By Mba, Chike H.
Nigerians are currently witnessing an unprecedented interest, by the governments of the Federation, in the development of the rural areas of the country. This interest has been aroused by a number of factors. Firstly, after several attem'pts and.failures in planning for socioeconomic development, it has only recently been realised that any develcpment plans that continue to ignore the rural areas of the country are bouvd to fail. This is because the majority of Nigerians (some 80 percent) still live in rural areas. With the exception of the 4th National Development Plan, a14 the other plans had rather concentrated on the development of the urban economy. It was only during the 4th Plan period (1981-85) that the issue of integrated urban-rural development was addressed for the first time. The plan contained elaborate policy statements on the issue of
urban-rural iinkages and development (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1981).
Secondly, the abject poverty of the hitherto neglected rural areas has continued to increase the rate of rural-urban migration, as youths of all categories (educated and uneducated as well as skilled and unskilled) mate to the urban areas in search of iobs. This has led not only to further ;nrpoverishment of the rural areas in terms of highly productive i ~ u m nre sources, but also to overcongestion of the existing urban areas