ABSTRACT
The study ascertained the influence of faith-based organizations social agenda on community development in Abia State, Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive survey design with a target population of 556 registered faith-based organizations in Abia State. This comprises 356 congregational and 200 non-congregational groups. A sample size for the study was 236 faith-based organizations leaders in Abia State. This comprises 151 congregational faith-based leaders and 85 non-congregational faith-based leaders in Abia State. The sample size of 236 faith-based leaders was selected through Taro Yamane Mathematical model. Influence of Faith-Based Organizations Social Agenda on Community Development Questionnaire (IFBOSACDQ) was used for data collection. The questionnaire was validated by two (2) experts in the Department of Adult and Continuing Education (Community Development) and one expert from the Department of Science Education (Agric/Vocational Education) all from Michal Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike. Cronbach alpha method was used to determine the reliability of the instrument which yielded an alpha of 0.77. Five adequately briefed research assistants helped in the administration and collection of the instrument. Data generated for this study were analyzed to answer the research questions using mean and standard deviation while the hypotheses were tested using t-test statistic at 0.05 level of significance. The study revealed that congregational and non-congregational faith-based organizations social agenda to high extent influence community development in Abia state. It also revealed that there is no significant difference in the mean response of congregational and non-congregational faith-based social agenda on community development. The study recommended Government/Faith-Based Partnership (GFBP) in the provision of community development programmes towards achieving sustainable development. There is also the need for the contemporary Faith-based organizations to sustain the legacies of their predecessors especially in the area of maintenance of prehistoric community development projects.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page i
Declaration ii
Certification iii
Dedication iv
Acknowledgements v
Table of content vi
List of Tables ix
List of Appendices x
Abstract xi
CHAPTER 1:
INTRODUCTION 1
o
Background
to the Study 1
o
Statement
of the Problem 9
o
Purpose
of the Study 11
o
Research
Questions 11
o
Hypotheses 12
o
Significance
of the Study 12
o
Scope
of the Study 14
CHAPTER
2: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 15
2.1 Conceptual Review 15
2.1.1 Religious bodies 15
2.1.2
Faith-based organizations 17
2.1.3.
Faith-based organizations health
institutions 19
2.1.4.
Faith-based organizations educational
institutions 21
2.1.5
Faith-based organizations social
amenities 24
2.1.6
Faith-based organizations poverty
alleviation programmes 27
2.1.7 Faith-based organizations ethical values 30
2.1.8 Community 33
2.1.9 Development 35
2.1.10 Community development 37
2.2 Theoretical Framework 38
2.2.1 Durkheims
theory of religion (Emile Durkheim, 1912) 39
2.2.2 Webers theory of religion (Max Weber, 1904) 40
2.3 Empirical Studies 42
2.4 Summary of Review of Related Literature 56
CHAPTER
3: METHODOLOGY 58
3.1
Design of the Study 58
3.2
Area of the Study 58
3.3
Population of the Study 60
3.4
Sample and Sampling Techniques 61
3.5
Instrument for Data Collection 61
3.6
Validation of the Instrument 62
3.7
Reliability of the Instrument 62
3.8
Method of Data Collection 62
3.9
Method of Data Analysis 63
CHAPTER
4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 64
4.1
Results
64
4.2
Summary of the Findings 74
4.3
Discussion of the Findings 75
CHAPTER
5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 80
5.1
Summary 80
5.2
Conclusion 81
5.3
Educational Implications of the
Study 81
5.4
Limitation of the Study 82
5.5
Recommendations 82
5.6
Suggestions for Further Study 83 References 84
Appendices 92
LIST
OF TABLES
4.1 Mean analysis influence of
congregational and non-congregational faith-based 64
Health
institution and community development
4.2 t-test analysis of no significant
different between congregational and 65
Non-congregational health institution and
community development
4.3 Mean analysis influence of
congregational and non-congregational faith-based 66
Educational
institution and community development
4.4 t-test analysis of no significant
different between congregational and 67
Non-congregational educational institution and
community development
4.5 Mean analysis influence of
congregational and non-congregational faith-based 68
Social amenities and community development
4.6 t-test analysis of no significant
different between congregational and 69
Non-congregational social amenities and community
development
4.7 Mean analysis influence of congregational
and non-congregational faith-based 70
Poverty alleviation programme and community
development
4.8 t-test analysis of no significant
different between congregational and 71
Non-congregational poverty alleviation programme
and community development
4.9 Mean analysis influence of
congregational and non-congregational faith-based 72
Ethical value and community development
4.10 t-test analysis of no significant
different between congregational and 73
Non-congregational ethical value and community
development
LIST
OF APPENDICES
A: Letter
of Introduction to Respondents (Faith-Based Organizations) 92
B: Reliability Test result 93
C: Comments on validated Instrument 106
D: Population Distribution Chart 111
E: Letter of introduction to Validators 112
F: Final draft of Instrument 113
CHAPTER
1
INTRODUCTION
1.1
BACKGROUND
TO THE STUDY
Community development is a catalyst
for multifaceted growth in every society, consequently an indispensable asset
in diverse fields of human engagements. This view is amplified by Oke (2019)
thus; “community development is a process that brings about change in many
aspects of community living especially in the areas of social, economic,
cultural as well as environmental.” Owan and Agi (2011) hint that the goal of
community development is to ensure that each human being can grow in humanity,
enhance his personal worth, and become a person. According to the United
Nations (1990:1);
No one can guarantee human happiness, and the choices people
make are their own concern. But the process of development should at least
create a conducive environment for people, individually and collectively, to
develop their full potential and to have a reasonable chance of leading
productive and creative lives in accord with their needs and interests.
The implication is that community
development initiatives are rooted on people’s felt needs in all spheres of
life. However, what constitutes the felt needs of a group may differ
significantly from another group. It is the responsibility of a community
development agent to collaborate with the community to uncover their felt needs
through well-organized conscientization programmes, which would lead to
proactive measures in realizing the community felt needs. In line with this
submission and corroborating with the United Nation’s definition of Community
Development, Frank and Smith in Adekola and Nwoye (2016) agree that
community development is a process where community members come together to
take collective action and generate solutions to common problems. This
community action constitutes the local strategy or approach; it ranges from
small initiatives within a small group to large initiatives that involve the
broader community with or without external intervention. A Strategy or approach
in community development is a process of mobilization efforts from various
parties, government agencies, private, non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)
and local residents, to develop a community with the aim to improve and enhance
the quality of life among community members (Sail, 2011). Community development has indeed provided a
valued public space in which ordinary people “act together for the purpose of
influencing and exerting greater control over decisions that affect their
lives” (Kenny, 2016:47). In practicality, when
communities are given clear and transparent rules, access to information, and
appropriate technical, moral and other supports, they can effectively
coordinate to identify community priorities and address local problems by
working in partnership with local governments and other institutions to build
small-scale infrastructure and dispense basic services.
The
workability of community development has been amazingly substantiated in the
developed countries of the world such as United States of America, United Arab
Emirates, United Kingdom, and Germany among others. These countries have
significantly demonstrated the viability of community development in providing
the needed foundation for the improvement of lives in the communities. In America today, there are innumerable nonprofit
community development organizations operating in the poorest urban and rural
areas (Hoffman, 2013). This is largely attributed to the efforts of the
American reformers whose progressive laborious efforts to arrest the harsh
effects of poverty in the places where low-income people live yielded positive
results. These efforts have helped in stabilizing individual, family and
community lives in America, various nonprofit organizations that were focused
on different aspects of neighborhood development began to appear in poor
inner-city and rural areas, including many riot-torn areas. This synergy
has recorded enormous positive impact in these countries, which are being
replicated in most developing countries where backwardness and endemic poverty
have eaten deep into the fabrics of the society. In the UK, a series of
neighborhood-level regeneration initiatives have tried to revive communities in
a series of area based regeneration programmes. Since the election of the
Labour Government in 1997, there has been a concern that some neighborhoods are
falling behind on a range of socio-economic indicators such as employment,
education, crime, health status, and housing. Many of the neighborhoods of
concern also have high concentration of minority residents (Centre for Regional
Economic & Social Research, 2005).
In
recognition of the symbiotic relationship between community development and
adult education, Kobani and Barima (2019) posit that Dubai as a global pride
rose to its enviable height through adult education. In 1975, Dubai had an
adult literacy rate of 54 percent among men and 31 percent among women. Today,
Adult literacy rates for both gender is close to 95 percent (Embassy of the
United Arab Emirates, 2018). Germany has shown one of the best performances in achieving
the goals of sustainable development. The experience of this country has
demonstrated that it is very important to determine the necessary range of
tools to ensure sustainable development (Sushchenko,
2016). This trend is noticeable in almost all the countries in the
developed world where community development was employed.
One
remarkable reoccurrence in the comparative analysis of community development
efforts in developed countries is the synergy between the target communities
and other organisations for development purposes. This lesson has taken root in
the developing countries, Nigeria inclusive. Assorted collaborative groups take on a diverse range of neighborhood issues -
such as safety, health, education, housing, social services, employment, and
collective action – and accomplished a great deal of good. According to
Abugu (2014), research and studies have shown that local government plays a
variety of roles to meet up with the challenges of both community and national
development and they include the provision of basic social amenities, mass
mobilization, accelerating force for greater economic growth and development,
and ensuring social and economic justice. Olowu in Abugu (2014) outlined the
possible contributions of local government to the development process to
include; political integration and nation building; Training in citizenship and
political leadership; promotion of accountable governance; and provision of
social and economic development, contending that the role of local government
in the community development process stands in the triadic function: as agent
of mass mobilization, as accelerating force for massive economic growth and
development and as agent of socio-economic equity.
Furthermore, the impacts of
Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) on rural livelihoods have been robustly
discussed by researchers and implementers of community development programs as
if no other organization shares in this responsibility. It could be inferred
that no significant achievement can be recorded in Nigeria in terms of poverty
alleviation without incorporating the NGOs to achieve overall improvement in
the living standard of the vast majority who reside in the rural areas (Yusuf,
2015). The World Bank has had a couple of interventions through such programs
as the World Bank Agricultural Development Projects, National Economic
Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) and recently Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) to mention a few. A number of NGOs are into various
aspects of community development such as: community mobilization, environment,
health and sanitation awareness creation, promotion of child’s rights law,
promotion of sexuality and reproductive health education and fight against
child labour and human trafficking etc. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
are critical change agents in promoting economic growth, human rights and
social progress. Foreign agencies such as United States Agency for
International Development (USAID) and Family Health International (FHI) partner
with NGOs to deliver assistance across all regions and sectors to promote
inclusive economic growth; strengthen health and education at the community
level, support civil society in democratic reforms and assist countries
recovering from disasters. These agencies seek to mobilize the expertise,
capacity and knowledge of NGOs in a wide variety of ways to achieve development
objectives, contribute to host government and national priorities, and advance
community development. USAID works with international and local NGOs and their
networks to support in-country programs and strengthen their capacity to
achieve their missions: education, poverty alleviation, water and sanitation,
and economic empowerment.
Moreover, the
private sector is another key stakeholder in both urban and economic
development, being a major contributor to national income, the principal job
creator and employer, and helping to fight the problem of extreme poverty by taking responsibility of tasks performed by the State government,
thereby relieving the pressure on public expenditure and allowing the federal
government to focus its resources on key social and physical infrastructure. Experience has proven that the private sector
provides around 90% of employment in the developing world (including formal and
informal jobs), delivers critical goods and services and contributes to tax
revenues and the efficient flow of capital. With the federal government’s
acceptance of privatization policy, the private sector in Nigeria is now
looked upon as the catalyst for economic development.
The private sector also helps in broadening
the economic base, making Nigeria less susceptible to external stimuli. The
private sector also helps in human resource development, education and training
job skill formation. It also teams up with foreign partners to provide a
springboard for foreign direct investments in vital infrastructure like
transportation, communication, power and information technology. It also forms
partnerships that will enable it to remain globally competitive and maintain
market shares. These partnership help in creating a dynamic economy with a
multiplier effect in the movement of people, goods and services, capital and
technology. In direct contrast to current development practice, the Nigerian
government has not fully embraced the idea of investing in the basic health and
education of its people. Lack of access to electricity and many other
challenges are greatly slowing down the impact of the private sector. The
government seems not to be doing much to help the situation as a result of
political instability, poor macroeconomic management, corruption and inadequate
infrastructure.
Nevertheless, there exist some organizations formed by members of the community to
provide for the needs and challenges of the people and the community through
joint efforts of the members. These are called Community Based Organizations
(CBOs) and they include community development groups, community councils, among
others. These groups play vital role in rural development. Membership
dues, registration fees and donations from members serve as sources of funding
to the CBOs. These associations carry out many development projects such as the
building of postal agencies, health centers as well as supply of educational
facilities among others in-spite of meager resources. CBOs are also involved in
conflict resolutions within and among members of the community as well. Given
more support in the forms of favorable policies, good governance, the community
based associations and other cohesive, vibrant and trust worthy groups could
reduce poverty and under development in the rural as well as urban areas.
Discussing the role of faith based
organisations in community development, Apenda (2015) observes that in Nigeria,
community development is a product of painstaking and methodological
application of various inputs of religious institutions. The antecedents of
faith-based organisations in Nigeria have proven that faith and community
development are elements that cannot be separated. Generally, all faith-based
organisations offer fundamental ethics of life for their adherents. Religion
offers the community a guide to live in harmony with themselves and as a
binding force between men and God. Religion is helpful in validating the core
values of development such as equity, justice, mutual personal interaction in
every society through its teachings, beliefs and practices. According to Awolesi (2018), the following are areas in
which faith-based organizations play key roles in Nigeria:
education - establishment of schools, health - building of orthodox health
centers, clinics and hospitals, upholding morality and democratic process,
swearing in of public office holders, motherless babies’ homes and orphanages’
welfare, prisoners’ welfare and succor, peoples’ welfare, keeping hope alive,
rehabilitation centers for drug addicts and mentally ill patients. According to
Religions and Development Program (2010: 33);
for
many years, faith based organizations have played major roles in society,
delivering a variety of services to the public, such as caring for the infirm
and elderly, advocating justice for the oppressed and playing a major role in
humanitarian aid and international development efforts. In this context they
are perhaps closer in terms of organizational set up, structure and
administration to other twentieth century civil society organizations than to
more traditional and historic religious organizations.
From
the foregoing, the potentials of faith-based organisations for accelerated and
sustainable development in the communities are robust. Thus, religion is regarded as a faith-based process that is
capable of impacting on governance and the behavioural attitudes of the adherents
for positive impact in the society; the antecedents of the early
faith-based organizations in Nigeria serve as point of references in
development discourses particularly in Abia State.
In
Abia State, African Traditional Religion, Christianity and Islam have shown
signs of active involvement in community development. For instance, African
Traditional Religion has contributed to the social life of the people by
providing cultural tourist attractions such as the long Juju shrine of
Arochukwu; Amakama wooden cave - a very large
tree that can accommodate up to 15 fully grown humans, the tree has a gigantic
hollow and is believed to have played the role of a fortress during
inter-tribal wars as well as in the era of slave trade; Arochukwu cave -
a shrine that also was a route made use of by
slave traders. It contains a spring as well as a gate of no return through
which victims were sold into a lifetime of slavery, etc. There are also
some festivals like Iwaji, Iri Ji or
Ike Ji – depending on
the dialect (new yam festival); Ekpe
(masquerade) festival, etc that attract people from different parts of
the society. Such festivals foster unity
and cooperation among the community dwellers. There are exchange of food and
gifts during these festivals to demonstrate love and communal life. The early
Christian missionaries in Abia State
opened schools where people were taught how to read and write, sing hymns,
psalms and choruses, recite catechism, pray, and read the Bible. Some of the
notable schools by the mission bodies in Abia State include the Uzuakoli
Methodist College built in 1923 and Trinity Theological College, Umuahia in
1948. Till date, there are many secondary, primary and nursery schools
established by Christian churches (Orthodox and Pentecostal) in Abia State. In the area of health, Queen Elizabeth Hospital was established in 1945 as
a mission hospital and was in 1991 taken over by the Federal Government and
renamed Federal Medical Centre (FMC).
The Leprosy Center Uzuakoli, Abia State was established by the Methodist
missionaries in 1932, and currently jointly run in partnership with the
Methodist Church of Nigeria, the Abia State Government, and the German Leprosy
and TB Relief Association. The Methodist Church manages the Amaudo Itumbauzo
Mentally Health Centre, established in 1989 by Rosalind Colwill in
response to growing numbers of mentally ill people roaming the streets of South
East Nigeria. The Roman Catholic, Anglican,
Presbyterian, Seventh Day Adventist and a few other Churches have health facilities scattered around the
State, including a couple of motherless babies’ homes by the Roman Catholic
Church. Different Christian denominations and Islamic groups in Abia State have
skill acquisition centers and programmes for the training of young people for
self reliance. The Zakat and Sarafat Foundation (ZSF) empowered 47
Muslims in Abia State with sewing, grinding machines and various sums of money
as start up capitals.
It is an incontrovertible fact that faith
communities are the largest and best organized civil institution in the world,
claiming the allegiance of billions of adherents and bridging the divides of
race, class and nationality. Additionally, faith-based organisations’ leaders have
the power to raise awareness and influence attitudes, behaviors and practices
in the community and family levels; they can shape social values in line with
faith-based teachings. Faith-based organizations’ leaders have the power to
promote and support government policies that accelerate development. For Okoye
and Pongou in Azuakor (2019), the relative prosperity of different societies
upon European contact, was seriously dependent on missionary activities; it
exercised greater influence than colonial governments’ and European traders’
influence and it has impacted on human capital in modern Nigeria as well as
having influenced cultural values and institutions.
According to Ajani
(2011), religion remains one of the oldest, yet the most dynamic of social institutions.
The author argues that the assumption that religion in modern societies would
gradually diminish in importance or become less capable of influencing public
life is now becoming a matter of dispute and that Christian doctrine and
practices could be earnest and integrated into the developmental process with a
bid to enhancing the livelihood of Nigerian citizens. With diminishing
government involvement in social programs at home and development aid abroad,
the importance of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) is increasing. NGOs
with a religious orientation have the potential for making significant
contributions in the development arena. Indeed, they may prove to be the most
effective and lasting of development agencies (Mayotte, 1998). This backdrop serves as a justification for
ascertaining the influence of faith-based
organisations’ social agenda on community development in Abia state, Nigeria.
1.2
STATEMENT
OF THE PROBLEM
The gap between developed and
developing countries is continually widening, as evident in Nigeria where
problems associated with poverty, illiteracy, overpopulation, rural stagnation,
poor and insufficient social amenities, moral decadence, unemployment and
growing inequalities continue to escalate. Government at all levels and in
collaboration with donor agencies has had a couple of interventions through a
catalogue of programmes and policies to mitigate these challenges. Despite the
noticeable interests in community development issues in various parts of
Nigeria shown by the government, private sectors, NGOs, community and religious
bodies, the rural areas and the people have not yet fared well in all
ramifications. This ugly situation would naturally generate curiosity to
ascertain whether the existing community development programmes by the various
implementing agencies in Abia State have made any positive impact on the State.
Faith-based organisations generally
eulogize their relevance in the society through the execution of their social
agenda, which includes interests in health care and educational institutions,
provision of social amenities, poverty alleviation programmes, and ethical
values among other ancillary social interests. Despite these claims, the dearth
of faith-based organisations in contemporary community development discourses
and the reluctance of contemporary scholars in discussing the influence of
religion in the attainment of sustainable and authentic human development in
the society have become obvious. Faith-based organisations have not received substantial recognition in
contemporary scholarship as it concerns community development in Nigeria despite its potentials and historic social
antecedents in the society, hence the
choice of the researcher to ascertain the influence of faith-based
organisations’ social agenda on community development in Abia State.
In Abia State, there are health and
educational institutions, poverty alleviation programmes, social amenities and
mediums for instilling moral values initiated by faith-based organisations. In
the face of dwindling government involvement in community development issues
and the conspicuous deterioration of basic social facilities and programmes in
the State, one wonders the extent to which the existing faith-based programmes
and projects have influenced the rural and urban dwellers in Abia State, given
the fact that most of the development projects -
monuments, edifices and institutions established by the early missionaries,
which are managed by some faith-based organisations are in sorry states, with little or no visible renewed
efforts to either replace or galvanize the moribund facilities. Again,
contemporary faith-based organisations have generally been accused of providing
exorbitant social facilities that are inaccessible to the poor community
dwellers as against the altruistic spirit that characterized the early
missionary efforts. These anomalies aroused the researcher’s interests for
scrupulous assessment of the influence of faith-based organisations’
social agenda on community development in Abia State for reconstruction purposes.
1.3
PURPOSE
OF THE STUDY
The purpose of this study was to
ascertain the influence of faith-based
organisations’ social agenda on community development in Abia State, Nigeria. Specifically, the study sought to:
1. ascertain
the extent congregational and non-congregational faith-based health
institutions influence community development.
2. determine
the extent congregational and non-congregational faith-based educational
institutions influence community development.
3. ascertain
the extent congregational and non-congregational faith-based social amenities
influence community development.
4. determine
the extent congregational and non-congregational faith-based poverty
alleviation programmes influence community development.
5. ascertain the extent congregational and
non-congregational faith-based ethical
values influence community development.
1.4
RESEARCH
QUESTIONS
The
following research questions guided this study:
1. to
what extent do (congregational and non-congregational) faith-based health
institutions influence community development?
2. what
is the extent of influence of (congregational and non-congregational)
faith-based educational institutions on community development?
3. to
what extent do (congregational and non-congregational) faith based social
amenities influence community development?
4. to
what extent do (congregational and non-congregational) faith-based poverty
alleviation programmes influence community development?
5. what is the extent of influence
of (congregational and non-congregational) faith-based ethical values on community development?
1.5
HYPOTHESES
The following null hypotheses were
formulated to guide the study and were tested at 0.05 level of significance
were:
H01: There is no
significant difference in the mean response of congregational and
non-congregational faith-based organisations on the extent health institutions
influence community development in Abia State.
H02: There is no
significant difference in the mean response of congregational and
non-congregational faith-based organisations on the extent educational
institutions influence community development in Abia State.
H03: There is no
significant difference in the mean response of congregational and non-congregational
faith-based organisations on the extent social amenities influence community
development in Abia State.
H04: There is no
significant difference in the mean response of congregational and
non-congregational faith-based organisations on the extent poverty alleviation
programmes influence community development in Abia State.
H05: There is no
significant difference in the mean response of congregational and
non-congregational faith-based organisations on the extent ethical values
influence community development in Abia State.
1.6
SIGNIFICANCE
OF THE STUDY
The
findings of this research are significant to numerous stakeholders in adult
education and community development. Particularly, the following groups of
people shall benefit most from this study: Religious Bodies and Faith Based
Organisations (FBOs), Community Development Implementing Agencies, Adult
Educators, Development Research Institutes, and Community Change Agents. The
government in general and particularly in Abia State shall also benefit from this
research tremendously.
This
research report is to serve as a wake-up call to some Faith Based Organisations
in carving out or consolidating faith-based social agenda aimed at bringing
about development in the communities. With the results of this study,
faith-based organizations would revive the altruistic spirit that characterized
the early missionaries whose legacies litter around the communities. More so,
faith-based organizations would appreciate the need to collaborate with other
community development agencies in order to make positive impact in the society.
Again, the findings of this study would create awareness among the faith-based
organizations in Nigeria on the need for synergy and identification of common
grounds for unity to pursue a common goal that would benefit their target
communities instead of pursuing individual interests and breeding unnecessary
tension in the society. The research findings would act as a challenge to the
faith-based organisations in Nigeria to play down on religious exclusivism,
sentimentalism and honestly showcase the complementary link between piety and
praxis.
Community
development agencies will benefit from the findings of this research in the
areas of inclusiveness, competitiveness and collaboration. In the documentation
of community development programs, faith-based organisations will have their
fair share without being marginalized. The research findings will encourage the
needed symbiotic relationship among different community development agencies in
Nigeria. Comparative study of community development, with particular reference
to the implementing agencies, would stir up healthy competitions, collaborative
efforts, innovations and accelerated growth in the impact of community
development programmes in Nigeria.
Adult
educators and community development agents will be well equipped in the
facilitation and reporting of development programmes in the communities. Adult
educators’ target audience coverage is made wider at the instance of this
research, with curriculum modification and the adoption of inclusive culture
for the purpose of serving the faith-based organisations’ leaders and their
followers on community development issues. This research encourages adult
educators to adopt appropriate andragogical approaches in serving their faith
based clienteles so as to maximize their social agenda in the communities of
domicile. Community development agents are by this research equipped with the
knowledge that would aid in devising strategies for reaching out to faith based
community development agencies, especially in the provision of technical guides
and competencies for sustainable community development programs.
Nevertheless,
development research institutes will have access to accurate statistics for
analysis of development progress in the communities. Additionally, research
institutions are further challenged to harness the available data touching the
influence of faith-based organisations in Nigeria so as to carry out more
researches on the possible strategies to sustain the development impact of
faith-based organisations in Nigeria. The findings of this research and that of
the research institutions are great assets to academics. Libraries shall be
updated and beefed up with the content of the research findings to bring about
the needed conscientization and inspire passion for contributive community
development efforts for the betterment of the society.
1.7
SCOPE
OF THE STUDY
The study is delimited to faith-based
organisations’ social agenda on community development in Abia State, Nigeria.
The independent variable (faith-based organisations’ social agenda)
sub-variables include health care facilities, educational institutions, poverty
alleviation programmes, social amenities and ethical values. These
sub-variables were used to manipulate the dependent variable, which is
community development. The study used leaders of the registered faith-based
organisations, which included both
congregational and non-congregational faith-based institutions in Abia
State as target groups.
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