INFLUENCE OF MONITORING AND EVALUATION ON PROJECT SUSTAINABILITY IN NIGERIA, A CASE STUDY OF LOCAL EMPOWERMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PROJECT (LEEMP) IN BENUE STATE

ABSTRACT
This study examines the Influence of Monitoring and Evaluation on Project Sustainability inNigeria, A Case Study of Local Empowerment and Environmental Management Project(LEEMP) in Benue State. Monitoring and Evaluation (M & E) helps to track projectperformance at any given time and provides reasons for an observed project status. In thisstudy, M & E was defined as the key component of project management that gives controlover the main parameters that define a project; scope, quality, resources, completion time andcost, as well as play major role in ensuring sustainability of the project.
The objectives of the study were to determine the influence of monitoring and evaluation planon project performance and sustainability in Nigeria; Investigate the extent to whichmonitoring and evaluation contribute to project performance and sustainability in Nigeria;Examine the implication of implementing development project without monitoring andevaluation plan; and Interrogate the benefits of adoption monitoring and evaluationframework on project performance and sustainability in Nigeria.
The literatures reviewed on M & E traced the evolution of M & E and examined theparadigm shifts that have occurred from viewing M & E as a mere tracking tool tosustainability component. Given the research objective, design and methods, data collectionand analysis were guided by the descriptive statistics. This approach was selected as the mostappropriate for addressing the research questions. Secondary data as well as primary datasourced from interviews of 60 participants conducted through focus group discussion in 6communities and 140 questionnaires were employed.
Data analysis was conducted using both quantitative and qualitative method. The resultsshow that monitoring and evaluation, indeed has influence on project performance andsustainability. Furthermore, the results show that the implication of implementingdevelopment project without monitoring and evaluation plan include lack of stakeholderengagement, lack of communication, and lack of clear roles and responsibilities, which willin turn leads to poor project performance and lack of sustainability. The study concluded thatthe monitoring and evaluation has direct influence on project performance and sustainability.Hence, Monitoring and evaluation should be comprehensive enough to measure therelevance, impact, sustainability and efficiency of a project or development interventions.
Keywords: Monitoring, Evaluation, Project, Sustainability, Performance.
Wordcount: 338 Words

TABLE OF CONTENT
TITLE PAGE I
CERTIFICATION IIDEDICATION IIIACKNOWLEDGEMENTS IVTABLE OF CONTENT VLIST OF TABLES VIIIABSTRACT XI
CHAPTER ONE 1INTRODUCTION 11.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY 11.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 31.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 41.4 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES 41.5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY 51.6 SIGNIFICANT OF STUDY 51.7 OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS OF SIGNIFICANT TERMS 6
CHAPTER TWO 8LITERATURE REVIEW 82.0 INTRODUCTION 82.1 THE CONCEPT OF SUSTAINABILITY DEVELOPMENT 82.1.1 SUSTAINABILITY DEFINED 92.1.2 SUSTAINABILITY FACTORS 102.1.3 PROJECT AND PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION 142.2.1 PROJECT LIFE CYCLE 162.2.2 SEGMENTS OF PROJECT SUSTAINABILITY 20
2.3 MONITORING AND EVALUATION AND INFLUENCE ON PROJECTPERFORMACE/SUSTAINABILITY 212.3.1 Evolution of Monitoring and Evaluation 212.3.2 Types of Monitoring and Evaluation 222.3.3 Monitoring and Evaluation Activities 232.3.4 Monitoring and Evaluation Planning and Project Performance/Sustainability 252.3.5 Monitoring and Evaluation Training and Project Performance/Sustainability 262.3.6 Baseline Surveys and Project Performance/Sustainability 282.4 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 302.5 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 312.6 LOCAL EMPOWERMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
PROJECT (LEEMP) IN NIGERIA 33
CHAPTER THREE 34RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 343.0 INTRODUCTION 343.1 AREA OF STUDY 343.1.1 Economic Activities 363.2 RESEARCH DESIGN 383.3 METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION 383.3.1 Focus Group Discussion 393.3.2 Questionnaire 393.3.3 Administration of Questionnaires 393.4 SOURCES OF DATA COLLECTION 403.4.1 Primary Sources 403.4.2 Secondary Sources 403.5 SAMPLING 403.5.1 Sample Size 413.5.2 Sampling Technique 413.5.3 SAMPLE SIZE DETERMINATION AND SELECTION 413.6 INSTRUMENTATION 423.7 DATA ANALYSIS METHOD 43
CHAPTER FOUR 44DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION 444.0 INTRODUCTION 444.1 QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF RESULT 444.1.1 Analysis of Questionnaires 444.1.2 Respondents’ Profile 444.1.3 Monitoring Planning Practice 474.1.4 Monitoring and Evaluation Practices 504.1.5 Community Participation and Relevance of LEEMP 514.1.6 Project Performance and Sustainability 534.2 QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS 564.2.1 Analysis of Interviews and Focus Group Discussions 56
CHAPTER FIVE 60SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS ANDRECOMMENDATIONS 60
5.0 INTRODUCTION 605.1 SUMMARY 605.2 CONCLUSION 625.3 RECOMMENDATIONS 635.4 SUGGESTION FOR FURTHER RESEARCH 64
REFERENCES 65
APPENDICES…………..…………………………………………………………………..74Appendix I………..…………………………………………………………………………..74Appendix II…………………………….…………………………………………………….76