| ARTICLES | Volume 1, Issue 9, Pages 318-345 (October 2015)

Review Article    GROUP DYNAMICS MAKES A DIFFERENCE IN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: EVIDENCE OF NDAGBO WOMEN TOWN UNION GROUP IN ABIA STATE, NIGERIA     | Obinna, Leo. Onwukamike |. American Journal of Innovative Research and Applied Sciences. 2015; 1(9)338-345.    | PDF FULL TEXT |

ABSTARCT Background: women are becoming increasingly visible in rural and national development in Nigeria. They make greater impact in the socio-economic and political development of their societies as groups rather than as individuals. Objectives: the study sought to document empirically the contributions of the Ndagbo Women Town Union Group (NWTUG) towards the development of the community. Methods: data for the study were generated via structured questionnaire and participant observations method. A sample size of 120 respondents was generated via stratified and multi-stage randomized methods. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: about 54, 42 and 30years respectively were the mean ages in descending order of the three groups. About 75, 80 and 16.5% of the three groups were married. Ninety five percent of the men’s group attained one form of formal education or the other with an annual mean income of ₦6,625,000.00 as against 91.7% and ₦140,316.00 for the women’s group and 100 % and ₦51,333.00 for the youths’ respectively. High participation (2.6, 3.1 and 2.5) of members of the three groups in their group activities was recorded. Rural roads maintenance, building of markets, schools, health and civic centres were identified as on- going or completed projects. Conclusions: The NWTUG contributed significantly in cultural entertainment, sanitation, environmental management, family planning, assistance to orphans and elderly people and women mobilization respectively. Key-word: women contribution, rural leadership and development.