The phenomenon of poverty has always occupied the central discourse of many organised polities especially given its attendant consequences in a society where it is dominant. Scholars and practitioners have in various ways debated profusely on what causes poverty and its reduction process. While some hold the profound view that the causes of poverty are largely exogenous, others submit that the causes of poverty are endogenous. They largely ascribe poverty to government corruption with limited attempt at isolating the elements of this corruption. The aim of this paper therefore, is to interrogate the contribution of the relationship between the state and academics to the accentuation of poverty and how such relationship can provide a vent for effective poverty reduction in Nigeria. It is a modest attempt at identifying a new approach towards understanding the poverty scourge and viable reduction schema. Data for the study was collected through primary and secondary sources with greater reliance on participant observation and interview methods. Data analysis was by qualitative method using simple qualitative analysis. The study submits that overlapping relationship of mutual interdependence between the state, academia and industries in stimulating research into science and technology development is a more sustainable poverty reduction strategy.

The burden of rural development has remained recurrent in the development planning of Nigeria from independence to date. Despite these concerns, the condition of the rural areas in terms of development infrastructure remains precarious. The development of rural infrastructure is highly central to the transformation of rural areas of Nigeria yet attention in that direction seems unproductive. Several methods of effecting rural development have been applied in the Nigerian context with little or no major inroad into addressing rural infrastructure and reversing the rural squalor common in the country. This paper argues that the pool method (central determination) of financing basic rural infrastructure is prone to excluding so many communities from accessing basic facilities and falls short of the practice of accountability. On the basis of this, the paper recommends a model of financing basic rural infrastructure known as FINANCIAL EQUITY MODEL. It is the thesis of this paper that further financial administration restructuring at the Local Government system will provide a plausible vent for a quick and even development of rural areas in Nigeria.

This study focuses on the involvement of women in agricultural production in Cross River State, Nigeria. The objective is to ascertain the contributions of women to food sufficiency in the state and the challenges they face in course of their farming process. The study attempted to answer the following research questions; what is the level of contribution of women in agriculture to food sufficiency in Cross River State? What are the inhibiting challenges to agricultural production by women in Cross River State? A total of 900 women across the State were examined to capture their involvement and contribution to agricultural production as well as the challenges they face in this process. Data was generated through questionnaire, interview and observation and were analyzed with simple percentage technique and presented on tables and graph. The study discovered that women in agriculture in cross river are active contributors to food sufficiency through the remarkable increase in their crop production index. Second; women are faced with challenges that inhibit robust food production in the state such as land restriction, limited access to capital/access to credit, gender inequality/discrimination and lack of storage facility. On the basis of this the study advocates policy change to give women access to more land and credit facilities. Traditional norms that hinder women access to land be relaxed through government conscious pressure on local culture. Robust assistance to fund women agriculture should become the priority of the state and the local governments through conscious policy of soft credit facilities with minimal collateral.

ABSTRACT:-Productivity is a core consideration in the development equation of countries that strive for economic strength, increase in national revenue through foreign exchange earnings and overall improvement in the standard of living of its citizens. It has therefore become a core concept for development planners and institutions. Any country that exhibits a lackluster attitude to productivity is consciously inviting poverty. This paper examines the sanctity of productivity change and competitiveness as a sin qua non to national development and hypothesizes that effective resource diversification to productivity change and competitiveness could reposition Nigeria on the path of national transformation. Basic data for the paper were through literature search. The paper outlines the determinants of productivity change and the place of policy in changing the production direction of Nigeria. It observes that Nigeria productivity is conditioned by a mono resource (Oil). It concludes that a conscious policy direction on resource diversification will place Nigeria in the direction of productivity change. To achieve this, the paper recommends effective collaboration between the state, academia and the industry in the development of knowledge base economy