THE EFFICIENCY OF POVERTY ALLEVIATION PROGRAMMES IN DEPENDENT SOCIETIES: STUDY OF NATIONAL POVERTY ERADICATION PROGRAMME (NAPAP) IN EBONYI STATE



The department of political science,
Faculty of social sciences
In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of a bachelor of science (B. sc.) degree in political science.

TOPIC:
THE EFFICACY OF POVERTY ALLEVIATION PROGRAMMES IN DEPENDENT SOCIETIES: A CASE STUDY OF NATIONAL POVERTY ERADICATION PROGRAMME (NAPAP) IN EBONYI STATE

APPROVAL PAGE

This is to certify that this project work has been read and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) Degree in political Science

DEDICATION

            This work is dedicated to my parents; for their wonderful assistance and support during my stay in school to God be the glory.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

            At a time like this when I have to pause ponder, and take a trip done the memory lane of life, and all it took to get this far, I am inclined to declare that this is a clear manifestation of selfless moral, academic and financial support by some distinguished personalities. 



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ABSTRACT
The eradication of poverty has been the major concern of every government in Nigeria, various administration (both military and civilian) in the past and at present have initiated poverty Alleviation programme, yet the rate of poverty in Nigeria has been on the increase. Based on the increased rate of poverty in Nigeria today, the study was intended to determine the “Efficacy of poverty Alleviation programmes in dependent societies, having the National poverty eradication programme (NAPEP) in Ebonyi State” as a case study. The study aimed at assessing the extent at which the programme have alleviated poverty in Ebonyi State, to determine the level at which job opportunities have been made available through the programme, to determine the extent at which the programme have provided social amenities as well as the problems militating against the effectiveness of the programme in Ebonyi State. Also, a theoretical framework-Dependency theory was applied to authenticate and give the work a sound footing. Consequently, the method used for data collection of the study were mainly from primary source (personal/oral interview and questionnaire) and secondary source (books, journals etc). The primary data which was principally used came from, a 12 question item questionnaire distributed to 83 respondents in Ebonyi State which formed the sample size. The data collected were systematically analysed using simple percentage method. The cluster/Area sampling technique was used in selecting members of the sample in groups. The simple random sampling was also used to select the sample from the identified clusters. The major findings showed that politicization, Alienation of the masses in the initiation and implementation of the programme are some of the causes of the inefficiency of the programmes. We recommended among other things that the beneficiaries of poverty Alleviation programme be incorporated in the initiation and implementation exercise. The managers of poverty Alleviation programmes should be appointed based on credibility and merit. And micro credit and micro finance scheme at low interest rates should be prioritized, and government should invest in the training of the less-privileged in skills for more effective productivity.           
CHAPTER ONE

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

            From independence till date, successive governments in Nigeria have repeatedly adopted different policies and programmes virtually in every aspects of national life.
            Such programmes include those intended to stimulate self-sufficiency in food production and provide necessary infrastructures to regulate economic activities. Others are aimed at reducing unemployment and the improvement of the living condition of the poor masses in an effort to create poverty alleviation in the nation.
            Here, substantial efforts by most civilian governments have been intensified over the years targeted at solving identifiable problem of poverty and unemployment in the country. These efforts became more pronounced recently because the Nigerian nation has became bedeviled by situations where many youths graduate from school in geometrical proportion without commensurate employment them.
            As a result of these, the Nigerian government, at both the state and federal levels have been making effort at reducing or eradicating poverty by establishing series of programmes which include:
ü    National Accelerated Food Production (NAFP) in the year 1972,
ü    Operation Feed the National (OFN) in 1976.
ü    The Green Revolution (GR) in 1980
ü    Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) in 1986.
ü    National Directorate for employment (NDE) in 1986.
ü    Better Life Programme/family support programmes (BLP/FSP).
ü    The Family Economic Advancement programmes (FEAP) in 1997. etc.  (Sources: Central Bank of Nigeria and World Bank (1999); Nigerian Development Projects; Poverty Assessment and Alleviation Study, march, 8).
            The success of these programmes in poverty reduction remains an issue of argument. This is based on the premise that previous and subsequent programmes designed towards alleviating poverty by various regimes, have neither yielded a positive result nor became successful. On this note, the federal government introduced Poverty Alleviation programme (PAP), during Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s regime, which in the course of its development and operation was changed to National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) in the year 2000.
            These were laudable government programmes meant to bring succour and smiles to the Nigeria poor masses, but never made any headway owing to formulation/implementation differentia.
It is in recognition of the problems that militate against effective execution (implementation) of Poverty Alleviation Programmes in Nigeria, that the researcher have decided to embark on this study. “The efficiency of Poverty Alleviation  programmes in dependent societies”, using Ebonyi State NAPEP as a case study.           

1.2 Statement of the problem

We have established in our previous section that, successive governments in Nigeria had embarked on one Poverty Alleviation programme or the other in their times to provide panacea to devolvement problem that face them. It therefore seems to the researcher, that there arises some exigencies that necessitate the lapses inherent in implementing various poverty alleviation programmes in Nigeria. This gaps or short comings between formulated Poverty Alleviation Programmes and its faithful implementation is technically referred to as “formulation/implementation differentia”.
            It is in recognition of these ugly trends in the formulation and implementation of poverty alleviation in Nigeria, that the following principal research questions arise:
i.                    To what extent have the programme reduced poverty in Ebonyi State by providing job opportunities?
ii.                  To what extent have the programme provided social amenities in Ebonyi State?
iii.                To what extent have the programmes improved the standard of living the poor masses in Ebonyi State?
iv.                Are the programmes meant for the poor masses in Ebonyi State.
v.                  What are the factors militating against the proper implementation of the programme?

1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

            The general objective of this study is to assess the effectiveness and the veracity of Poverty Alleviation Programmes (PAP) in Ebonyi State using NAPEP as a case-study.
            However, this study has its specific objectives as follows:
i.                    To assess how far the programme has reduced poverty in Ebonyi State.
ii.                  To determine the extent at which the programme has provided infrastructural facilities in Ebonyi State.
iii.                To evaluate the extent at which the programme has affected the poor masses of Ebonyi State.
iv.                To find out whether the programme is meant for the poor masses in Ebonyi State.
v.                  To determine the problems militating against the proper implementation of the programme in Ebonyi State. 

1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

            The study of Poverty Alleviation programmes in Ebonyi State will be very useful to policy makers, politicians, scholars, students, researchers and Nigerians in general. this is because the work will expose the extent to which Poverty Alleviation Programmes in Ebonyi State have affected the lives of the poor in the society.
            The work will also be beneficial to the rural poor in a special way. Here, its findings help to enlighten the poor masses of the rural areas on the efforts and programmes of government at alleviating their development problems.    

1.5 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

            This research work focuses on ascertaining the efficiency of Poverty Alleviation Programmes (PAP) in dependent societies, with special emphasis on NAPEP in Ebonyi State, Nigeria.
It’s major focus is to assess how far these programmes have affected the lives of the poor masses in Ebonyi State.
            The researcher was faced with a lot of limitations in the course of gathering material for the work.
            The greatest limitation to this work, was the refusal of relevant authorities to make materials needed available to the researcher.
The reason being that most of the materials asked for were said to be classified documents and hence not open to public security.
This constraint however, was over-coned through a huge cost to the researcher who employed useful means to obtain alternative documents that yielded the same data that were refered to as classified documents.
            Other limitations encountered by the researcher was financial in capacitating as a result of relative lack of money at the appropriate time to facilitate the work.
            Again, the researcher had to combine other academic works with the researcher, so as to meet up with the time frame for the completion of the research.
The combination of all these constraints was not easy for the researcher but in the end, the researcher was able to make a headway.    

1.6 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

            Hypothesis is generally understood to be an assumed answer to a research question. In the words of Anikpo (1986:48), it is a tentative answer to problem; a guide and prelude to the final solution.
            In view of the above, the following hypothesis would act as our guide.
i.                    Poverty Alleviation Programmes in Nigeria have not reduced the rate of poverty in Ebonyi State.
ii.                  Poverty Alleviation Programmes in Nigeria have reduced the rate of poverty in Ebonyi State.
iii.                Poverty Alleviation Programmes in Nigeria have not provided social amenities in Ebonyi State.
iv.                Poverty Alleviation Programmes in Nigeria have provided social amenities in Ebonyi State. 

1.7 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 

            The theory used to explain this work is based on dependency theory. Dependency theory first emerged in the 1950’s advocated by Raul PREBISCH (1901-1986), an Argentine economists known for his contribution to structuralist economics. His hypothesis formed the basis of economic dependency theory.
Through his research findings, he found out that the wealth of poor nations tended to decrease when the wealth of rich nations increased.
            However, dependency theory states that the poverty of the countries in the periphery is not because they are not integrated into the world system or not fully integrated as is often required by right wing development they are integrated into the system.
            Nevertheless, the relevance of this theory to this work is to unveil the issue of poverty in dependent states as having been exacerbated by virtue of our dependent nature and how we (dependent states) were enmeshed into the world system.
            This theory enables the researcher to understand the dynamic relations which exist between dominant and dependent states in which their interactions tend to not only reinforce but also intensify the unequal patterns.
            The theory enables the researcher to note that Dependency is the root-cause of poverty among the dependent states. This tries to explains that until the relationship between the dominant and dependent states in the world system is addressed, every effort towards development of the dependent states becomes a mirage.
            Theotonio Dos Santos, in his work “the structure of Dependency,” gave a historical dimension of the Dependency relationship by defining Dependency as…. “ an historical condition which shapes a certain structure of the world economy such that it favours some countries to the detriment of others and limits the development possibilities of the subordinate economics ….. a situation in which the economy of  a certain group of countries is conditioned by the development and expansion of another economy, to which their own is subjected”.
            Osvldo Sunkel, in his work “National Development Policy and External Dependency in Latin America,” Conceived Dependency as “an explanation of the economic development of a state in terms of the external influence ……. Political, economic, and cultural…..on national development policies”.
            In start, dependency theory attempts to explain the present underdeveloped state of many nations in the world by examining the patterns of interactions among nations and by arguing that inequality among nations is an intrinsic part of those interactions.
            Moreso, there are still points of serious disagreements among the various strains of dependency theorists such as Raul Prebisch (liberal reformer), Andre Gunder Frank (the Marxist), Paul A. Barany Dos. Santos. I, Fernado herique Cardoso and Immanuel Wallerstein, etc.
This portrays that there is no one unified theory of dependency, as most dependency theorists have some core propositions which seem to underlie their analyses.            

1.8 OPERATIONALIZATION OF KEY CONCEPTS

POVERTY: This is the inability of one to have the basic necessities of life. That is, basically not having enough food to eat, a high rate of infant mortality, low life expectancy, low educational opportunities, poor water, unemployment; inadequate healthcare and unfit housing. (Aluko, 1975).
ALLEVIATION: In simple terms, it means to make something less severe: (Oxford dictionary, 2000).
PROGRAMME: It is a plan of things that will be done or included in the development of something (oxford dictionary 2000). A programme is a set of decisions or rules designed to implement a particular policy.
DEPENDENT: This is a situation where by a particular economy services on the primary of another economy, for its development and livelihood.
FORMULATION/IMPLEMENTATION DIFFERENTIAL
            This refers to the gap that arises as a result of poor policy implementation. Most often, especially in the third world countries, policies are brilliantly formulated, but poorly executed. This breeds gap as policies fail to achieve the goals of their designers/initiators.   

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