The focus of the paper is on professionalization of community development with its challenges and prospects in Nigeria. The paper explored the concept of professionalization as a process by which any trade, work or occupation transforms itself into a profession of high standards, integrity and competence in human environment. The paper identified the characteristics of professionalization to include educational and professional qualifications, training, area of specialization, formal certification, code of conduct, establishment of professional body, self regulatory association among others. The paper identified lack of professional culture, lack of interest to promote professionalization of community development, weak professional association, lack of control entry among others as the challenges which militate against professionalization of community development in Nigeria. The paper identified establishment of appropriate educational qualifications, appropriate professional body, self regulatory association, code of conduct, employment of community development professionals and issuance of operational licence to community development professionals as some of the prospects of professionalization of community development in Nigeria. The paper recommends among other things a policy framework to enact a law to make the practice of community development an exclusive domain of community development professionals to practice their profession, entrenchment of professional values and issuance of operational licence to only qualified community development professionals to practice community development as a profession in Nigeria.
Keywords: Community, Development Challenges, Professionalization, Prospects
