48 | Page Capacity Building and Community Development in Nigeria Usman Bappi 1 , Kabiru Shuaibu 2 , Bilkisu Abubakar Mahdi 3 1,3 Department of Public Administration, Gombe State University, Nigeria 2 Department of Accounting, Gombe State University, Nigeria ABSTRACT The impact of capacity-building on community development cannot be overstated due to the fact that sustainable development of any nation depends to a great extent on building its human capacity (human capital). This article aims to deepen knowledge about the relationship between capacity building and community development in the state of Gombe, Nigeria. Data on this material are collected from primary sources and secondary sources. For the primary source, a total of 107 respondents were selected with multi-stage sampling technique for the study. Data from secondary sources such as books, dailies and the Internet supplement the primary data. The study adopted the basic needs approach as a theoretical framework for the study. Chi-square (X2) was used to test the hypothesis, while content analysis was used to test the qualitative data. The hypothesis rejected the null hypothesis and accepted the alternative hypothesis at a significance level of 0.05, indicating that capacity- building programs through training, seminars and workshops could improve the quality of community development projects in Gombe and Nigeria in general. The paper concluded that governments at the central, regional and local levels should seek to develop and build capacities at the individual, institutional and social levels in other to produce human capital committed to service delivery and national development. Keywords: Community Development, Capacity Building, Human Capacity Building and Community Capacity Building. I. INTRODUCTION “Give someone a fish and he eats for a day; teach someone to fish, and he can feed himself for a lifetime.” The difference between the developed, developing and less developing countries (LDC) is not the size, the age nor the natural resources rather it is the human resources build through capacity building. No country can develop without first providing necessary facilities and enabling environment for developing its human capital. It‟s evident that Nigerians are more productive when they migrate to developed nations of the world and tend to became professionals and exceptional in their respective area of specialisation. Capacity-building often involves enhancing the skills, competencies and capacities of individuals and communities in developing societies to overcome the reasons for their exclusion and suffering. Capacity-building is defined by UNDP as an ongoing process of long-term development involving all stakeholders; including ministries, municipalities, non- governmental organizations, professionals, community members, researchers and others. Capacity-building uses human, scientific, technological, organizational, and institutional resource capacities in a country. The objective of capacity-building is to address issues related to development policies and methods, taking into account the