Department of Political Science

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Browsing Department of Political Science by Author "Dibie, R"

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    Open Access
    Analysis of Local Government Proactive Sustainability Strategy in Nigeria and South Africa
    (Clarion University of Pennslyvania, 2017) Dibie, R; Quadri, M.O
    In Nigeria and the Republic of South Africa, local governments are increasingly playing a major role in tackling environmental issues and promoting sustainability. Important element of this local government proactive sustainability initiative are local group advocacy, education and engagement programs. However, there are very few detailed literature on the nature of these proactive initiatives available in academic journals. This paper examines how local governments in Nigeria and South African are increasingly engaged in proactive sustainability programs respectively. It argues that the most profound changes that must take place in both countries in other to achieve a sustainable civilization is community participation. The paper uses data derived from questionnaire survey administered to 1800 local government staff, community members and advocacy groups in Nigeria and the Republic of South Africa. Interviews of 80 relevant local government officials were conducted, meetings between key community members and environmental inspectors were also observed. The secondary data consisted of desk research, review of related government reports in Nigeria and South Africa, standard text, academic and professional journals. Data were analyzed to understand the reasons for proactive environmental initiatives in local governments in both countries as well as to find out the types of proactive environmental and sustainability initiatives. The findings suggest that there is a negative correlation between the sustainability goals of local governments’ development programs in both countries and their proactive strategies in regions where group advocacy is low. The local governments of both countries must encourage more community participation in sustainable development initiatives. This is because participation offers new opportunities for creative thinking and innovative planning toward economic growth and sustainable development. Some challenges for further implementation of proactive environmental practices were identified and recommendations for appropriate policies that could address them are offered.