Covers the period from the early 1960s to 1987.

Objectives, scope, methods and hypothesis; Nigeria: the historical background; The genesis of the problem; Rural-urban relations as problem-generating structures; Field data: analysis and interpretation.

Monograph on the problems of rural area poverty, unemployment and inequitable income distribution in Nigeria - demonstrates the heavy reliance on commodity exports and the extent to which the rural sector has suffered from underdevelopment, and sets out proposals for rural development and rural modernization. Bibliography pp. 167 to 175, references and statistical tables.