Community Stakeholders’ Perspectives on Poverty Alleviation in a University Town
Adetiloye, Kehinde Adekunle; Matthew, A. Oluwatoyin

Abstract
Poverty is pervasive in Nigerian communities and is entrenched in both rural and urban centres. Nigerians see hope in the locating of institutions as means of improving livelihood. The paper studies the stakeholders’ approach to poverty alleviation in a town where a private mission university is sited. Using the technique of correlation supported with bootstrapping, stakeholders’ responses indicate that education is a key factor in poverty alleviation as it is a cause and solution. Public sector investment is required in the areas of road and energy and youth participation is required for programmes to succeed. Stakeholders’ perspective is also affected by the kind of education they have received and management of intervention programmes must be by agreement and understanding between them. The paper recommends the increase in the opportunity to be made available for the indigent indigenes to be empowered by formal or vocational education. There is also a need for transparency in stakeholders’ management of intervention programmes to ensure complete success.

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