This paper argues that political and economic interests at the grassroots level have fostered innovative responses to development programmes in local communities while, paradoxically, contributing to the political delegitimization of the African state. These local initiatives have promoted development in ways which consolidate the existing political structure; in African states, the activities of "civil society' at the local is intimately connected to the institutions of the state. Three major themes in contemporary Nigerian grassroots politics illustrate these dynamic and paradoxical process. These are the politics of institutional transformation and communal relations, the relevance of indigenous institutions (eg chieftaincy) to local development and politics, and the role of indigenous entrepreneurship and civic organizations in community development. -from Author