Rethinking Stakeholder Relevance in Community Development Projects
Abstract:
Development projects play significant roles in the growing of economies. Several studies posit that the role of development projects is even more crucial in developing and emerging societies because of their contribution to the GDP, employment generation and the provision of more balanced socio-economic societies. For this reason various tiers of government globally have adopted a number of strategies aimed at initiating and executing development projects. One commonly adopted strategy has been through the involvement of the parliament and legislative arm of government in grassroots and community development projects.
This study utilised a qualitative research strategy to evaluate the extent of local community inclusiveness in the community development projects in selected areas in Nigeria. The main findings of the study revealed limited engagement of local community stakeholders during most development projects championed by the legislative arm of government. Consequently, it made a strong case for a rethink in current methods used to manage and engage stakeholders. Several participants in the study suggested that this can be achieved through wider participation of the representatives of community stakeholders during the actual selection of projects. The study also advocates that sponsors of development projects need to understand the urgency of evaluating development projects on multi-dimensional performance measures which integrate the economic, social and environmental aspects of sustainability.
Key words: developing countries, development projects, Nigeria, project management, stakeholder engagement.
