THE ROLE OF TRADITIONAL INSTITUTIONS IN ADDRESSING CONTEMPORARY PUBLIC ISSUES IN DELTA NORTH SENATORIAL DISTRICT: A CASE STUDY OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Keywords:
Traditional Institutions, Contemporary Public Issues, Community Development, Delta North Senatorial DistrictAbstract
The traditional system of governance is still very active in the process of government and grassroots development in Nigeria, especially within Delta North Senatorial District. The paper focuses on the importance of traditional rulers, councils of elders, and local governance in handling current social problems like insecurity, unemployment among youth, intercommunal disputes, and infrastructure deficiencies. While governmental agencies have increasingly become dominant, traditional institutions are still relevant because of their cultural importance, availability, and continuity (Olowu & Wunsch, 2004).A qualitative approach is used in the research with the use of interviews, focus group discussion and secondary sources of data. Results indicate that traditional institutions play an important role in mediation, maintenance of security, and resource mobilization for development purposes. In addition, they act as intermediaries between government agencies and citizens making policies more effective and acceptable (Sklar, 2004).Their activities are limited by many factors such as political influence, financial constrains, loss of traditions and lack of constitutional provisions (Ray, 2003). These factors prevent them from contributing effectively to modern governance. The study comes up with a conclusion that traditional institutions are very important in dealing with grassroot problems and development. There is need for increased cooperation between the two systems; capacity building of traditional leaders, and policy changes that would lead to integration of traditional institutions within the governance system. Improved institutions would be able to deal with the contemporary challenges of governance and development in Delta North Senatorial District.References
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