 Background The research work empirically examined rural development in Afikpo-North local government of Ebonyi state.  Problems An effective and development-focused local government administration is a problem and challenge that most local governments in Nigeria have not been able to solve.  Methods Primary and secondary data were employed for this research work. A survey research design was considered the most suitable approach in view of the problem being investigated. A structured close ended questions were used to collect primary data from the respondents, this relates to section B of the questionnaire where A 5-point Likert scale was adopted ranging from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree”. However, the secondary data was obtained from textbooks, journals and internet. A total of three hundred and ninety-nine copies of questionnaire were distributed based on samples and random sampling technique while three hundred and seven- one copies were returned; this means 93% of samples were used for the research work. Adopting structural- functionalism as its framework of analysis, the research employed both descriptive statistical and thematic analysis in analyzing data sourced from questionnaire and interviews with the aid of SPSS computer package.  Conclusion The research concluded that Afikpo-North local government has not positively affected rural development in Ebonyi state. Furthermore, that rural development in Afikpo-North local government is significantly affected by loss of autonomy/other factors. Finally, that rural development in Afikpo-North local government will be significantly affected on establishment of a functional anti-corruption mechanism.The study suggests an enactment of an effective disciplinary act for the local government system to curb especially the endemic problem ofcorruption and to diversifyinternal revenue generation drive / initiate investment so as to boost theirs services.

Keywords : Local government, rural development, Afikpo- North.