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Home-town linkages and local development in south-western Nigeria: whose agenda? What impact?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 December 2011

Lillian Trager
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Extract

This article examines home-town linkages among the Ije§a Yoruba of south-western Nigeria, focusing on their implications for local development activity. The author argues that elite non-residents play an especially important role in determining the agenda of activities and that, despite limitations and constraints, the maintenance of home town linkages by members of the elite provides their community with crucial access to financial and other resources. The motives for the continued maintenance of these ties are discussed. Finally, the article provides a perspective for comparison with research in other parts of the world, where rural-urban linkages primarily connect migrants with family and household; in the case considered here, involvement with the community as a whole is equally important.

Résumé

Cet article examine les liens entre les villes natales des Ijes.a Yoruba dans la région sud-ouest du Nigeria, et plus particulièrement leurs conséquences sur les activityés liées au développement local. L'auteur remarque que les membres non résidents qui font partie de l'élite jouent un rô1e particulièrement important dans l'établissement du programme d'activités et qu'en dépit des limites et des contraintes, le maintien des liens entre les villes natales par les membres de l'élite permet à leur communauté d'accéder aux ressources financières et autres ressources essentielles. L'article se penche sur les raisons du maintien continu de ces liens. Il offre ensuite une perspective en établissant une comparaison avec d'autres travaux de recherche menés dans d'autres régions du monde dans lesquelles les rapports entre la ville et la campagne relient principalement les migrants avec leur famille et leur foyer; dans le cas présent, le lien avec l'ensemble de la communauté est tout aussi important.

Type
Pursuing power back on the periphery
Information
Africa , Volume 68 , Issue 3: The Politics of Primary Patriotism , July 1998 , pp. 360 - 382
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 1998

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