Rural Information Centers as Gateways for Agricultural Development and National Transformation in Nigeria: A Theoretical Framework

As a country that is endowed with ample natural and human resources, Nigeria has the potential of being Africa’s most vibrant economy and an active player within the global terrain. Having an expanse of 98 million hectares of land of which about 74 million hectares is arable, agriculture happens to be one of the major source of its national wealth after oil. Yet, it cultivates only 40% of the available farmland that abound and places more emphasis on oil. With the current tumble of global crude oil prices as a result of the oil supply glut however, the future of its economy remains fragile. Since information is a basic prerequisite for development and information centers are the strongholds for attaining coherent and adequate information, the establishment and adequate utilization of rural information centers that would boost the agricultural sector and facilitate a healthy national transformation remains paramount. As such, the premise of this paper is to showcase how rural Information centers can serve as pathways for Agricultural Development and National Transformation in Nigeria. To achieve this, related literature on the concept of Rural Information Centers (RIC's), Agricultural Development and National Transformation were explored. More so, the emergence of Rural Information Centers (RIC's), components of Rural Information Service, and the prospects of establishing adequate rural information centers that would serve the rural agrarian communities in Nigeria amongst others were highlighted. To this end, the paper suggested a blueprint on how to leapfrog into the information paradigm so as to foster a robust agricultural output for national transformation in Nigeria.