Empowerment and Self-Help Strategies for the implementation of development projects in Obio/Akpor and Ikwerre Local Government Areas of Rivers State

The study examined empowerment and self-help strategies for the implementation of development projects in Obio/Akpor and Ikwerre Local Government Areas of Rivers State. Two research objectives and research questions guided the study while two null hypotheses were tested. The descriptive research design was adopted with a population of 289 community leaders and members of community-based organizations. The sample size of the study was 37 community leaders and 252 members of 12 community-based organizations. The entire population was manageable so the researcher adopted census study. The instrument for data collection was a 23 item self-developed questionnaire titled “Community Development Strategies for Implementation of Development Projects Questionnaire”. The instrument was duly validated by experts, while the reliability of the instrument was determined through a test of internal consistency using Cronbach Alpha. Coefficients of 0.86, and 0.81were obtained for the various clusters of the instrument which showed that the instrument is reliable. The research questions of the study were answered using mean and standard deviation while the hypotheses were tested using Z-test statistics at 0.05 level of significance. From the analyses, findings amongst others revealed that empowerment strategy affects the construction of roads in Obio/Akpor and Ikwerre Local Government Areas of Rivers State to a high extent. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended among others that government and other stake holders should establish and support institutions that facilitates community empowerment. This a e achieved by creating community resource centers, providing training programmes and promoting opportunities for active participation in decision making processes