European Journal of Social Sciences ISSN 1450-2267 Vol. 39 No 2 July, 2013, pp.152 - 173 http://www.europeanjournalofsocialsciences.com Self Help Groups in Cross River State, Nigeria 1 Uwem Essia Department of Economics, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] Peter N. Mba Department of Economics, University of Calabar Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria E-mail: [email protected] Margaret Ebokpo Department of Civil Societies/Non-Governmental Organization Office of the Governor, Cross River State, Nigeria E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] Nsa Ekpo Mensa Communications, Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria E-mail: [email protected] Awuken Obaji We- Women Network, Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria E-mail: [email protected] Abstract Self Help Groups (SHGs) are generally nonprofessional organizations of about 10 to 20 people, who pool financial resources, make small interest bearing loans to their members, and help each other to deal with the ‘common problem’. Cross River State needs viable and sustainable SHGs to partner with for effective community development, poverty reduction, and informal-formal economy linkages. This paper reviews the evidence on SHGs in Cross River State based on a baseline survey conducted between October and November 2012. The focus was on the outreach, social role, and sustainability of SHGs in the State. Using evidences gathered through interviews and discussions from 568 SHGs, 1092 SHGs members/participants, and selected Self Help Promoting Authorities (SHPAs), the paper submits that SHGs are inhibited by several challenges including multiplicity of registrations, poor record keeping by the various SHPAs, absence of standard registration procedures and operational rules, low SHGs-government dialogue, and weak capacity for accessing bank loans. Arising from these weaknesses, the paper proposes an intervention plan that seeks to make SHGs more attractive to new members, promote healthy SHGs- Government dialogue, and ensure that SHGs access cheap seed for onward lending to the members. Equally needful is creation of a basket fund and clear procedures and requirements for eligible SHGs to partner with government to execute and manage of community development projects sustainably. 1 This paper was based on the outcome of a study of Self Help Groups in Cross River State, Nigeria sponsored by the Government of Cross River State. However the views expressed here are those of the authors European Journal of Social Sciences - Volume 39 Issue 2 153 Keywords: Self-help groups, linkages, basket fund, credit schemes, federations, savings 1. Background Issues Self help groups (SHGs) are generally nonprofessional organization of about 10 to 20 people, usually women from a similar class and region, who come together to form savings and credit organization that pool financial resources to make small interest bearing loans to their members. This process creates an ethic that focuses on savings first. Their mutual goal is to help each other to deal with, if possible to heal or recover from, the ‘common problem’. SHGs may exist separately or as part of larger organizations. They may operate informally or according to a format or program. The groups usually meet locally, in members’ homes or in community rooms in schools, churches, or other centers. Different models of SHGs organization exist; the “professional expert” model where professionals serve as leaders or provide supplementary resources (Gartner and Riessman, 1977), and the “peer participatory” model where leadership is democratic and participatory (Stewart, 1990). According to Ahmad (2007) the original model of SHG was Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) founded in 1935 by William Griffith Wilson and Robert Holbrook Smith. Borman (1992) estimates further that AA has an estimated membership of 1 million people organized within more than 40,000 groups in 100 countries. AA has come to be known as a “twelve-step group” because its program for sobriety involves the following twelve steps: 1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable. 2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. 3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him. 4. Mjltdade a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. 5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. 6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. 7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. 8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all. 9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them. 10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. 11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and power to carry that out. 12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics and to practice these principles in all our affairs. There are numerous other twelve-step groups modeled after AA that help their members to recover from various addictive behaviors while maintaining member confidentiality. There are also groups that work towards recovery from addictions but reject certain tenets of twelve-step programs. Other types of SHG focus on a variety of problems, including; diseases prevention or management, bereaved or single parents, and accessing credit, research grants and a variety of assistantships. 1.1. Evolution of SHGs in Nigeria In Nigeria self help or service approach to community development involves encouraging people to bring up development idea, and supporting them to implement development programmes that they can take ownership. This contrasts with the more traditional project and extension approaches where government either determines what the people need or seek to expose them to innovations and new information. As understood in the Nigerian development community, at least theoretically, self-help development is both an object (what) and a process (how). As an object, it involves inducing change 154 European Journal of Social Sciences - Volume 39 Issue 2 for achievement of desirable community goals. As a process, it involves well articulated programmes and efforts to assist individuals acquire competencies required for working sustainably in groups to solve common problems, develop their communities, and demand efficient service delivery. While the experience of India and other countries like Ethiopia, Kenya, Luanda and so on that have either successfully adopted or are experimenting the self-help approach may be quite informing, this baseline study is vital as it reveals the underlying socio-cultural and economic milieu, internal dynamics, and political praxis that galvanize and strengthen motivation to form and run SHGs sustainably (Udoye. 1992; Akpomuvie, 2010). Akpomuvie (2010) discusses evolution of the practice of self-help development from pre- colonial to the present period. The pre-colonial years were characterized by mobilization of human and material resources for development using the instrumentality of age grades, lineages, and village councils. People were mobilized for building homesteads for the weak and vulnerable, clearing pathways to farm, streams and markets, and doing other things that were commonly required. Although many of such self help activities have persisted in many communities of Cross River State they differ from the modern notion of SHGs in the scope of operation, organization, and linkages with government, donors and banks. The colonial period before the 1940s was characterized by exploitation and alienation. The divide-and-rule system, clientele (Warrant Chief) arrangement, extortion of taxes, and compulsory labour distanced people from the colonial government. The picture of government as alienated began to crystallize and dominate the mental models of many. People still formed groups based on kinship, blood relationships, business ties or religious affinity, and some measure of communal self help continued. But the overriding concern was pursuit of individual goals, often at the expense of others and the society. Many of the emerging ‘small groups’ took to illegalities and in many cases were willing to shield their members from criminal prosecutions. As Hancock (1962) aptly puts it, the colonial government before the 1940s paid lip services to promotion of self-help and any development that occurred was a byproduct of profit. Arndt (1981) notes however that abrogation in Britain of the Colonial Development Act and replacing it with the Development and Welfare Act in 1939 led to the establishment of Community Development Divisions, at the local level, charged with the responsibility of channeling and coordinating the efforts of the people towards promoting social and economic development. The British Government provided the Development and Welfare Fund that affected the lives of rural people through the then system of local government. After the Nigerian Civil War (1967- 1970), most communities engaged in self help activities for reconstruction of the war ravaged facilities. This gave rise to several social clubs, community based organizations, and Diaspora groups that provided self help services. Further efforts by government