Abstract
The recent over flooding in about 20 States in Nigeria, throws up the age old question of the rural development efforts. Many of
the affected areas are rural and many of the displaced are residents of rural areas. Many of these displaced people are more
likely to migrate to the urban areas, therefore compounding the challenges of the over populated urban areas. The levels of
destruction in these rural areas also reinforce the need to question public efforts towards rural development. This work
examined rural development efforts in Rivers state, Nigeria and observed that though governments had made concerted efforts
to address challenges confronting rural areas, there are still major difficulties. To sum up some of these are social, economic,
psychological, attitudinal and natural. Governments should always appraise and concert efforts to complete any project it
initiates.