Jurgoi Saleh Jnr

Department of Old and New Testament

(Biblical Studies)
ECWA Theological Seminary, Jos (JETS)

Introduction
The Community is bombarded every day by the insurgencies of kidnappers, famine, Boko
Haram, armed robbery, Fulani Herdsmen, unknown gunmen, and a lot more as a result of the
prolonged failure of the politicians. The claims, fake promises, and demands are made by an
unharmonious chorus of politicians, all of whom deceives that they are representing their
communities. Most of these claimants make specific demands for votes, time, patience, and
support concerning a particular political or social position. During the campaign; they work with
village development associations and other grassroots structures with unfulfillable promises of
establishing pipelines, digging trenches, roads, laying pipes for the distribution of water to the
various communities, and a lot more to prove themselves reliable. The prolonged failure dictates
that we as a community can no longer rely on our politicians to successfully bring about the
desired and deserved development of our dearest communities.
A community that is unable to think independently about its growth and that is unwilling
to speak and act directly in bedeviling situations is most likely to be relegated. That is to say,
they are most likely to remain silent while injustices are being committed around them, and are
most likely to be used by others (the strong), presumably to help perpetuate injustice. In 1961,
many of the recently independent African and Asian nations debated how to deal best with their
situation as developing countries at the peripheries of global capitalism. The aim was to promote
development and decrease their dependence on the economic centers (in many cases); without
relying on the politicians. How do we develop our communities without relying on
politicians? This essay is written to proffer solutions to this problem by introducing a strategy I
call Community Self-Reliance Participation (CSP). This strategy advocates the need for people
to participate in improving their condition using local initiatives and resources available in their
own hands. The community has to foster the social goals of living together as a community and
working together, for the common good of all. Our communities need to prepare our young
people to play a dynamic and constructive part in the development of a community in which all
members share fairly in the good or bad fortune of the group, and in which development is
measured in terms of human well-being; not by industrializations, not prestige buildings, cars,
academic qualifications or other such things, whether privately or publicly owned 1 (Eder,
2021:3).
For Community Self-Reliance Participation (CSP) to be effective; we should therefore
educate people about the sense of human dignity. People in the community should recognize that
1
Julia Eder. Decreasing Dependency through Self-Reliance: Strengthening Local Economies through
Community Wealth Building. Johannes Kepler University Linz: Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the
Economy; Working Paper Series - No. 124 - April 2021.p3
human beings possess a special value intrinsic to their humanity and as such are worthy of love
and respect simply because they are human beings2. We must educate the youths to accept the
values appropriate to the kind of community’s vision, encourage them towards the habit of skill
acquisition, and willingness to teach their skills to other people in the community; not those
appropriate to our selfish selves and our colonial past that has conditioned us to dependency. The
community should develop basic confidence in everyone as a free and equal member of the
society, who values others and is valued by them for what he does and not for what he obtains.
The community should learn to make use of indigenous knowledge, skills, and technology,
support the local farmers, make collaboration between the traditional structure and other parallel
community networks, and recognize the place of women and the fundamental role they play in
community projects. Community Self-Reliance Participation (CSP) in liaison with NGOs,
INGOs, TETFUND, and other organizations is an added dimension of community development.
This could be done using these steps: Establish the Organizing Group for Community Self-
Reliance Participation (CSP), create a Mission Statement, Identify Community Stakeholders,
Develop an Effective Communication Process, create a Comprehensive Strategic Plan, and
Implement the Plan.
Affirming this strategy of CSP, I became inclined toward what Professor Bala Dogo said
in one of his books titled Who is Living on the Poor?. He made a profound statement, knowing
the level of underdevelopment everywhere. Yet there are so many development workers that are
known only in five-star hotels; if there is any person, whether from a governmental or non-
governmental organization, working in the areas of poverty alleviation, micro-credit, functional
literacy, NGOs, INGOs, and the likes; if that person has nothing to show to his/her community
should, not be listened to. He also added that it is important to note that our communities should
help themselves without waiting for politicians3 (Dogo, 2007:91).
Conclusion
This paper endeavored to establish the place of Community Self-Reliance Participation. It
encourages the participation of the people themselves in efforts to improve their standard of
living with much reliance on their improvisation/initiative and little or no incentives from the
politicians. The habit of self-help is a prerequisite for survival in this type of world. CSP stresses
the importance of people increasing their sense of responsibility, and looking at assistance as just
supplementary, but never replacing popular initiatives or local efforts. The emphasis is on
encouraging reliance on what people can do for themselves. This would be a better strategy that
can be potentially viable in complementing efforts to meet the community’s needs without
relying on politicians. It is against this backdrop that these strategies have been examined,
hoping that their contribution toward meeting the basic needs of the local population and the
sustainability of local economies will be effective.

2
Charles C. Fonchingong & Lotsmart N. Fonjong. The concept of Self-Reliance in Community
Development Initiatives in the Cameroon Grassfields University of Buea, Cameroon. Nordic Journal of African
Studies 12(2)
3
Bala Dogo. Who is Living on the Poor? (Tafawa Balewa Street Jos: Ya-Byang Publishers, 2007). p 91.