International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR) ISSN (Online): 2319-7064 Impact Factor (2012): 3.358 Volume 3 Issue 5, May 2014 www.ijsr.net Licensed Under Creative Commons Attribution CC BY Repositioning the Women ‘August Meeting’ in South East Nigeria for Sustainable Development Dr. Cletus Ikechukwu Anah Directorate of General Studies, Federal University of Technology, Owerri- Imo State, Nigeria Abstract: The Igbo of South East Nigeria are well known for their self help initiatives. After the Nigeria- Biafra war (1967 – 1970) ravaged populations, homes and infrastructural facilities in the region, town unions mobilized funds for community development. Schools and roads were rebuilt while communities were provided with portable water. In the 1980s when the town unions seemed to have run out of steam, the women of South East Nigeria organized themselves under the aegis of ‘August meeting’ to embark on development projects in the region. More than two decades into the existence of the ‘August meeting’, her score card leaves much to be desired. Employing the political economy paradigm and relying mainly on secondary sources of data this paper critically reappraises the strengths and weakness of the ‘August meeting’ movement to deliver sustainable development in South East Nigeria. The paper suggests realignment towards the formation and management of cooperative societies for skills acquisition as livelihood programs through which the twin goals of women empowerment and community development can be actualized, leading to sustainable development Keywords: Community, Mobilization, Self help, Sustainable development, Women. 1. Introduction In spite of her abundant endowment of human and natural resources, Nigeria remains a poor country. It is estimated that 70 percent of the population is living below the poverty line in both rural and urban areas [1]. Poverty manifests when and where a distortion becomes pronounced that people, groups (male and female) and countries become unable to adapt, change and survive [2]. In Nigeria, this distortion is traceable to the peripheral capitalism introduced through colonialism. Table 1: Comparison of Development indicators in five African Countries in 2010 [3] Growth Indicators Nigeria Gabon Libra Egypt South Africa Population (millions) 154.7 15.0 6.4 83.0 49.3 Life Expectancy at birth (years) 48.1 60.9 74.5 70.3 51.6 Infant mortality rate (per 1000 live births) 85.8 51.5 16.8 18.2 54.3 Physicians (per 1000 people) 0.4 - 1.9 2.8 - Rural population (% of total population) 50.9 14.5 22.3 57.2 38.8 Adult literacy rate (% ages 15 and older) 60.8 87.7 88.9 - 88.7 Youth literacy rate (% ages 15 – 24) 71.8 97.6 99.0 - 97.6 Mobile Phone subscribes (per 100 people) 47.2 93.1 77.9 66.7 94.2 Internet users (per 100 people) 28.4 6.7 5.5 20.0 9.0 Whereas in pre-colonial Africa the urban centre was a place for industry and creation of wealth as obtains in the developed capitalist economies, peripheral capitalism has turned the African urban centers and even the rural places into mere centers of consumption and distribution of goods and services from the international capitalist system of production. [4]. The attendant competition to be relevant in this international capitalism, that is, to become part of the comprador bourgeois class that superintends over foreign capital has polarized the Nigerian people. This has instituted ethnicity and religious intolerance while entrenching corruption. It also perpetuates poverty and poor governance as shown by the development indicators in table 1. This high level of poverty is not expected to improve in the nearest future as the exponential growth rate of the Nigerian population is seen as compounding the problem of providing food, jobs, shelter, education and exacerbating absolute poverty (Table 2 ).There is also the excessive dependence on Europe and America for ideas, financial and technological assistance which have brought about prevarications in government policies, attendant shortfall in the delivery of infrastructural facilities and services. Apart from this generally unsatisfactory state of affairs in Nigeria, the situation in South Eastern Nigeria is worsened by the civil war experience which has left indelible marks of economic suppression and socio – political marginalization. It is perhaps as a result of these anomalies that the Igbo of South East Nigeria have relied more on self help and community development projects to provide the region with much needed infrastructural facilities. The Igbo of South East Nigeria are well known for their self help initiatives. During the colonial era, men and women mostly in unskilled employment mobilized scarcely available funds to send their kinsmen to the best schools in Europe and America, in pursuit of the Golden Fleece. These people trained through communal self help efforts did not only become role models in their communities, they also catalyzed development efforts within these communities and beyond. The roles played by such beneficiaries of early Western education as Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Mbonu Ojike and Dr. Kingsley Mbadiwe in the struggle for self rule and eventual wresting of independence from the colonialists attest to this fact. In the same vein, after the Nigeria- Biafra war (1967 – 1970) ravaged populations, homes and infrastructural facilities in the region, town unions organized the people and mobilized funds for communal self help projects. Schools Paper ID: 020131620 1283