The role of international NGO’S in d economic development of Nigeria. A case study of bill n Milan da gates foundation

Abstract

There is an increasing desire for the development of rural areas in Nigeria because of its strategic importance. Successive governments have made strategic  efforts aimed towards the development of the rural areas. Such efforts include the operation feed the Nation progreamme; the River basin and Rural Development Authorities; Directorate of food, road and Rural Infrastructure; Better life for Rural Women; the family support programme; family Economic Advancement Programme; and the National Directorate of Employment. Unfortunately, all the efforts made by successive administrations have not achieved desired goal. In recent times, non-governmental organizations have participated in rural development to compliment the efforts of government. Some of their contributions include human capital development and technical assistance; Development of Small Scale farmers; Research, monitoring and evaluation; Enlightenment Campaigns; Advocacy for the poor; and conflict resolution/peace building. However, the non-governmental organizations have some challenges which have limited their performances and also impeded their growth.

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INTRODUCTION

The problem of rural development in Nigeria have been of great concern to the different tiers of government due to the alarming rate of rural-urban migration. According to Onibokum (1987), rural development is faced with the paradox that the development oriented rural economy relies heavily on non-productive people who are ill-equipped with outdated tools, lack technical information, lack scientific and cultural training, and whose traditional roles and access to resources pose problems for their effective incorporation into modern economic system. There is an overwhelming need to accord rural development a priority so as to enable them contribute meaningfully to the socio-cultural and socio-economic development of Nigeria. The bulk of Nigeria’s wealth is derived from agriculture and oil which lies in abundant quantity in rural communities. Currently, over 80% of the entire population live in the rural area, but much has not been done in terms of social amenities and infrastructural facilities. The neglect of the rural areas has not only resulted to the mass exodus of rural dwellers to the urban centres, but has also made the rural areas less attractive for socio-economic investment. Ariyo (1991) asserts that the massive rural-urban drift of able-bodied young men and women led to declining productivity in agriculture, increasing food imports, growing unemployment and the widening gap in welfare terms between the urban and rural areas. Related studies affirmed that rural areas of Nigeria are areas where the lack of basic socio-economic infrastructures, poverty, and conflict has become a strong push factor for rural out-migration. An organization is a collection of people working in a coordinated manner to achieve a common purpose. There are many types of organizations, which may be classified as either for-profit or not-for-profit (nonprofit), large or small. Non-Governmental organizations are organizations that operate across national boundaries, that have a membership composed of private individuals, and that do not answer to any government. In essence, NGOs are organized interest groups that operate single or in combination with one another to promote their causes. Globally, there are well known NGOs such as Amnesty International, Green Peace, Red cross, save the children, CARE and Oxfarm. There are also Community Based Organizations (CBO), City wide Organizations and National NGOs.

Nigeria is predominantly a rural economy. If development is to take place and become self-sustaining, it must therefore, emphasis more on rural transformation. The core problems of widespread poverty, growing inequality, rapid population growth and rising unemployment all find their origins in the stagnation and too often retrogression of economic life in rural areas. Furthermore, most of the rural people are poor and disadvantaged. Their sufferings stem not only from low income but also from illiteracy, ill-health, ignorance and various kinds of deprivations. It is universally acknowledged that rural areas are very important to a nation. They serve as the base for the production of food and fiber. They are also the major sources of capital formation for a country and a principal market for domestic manufactures. In general terms, the rural areas engage in primary activities that form the foundation of any economic development. Yet, despite the importance of the rural areas, they have been neglected for long. Usually, there is absence of infrastructures like (water, electricity supply and motorable roads) which improve quality of life. Indeed, the ongoing neglect of rural areas continues to widen the gap between the rural and urban areas regarding the levels of social and economic opportunities, physical development and available infrastructural services. Development planners have recognized the fact that the upliftment of the rural economy, vis-à-vis the rural poor and backward masses is a precondition for the overall development of the country. Successive development plans of the country, therefore emphasized on rural economic development. But in the implementation of the planned objectives, the success was rather limited due to some constraints, at the top of which was the lack of participation of the stakeholders-the rural dwellers, who hardly had any influence and control over development initiatives. This has led to the concept of ‘capacity development’  which has gradually become the centre of attention in the development discourse over the past few years, and it constitutes an increasingly important strategy in development today, within the education sector which is the brain child of national development. In education planning and management, capacity development implies a focus on the existing capacities of governments and how these capacities can become strengthened on all levels of individual, the organizational and the institutional, as well as the broader system context. Governments, donor agencies and international organizations involved in development are increasingly putting an emphasis on capacities as key to sustainable development in general and in reaching the Education for All (EFA) goals in particular. Equally, capacity development implies assisting governments in becoming responsible and legitimate actors, willing to assume ownership of their proper development processes. In reality, this is yet to be the case, precisely because the state in many countries does not yet play its developmental role fully. In public sectors such as health and education, development non-government organizations (NGOs) have been occupying the role of main service providers over the past few years. Often replacing the role of the government on the ground, especially in remote rural areas, NGOs have traditionally assumed a gap-filling role that has sometimes created conflicting relations with governments.

In Nigeria, bill n Milan da gates foundation work with government, the private sector, and civil society to help people lift themselves out of poverty. As they want to see children, mothers and farmers, in particular, given the opportunities to lead healthy and productive lives. With over 100 grants, the foundation works in Nigeria to achieve six main goals: Eradicate polio; the foundation work at the international level with the World Health Organization and UNICEF, as well as at the country level, with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency and state governments, to ensure regular vaccinations and immunizations.

To commemorate the effort of bill n Milan da gates foundation in Nigerian a notable agreement was reached with the government of Kaduna state. According to the press release on September 1st, 2016  “The Kaduna State Government, the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to work together to improve primary health care (PHC) 

Innovative four-year agreement focused on sustainable primary health care systems strengthening. Nigeria’s Kaduna State Government, the United Kingdom’s (UK) Department for International Development (DFID), and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) have today announced a new strategic partnership on health and governance, taking an important step towards stronger primary health care services in rural communities.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will advance the implementation and transformation of the primary health care system in Kaduna State, and builds upon ongoing support by BMGF and DFID for polio eradication, routine immunization, family planning, and maternal and child health services. A recent state wide assessment in Kaduna has led to a new reform agenda by the state government to improve primary health care delivery. The new Partnership will support this agenda by working to address the root causes of poor performance in primary health care. This includes strengthening governance, accountability, the distribution of health care workers, financing and management processes, data systems, accessibility to essential medicines, as well as primary health care delivery. Despite significant health investments, Nigeria continues to face high infant, child and maternal mortality rates. Statistics from a 2013 Demographic and Health Survey highlight that only 32% of women in Nigeria give birth in a primary health care facility, only 44% of children in the country are fully immunized, and almost 60% are underweight.”

Indeed, while the continuation of their gap-filling role depends on the government’s lack of capacity, NGOs increasingly demand that governmental priorities change by paying more attention to those people who have not yet been reached. They act therefore as innovators, critics, advocates and policy partners. The capacity development (CD) concept and the need to focus on strengthening government capacity provide these NGOs with new challenges. The possible contradictions between capacity development as a developmental paradigm and NGOs’ role as gap fillers correspond to the tensions between the new and the traditional roles of NGOs. This raises two related issues: what impact does NGO action have on governments’ capacities? Also, how do NGOs interpret the national development concept?

Our focus in this research will be on NGOs’ action in national development with emphasis on education. Their work in this sector has occupied a more prominent place in the development discourse since the 1990s, especially as it became obvious that in many countries the provision of basic social services was not being assured by the public sector. Today, education is considered to be crucial in the process of poverty eradication and economic development. One of the reasons for this renewed interest in education is that it “straddles both equity and productivity conceptualizations of development” (Baker, 2007: 9). In other words, the importance of education is a common denominator for the various and sometimes competing approaches to development, and accordingly, gains support from most actors involved in the development enterprise – governments, aid agencies, multilateral organizations and NGOs.

“Gaps in primary health care service delivery are a serious challenge for Nigeria, as demonstrated in the recent polio transmissions in rural areas of northern Nigeria. Addressing these issues requires tackling the underlying system that delivers PHC – including and beyond the health center level.  The Kaduna State Government is prepared to do so and is paving the way for other States. Our Foundation applauds this effort which will enable the poor and vulnerable to access needed health services. We look forward to working in partnership with Kaduna State and the UK’s Department for International Development. According to Onibokum (1987), rural development is faced with the paradox that the development oriented rural economy relies heavily on non-productive people who are ill-equipped with outdated tools, lack technical information, lack scientific and cultural training, and whose traditional roles and access to resources pose problems for their effective incorporation into modern economic system.

There is an overwhelming need to accord rural development a priority so as to enable them contribute meaningfully to the socio-cultural and socio-economic development of Nigeria. The bulk of Nigeria’s wealth is derived from agriculture and oil which lies in abundant quantity in rural communities. Currently, over 80% of the entire populations live in the rural area, but much has not been done in terms of social amenities and infrastructural facilities. The neglect of the rural areas has not only resulted to the mass exodus of rural dwellers to the urban centres, but has also made the rural areas less attractive for socio-economic investment. Ariyo (1991) asserts that the massive rural-urban drift of able-bodied young men and women led to declining productivity in agriculture, increasing food imports, growing unemployment and the widening gap in welfare terms between the urban and rural areas.

The story of the world’s largest private foundation begins with a couple reading a news article about suffering in the developing world. The husband clipped the article and sent it to his father, the philanthropist William H Gates, writing: “Dad, maybe we can do something about this.” It was the first step towards the creation of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Since beginning their great philanthropic mission in 1997, the husband and wife team have become a powerful catalyst for the improvement of lives in the world’s poorest countries The foundation’s trust endowment of $43.5bn (£29.5bn) makes grant payments in excess of $3bn every year ($3.9bn in 2014). One of the major achievement of the bill and melida gate foundation is the Maternal and Neonatal Health Project in North East Nigeria 2012 – 2016 The Maternal and Neonatal Health (MNCH) Project 2012 – 2016 provides effective and efficient approaches to improve maternal and newborn health practices in the home, as well as facilitate enhanced facility-based Maternal Neonatal and Child Health (MNCH) services in North East Nigeria. This project hopes to reduce the rate / incidence of maternal and child mortality in Northeast Nigeria. http://www.sfhnigeria.org/?p=855

Non-Governmental Organization (NGOs) are civil organizations that are largely or totally independent of government and which function as charitable or religious associations, mobilize private funds for development initiatives and programmes, raise awareness and influence policies in pursuance of the ideals of democracy and good governance as well as undertake diverse humanitarian projects that could better the lots of the grass-roots (Sandberg, 1994; Chalmer, 2002). Iriye (2004) defines Non-Governmental Organizations as a voluntary, non-state, non-profit, nonreligious, and non-military associations. It is an independent voluntary association of people acting together on a continuous basis for some common purpose other than achieving government office, making money or illegal activities. In iriye’s view, two main types of Non-Governmental Organizations are recognized according to the activities they pursue:

• operational NGOs that deliver services; and
• Campaigning NGOs. A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any form of government.

The term originated from the United Nations (UN) in 1945 and is normally used to refer to organizations that are not a part of a government and are not conventional profit businesses. In the cases in which NGOs are funded totally or partially by governments, the NGO maintains its non-governmental status by excluding government representatives from its membership. Michael and David (1992), see non-governmental organizations as an organization that is not part of a government and was not founded by states. They maintained that NGOs are typically independent of government. The term is usually restricted to social, cultural, legal and environmental advocacy groups having goals that are non-commercial. They are usually non-profit organizations that gain at least a portion of their funding from private services. The World Bank (1990), sees Non-governmental organizations as private agencies; indigenous groups organized regionally or nationally and member groups in villages that support international and national development and partnering with governments in global development initiatives. Non-Governmental organizations are classified by orientation and/or level of co-operation. NGOs by orientation include charitable orientation, service orientation, participatory, professional association, and empowering orientation. While NGO type by level of co-operation comprises of community-based organization, city wide organization, national NGO, and international non-governmental organizations. The structure of NGOs remains the same even if their operations vary.

Role of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Rural Development in Nigeria

Non-Governmental Organizations have played tremendous roles in rural development in Nigeria. Some of such roles include the following: – Human Capital

Development and technical assistance. They embark on the training of people in the area of skills acquisition. They also award scholarship to deserving students to study both at home and abroad. They render technical assistance to both Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and governments.

Development of small scale farmers

They give support and assistance to small scale farmers by providing them with loans/grants. They also provide them with improved seedlings and technical advice that facilitate their growth and development.

Research, monitoring and evaluation

They conduct research on very sensitive issues with a view to making recommendation on how to improve such situation. They also carry out the responsibility of effective monitoring and evaluation of projects. – Enlightenment campaigns. They carry out enlightenment campaigns and sensitization programmes. Such campaigns create awareness and educate people on government policies and programmes.

 Advocacy for the poor

Advocacy NGOs shoulder the responsibility of defending the poor and promoting specific causes. In most cases, NGOs become spokespersons for the poor and attempt to influence government policies and programs on their behalf.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

An organization is a collection of people working in a coordinated manner to achieve a common purpose. There are many types of organizations, which may be classified as either for-profit or not-for-profit (nonprofit), large or small. Non-Governmental organizations are organizations that operate across national boundaries, that have membership composed of private individuals, and that do not answer to any government. bill n Milan da gates foundation have been a tool of change and national development across the globe. The objective of this NGO is to offer humanitarian services to communities, state, local government and the nation at large. It is on this backdrop that the researcher intends to investigate the role of bill n Milan da gates foundation in national development in national development in Nigeria.

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