ASSESSMENT OF PEOPLE’S PERCEPTION OF GRASSROOTS COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS IN EZZA SOUTH LGA OF EBONYI STATE
ABSTRACT
This research work dealt with the Assessment of People’s Perception about Grassroots Community Development Projects in Ezza South L.G.A of Ebonyi State. To carry out the study effectively, five (5) research questions and 3 null hypotheses were formulated by the researcher. The population for the study consists of four thousand and twenty (4020) women and men members of town unions of the twelve (12) communities that make up Ezza South Local Government Area of Ebonyi State. The major instrument used for collection of data was questionnaire. The data collected were analyzed using simple percentages, weighted mean and t-test statistical tools. The major findings of the study are: (1) that awareness creation through tradition or mass media, seminar, employing the services of traditional institutions and town unions/community-based organization and involving influential members in the community are effective strategies for mobilizing people for grassroots community development projects. (ii) that prioritizing the needs of the community, listing methods of achieving the objectives of the project, making a list of resources for the project implementation, people determining time and duration of implementing the project, involving people in projects formulation, making provisions for emergency situation and ensuring people’s trust through free flow of communication are effective procedure of planning grassroots community development projects (ii) that allowing community members to take active part during project implementation, allowing various groups in the community to work together, making maximal use of community resources, allowing one project to be handled at a time, making use of expert advice and welcoming aids from outside the community are the ways grassroots community development projects could be implemented. (iv) that involving the people in the decision making processes, allowing the people to join in the planning, execution, assessment and utilization allowing people to offer free services and resources to be provided by the people, and making people to donate or pay projects lrevy are the nature of participation of community people in grassroots community projects. (v) that factors militating against effective grassroots community development projects include, non-involvement of community members in the design, implementation and assessment of projects, conflicts among leaders, poor leadership and embezzlement of project fund, inadequate financial and materials, government lip service, poor targeting of projects, natural disasters, unwillingness of the community members to participate in project implementation and use of inappropriate communication network. Following these findings, some recommendations and suggestions were finally made.