Relationship between Local Government Headquarters and Rural Hinterland Settlements in Rivers South East Senatorial District of Rivers State, Nigeria

Abstract

This paper examines local the nature of the relationship between the local government headquarters and rural hinterland settlements in Rivers South East Senatorial District of Rivers state. The local government structure as operated in Nigeria is, no doubt, an explicit strategy of spatial closure or territorial organization of power. Their headquarters within this respect are growth points and service centres in the spread and diffusion of developmental influences to the grassroots. It thus, becomes necessary to examine the patterns, regularities and relationships that exists within this framework. The findings of the study revealed that there is a significant variation in the level of interaction between its headquarters and the various rural hinterland settlements. The large administrative territory negates the attributes of any institution of grassroots participation.The study recommends a national re-organization of local government boundaries akin to a national system of central places. This should be within the framework of urban-rural regions defined in the context of contiguous zones of effective interaction between the centres and the rural hinterlands.