POLITICAL CLIENTELISM AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH-WESTERN NIGERIA

In spite of the universality of clientelism, it is often seen as a peculiar aspect of Third World politics, one which inevitably stifles development. This study examines clientelistic relationships in south-western Nigeria and their possible impact on rural development, with a special focus on Ibadan. It finds that rural clients attract the attention of the political class to promote the exchange of goods for loyalty through associations that afford clients a sort of cohesive power and a common front, the basis of their relevance in the politicalclientelistic chain. This clientelistic chain also serves as the channel through which development projects are conceived and implemented. But since the projects provided only serve symbolic purposes, they easily collapse: clients may have the opportunity of changing patrons, but they remain subservient to the political/economic elite. Thus rural underdevelopment persists in spite of a continual inflow of development projects (and goods).