Local Government Administration and Rural Development in Eket Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State (2015 - 2023)

Raphael A. Otu, Essien U. U. Ukpe & Unwana-Abasi S. Udoh

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Abstract

It has been observed that the Local Governments in Nigeria appear limited in exercising their developmental functions, which seems to negatively affect the development of the rural areas. This study investigated the interplay between local government administration and rural development in Eket Local Government Area. The survey design was adopted for the study, with the population of the study being the 220,600 indigenes of Eket Local Government Area. A sample size of 399 was drawn from this population. The simple random sampling method was adopted, with the questionnaire as an instrument for data gathering from the primary source. The simple percentage method was used for data analysis, as Chi-Square was used to test the three hypotheses formulated for the study. The findings of the study indicated that there is a positive impact of local government administration on rural development in Eket Local Government Area, with the local government’s achievement on infrastructural development, educational development and healthcare development. The study therefore recommended that the Eket Local Government should prioritoize the completion of ongoing projects and embark on new ones to address the infrastructural gap, increase funding on education to provide adequate resources for schools, establish programs to attract and retain qualified teachers for basic education, prioritize the upgrading of healthcare facilities and equipment as well as establish monitoring and evaluation framework to ensure that development projects are implemented effectively and efficiently in the area.

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