Nigeria - Renewal from the Roots?

Successive Nigerian administrations' economic record has been so lamentable in meeting people's basic needs, that many ordinary Nigerians have taken matters into their own hands and got down to the work of local development themselves, largely bypassing government in the process. As this book shows, whatever hope there is for a better future rests with the courageous efforts of ordinary people in their communities. Apart from throwing light on this important, but little-known, dimension of Nigerian life, this book also raises a number of fundamental questions: What chance has popular participation in a conflict-ridden and divided society? And what relationship is there between popular participation, democracy and development?