Impact of Government Poverty Alleviation Programmes on Rural Development in Kaduna and Gombe States: Implications for Public Administration

Abstract

In developing societies, a large proportion of the populace lives in rural areas. These areas are largely characterized by defective or poor infrastructural facilities, poor access to health and educational facilities, poor living condition and high incidence of poverty. Thus, Poverty issue and how to minimize its incidence remain a great issue of concern by most countries of the world, especially the developing ones such as Nigeria. This paper focuses on a retrospect of National Poverty Eradication Programmes (NAPEP) inter alia: Farmers Empowerment Programmes (FEP), In Care of the People (COPE) and the Village Economic Development Solutions (VEDS). The paper revealed that NAPEP were actually deficient to empower farmers in the rural communities of Kaduna and Gombe States. Further, findings showed that provision of loans to farmers, supply of modern agricultural equipment, fertilizer, seeds, and other agricultural facilities to aid farming in these rural communities were granted to farmers at random based on their political connectivity and patronage. The paper also found that access to basic health and education in rural communities in Nigeria was deficient. NAPEP
has not done enough in the provision of dispensary and maternity homes, rehabilitation and building of primary schools as well as free education for the rural populace. The Paper concluded that poverty alleviation programmes lacked sincerity of purpose, sagacity and tenacity in practice, as it served as political patronage instead of succour for ameliorating the sufferings of rural communities in Nigeria. Government fiscal and monetary policies should be geared towards wealth creation, reducing inequality, rate of unemployment and poverty.