Esanland in the Context of Modern Development Planning in Nigeria

ABSTRACT This paper examines Esanland in the context of modern development planning in Nigeria. It interrogates the problem of planning without development in Esanland and Nigeria. The paper adopts the qualitative research method to explain the phenomenon of rural underdevelopment obstructing Nigeria’s economic development. It finds that, since Nigeria attained independence in 1960, there has been no scarcity of development planning in the country. But there is a stark paradoxical absence of commensurate economic development. This critical review of planning in Nigeria identified economic dysfunctionalism, resources diffusionism and ethnic politics as the bane of plan implementation and rural development. Therefore, using the economy of Esanland as a case study, this paper engages with how these factors interface to undermine and disconnect rural economies. It concludes that rural economic development-oriented planning and dispassionate implementation of plans are developmental imperatives for pre-empting development planning in Nigeria from being a waste of time.