Rural Economy, Development Opportunities and Constraints in Oil-Producing Communities of the Niger Delta, Nigeria

Abstract

Oil-producin g rural communities in Nigeria, no doubt, occupy strategic economic position in Nigeria’s development opportunities. However, it is disheartening that this recognition is not accorded its prime position in designing strategies for achieving development goals. The rich oil and other resources in the area have rather generated controversies and the fallouts have constipated efforts towards exploiting opportunities for sustainable enterprise-oriented rural economy. This paper therefore, explores the forces that have sustained poverty, crises and constrained development in the area. Using a sample of three hundred and thirty respondents from six rural communities in the sampled Niger Delta States, the investigation observed that inconsiderable feeling of neglect by stakeholders in oil exploitation (27.27%), oil exploitation that dislocated the people of the area from their traditional economic engagements (28.18%), politicization and blocked access to productive assets (32.72%) are among the factors that have sustained poverty and crises in the area. Opportunities for enterprise-oriented rural economic development exist if the major constraints are addressed and certain institutional structures and suppon are provided. It recommends that for an enterprise-oriented economy to thrive and poverty and crises incidences mitigated, projects for development must be community-driven while their selection should