Is literacy key to community development? Analyzing two groups of adults’ involvement in development projects in Northern Nigeria

Abstract

This paper investigates the influence of adult literacy on grassrootspeople’s involvement in community development (CD) projects in Nigeria.It examines the differences in the level of involvement in CD projects byparticipants and non-participants in adult literacy programmes. Usingmulti-stage sampling, 408 respondents were interviewed to obtaininformation. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to summarizethe data. Statistical analysis explains the variations in the mean valuesof the socio-economic variables and involvement in CD activities of therespondents who participated and those who never participated in adultliteracy classes. Comparing participants’ income and political statusbefore and after participation in literacy programmes, the analysis showsthat at P ≤ 0.01 level of significance, there was a significant differencein their income (F = 11.26) and political status (F = 78.40). The papersuggests that participatory and learner-oriented literacy initiatives arenecessary for a sustainable and functional adult literacy programme.Keywords: adult literacy, community development, participation,learner-oriented literacy.