Annals of the Social Science Academy of Nigeria 1(1) 1995 DOI: 10.36108/ssan/5991.07.0190
AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA: THE PHILOSOPHY, IMPLEMENTATION AND POLITICS OF THE RIVERS STATE SCHOOL-TO-LAND PROGRAMME
F. O. Nyemutu Roberts
ABSTRACT
Over the years, Nigerian governments have shown concern for agricultural development by adopting various agricultural development programmes. Until the early 1980s, these programmes failed to make the right impact in the sector. Subsequently, the global economic recession which had pronounced effects in the developing countries worsened the situation. Its particular expressions became, inter alia, an undeniable food crisis and massive unemployment. The potential for social dislocation posed by these’ twin phenomena” apparently emphasized the need for continued state intervention. Under the Buhari-Idiagbon dispensation (1984-85), State governments, in particular, initiated various “revolutionary” programmes. Arguably the most prominent of these was the Rivers State School-to-Land Programme. As declining national economic prospects once again force state officials to sharpen their focus on the agricultural sector, this study assesses the philosophy, implementation and politics of agricultural development in Nigeria as represented in the school-to-land programme, and points to the limits of state intervention in the sector