Road Infrastructure as an Index for Rural Development in Imo State Nigeria

The study examines road infrastructure as a basis for assessing rural development in Imo State. The specific objectives that guided this study are to (i) evaluate the nature and spatial organization of road infrastructure; (ii) assess the contributions of road infrastructure to the development of rural communities; and (iii) determine the effects of poor road network on the development of rural communities in Imo State. This study is built on null hypothesis that there is no significance difference in the distribution of road infrastructure in rural areas of Imo State. The study area was stratified into three stratum, comprising Orlu, Okigwe, and Owerri geo- political zones of Imo State. A total of 44 rural communities were randomly selected from 11 sampled Local Government Areas (LGAs) with a targeted population of 627 people. Primary data were generated from the 627 respondents using structured questionnaire, oral interview and direct field observation. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. A comparative assessment of the road infrastructure traversing sampled local government Areas and communities reveals that Orlu zone attracted a highest scenario, followed by Owerri zone, while Okigwe zone attracted the least proportion in the series. The disparities are partly attributed to the immensity and geographical spread of the zones. The Gini index and student t-test were used to test hypothesis one and the result reveals that, there is fairly even distribution of state roads in Imo State, while a test of the degree of inequality indicates statistically insignificant. Also, there were no Federal Government Roads in most of the communities while very few state government roads were tarred. The study recommends that frantic efforts should be directed to the regular repairs and maintenance of state and rural roads for improved access and sustainable development in various communities within the sampled zones.