Yesterday, being June 12, 2025 (Democracy Day), I had the privilege of discussing the topic “Community Development and Partnership: Sustainable Pathways to Progress” under miprins consulting Ltd at the Mhiship Community and Cultural Development Association’s National Working Committee Meeting held at the Mhiship Community Multi-purpose hall.

During my presentation, I posited that community development is an intentional action towards improving the living conditions and sources of livelihood of a people. This can be achieved when a community has a structured organization and purposeful leadership to drive the development process. I also stressed that community development doesn’t spring up overnight; it needs careful, participatory, and inclusive engagement, both vertically and horizontally, to ensure no one is left behind.

I highlighted some of the developmental challenges in Mhiship Community, which include, but are not limited to:
– Growing unemployment, youth restiveness, and skills gap.
– Limited access to standard and quality social amenities such as health, education, power, water, roads, etc.
– Limited facilities in the market for local produce/artisanship.
– Lack of organized mentorship and coaching initiatives for young people.
– Unnecessary land disputes and unhealthy political rivalry that weakens social cohesion.

I presented the current statistics in Nigeria on poverty, which is estimated to be 75.5% in rural communities, with 32 million Nigerians considered to be acutely food insecure, 18.3 million out-of-school children (approximately one in every three children), and 45.2% youth unemployment. Therefore, what do these statistics mean for Mhiship development? There’s a need for intentional action to collectively address these issues from the community level. I made reference to the Sustainable Development Goals global agenda for 2030.

Fortunately, the Mhiship Community and Cultural Development Association has developed a 5-year strategic plan to guide its development, which was reviewed. I delved into institutions and organizations that Mhiship community can seek partnership and collaboration with to accelerate development in key sectors at the community level. I also emphasized key project management cycles to ensure the community incorporates them in their subsequent implementations.

Key takeaways include:

– Promotion of local leadership in all programs.
– Developing a community development funding strategy.
– Strengthening knowledge transfer and succession planning.
– Improving youth and women empowerment.
– Encouraging community volunteerism, mentorship, and coaching initiatives.
– Strengthening community peace, security, and justice systems.
– Leveraging on tech and improving on Mhiship Community (mhishipcommumity.org) digital presence through research and content development.

I recommended that every community initiative must consider sustainability pathways from the planning level to ensure the present needs of the community are met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Sendi Dauda,
Technical Lead, Miprins Consulting Ltd

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Author: MCCDA