Traditional Welfare Institutions and Services Delivery Challenges in Rivers State

This Research investigated Traditional Institutions and Welfare Systems in Rivers State, anchored on the Political Economy, and the Structural Functionalism Approaches respectively. The work is a descriptive study and adopted the mixed methods of research which is the qualitative and quantitative research methods. Data was collected through the means of Focus Group Discussion (FGDs), key Informant Interview (KII) and the questionnaire. The researcher utilized the Taro Yamane formula to arrive at a sample size of four hundred (400) Respondents. The study was conducted in six randomly selected local government areas, and the accidental sampling technique was used to access the respondents. The quantitative data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistic such as Percentage, Mean and Standard Deviation, whereas, the qualitative data was analyzed with the content analysis technique. Findings from this Study revealed that traditional institutions have structures such as family, age grades and other groups Which perform welfare role to their members. And they are sources of mutual supports to their members in times of socio-economic needs. But there are challenges which distort collective efforts.