Assessment of Community Development Associations’ Involvement in Road Infrastructure Provision in Ibarapa Region of Oyo State

Abstract

The outcomes of the inadequate provision of road infrastructure in most developing nations have far-reaching consequences, especially given that government intervention is limited. Therefore, cities resorted to self-help initiatives through their community development associations (CDAs). Hence, the impacts on residents’ livelihood and economy in these cities are grave. Against this backdrop, this study seeks to examine the involvement of CDAs in the provision of road infrastructure in the Ibarapa Region of Oyo State. This study elicited information from 385 adult residents (≥ 18 years) across six major communities (Igboora, Lanlate, Idere, Ayete, Tapa, and Eruwa) in Ibarapa Region on the types of road projects initiated and stages of community development associations’ involvement. The findings were analysed through the use of frequency tables to summarize and organize the findings. The major road projects initiated by Community Development Associations (CDAs) comprised drainage and culvert construction (58 project instances), road safety features installation (52), grading and resurfacing of existing earth roads (39), and construction of new access roads (5). These were achieved through communal voluntary efforts (48.6%), paid labour (17.7%), mixed labour (15.3%), youth engagement only (13.7%) and family labour (4.7%). The major challenges faced in project implementation include: financial constraints (76.9%), technical/skill lag (71.3%), governance/coordination problems (68.7%) and unsustainability of projects delivered (63.5%). This study concludes that CDAs’ involvement in project delivery has filled the lag in government provision. It thus recommends that CDAs should be co-opted into project ideation through to the implementation and evaluation, and the government should provide incentives to aid the delivery and improve the quality of CDAs-led projects.