In Nigeria, there has been an unprecedented increase in the number of universities. These universities most often are sited in outskirts of urban centres but over the years these communities have become fully urbanized. The question is how has the sitting of the universities contributed to community development and change in the livelihood of its host community through corporate social responsibilities (CSR). The paper argued that community service which is one of the core mandates of university constitutes part of its CSR to its host communities. This paper focuses on two universities host communities in Rivers State Nigeria. Drawing on interviews and focus group discussion, the paper examines the benefits host communities to University of Port Harcourt and Ignatius Ajuru University of Education derived and the negative impact of sitting the of the presence of the university in the communities. The findings suggest a range of positive benefits to the host communities. However, they also highlighted a number of problems that may negatively affect the livelihood of the host community. The benefits include employment of the indigenes, access to quality education, health care and increase economic activities. The negative impacts are increase crime rate and population growth.
Keywords: Community development, University, community service learning, corporate social responsibilities
