists of instructions to develop
understanding of physical, mental, emotional, social, economical and psychological phases of human
relations as they are affected by male and female.
According to Iheanacho (1989) sex education is the science that invents, creates, develops and teaches
responsible sex habits. Unfortunately, most of the sexual knowledge posed on to young people is based on
a combination of superstition, myths and ignorance. This has created incredible psychological damage in
the form of irrational sexual shame, guilt, fear and self-hatred, unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted
diseases (STD) including AIDS and last but not the least, clandestine abortions. Klening and Mohay (1990)
asserted that children exposed to sex education have increased knowledge, healthier attitudes and practices
of life.
Researchers have shown that because of unfounded fears by adults, government authorities, sex education
has not taken its proper place in the school curriculum Eze (2001).
In our own view, sex education is that instruction that is transmitted to the child/youths on sexual matters to
help them grow, incorporate sex/sexual matters most meaningfully into their present and future life. This
helps in providing him with some basic understanding of virtually every aspect of sex by the time the
individual reaches full maturity. Sex education stands for the protection preservation, extension,
improvement and development of the family based on the accepted ethical ideas. A British medical
Association in its subject of the year – Health Education agreed on the need for more education on sex and
stated:
“Inadequate preparation for adult life leads to a very large measure of
unhappiness brought from ignorance in the lives of many people of
widely differing ages from the young children are puzzled by the
answers to its very national questions, the school girl appalled by the
unexpected onset of menstruation, to the married woman ignorance of
her natural function in womanhood”. Obiekezie-Ali (2003)
However, the subject is a delicate and controversial one which needs accuracy in its discussion making
great demands on teachers and instructors. Following the advancement in science and technology world
7
over, the speed with which children experiment with things they see or have improved. This is why sex
education should be embraced so as to help and guide the Nigeria youths.
Factors affecting the teaching of sex education in secondary schools.
There are numerous factors hindering the effective teaching of sex education in secondary schools. Some of
the constraints are hereby briefly reviewed.
Culture
According to Denga (1983) culture is the form type of civilization of a certain race or nation and the
customs associates with it. The issues of sex and sex related matters still remain an anathema to the Nigeria
society. According to culture of many towns, parents find it difficult to give their children sex education.
Taboos universally associated with sexual behavior usually make it extremely difficult if not impossible for
parents to discuss sexual activities and the risks associated with it with their growing children. Most parents
would rather leave this responsibility to leaders and or other adults whom they believe to be in better
position to deal with such sensitive issues. Unfortunately teachers and school systems are often not
prepared for this task and are hampered by similar sensitivities. It is a taboo in the olden days to see a boy
and a girl who are not bloody related walking or playing about together in the street.
According to Emenike (1981) the issues of sex remains secret until the girl or boy become married. Young
men may exaggerate their sexual activities when asked, reflecting cultural norms that encourage and
approve of sexual experimentation for boys while young women may underreport their sexual activity
because of cultural norms that values virginity for girls. Emenike (1981) said that in traditional
communities, it is not uncommon to find a bride and bridegrooms ignorant of sex untill their wedding
night. He went further to say that some might only mention few things to their daughters about their
menstrual experiences but for boys their parents try to keep them in total blackout.
Religion
Most religions organisations in Nigeria today regard the teaching of sex education in Nigeria secondary
schools or by parents at home as one of the things that led to moral decadence. According to Nze (1985)
when children/students are acquainted with the knowledge of sex they are bound to become way-ward. He
continued by saying that the society become corrupt since sex education topics were introduced in us that
sex is a hush-hush subject, something to be feared. Quite frankly, this attitude could never lead to a sexual
enlightened, educated and understanding society. The catholic doctrine forbids children mentioning such
words like vagina and penis publicly. Children brought up in this manner find it difficult to teach sex
education lessons. Teachers will skip such topics as reproduction, sexually transmitted diseases, and pre-
marital sexual relationships etc which are very important areas of knowledge of any human being.
Attitude of the general public towards sex education

The attitude of the public on matters relating to sex education is nothing to write home about. Inspite of the
fact that sex education is important for adolescent. Sex education should be planned to suit students from
pre-school through colleges and include topics about which students are concerned, which ranges from
reproduction to STDS, HIV/AIDS. Also that sex and sexuality ought to be dealt with in health education
rather than to be confined to one labeled sex education. Parents and other adults in the community prefer to
believe that access to sexuality education will encourage adolescent to become sexually active.
Lack of qualified teachers

Lack of qualified teachers to handle sex education is one of the major constraints to the effective teaching
of sex education. Action health incorporated (1986) in listing factors hindering the promotion of school
based sexuality education, pointed out that a great number of school principles and teachers do not feel
comfortable speaking about sexuality even in biology classes. This is often due to the fact that most
teachers do not receive training in this subject.
8
According to Onyeliowu (1975) sex education is taught by the teachers who are not qualified to handle the
subject. Some or most of the teachers do not know the simple concept of biology or health educations are
meant to handle such subjects which are not related to their area of specialization.
Parents’ attitude
The consequences resulting from the attitudes of parents towards sex education in Nigeria Secondary
Schools cannot be underestimated. Some parents abhor the teaching of sex education with the view that it
encourages promiscuity and other related immoral acts and behaviours. Parental attitude and behaviour
constitutes another factor which pose a threat to young people’s sexual health education. Parents often
admonish their children to live moral lives and preach the value of virginity, especially for girls. Yet many
of them fail to set positive examples for their children in their own gender attitudes and sexual behaviour.
On the contrary, there is a saying that leaving the responsibility of teaching sex education to the parents is
the case of a blind man attempting to lead the blind. This say holds water because most parents know
nothing more than how to perform the sex act. Human sexuality covers a far broader field than sexual
intercourse. Many parents do not have the sexual knowledge. Onyemenam (1992) stated that most parents
contend that sex education is not desirable because desirable behaviour pattern will be learnt as the child
grows up, provided he is not pressurized or scandalized. It is often suggested that children should be
educated sexually at home. Many parents find the prospects bewildering. It often entail considerable
uncertain uncertainty and discomfort for all involved (both parents and children) not to mention the sexual
factual knowledge of majority of parents (passing on misinformation to children).
Table 1: Response on sex education question

Percentage Responses (n=100)
Question on sexual knowledge Yes No
1. Do you like sex education? 90 (90%) 10 (10%)
2. Are you still a virgin? 30 (30%) 70 (70%)
3. Do you have friend of opposite sex? 84 (84%) 16 (16%)
4. Is sex education important to the youths? 90 (90%) 10 (10%)
5. Is sex education taught in secondary schools? 50 (50% ) 50 (50%)
6. Can sex education influence the pattern

of behaviour of youths? 60 (60%) 40 (40%)
7. Sex education will prevent the hazard of (STDs)

Sexually transmitted diseases 64 (64%) 36 (36%)
8. Should sex education be discontinued? 4 (4%) 96 (96%)
Parents should have a through understanding of who we are as human being, why we manifest certain
behaviours at different stages of developments and use this knowledge to assist their children go through
life successfully. Unfortunately, it has been found in present day Nigeria, parents are yet to live up to
expectation as far as communication on sexuality with their children in concerned.
Hence, in this work we evaluate the need for sex education in secondary schools.
9
METHODS
The study was carried out in some selected secondary schools in Ovoko area of Nsukka LGA area of
Enugu state in 2008, a cross sectional study was made and the sample population constitutes the study
because majority of them fall into the category of sexually active response and therefore are in the risk
group.
Data were collected using questionnaire (8) eight questions were structured. These questions were
distributed to 50 students from saint francis secondary school Ovoko in nsukka area of Enugu state. The
data or response were analysed using student t- test and further calculated using percentage frequency.
RESULTS
Table 1 depicts the results of this study.
DISCUSSION
Sex education is the science that invents, develops and teaches responsible sex habits. Unfortunately, most
of the sexual knowledge posed, on to young people are based on combinations of superstition, myth and
ignorance. This has created incredible psychological damage in the form of irrational sexual shame guilt
fear and self hatred, unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted disease HIV/AIDS and clandestine
abortions.
Sexually, health education for young adults is one of the most hotly debated and emotional issues facing
planners and educators today. Arguments have been over how explicit education materials should be given
and at what age to initiate sex education. Indeed the question has been answered through this research
work; it shows that there is need for sex education in secondary schools. From the responses to the
questions (Table 1) we all can see that there is great need for sex education in secondary schools. Evidence
from the results shown in (table 1) indicate that most of the secondary school children like sex education,
most of them have had sexual relationship, more than half of them have friends of opposite sex, 90% of
them agreed that sex education is important to youths, half of them agreed that it should be taught in
secondary schools, 60% of them believed that sex education influence the pattern of behaviour of youths,
64% of them agreed that it will prevent the hazard of STDs while 96% of them said it should be continued.
The introduction of sex education will prevent the following negative hazards:
1. Increasing rate of school dropouts following unwanted pregnancy in our secondary schools. Rampant
death of the youths in the process of abortion of fetus as well as the physiological injuries obtained such as
perforation of the uterus by the quack doctors in attempt to remove the conception. There is disharmony in
homes caused by limitation on conjugal bliss following fear of unwanted pregnancy and this also enhances
the rate of polygamy among some men who could not control their emotions thus causing population
explosion. There is impaired social development and imposing psychological problems from the preferred
isolation and separate intuition encouraging practice of masturbation among the youths. The conviction of
almost all the subjects of this study responding positively, that the teaching of sex education will help
students avoid unwanted pregnancy is a confirmation of the opinions of scholars on the advantages of sex
education in schools Egwu (1985).
2. Another obvious reasons or the immediate advantages that are of importance towards the students’ sex
education is on the menace of the pandemic HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases which is
now the leading cause of death in our generation. From the result, it shows that, there is strong need for sex
education in secondary schools and that will assist the youths in developing health sexual behaviour. We
therefore recommended the followings:
The teaching of sex education in secondary school should be include in their curriculum and be enforced.
Efforts should also be made to further enrich the preservice training programme of teachers in order to give
them the necessary tools for the subject. Parents should also allow their children to get the information
concerning their sexual life as this will help them in planning and take necessary precaution in the cause of
10
sexual activities and Government should also discourage various television program or local film that work
toward promoting sexual activities.
REFERENCES
Action Health Incorporated (1989) Youth festival of life Growing Up 6(1) 11.
Denga, D. I. (1983) “De-juvenilizing secondary schools in Nigeria through behavioural

counselling techniques”. The Counsellor. Journal of the Counselling Association of Nigeria, 5 (1): 29.
Emenike E.U. (1981) “A case study for sex Education in Nigeria Post Primary Schools Nigeria School
Health Journal Ibadan 3(1) 43-52.
Ewuzie M.A. (1993) Parents Attitudes towards sex education: A case study of Owerri Urban. Nigerian
School Health Journal 8 (2) 20-30.
Egwu LN (1985). Preventive intervention approach to health education for STDS. Int. J. Health Edu. 4(3) :
23-25
Ezeh, PSE (2001) “Conflicting issues in the life of an adolescent. Implications for counselling.
Conference proceedings of the Counselling Association of Nigeria 170 – 172.
Iheanacho I. (1989) Introduction to Special Education. Administration: Management and Planning Issues.
Jos Government Press.
Klening D., and Mohay H. (1990) A comparison of Health Knowledge of hearing impaired and High
School Students. American Annuals of the deaf. 1 (3) 5-7.
Nze F.C. (1985) Supervision in Health Education, New Jersey prentice Hall Inc.
Obiekezie-Ali, M. C. (2003) “Sexual behaviour problems of secondary school girls and women
empowerment” in Nnachi, R. O. and Ezeh, P. S. E. (Eds.) (2003). The behaviour problems of the Nigerian
child. Awka. The Nigerian society for Educational Psychologists (NISEP).
Oikeh A. J, (1981). “The place of sex education in secondary Schools in Nigeria”. Nig. School Health J. l.
3(1): 16-18.
Onyeliowu J.H. (1975) Sex Education Attitudes of school Administrators and school Board members.
Journal of School Health 34 (64) 3 – 6
Onyemenam, R.G. (1992) Health Education Handbook London Macmillian
Onyeoma U. (1997) Family Health Assessment Enugu Amazing Grace Print and Publication Company.

Corresponding Author
Momoh, M. A.
Department of Pharmaceutics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
Email: jointmomoh@yahoo.com
11
THE INTERRELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CULTURE AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN

NIGERIA
V. Egwemi
Department of Political Science, Kogi State University, Anyigba, Email: vegwemi@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT
This paper argues that the phenomena of culture and development interface at various
critical levels and that there is general agreement that a vital link exists between the
two. Using cross-country examples it shows that this link has been vital to the
development strides made in Europe, North America and Japan. Taking Nigeria as a
case study, the paper argues that the Nigeria “design for living”, that is, her culture
has consistently frustrated development efforts in the country. This is as a result of the
impunity that has characterized the country’s culture. The paper advocates a complete
change in the typical Nigerian attitude to things. This would be the only sure way of
overcoming the country’s throes of (under) development.
KEYWORDS: Culture, attitude, design for living, Nigeria, general agreement
INTRODUCTION
The concepts of culture and development are intimately related. This is to the extent that the two go hand in
hand in the process of nations advancement. There is a sense in which culture taken as a people’s way of
life cannot be divorced from the process of development of any nation. This probably informs S.G. Egwu’s
position that “it is widely recognized that culture and the process of development interface at several levels
(Egwu, 2007). This interface between culture and development is because:
Culture is fundamental to human existence and human civilization,

embodying in its dynamism, the totality of a peoples response to the
challenges of life, and living in a (any) living environment. Culture
offers meaning, purpose and value to the socio-economic political and
aesthetic ethos of society (Obafemi, 2005:2-3).
This paper interrogates the relationship between culture and national development using Nigeria as a case
study. It examines culture especially its dynamic nature and how this could be a basis for the development
of Nigeria. Unfortunately Nigerian culture, that is, its design for living, has been such that has not promoted
or enhanced development efforts. It advocates the urgent need to reverse this trend.
Conceptual Clarification
A. Culture
Culture according to the famous Nigerian social anthropologist Ikenna Nzimiro is “the way people do their
things” (In Igwe, 2007:100). This seemingly simplistic definition is a forceful expression in a few words of
the universality of culture and its enormous influence on the lives of all men. (Igwe, 2007). In a similar
vein, Ralph Linton sees the culture of society as the way of life of its members: the collection of ideas and
habits which they learn, share and transmit from generation to generation (in Haralambos, 1980). Clyke
Kluckhon in his elegant phraseology sees culture as a “design for living” held by members of a particular
society (in Haralambos, 1980:3).
There are two things that are clear from the definitions above. First culture is learned and second it is
shared. Most of the definitions or conceptions of culture today are based to a great extent on the definition
given by Edward Tylor in 1871 in which he referred to culture as a learned complex of knowledge, belief,
art, morals, law and custom. What the definition implies is that culture and civilization are one and the
same.
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V. Egwemi: Continental J. Social Sciences 2: 12 - 20, 2009
This is the point from which the link between culture and development can be made. It may be stated with
some high level of certainty, as we will be showing shortly in this paper that there is a vital link between a
people’s culture and the development strides they make or do not make! (Obafemi, 2005; Egwu, 2007).
One thing that has to be made clear at this point is that culture is dynamic, it changes and it varies from
society to society. Even within the same society, culture changes and varies over time. This classification is
necessary because it helps to do away with misunderstanding, which occurs as a result of differences in
culture. For example, what may be culturally accepted in society A may be abomination in society B. The
following example given by Edward T. Hall provides a vivid illustration. Two individuals, one from North
America, the other from South America are conversing in a hall forty foot long. They begin at one end of
the hall and finish at the other end, the North American steadily retreating, the South American relentlessly
advancing, each trying to establish the accustomed conversation distance defined by his culture. To the
North American, his South American counterpart comes too close for comfort whereas the South American
feels uneasy conversing at the distance his partner demands. (in Haralambos, 1980). Often it takes meeting
such as this to reveal the pervasive nature of culturally determined behaviour. In every discussion on
culture, a distinction is also made between material and non-material culture and/or tangible and non-
tangible elements of the phenomenon.
In the light of the foregoing discussion, we conceive of culture in the paper as the way and manner any
group of people conduct their affairs. It is needless to add that the way people conduct their affairs vary
from one society to another and that what is acceptable in society A may be anathema in society B. It is
also worthy of note that even in the same society, the standard for the conduct of affairs changes over time.
It is thus the case that culture varies from one society to the other and even within the same society varies
over time.
B. Development
The issue of development is one that is paramount to man. All discussions on development must of
necessity begin with and end with man. (Dunmoye, 1994). Development connotes among other things
progress, changes in all aspects of man’s life. It is needless to add that these change and progress should be
positive (Egwemi, 2007). When the term development is prefixed by the word national, it means that we
are talking of development as it relates to a particular nation and in this case the Nigerian nation. National
development as it is conceived in Nigeria’s second national development plan is about the establishment of
a viable and buoyant national economy, the establishment of a just and egalitarian society, the
enthronement of equality and social justice and the building of a unified and integrated society where the
different ethnicities, religions and geo-political identities develop a collective sense of imagination that
they are one. (in Egwu, 2007).
Development represents the infinite struggle between man and his environment in which man seeks to
understand his physical, social, biological and political environment, exert control over them and use the
knowledge to advance the cause of humanity. But it is a dialectical struggle in which man seeks to control
his environment through greater knowledge with the dual aim of transforming livelihood as well as the
transformation of the environment in such a manner that development becomes sustainable. Development
becomes sustainable when it factors in the interests of future generations in the utilization of available
resources. (Egwu, 2007).
From this conception of national development, it is clear that the road to its attainment is not an easy one. It
would require the harnessing of energies such that the goal is first determined, secondly actualized and
most importantly sustained. There is almost universal agreement that Nigeria is confronted by a crises of
development. The issues that have hindered the achievement of development in Nigeria are myriad and
complex. They includes among others, the cultural heritage, ethnic and religious crisis, corruption, political
crisis and instability and the failure to investigate and understand the link between culture and
development. (See Mundt and Aborishade, 2004, Egwu, 2007).
13
So far, we have pursued the argument that there is a link between peoples culture and national
development. This means for instance that there is a link between the culture of Nigeria and her lack of
development. This does not mean that nothing can be done. We have already shown that culture is dynamic
and is subject to change. We are proposing here a need to radically change the culture of Nigeria so that she
would be in better position to pursue and attain national development.
It is widely acknowledged that Nigeria is facing a huge crisis of national development (Egwu, 2007). This
crisis according to Egwu resonates in the following:
1. The long and protracted economic crisis and the reality of poverty inducing growth.
2. The weakening of national identity resulting from opportunistic exploitation of ethnic, regional
and religious identities as well as the political conflicts generated by the crisis of citizenship that
has bifurcated people on the basis of indigenes and settlers.
3. The loss of national cultural identifies as a result of the pressures of globalization and unrestrained
exposure to foreign cultural influences and technology.
4. The weakening ties of the family and the corresponding loss of values such as honour, integrity
and hard work.
5. Gender inequity and the undue marginalization of the women folk in the decision making
processes and institutions. (Egwu, 2007).
According to Egwu, one can go on and on to enumerate the various ramifications of the crisis of national
development in contemporary Nigeria. But more importantly a glimpse into the few examples above draws
attention, not only to the link between culture and development but even more worrying, to the possibility
that culture can be used in negative ways by the power holders to achieve their narrow interests as shown in
the issues of exclusion of women and the politicization of ethnic and religious identities. At this critical
point that the policy makers are responding to the challenges of national development and are involved in
the search for an alternative development paradigm, it is useful to explore how culture can become a
relevant instrument of development. As the history of development has shown in Europe and the societies
of the Far East including Japan and China, culture can hardly be divorced from development.
Culture and Development: Example from other climes
S.G. Egwu has undertaken the following discussion on the potential and actual influence of culture on the
development efforts across different climes. He begins the discussion with Amilcar Cabral, one of the
foremost African political thinkers and the leader of anti-colonial resistance against Portuguese colonialism
in Guinea Bissau and the Island of Cape Verde who provides what may be regarded as the nexus between
culture and development. Cabral’s point of departure was that any theory of national emancipation must be
materially based in the reality of every country. He argues that foreign domination is only possible and
sustainable through a permanent and organized control of the cultural life of such a people. It is on this
basis that Cabral arrived at the profound conclusion that culture cultures development.
The German sociologist, Max Weber, convincingly argued that the triumph of capitalism as an economic
and social system in Europe especially England was a consequence of what he called the “Protestant
Ethic”. Thus, in his Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Weber sought to explain the rise of
capitalism in terms of the culture of frugality and the notion of saving today for the enjoyment of tomorrow
which was central to Christian doctrine. Although the Weberian analysis of the role of values in the
emergence of capitalism has stirred considerable controversy in the contemporary world, particularly in the
light of the recent success of market economies in non-protestant and even non-Christian societies, the
essence of his pioneering work is not lost on the present generation.
The massive industrial and economic progress attained by the countries of South East Asia and the Far East
is somehow attributed to values that are traditional to that region. In other words, it is assumed that the
cultural values of these societies that have supplied the engine of development are different from traditional
14
Western morals.
The extremely interesting case of the role of Japanese culture and values in the rise of Japan to the status of
a world industrial power provides a lesson in terms of the culture-development nexus. There appears to be a
reasonable consensus that a combination of behavioural norms with practical business has certainly played
a major part in Japan’s astonishing economic success which has transformed a backward economy to
progress by questioning the assumed universalist view that the austere and somewhat unforgiving morality
of “protestant” ethic, including its self-centrism, provides the most effective way of achieving economic
progress. Japan tried to do it differently and did this exceedingly well. It drew on a different class of moral
values in economic operations which emphasized group responsibility, company loyalty, interpersonal trust
and implicit contracts that bind individual conduct. There seems to be considerable evidence that the use of
these values was quite important in Japan’s spectacular achievements and rapid elevation to economic pre-
eminence in the world. However, education and pedagogy are also mentioned alongside the role of cultural
values and ethics.
Interestingly, culture has not been completely missing in the African discourse regarding development and
progress. It is so in the strong sense in which cultural issues have been planted at the centre of the regime of
rights that Africans must advance and protect. The African Charter on Peoples and Human Rights acceded
to by African leaders and heads of state in Banjul, The Gambia, in 1991, particularly called for the
preservation and strengthening of positive African values in the relations between people in the society
especially those that relate to tolerance, dialogue and consultation.
Indeed, it is globally recognized that the quest for development in any country is incomplete without due
regard to the promotion of the cultural rights of the various elements of the society especially the ethnic
minorities and the endangered groups. Consequently, cultural rights are problematised to include a group’s
ability to preserve its way of life such as child rearing, continuation of language, and security of its
economic base in the nation. The cultural rights movements which have emerged across the world to
promote and defend cultural rights have justified their activities in terms of the need to preserve traditional
cultural knowledge that has commercial value like ethno-medicine, cosmetics, cultivated plants, foods,
folklore, arts, crafts dances, songs, costumes and rituals. (Egwu, 2007).
Culture contributes to core development objectives by helping to:

Provide new opportunities for poor communities to generate incomes from their own cultural
knowledge
Catalyze local-level development through communities using their diverse social, culture and
economic resources.
Conserve and generate revenues from existing assets that is, reviving city centres, conserving
natural resources and generating sustainable tourism revenues.
Diversify strategies of human development and capacity building for knowledge based, dynamic
societies e.g. through support to local publishing, library and museum services,
(http://inweb18.worldbank.org/LAC,11/29/2007).
The point therefore is that Nigeria can borrow from the examples of other countries that have addressed
core challenges of development by factoring cultural issues and values in the policy making process.
Nigerian Culture and Development
Having gone to this length to show the relationship between culture and development it is imperative to ask
at this point, in what ways has Nigerian culture hindered or propelled her development efforts?
Nigeria is an underdeveloped or developing country depending on one’s perception of the situation. This is
paradoxical because Nigeria is very rich in natural resources, it is only unfortunate that her leaders have not
been alive to their responsibilities to the country. As one of Nigeria’s leading novelist has argued
forcefully: “The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely the failure of leadership”. (Achebe, 1983).
This simply means that Nigeria has developed a culture of leadership failure. (Egwemi, 2008).
15
This crisis of leadership has left Nigeria in the doldrums and has made it perpetually a country of the future
(Obasanjo, 1994). Nigeria’s leadership crisis is compounded by the attitude of the followership even
though this may also be an extension of the failure of leadership. (Egwemi, 2008).
Nigeria’s poor leadership culture is at the heart of her development crises. Other aspects of her culture,
which have affect the country’s development are intolerance, lack of patriotism, poor attitude to time and a
culture of corruption among others. In this contribution we focus on the last two of these many factors.
The Nigerian attitude to time and the culture of corruption which we will discuss shortly as aspects of the
Nigerian way of life are as a matter of fact unacceptable as standards for conducting affairs. Infact, in
Nigeria there are institutions charged with fighting corruption and there are sanctions for coming late to
work. However, these institutions have not stopped the rise of corruption and indeed only lip service has
been paid to sanctioning lateness to work.
The ineffectiveness of these institutions and the non-application of sanctions have emboldened those
engaged in them to continue with these vices. And the truth is that these vices have become so prevalent
that there is thus a sense in which we can argue that they constitute aspects of how Nigerians conduct their
affairs. Infact Nigeria has continued to slip “down the slope of corruption and its rating is getting worse”
(Akinrinade, 2009:5). Euphemisms such as “settlement”, “family support”, “season’s greetings” and the
like have been used to water down the damaging impact of corruption (Audu, 2008).
Case Studies
As it has been argued over and over, time is of the essence. Therefore, any country that must develop must
have a time keeping culture. Time seems available but it is largely perishable, once it is gone you can’t get
it back. This seems to be at the heart of the Nigerian development crisis, saddled with a leadership that has
no development culture, Nigeria has remained a faltering nation after over 47 years of its existence.
Coupled with this is what we categorize as a culture of corruption. These two have largely frustrated
development in the country.
The Japanese example which we gave earlier shows the vital link between culture and development. The
summary of it may be stated thus, Japanese ethics, moral and a code of honour helped the transformation of
that country to what it is today. Let us recall that Japan as a country is blessed with no natural resources.
This is in contrast to the Nigeria which is blessed with natural resources. However, Nigeria has failed in the
task of harnessing her abundant resources.
We now turn to the case studies proper for a detailed elaboration.
(A) The Nigerian Attitude to Time

Peter Enahoro is widely respected for his humorous nay satirical comments on Nigerians and their way of
life. This he has done in his books, The Complete Nigerian and How to be a Nigerian. In chapter 6 of the
first book, he gives a narrative on the Nigerian attitude to time. Let us acquaint ourselves with this narrative
in extenso.
The man who fabricated the saying, ‘time and tide wait for no man’ must have led a sheltered life. He never
met the Complete Nigerian. Otherwise, he would have known that throughout history time has always
stood around and respectfully waited for the Complete Nigerian.
I have no information about the coming and going of tides, but it would hardly surprise me to learn that the
Complete Nigerian has found a way around that as well.
We have a thing called ‘Nigeria Time’ which has no respect for man-made homological devices, Nigerian
time is embedded in the Nature and has been around since time began. Its charm is that its accuracy is
regulated by individual whims and ego.
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If a Complete Nigerian invites you to dinner for 8pm do not disgrace yourself by arriving promptly at 8pm.
Such behaviour will tell him that you are not a man to be reckoned with or, as we say in Nigeria, that you
are not a ‘big man’. After all, you do not want to give your host the impression that you have nothing better
to do.
Be careful to turn up late. That is what the self-respecting Complete Nigerian would do.
At any rate, dinner will not be ready for 8pm your hostess, your host, the domestic help, the children, the
extended family, and other guest expect you to be late since they will themselves be late everyone is
operating on Nigerian time, which is never ahead of the mechanical clock:
Indeed, our friend who coined the maxim about time and tide would have been surprised to find to what
extent the Complete Nigerian is highly sensitive about his arrivals and departures being regulated by the
clock. He even carries this resentment unto death. ask any officiating priest or Imam how often Complete
Nigerians who have passed on are late to arrive at the stated time of their own funeral.
If you are one of those strange Nigerians who keep faith with the mechanical clock and you arrive for a
dinner appointment on schedule, your Complete Nigerian host will think you are greedy. At least he will
regard you with suspicion.
‘Hasn’t he got any food in his own house?’ he will whisper in self-defense to his harassed wife, who is yet
to have her hair washed. The women may even round on him behind your back for having as they say,
useless friends.
This nonchalant attitude to time has been one of the major factors that has frustrated development in the
country. It is clear from the narrative that the average nigerian has no respect for time and considering the
importance of time and especially its perishable quality, it is no wonder that Nigeria has failed to develop
after about fifty years of independence. African Time, which means lateness to work and functions, has
been elevated to the status of norm. it may be difficult to quantity the crisis this has engendered. Suffice it
to say that it has been telling. This leads us to a discussion on corruption.
(B) The Culture of Corruption(?)

The problem of corruption in Nigeria is one that has remained intractable and it has greatly hindered
development efforts in the country. In fact it has been argued over and over that corruption has become
institutionalized in the country. (Saliu and Aremu, 2004, (Egwemi, 2007).
Corruption in Nigeria has become so alarming and systematic that it has assumed the dimension of an
epidemic. This scenario qualifies Nigeria to belong to the category of countries which Jeremy Pope
classifies as “those whose national integrity system has effectively collapsed” (in Omotola, n.d:3).
In this contribution, we focus on the problems of corruption generally but specifically on the political
aspect of corruption. The problem of corruption in Nigeria seems to have defied solution! According to
Mundt and Aborishade, (2004, 707) “each political regime comes to power promising to eliminate the
practice and punish offenders, only to fall into the same pattern”. It could be that the “defiance” of
corruption-n has to do with the difficulty of defining it. Agbese (1992) has shown that the problem of
defining corruption is affected by the culture of the people especially of Africa. Citing Odekunle the
argument is that “although the ubiquity of corruption is otherwise acknowledged, its magnitude and
character are defined by different social and cultural contexts and time dimensions” (1992:9).
Five kinds of corruption have been identified by Otite namely political corruption, economic corruption,
bureaucratic corruption, judicial corruption and moral corruption. All the five kinds of corruption “run at
full throttle in Nigeria” (Tell Editorial February 20, 2006:18).
Of all the five types of corruption, we focus specifically on political corruption. The argument we make
here is that political corrupti0on is the lunch pin around which all the other forms of corruption revolve in
17
a democratic dispensation. Cubbins (in Agbaje, 2004:80) conceives of political corruption as the use of
public office in a way that forsakes the public interest: measured in terms of mass opinion, elite opinion or
both in order that some form of personal advantage may be achieved at the expense of that public interest.
Political corruption can also be seen as any undue influence exerted in pursuit of whatever interest because
it bends the rules and forces the system to serve those interests anything done to influence another in order
to take undue advantage of certain situati0ons. It is misuse of state or official power for self gain at the
detriment of public interest in contravention of ones oath of office (Agbaje, 2004, Agbese, 1992). In short,
political corruption is about abuse of power/office.
As I have argued elsewhere, political corruption is the least recognized form of corruption (Egwemi, 2007).
More often emphasis is on bribery, misappropriation, diversion, embezzlement and misuse of public funds
and infrastructure. These easily recognizable forms of corruption only take root and thrive in the face of
abuse of office/power.
In fact if the truth should be told (about political corruption) one discovers that:
The moral dilemma for all societies is that position at every level of
human society, confer privileges on those holding them. Privileges are
also meant to be enjoyed as part of the perks of the positions so
occupied. But the exploitation or enjoyment of these privileges tends to
affect the system. When the system is affected, it has been corrupted.
That is why power and money are the greatest corrupting influences in
society (Agbese, 1992:15).
The point of this discussion on political corruption is that it is the lynchpin around which other forms of
corruption revolve (Egwemi, 2007). The danger of political corruption especially as exhibited under the
Obasanjo regime is that it robs the people of the right to choose their own leaders. The implication of which
is that since the “leaders” are not chosen by the people, they do not owe them accountability. This sets the
stage for economic corruption. The revelations that have emerged after Obasanjo’s departure from the
Presidency show clearly that in spite of the avowed position of his government to fight corruption,
corruption thrived almost unhindered under him (Orngu, 2006). For example the chilling revelations
concerning the $16 billion power sector scandal has left many Nigerians confused (see Newswatch March
31, 2008). All the monies expended on fake power contacts would have helped to stabilize the power sector
and consequently helped Nigerian business to grow. This brings to mind Peter Eigen’s submission on
corruption. In his own words:
Corruption doesn’t just line the pockets of political and business elite; it leaves
ordinary people without essential services such as life-saving medicines and
deprives them of access to sanitation and housing. In short, corruption costs
lives (in Orngu, 2006:25).
While arguing that there is a culture of corruption in Nigeria, we wish to make it clear that such a culture is
not sanctioned by many people. That is, that it is not an accepted situation (Gyekye, 2003). However, it
seems clear that most leaders since the country’s independence seem to have been more inclined to this
culture of corruption than they were averse to it.
The two Nigerian case studies that we have examined show clearly that the country’s culture has been a
major hindrance to development. A culture of corruption combined with one of disdain for the fleeting
quality of time is one that will surely frustrate even the most genuine and well thought out development
effort(s).
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CONCLUSION
The core argument of this power is that culture which means a people’s way of life plays a major role in the
development aspirations of any people. This paper has focused on two aspects of Nigerian culture which
have frustrated her development efforts. The paper has made the point that there is urgent need for change
in these identified areas, a need for cultural re-orientation, so that the urgently needed development, which
seems to have eluded the country can be achieved.
The way and manner Nigerians have conducted their affairs that is Nigerians culture has completely failed
the country thus far. This is inspite of the fact that the country is richly blessed in natural resource. There is
need to change the culture of impunity that seems to have defined leadership and followership in Nigeria
over the past fifty years. This will be the only sure way of achieving development in the country. For
culture and development to achieve that critical synergy in Nigeria, the country’s culture has to change to
reflect a combination of the protestant ethic and a Japanese style ethic, morality and code of honour. Also,
the values of tolerance, dialogue and consultation need to be imbibed – especially given Nigeria’s
heterogeneity – so that the good that inhere in these values as they relate to development can be derived.
REFERENCES
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Agbaje, E.B.A. (2004) “Corruption, Accountability and Good Governance: Reflections on Governance in
Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, 1999-2003” in International Review of Politics and Development Vol. 2, No. 2.
Agbese, D. (1992) “Corruption” in Newswatch March 9.
Akinrinade, S. (2009). “Living in Interesting Times” in Newswatch December 7.
Dunmoye, A.R. (1994) “Community Participation in Development” in Nigerian Journal of Political Science
Vol. 7 No. 1.
Egwemi, V. (2007), “Political Corruption and the Challenges of Sustainable Development in Nigeria:
Focus on Third Term Agenda” in NASHERJ Vol. 5 No. 1 July.
Egwemi, V. (2008) “Nigeria’s Leadership Crisis: Some Comments on Nature, Contradictions and Way
Forward” in Kogi Journal of Management Vol. 2 No. 2.
Egwu, S.G. (2007) “Culture and Development” Paper Presented at a three-day National Workshop on
Repositioning the Nigerian Cultural Worker for Enhanced Productivity, Confluence Beach Hotel, Lokoja
5th – 7th December.
Enahoro, O. (1992) The Complete Nigerian. Lagos: Malthouse Press Limited.
Gyekye, K. (2003) “Political Corruption analysis into a moral problem” Dukor (ed) Philosophy and
Politics: Discourse on values, politics and power in Africa Lagos: Malthouse Press Limited.
Haralambos, M. M. (1980) Sociology: Theme and Perspectives. Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Igwe, O. (2007) Politics and Globe Dictionary Aba: Keny and Brothers Enterprises.
Mundt, R.J. and O. Aborishade (2004) “Politics in Nigeria” in G. Almond et al (eds) Comparative Politics
Today: A World View. India: Pearson Education.
Obafemi, O. (2005) Cultural Diversity and National Development National Institute for Cultural
Orientation Publication.
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Obasanjo, O. (1994) “Keynote Address” in Mahadi A. et al (eds) Nigeria: The State of the Nation and the
Way Forward. Kaduna: Arewa House.
Omotola, S.J. (n.d.) “Through a glass darkly: Assessing the “new” War Against Corruption in Nigeria”
Paper presented at the National Association of Political Science Students (NAPSS) Week, Kogi State
University, Anyigba Chapter.
Orngu, C.S. (2006) Anti-Corruption Campaign in Nigeria: A Paradox Makurdi: Aboki Publishers.
Saliu, H.A. and F.A. Aremu (2004) “A Critical Analysis of the Anti-Corruption Crusade in Nigeria” in
Political Science Review Vol. 3. Nos. 1 and 2.

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MICRO CREDIT FINANCE AND THE GROWTH OF AGRICULTURE IN OGUN STATE, NIGERIA
1
Owojori, A.A and 2Oyewole O.I
1
Department of Accounting and Business Education, Faculty of Education, University
of Ado Ekiti, 2Department of Business and Applied Economics, Olabisi Onabanjo
University, Ago Iwoye
ABSTRACT
This paper highlighted the contribution of micro credit finance to the growth of
agricultural production in Nigeria and critically evaluated the need for financial
institution in the Nigeria’s agricultural productivity. The expected role of the
financial institutions in solving the problems of rural and near rural economy; such as
poverty, lack of adequate financial and business advice and its effectiveness in the
area of developing the economy of their immediate environment and transforming
these in a way of solving national economic problem that will lead to economic
growth and development. The socio economic and cultural attitudes of the farmers
towards the micro credit contribution to the economic growth of the nation were also
examined. The paper also examined the performance of the financial institutions and
problems facing them generally so as to enable the licensed controlling authority to
solve the problems of the financial institution based on management, capital base and
timeliness of disbursement and recovery. Furthermore, the paper examined the future
prospects for the micro credit institutions and what is expected of the controlling body
for effective management of the credit banks. The scope, the expected role and
problems of credit institution were examined and possible solutions recommended for
the success, progress and prosperity of agricultural productivity in Nigeria
KEYWORDS: Micro-credit finance, Agriculture
INTRODUCTION
The success of any stable economy can easily be determined by the level at which its financial resources
is being managed, mobilized and distributed to meet up with the needy sector of the economy, that is,
from where there is idle fund to where there is need. This brings us to the idea of banking system and
generally to the pillar in which the financial institution/industry is laid upon. The financial institution
therefore seek for excess fund in the economy and redistribute it to where it can be effectively put into use
through their role of accepting deposit, creating credit, mobilizing saving for investment purpose and
facilitating effective financial intermediation.
However, in spite of the increasing rate of growth and development of the financial industry, the structure
of Nigeria economy is still characterized by how level of agricultural output, heavy dependence on oil
sector and imported raw materials or inputs, machinery and spare parts by our industries unemployment,
inflation and underdevelopment, inflation and underdevelopment of rural sector of the economy.
No wonder, the United Nation Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) 1998 report, stated that: Food
shortage is one of the major problems facing nearly all countries of the world today. The FAO estimates
for Africa has also indicated that the percentage of the population undernourished due to food shortage has
increased from one hundred and three (103) million in 1970 to two hundred and fifteen (215) million in
1990.The World Development Report (WDR, 1981) pointed out that food production per capital had risen
on average by only five (5) percent in ten years in low-income countries, and had actually fallen on average
if China and India were excluded from the sample. Moreover, the world food programme (WEP, 1998)
reported that food shortages round the world were on the rise with more people suffering from malnutrition
and hunger compare to that of 1996.
21
Owojori, A.A and Oyewole O.I: Continental J. Social Sciences 2: 21 - 32, 2009
In Nigerian context, the early 1970s witnessed the discovery of oil in large quantities which led to increase
in the revenue based of the nation through the production of oil and its by-products alone at the detriment
of agricultural production which serves as the major revenue base before the discovery.
Prior to independence, the major sources of financing agricultural production can be grouped into public
financing and private (self financing and NgOs). The public financing of agricultural is based on the
annual fiscal budget of the government which support the growth of both cash and food crops while the
private financing is in form of self financing and the NGOs which was targeted at food crop production as
home grown crops. However it was recorded that crude implement were in use by the Nigerian farmers and
food and revenue were found in abundance within the country with high level (75%) of employment of the
rural people. These have contributed immensely to the development of our dear country Nigeria and a lot of
foreign exchange earnings needed for development was generated from this sector of the economy.
Thus, it is perhaps for this reason that this paper is trying to lay emphasis on any meaningful effort to foster
economic development and improve the standard of living of Nigerian citizens to involve development of
agricultural products and small scale producers of the economy in both rural and urban communities.
According to Sancho (1996:7), a key factor for ensuring a sustainable way of life is a more equitable
distribution of physical assets (e.g. land) and greater access to the means of production (including credit
and information). An important issue in this regards is the protection of poverty rights for goods and
physical assets. Often many of the poorest farmers in developing countries lack clear title to the land on
which they work
Therefore, if programmes to grant them clear title are implemented, there would be the dual advantage of
strengthening their incentives to increase output and efficiency and progress of the country. Greater
equality of access to credit is particularly important, for it is one of the most powerful means for opening
markets to the poor.
Expanding opportunities for obtaining credit can help the poor reap the high potential rates of return from
investing in education; it can also make small scale farmers and artisans more economically viable by
allowing them to enlarge their scale of production, or to take more risks, and to avoid short sighted
strategies. Most often, the poor are unable to resolve their situations without assistance because, even when
they have the skills required to undertake a given production activity, they are confronted with obstacles
which hinder access to the capital they require. One of these barriers is the requirements for collateral.
As they do not have it, they cannot obtain loans. This derives partly from a fundamental dilemma of credit
markets, that is that outside agencies (including government banks) do not have enough local information
about the borrower and monitoring is costly, so they insist on collateral that excludes many of the poor.
Local lenders who have more personalized information about the borrower tend to use this competitive
edge which they possess i.e. the fact that they are few to charge high interest rates which the poor can ill
afford. Governments must provide access to credit to permit the maintenance of a minimum level of
consumption and maintain investment in productive activity. Also important is the access to infrastructural
facilities. Investment in rural infrastructures such as roads, water supply and electricity supply would
support farm prosperity and encourage cottage industry and other forms of industrial enterprises.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND LITERATURE REVIEW

The importance of rural and community development in the overall development of the country was
implied in 1972 conference of the Nigeria society on rural development in Nigeria also in the activities of
directorate of food, road and rural infrastructure (DFRRI) in 1987 and finally led to the move for a micro
finance institution system which is one of the major tools of structural adjustment programmes introduced
by Babangida administration to meet the credit needs of millions of small scale producers and other
economic actors in our rural and near rural areas
22
Okigbo (1977:3-5), in his financial review, reported that it is pertinent to mention at this juncture that the
introduction of rural banking scheme has done a lot to sanitize the banking habit of the rural dweller but
could not achieve the expected result but with the introduction of community banking system, the problem
faced by the rural banking scheme was able to be tackled since it imposes confidence in the mind of the
community in which it is operating.
Uniamikogbo (1996:28-29), opined that in recognition of the paramount role of finance in agricultural
production, the government initiated new banking scheme to complement the existing ones which to a large
extent were not directed toward those in the rural and informal sectors of the economy. Consequently, the
people’s bank of Nigeria was established in 1989 to provide loans to low income persons and those in the
informal sector throughout the country. One of the major issues in Nigeria’s under development, and hence
poverty is not only the inadequate mobilization of financial resources in the rural areas for rural
development, but also the channeling of available resource from the rural areas to the urban areas. To
ensure widespread and adequate delivery of banking services to the rural areas, the community banking
was re-launched in 1990. Development in the operations of the people’s bank of Nigeria since its inception
has been mixed. While the notion that some members of the low income group have benefited from the
scheme is not really true, it is equally on record that its goal has not been fully realized in the case of the
community banks, the financial performance of the reporting banks, showed a deceleration, as measured by
their performance indicators. Due to the nature of ownership structure, location and the composition of the
employees of the established community banks, which do not meet the CBN registration, have not fully
realized their objectives. It cannot be claimed that most of those programmes and schemes have actually
contributed much toward the alleviation of poverty.
Joe and Attah (2005:2), in their own contribution submitted that various countries world over have been
awakened to the task of poverty reduction in this generation more than ever before. According to them, the
strategies adopted for poverty reduction vary from country to country. Most countries advocate full scale
public enlightenment on the prevalence, the extent, the effects and evil of poverty as the starting point. This
is followed by involving the poor themselves in identifying what should be done for them. For any poverty
alleviation initiative to last, emphasis should be placed on empowering the poor not from the angle of
charity and subsidy but from angle of economic principles.
Attah (2005:2), reiterated further that, in the past, poverty alleviation have been combated without proper
census of the poor and their poverty statistics such as age, qualification, family size, occupation, income
and residence, amongst others. This trend had led to dissipation of resources and at times their application
in wrong directions. Poverty reduction concerns should, in modern times, set targets as vision for driving
person and resources in the proper directions, possible areas on which emphasis should be placed include
improved access to productive assets, technological development and replication, information on input and
outputs markets and specifically targeted women programmes.
Micro-finance as a tool for an increase agricultural productivity is part of the adopted strategies for poverty
reduction as reflected in Indonesian experience. Indonesian according to Joe (2005:2) observation is a
country of over 17,000 islands with a population of over 215million. The economy is driven by the oil
sector, agriculture, trade, commerce and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME). It has a land area
of about 1.8million square kilometers. The population was growing at about 1.5%; literacy level was 88.5%
while life expectancy stood at 69years as at December, 2004. The rate of inflation is about 5% while about
9,000.00 Indonesia Rupee (IDR) exchange for the dollar by December 2004. The country’s per capital
GNP amounted to about $900.00, as at December, 2003, the economy grew at 4.1%, lending rate stood at
16% and the GDP amounted to $195.2billion is being combated from various angles. Actively involved in
the poverty reduction strategies in the country are the government of Indonesia, the bank Indonesia and the
private section.
The Indonesian government implements its poverty reduction programmes through its interim poverty
reduction strategy paper (IDRSP). The paper’s two grand strategies are increasing income through access to
23
opportunities and reducing cost of basic needs. The government through Act No25 of 2000, on national
development programme (NDP) targeted to reduce the incidence of poverty by 4% within the year 2000-
2004 the government of Indonesia has been implementing programmes to improve general food security,
lower infant and child mortality, compulsory basic education for school age children and improve access to
safe drinking water.
In 1999, a Banking Act was enacted to enable the bank of Indonesia (BI) operate in line with international
trends in central banking. Its principal object was a shift in multifunctional to core functional mandate
aimed at reaching and maintaining the stability of the Rupiah (the local currency) through pursuance of
monetary and financial system stability for Indonesia’s long term sustainable development. While the bank
no longer stipulate sectoral quotas interest rates, and does not engage in provision of refinancing funds for
credit to priority sectors, its activities in the new Act focus on creation of enabling environment,
information dissemination, promotion and supervision of micro-lending, technical assistance and capacity
building for micro-finance providers and clients. The BI is specifically involved in regulation and
supervision of the rural banks, promotion of linkage programmes between the later and commercial banks.
Small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) desks, operation of a credit bureau, capacity building programmes
and international cooperation.
The private sector initiatives stern from the main private providers and promoters of micro finance services
in Indonesia which comprised of the commercial banks (the Bank Rakyat Indonesia being the most
prominent) rural bank, rural bank associations, cooperatives and non-bank financial institutions. The bank
Rakyat Indonesia (BRI), a state owned bank was established in 1895 to provide banking services to the
rural areas particularly for agricultural purposes.
Egbon, (1994:22) observed that the high demand and high price of crude oil between 1971 and 1985
coupled with high foreign exchange earning from the oil sector is mainly responsible for lesser attention to
the agricultural sector and hence food shortages in the country. He further opined that the top-down
approach to development planning in Nigeria led to phenomenal growth of the urban sector at the expense
of the rural areas which support the agricultural population.
Olashore (1991:22) associated the present food shortages with the decline in agricultural production.
According to him, agricultural was responsible for all foreign exchange earnings until 1980’s when the
source of earning became insignificant.
Ojo (1991:25) aptly shown that between 1960 and 1975, food supply grew at an annual rate of 2.3% while
domestic demand grew at 3.4% annually. This disequilibrium in supply and demand for food according to
him arose from such factors as population increase, rapid urbanization, per capital income growth,
monetization of national income and shifts in consumer’s preferences, among others.
As at January, 2005 it had one head office, 12 regional offices, 323 branches, 64 sub-branches, 3916 units
and had reduced its original interest to 59% of the shares of the bank with the remaining part- subscribed to
by the members of the board of commissioners and directors, and the general public. Assets of the bank
amounted to $11.11billion.
Traditionally, the bank was used as a vehicle for channeling government subsidized loans to the rural
dwellers up to 1984. many of the loan to the farmers were eventually not repaid and this threatened the
sustainability of the banks with effect from 1984, government interference in the activities of the bank was
discontinued, the bad agricultural loans were absorbed, partial divestment of state ownership of the bank
was embarked upon and the bank was empowered to operate on purely commercial principles; mobilize its
deposit, source for funds, and charge interest as dictated by the market forces. Before this time, the bank
had already established a wide branch network and what remained were the competences necessary for
offering services in those branches in a profitable manner. As part of the turn around initiatives of the bank,
each of its branches was charged to operate as profit centre with individual financial statements.
24
In Indonesia, there is a linkage programme between commercial and rural banks to enable the later source
for wholesale funds from the former. In Nigeria, it would be worthwhile to fashion out an appropriate and
attractive model for a linkage to be promoted and encouraged between universal banks and community
banks /micro-finance institutions to create room for the later to source for loanable funds for on-lending to
their clients
FINANACIAL INSTITUTION AS ENGINE OF GROWTH

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as the apex bank designs policies that would allow for the orderly
growth and development of the economy, while the other banks not only implement these policies but also
ensure that resources are channeled to areas that would enhance economic development. Loans and
advances to the productive sectors of agriculture, industry and infrastructural facilities have the potential of
enhancing the productivity of the economy. The central bank of Nigeria has over the years, in line with its
developmental role made resources available to sector of the economy that has contributed to growth. The
CBN continued to promote the development of agriculture through the Agricultural credit Guarantee
scheme (ACGS). The deposit money banks and the specialized banks have also been involved in
mobilization of loanable funds for the growth and development of the various sectors of the economy.
In order to encourage banks to participate in agricultural development, the CBN according to Amoo
(2005:94) introduced the agricultural credit
Guarantee schemes (ACGS) in 1977, under the scheme, the CBN guarantee loan to farmers to the tune of
75% of the amount in default. Following the increase in the paid-up capital of the scheme to N3.0 billion in
2001, the guarantee limit for loans under the ACGS were raised that year. The limit for the colaterized
loans to individuals was raised from N500,000 in 2000 to N1.0million, while that for cooperative society
and corporate bodies was increased from N5.0 million to N10.0 million. The ACGS has encouraged
agricultural groupings such as farmer’s cooperatives to benefit collectively from agricultural loans. As at
the end of 2002, the cumulative number and value of loans guaranteed under the scheme stood at
N338,084 and N4.35billion respectively. To encourage repayment culture, the interest Drawback scheme
which was approved in 2002 refunds 50 percent of interest paid on agricultural loans back to farmers.
Ukeje (2005:96) opined that the provision of agricultural credit through the conventional banking
institutions was supported with the establishment of the Nigerian agricultural and cooperative bank
(NACB) in 1973. Its mandate was not only to provide agricultural finance for on-lending to farmers and
cooperative society but also to provide funds for agricultural development projects and allied industries.
The NACB has been reconstructed to cope with the current challenges of resources mobilization for the
agricultural sector and poverty alleviation for the teeming population of farmers, who are the beneficiaries
of its loans. The bank had thus been merged with the peoples Bank of Nigeria and the family economy
advancement programme (FEDP) to form an enlarge Nigeria Agricultural, Cooperative and Rural
Development Bank (NACRDB) with share capital of N50billion. The restructured bank since commenced
full operation.
The peoples’ bank of Nigeria was established on 3rd October, 1989. It is a specialized bank set up
specifically for the poorest of the poor. For this reason, it provides small loans to enterprises owned by the
poor. Many petty traders including the small scale farmers can, for example, obtain a loan as small as
N5000.00 or as high as N20,000.00 depending on the scale of operation and their performance. The loans
require no collateral, nor do they attract interest charges. The beneficiary will only be charged a small
proportion of the loan to enable the bank meet its administrative cost.
The aims and objectives of the bank include:

• Extension of credit facilities to the less-privileged members of the society who
cannot normally benefit from the services of the conventional banks
• Provision of opportunities for self employment for the vast utilized and under
utilized manpower resources in the country
25
• Complementing government effort in improving the productive base of the

economy
• Inculcating banking habit at the grass root level and reducing the rural-urban
migration
• Eradication of poverty and provision of succors to the poor bringing relief to the
financially marginalized group in the society.
• Cushioning the painful effects of the structural adjustment programme (SAP) on
the depressed sector of the economy.
The features of the PBN credit delivery include:

Loans are aimed exclusively at the bottom poor, the poorest of the poor.
The loans are small, quick and easy to obtain, and are of short term duration, just
as the poor want them.
The borrowers are organized into group of 7 -10 members individuals are also
qualified for the banks loans.
Each group recommends its member for loans and ensures that the borrowers
pay back the loans at and when due
The period of loans is 52weeks.
The repayment of loans is on weekly installment commencing two weeks after
the loan is granted except for agricultural loan which is given 23 weeks
moratorium. The two week grace is to enable the beneficiaries apply the loan to
their business, and make some money and able to began repayment. Those who
pay their loans fully and according to schedule are entitled to another loan
thereafter.
The borrower are allowed to freely choose the types of business they engage in
and for which they need loans
The bank operates various saving accounts and encourages its customers to open
and save in these accounts.
The bank establishes simple offices and makes use of bank workers that the poor
can easily relate to and identify with.
Hamram, (1997:107), observed that intervention of government through these institution to alleviate
poverty including the people’s bank of Nigeria have not made the desired impact, for instance, in the seven
years of people’s bank, no critical evaluation of its programme and assessment of its impact on the people
could be made to follow up the profile of its loanees, whereas as a poverty alleviation institution, it should
really be possible for the bank to follow up the economic growth of its clients, assess the impact of the
loans and see if they are emerging from one poverty level to another so that they can be assisted with
further loan to make them grow.
As at now, Micro-finance Bank is not training its loan beneficiaries and preparing them for judicious
utilization of loans .it is true, people’s bank is not a training institution and as such ill-equipped for this
crucial assignment. In fact going into training could create unnecessary diversion from its mandated role,
yet training of loanees is an essential and desirable capacity building activity. There is therefore need for a
multi-agency approach to micro credit delivery with specialized agencies emphasizing their area of
comparative advantage.
MACRO-VIEW OF THE NIGERIAN NgOs

Non governmental organizations are present in almost all society of the world and are of a wide variety
ranging from credit unions involved in collective saving pools allotted in turn to members according to
their saving share to village volunteer groups engaged in common tasks such as seasonal agricultural work.
26
In Nigeria, the establishment according to Adebayo (1997:401) of NgOs dates back to the period before
1940 in which not less than 20 NgOs were established in the pre independence period. In the post-
independence and across the economic boom periods, 41 other NgOs came on stream. This brought the
number to 61. Perhaps as recognition of the NgOs as essential players in the socio-economic reconstruction
of Nigeria, 163 new NgOs were registered during the period of serious economic recession and adjustment.
UNICEF records show about 224 NgOs classified by period of establishment in Nigeria
A good number of NgOs in Nigeria focus on the problem of the declining state of agricultural productions,
unsustainable farming practices and poverty. For instance, Imo Self Help Organization (ISHO), Nsukka,
united self help organization (NUSHO), committee for women in development (COWARD), lift above
poverty organization (LAPCO), development exchange centre, kakene, Bauchi (DEC), country women
association of Nigeria (COWAN), alternative development (Alter Dev.), women farmers association of
Nigeria (WOFAN), and FADU focus mainly on poverty alleviation activities among the rural poor all over
Nigeria. Specifically, they promote community based agricultural projects (Adedoja, 1996:3).
On farmer development union as expressed by Adedoja (1996:3), the establishment dated back to 1989. It
emerged as an organization of low-income rural and sub-urban peasants in Nigeria. The main focus of the
union is micro-enterprises development among the poor by assisting the income-generating initiative of the
disadvantaged rural poor. To achieve this aim, FADU operates a credit and saving scheme, provide training
to beneficiaries in areas of equipment, maintenance, marketing, enterprise administration, record keeping,
environmental preservation at the project site and dissemination of new and appropriate technologies.
The union also supplies farm inputs to farmer on credit at subsidized prices. In addition, FADU engaged in
rural socio-economy transformation by operating community targeted programmes in the area of health
environment, adult literacy and water supply
The funding strategies of the union are based on two main sources. First, it sources fund by operating a
micro-credit programmes with members progressively participating in savings contributions. This source of
funding represents about 46% of the total loan capital.
The second source which has considerably improved the loan port folio of FADU and made the credit
scheme sustainable is grants. According to Adedoja of $50,000 to the organization. Also CUSO in
February, 1990 assisted the union with N15,000.00. Other bodies that have also helped FADU are EZE and
European Union.
HOW FADU OPERATE IN NIGERIA

The operation of FADU in Nigeria serves to complement government effort particularly as evaluations of
government own programmes.
The three main strategies identified are:

1. To pursue economic growth as along term solution
2. To introduce specific programmes targeted to increase the earning opportunities of the
poor and
3. To adopt social programmes targeted at the poor,
FADU’s activities fall in the group of specific programmes to increase the earning opportunities of the
poor.
FADU in an attempt to develop the capacity of poverty to meet their needs through local action operates
different kinds of training scheme for the rural poor before offering assistance. The local community is
encouraged to form groups and societies, after which FADU officers identify the type of training which
would enable them, make the best use of the opportunities in their local area.
27
FADU training programmes include: (1) Record keeping (2) Effective Group management, (3) Saving
mobilization, (4) Credit administration, (5) Leadership, (6) Micro-project management and (7) Business
and market skill.
For the first five types of training, FADU has succeeded covering 321,430 rural poor all over the
federation. These people are spread over 32,143 societies and 74,365 villages in the countries. On the
micro- project management, and business and marketing skill training, 8,391 rural people have benefited.
They are from 176 societies all over 81 villages in Nigeria. Hence the first focus of FADU is on human
resources development of the poor to increase their productivity at the grass roots informal activity. FADU
take this training as a way of grass roots empowerment. Each formation of the grass root structure, from
group of the zonal levels, is reinforced with training to undertake initiatives and plan for development of
their members. A part from the training and mobilization schemes, there are three main assistance
programmes for the poor. The first is the revolving credit scheme in which credit is extended to small
producers, i.e. people that cannot benefit from the conventional financial services of Nigerian commercial
banks. These people do not run registered organized businesses but operate in the informal sector of the
economy which is very critical in a micro-based developing economy like Nigeria.
By December 1996, Adesanya (1997:3) stated that a total of about 79.34million had already been invested
in the scheme. This amount which catered for about 29,000 rural poor in 2,834 societies spread over 7,435
villages in 26 states of Nigeria. This coverage for a single NGO shows the fundamental importance of
NGOs in development activities and FADU has been creative in its genuine participatory development to
poverty alleviation. The income generated from the invested loan pool at the society’s level by members is
designed to guarantee sustainability.
To benefit from the scheme, however, borrowers must be a member of FADU at group level, and must
have saved at least 25percent of the loan requested with the society. The loan recovery process is
determined by the way it is disbursed. Individuals repay weekly to the society as the investment starts to
yield income and the society repays FADU.
The second main assistance programme of FADU is the low cost of food Processing Technology. FADU
has invested about N13.27 million in an attempt to disseminate low cost and locally fabricated production
technologies. The union is specifically interested in the dissemination of post harvest food processing and
irrigation technologies that are affordable to poor resourceful rural producers.
The third main programme is comprised of rural related environmental projects with a special focus on a
safe water scheme and adult literacy. These two schemes are in operation only in two states, one to each
scheme. The safe water scheme has benefited only 2,783 people in about 7 societies over 3 villages. The
adult literacy scheme has been extended to only 41 people in 5 societies of a single village. These schemes
are intended to complement the first two main schemes of FADU, in recognition of myriads of other
problems such as illiteracy, environmental degradation, water and sanitation etc.
Other important areas of FADU’S operation are in farm input supply. The union has engaged in the supply
of cutlasses, agro-chemicals, and seeds and seedlings. Specifically 3.5million committed to agro-chemical
supply to 612 rural poor and N414,000 used in purchase of seeds and seedlings for 10,113 farmers all over
the federation.
With regard to institutions, the Nigerian agricultural cooperative and rural development bank (NACRDB)
provides both Micro and Marco credit facilities of all agricultural activities and micro credit for non-
agricultural projects such as artisanship, trading, small and medium-scale businesses, etc, in the ratio of 70
to 30 percent. Also there is a substantial number of NGOs working to alleviate poverty in the county.
However, most of the activities of these NGOs are tailored towards the provision of micro-credit. It is
hoped that the financial capacities of the NACRDB and those of the NGOs should to a reasonable extent;
28
enhance the access of the rural dwellers including women to finance resources which will assist them in
expanding their productive enterprises.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The above is indicative of more of efforts by the government of Nigeria to reduce poverty through increase
productivity by such programmes and institutions as operation feed the nation (OFN), Green Revolution,
Agricultural Development Programme (ADP), National Agricultural Land Development Authority
(NALDA), strategic Grains Reserve, National Directorate of Employment (NDE), Vocational skills
development programme, special public works programme, small scale enterprises programme, the
directorate of food, roads and rural infrastructure, better life programme, Family Economic-Advancement
Programme (FEAP), health care scheme, universal basic education and National Poverty Eradication
Programme (NAPEP).
The government of Nigeria should therefore initiate various focused pro-poor programme that would ease
the suffering of the rural/urban poor masses especially in the provision of micro credit by relaxing the rate
of interest change on the loan given to them. Also the disbursement organ should try as much as possible to
separate the entire loans meant for the farmer or the poor from the administrative grant meant to run the
offices of the micro credit finance institution. The repayment period for the agricultural loan can be
extended till after a year of operation because of the risk and uncertainty inherent in farming enterprises.
The current 8% per annum is alright for now but the loan for small scale farming enterprise should be
pegged at N250,000 minimum to encourage more grassroots participant and this will increase stakeholder
productivity and eventually level of investment which will bring down. Some of the macro-economic
problems like unemployment and inflation with ease of tax payment.
It is also observed that the time lag between the period of application processing approval and advancement
of the loan covers almost one year which is considered too long should be done within six months so that if
the applicant misses the planting operation in the rain, he could use the loan to pursuit his/her operation in
the dry season especially those on irrigation practices. It is therefore important to consider the timeliness of
operation of the would-be loan beneficiaries so as to effect prudence in spending.
In lending, the bank directors should always give the managers and their subordinate authority to exhibit
their professional skill. The management should ensure that they make the best use of a sound canon of
lending to ensure adequate repayment and recovery at the schedule time of payment. It is worthy of
mention here that the credit officer for the management of the credit institutions should not at any time
engage themselves in settlement syndrome.
There is need for adequate training of staff, good welfare package and incentives especially in the low
cadre so as to retain experienced staff and reduce their level of staff turnover.
There is need for enlightenment on the activities of micro finance institutions in transforming the economy
of the rural dwellers and this can be done by the Central Bank and other agents of government through
seminars, audio visual propaganda, workshops etc. Furthermore, the micro finance institutions should liaise
with others such as community development associations, traders association and national orientation
agency to organize seminars on the activities of the rural bank in the area in reducing the suffering of the
people through creation of credit to millions of small scale producers and other economic actors in a way of
upgrading their standard of living.
Thus, they should operate micro credit institutions like other conventional commercial banks in terms of
services, capital base, supervision, control and management. They should also be allowed to have treasury
offices within their catchments area; this will serve as their branches thereby adequately minimizing the
volume of idle funds that might be in the unbanked area of the economy.
29
Similarly the interest rate should be reviewed by government to encourage savings, loan advances and
improved banking culture in our rural and near rural communities. The government can as well offer more
help by bringing the activities of traditional act for the purpose of control and supervision and to use the
base to advance loans to farmers and other economic actors in the community since those societies can
guarantee borrowers loans, recommend their members to community and as well assist in the recovery of
doubtful or bad debts.
The government should also intensify its efforts on rural and community integration programmes in terms
of provision of basic necessity of life such as electricity, provision of drinkable water, hospitals, schools
and colleges, security service, and other basic needs.
The distress community banks should be granted a matching loan from the National Board for community
banks and close monitoring and supervision should be adhered to in order to ensure compliance with the
disbursement of such fund.
There must be effective internal control system. This is to ensure the safety of bank assets, the accuracy and
adequacy of periodic statement and report to shareholders, regulatory bodies, customers and the public in
general. The internal control procedure should be handled by a competent internal auditor or inspector who
will be independent to prevent abuse of office. The inspector should report directly to the board of directors
for adequate supervision and control of the bank activities.
Lastly, government should also aim at developing our rural informal sector. This will provide a complete
internal combustion needed for the take off of the rural community economy. And ensure no leakage of
funds to be invested in rural areas be diverted to urban use.
Nevertheless, if all these recommendations and other measures recommended are properly implemented,
they will bring about the existence of highly monetized and economically viable rural economy in Nigeria.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

The micro-credit finance institution system is a new dimension which has gradually gained momentum and
importance for the monetization and development of the rural and near rural economy. The system though
aimed at developing the rural economy but the spread effect extended to the urban communities.
This will bridge the gap between the rural-urban economies thus the contract effect will further develop the
general economy.
Moreover, the success of the system will have a tremendous impact on the financial and economic
development of Nigeria in general and rural economy in particular. This is possible through its positive
impact on banking habit, rural transformation, via a conducive investment environment; as a result reduce
rural-urban drifts. Also MFLs on their parts should regard the system as a social responsibility and their
own way of contributing to the growth and development of the community. The institution will thus be
undertaken promotional and developmental roles. The development of appropriate policy and strategies for
poverty reduction and improvement in livelihoods of the people, especially the poor, require a good
understanding of the nature and dimension of poverty. Reduction of poverty to increase production should
therefore be central to the development strategy of Nigeria and not to be viewed as social issue to be solved
by small intermittent interventions.
Again there is the need for reformation of land use

Act in a way that will provide negotiable and registered title to land whether for farming or other
development so that producers of all sizes and categories can have an economic assets which can be used as
collateral to raise their credit needs so as to enhance economic activities.
30
It can be concluded that the role of MFLs in transforming the economy is very crucial and if the rural area
is to be transformed and developed economically, their operation must be sufficient to mobilize savings
from the unbanked area. The government should promote the development of micro finance sector along
with the NGOs contributions through prerequisite policy, provision of inducements and institutional
framework that foster linkages.
Generally efforts must be intensified in implementing the above suggested points properly for economic
growth and development of the country.
REFERENCES
Adedoja, A. (1996): Ngo participatory approach to nutrition development in agriculture projects, Nigeria
/FAD/UNICEF nutrition workshop.
Adedoja, A. (1997). Micro-credit programme: FADU’s experience. Paper presented at the pre-micro credit
summit symposium organized by the World Bank Obafemi Awolowo Foundation January 13-14.
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32

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Continental J.

Social Sciences 2: 1 - 5, 2009

A STUDY OF UNCONVICTED AND CONVICTED PRISONERS IN THE NIGERIAN PRISONS:

KEYWORDS: convicted prisoners, unconvicted prisoners, prisons, prisoners, Agodi,

The statement of problem therefore is:

Purpose of the study

Significance of the Study

Scope and Limitations of the study

RESEARCH METHODS AND MATERIALS

Literature review and Theoretical Framework/models of Prisons.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Table 2: Data Analysis

N X Y X-X Y-Y (X-X)2 (Y-Y)2 (X-X)(Y-Y)

r = (X-X) (Y-Y) 97690.6

(X-X)2 (Y-Y)2 477598.8 x 39377.3

Kittrie, N. (1971): The Right to be Different, London: John Hopkins.

Morris, A. (1980): Justice for Children. London Macmillan

Received for Publication: 23/04/2009

THE NEED FOR SEX EDUCATION IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS WITH PARTICULAR

KEYWORDS: sex, investigate, introduced, schools, need

Attitude of the general public towards sex education

Lack of qualified teachers

Table 1: Response on sex education question

Question on sexual knowledge Yes No

1. Do you like sex education? 90 (90%) 10 (10%)

2. Are you still a virgin? 30 (30%) 70 (70%)

3. Do you have friend of opposite sex? 84 (84%) 16 (16%)

4. Is sex education important to the youths? 90 (90%) 10 (10%)

5. Is sex education taught in secondary schools? 50 (50% ) 50 (50%)

6. Can sex education influence the pattern

7. Sex education will prevent the hazard of (STDs)

8. Should sex education be discontinued? 4 (4%) 96 (96%)

Denga, D. I. (1983) “De-juvenilizing secondary schools in Nigeria through behavioural

Onyemenam, R.G. (1992) Health Education Handbook London Macmillian

Received for Publication: 23/04/2009

THE INTERRELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CULTURE AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN

KEYWORDS: Culture, attitude, design for living, Nigeria, general agreement

Culture is fundamental to human existence and human civilization,

Culture contributes to core development objectives by helping to:

We now turn to the case studies proper for a detailed elaboration.

(A) The Nigerian Attitude to Time

(B) The Culture of Corruption(?)

Agbese, D. (1992) “Corruption” in Newswatch March 9.

Akinrinade, S. (2009). “Living in Interesting Times” in Newswatch December 7.

Enahoro, O. (1992) The Complete Nigerian. Lagos: Malthouse Press Limited.

Received for Publication: 02/07/2009

KEYWORDS: Micro-credit finance, Agriculture

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND LITERATURE REVIEW

FINANACIAL INSTITUTION AS ENGINE OF GROWTH

The aims and objectives of the bank include:

• Complementing government effort in improving the productive base of the

The features of the PBN credit delivery include:

MACRO-VIEW OF THE NIGERIAN NgOs

HOW FADU OPERATE IN NIGERIA

The three main strategies identified are:

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

Again there is the need for reformation of land use

Okigbo P.N.C (1977), Financial System Review Committee Report.

Olalokun et al. (1980), the Structure of Nigeria Economy, London: Macmillan.

Nigeria, Economic and Financial Review, vol. 22, No 4. December

Nigeria Institute of Bankers: The Nigerian Banker journal, Vol. 3, No 1, 1992.

United Nations Development programmes (1990), human development report

The World Bank Group: World Development Indicator, 2005