The failure of the state to address the problems of rural infrastructure in rural areas of Nigeria
led to the adoption of self-governing techniques by the people through collective action. The
study shows that rural people organized themselves based on appropriate institutional
arrangements, mutual agreements and shared understanding; and planned and executed public
goods and services that directly touched the lives of their people. The paper found that rural
communities in south-western Nigeria through self-organized arrangements provided rural
facilities at the cost of N26,204,000.00 ($1,546,071.7) (i.e. 98.3%) of the total figure thus
constituting the prime mover for rural facilities development, while Local Governments
contributed N450,000.00 ($20,452) (i.e. 1.7%) on the same facilities. The concern is that if
these institutions are so accountable to their members, we should begin to conceptualize how
they can be used to re-constitute order from the bottom up and to complement the state
structure of governance.