Challenges of Participatory Development in West Africa: A Study of Nigeria’s Vision 20:2020 Economic Blueprint

The formulation and implementation of development plans serve as the benchmark for evaluating economic progress in different sectors of an economy. Since independence, successive administrations in Nigeria have paraded different economic development plans. At the continental level also, several development programmes have been articulated for driving development in the countries of Africa. Many times, supposed laudable economic programmes have failed to identify with the interest of citizens, largely due to poor communication of such programmes. This study investigated citizens’ participation in the implementation of Nigeria’s Vision 20:2020. Among others, the study asked the following questions: to what extent are Nigerian citizens aware goals of Vision 20:2020 economic blueprint? What were the media used in popularising Nigeria’s Vision 20:2020 economic blueprint? The study was anchored on the Participatory Development theory. The survey research design was used to study a population of 84, 004, 084 from which a sample size of 384 respondents was drawn. The sample was based on Keyton’s sampling system. Findings of the study showed that many citizens of Nigeria do not understand the goals of Vision 20:2020. It was also found out that many citizens of Nigeria cannot identify development projects executed in line with the goals of Vision 20:2020. Based on these findings, the study recommended, among other things, that the Nigerian government should partner with civil society organisations to popularise the goals of Vision 20:2020. It was also recommended that citizens of Nigeria should be encouraged to participate in the formulation and implementation of development programmes.