The challenge of the participatory approach of rural poverty alleviation: the example of Olugbena group of villages, Ewekoro, Ogun State, Nigeria.

This paper draws from the experiences of a Non-Governmental Organisation, Man and nature Study/Action Centre (MANASC) - concerning a rural development project being undertaken in Olugbena, a group of six villages in Ewekoro Local Government of Ogun State, Nigeria -to highlight the challenges of participatory rural development in Africa. The project part, funded by the Australian High Commission in Nigeria under its Direct Aid Scheme, comprises a component of a much broader development plan for the area as contained in a pre-feasibility report undertaken in 1995 by MANASC for the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), a Parastal of the Federal Ministry of Health. It is observed that one of the challenges for rural development facilitators, policy makers and practioners, revolves around appropriate strategies for managing unpredictability, especially those that reduce the unknown elements to acceptable levels and impose the minimum of appropriate structures.