Abstract

The growth and development of most rural communities is also dependent on the activities of indigenous social groups. The efficiency of these groups is often hinged on their social capital status and their ability to interact and function collectively. The study therefore, assessed selected social capital attributes among age grades in Abia State, Nigeria with special considerations on their network and membership, trust, reciprocity, norms and values. Purposive and random sampling techniques were employed in the selection of 90 age grade members as respondents from 3 local government areas in the State that had functional age grades. Data were collected using questionnaire/interview schedule, analysed using percentages and mean and corroborated through Focus Group Discussions (FGD). Results revealed that 67.8% of the respondents indicated that membership of age grades was mostly compulsory for every adult male, 67.8% believed most members could assist them financially while 98.9% believed most members would assist in times of emergency. The result also showed that age grades had high frequency of interaction with other groups (x?=2.14), 94.4% of the respondents agreed there was high level of reciprocity in the group and 91.8% agreed they had high level of compliance with norms and values. The study concluded that the social capital attributes among age grades in the study area was high and this enabled them work collectively as teams to achieve theirs and communities? goals. It therefore recommends that community leaders and stakeholders should encourage the formation of age grades and boost social capital to assist in community development.

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