LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION AND DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION AND  DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA------by Olisa Agbakoba SAN & Hilary Ogbonna

(A Capacity Building Manual)



This is a training manual for local government administrators, community based organizations, NGOs, activists and policy makers, interested in improving good governance on the local level in Nigeria. The objectives of this manual are (1) to enable local government administrators to appreciate their roles as developmental agents and to enable them harness the various resources at their disposal to bring about meaningful grassroots development; (2) to help various interest groups and grassroots constituencies reach an understanding of issues in local government administration; (3) to assist political actors, community organizations and grassroots people in the context of their dealings with the local government; and (4) to help every stakeholder to develop action plans for the local government in their respective areas. The manual is intended to be used as training material for seminars and workshops, as a reference guide as well as advocacy material in public enlightenment and discourses.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Part 1 EVOLUTION OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

Origin and Forms of Local Governments

Part 2 GOVERNANCE IN LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

Good Governance in Local Governments Administration .
Local Government Financing , Budgeting in Local Governments.

Part 3 CITIZEN PARTICIPATION IN LOCAL GOVERNANCE
Civil Society Participation in Local Government Administration

Part 4 LOCAL GOVERNANCE AND DEVELOPMENT
Local Governance and Development

APPENDIX: Function of a Local Government Council Fourth Schedule to the 1999 Constitution.

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Local Government Administration and the Challenges of Rural Development in Nigeria

Abstract
Rural development of the grassroots has been the concern of every responsible and responsive political system. This is because development and participation have continued to elude people of the grassroots. Development remains insignificant if it does not positively affect the lives of those in the periphery of decision making arrangement. The Nigerian state therefore created local government as the third tier of government whose objective is to ensure effective, measurable and efficient service delivery to the people. Local government is faced with various difficulties. The major concern of this paper is to dwell on these difficulties and illuminates the factors that are responsible for them. In achieving this, the paper relies on descriptive approach and unstructured interview. It concludes that problems of local government are multifarious in nature and the solutions for them should be adequate and practical in order to evolve viable and development-oriented third tier of government.

Key words: grassroots, political system, autonomy, third tier, participation, development, uniformity, unity, culture, diversity, interference, national integration, performance, consciousness, concept, commitment, democracy, inefficiency, corruption, decentralisation.
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LOCAL GOVERNMENT AUTONOMY AND DEVELOPMENT OF LOCALITIES IN NIGERIA: ISSUES, PROBLEMS AND SUGGESTIONS

LOCAL GOVERNMENT AUTONOMY AND DEVELOPMENT
OF LOCALITIES IN NIGERIA: ISSUES, PROBLEMS AND
SUGGESTIONS
J. E. IMHANLAHIMI AND M. O. IKEANYIBE
(Received 15, January 2008; Revision Accepted 26, June 2009)
ABSTRACT
The topical issue of local government (LG) autonomy in Nigeria in relation to the development of
the localities, the raison d’etre of LGs, has been examined in this paper. Proceeding from theoretical
framework and conceptualizations for clearer understanding, the paper discusses some dominant
autonomy issues. These include representative LGs, the size of LGs, revenue, and personnel. The
paper found that inadequate handling of virtually all the above issues has posed some challenges for
LGs’ developmental efforts in the localities. Inadequate autonomy has been found to be the
independent variable in the challenges. Other challenges include inadequate finances, weak
intergovernmental relations, fledging democracy and grand corruption. These must be adequately
tackled for LGs to make more positive impact in the localities. Some pertinent recommendations are as
follows. LGs need adequate autonomy, hard work rather than verbal institutionalization, democratic
consolidation, reduced corruption, increased discipline and application of the rule of law.
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Repositioning the Local Government System for Sustainable Development through Constitution Review”

TEXT OF LECTURE DELIVERED BY HIS EXCELLENCY, SENATOR IKE EKWEREMADU CFR, DEPUTY SENATE PRESIDENT, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA AT A SEMINAR ON “REPOSITIONING LOCAL GOVERNMENTS ADMINISTRATION TO MEET THE CHALLENGES OF VISION 20-20-20” ORGANISED BY THE ASSOCIATION OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS OF NIGERIA (ALGON) AND THE OFFICE OF THE SGF ON 6TH JULY 2009 AT THE SHEHU MUSA YAR’ADUA CENTRE, ABUJA



“Repositioning the Local Government System for Sustainable Development through Constitution Review”

Protocol
Introduction

I am indeed happy and count it an honour and great opportunity to brainstorm with this gathering of important stakeholders in our quest for sustainable national development.
Though the invitation to this seminar and request to deliver this lecture was at a relative short notice, I did not hesitate to honour the invitation in person for so many reasons. I place premium on the local government system, being the closest tier of government to the people and a very critical factor in national development and the realization of the Vision 20-20-20. Importantly too, the local government system and the grassroots remain the genesis and cornerstone of my political career. So, for me, this event is a great reunion, having served as the Chairman of the Aninri Local Government Area of Enugu State. This seminar is an uncommon opportunity for me to share ideas with my colleagues from the hindsight of a road trod before and of one who had once won the shoe and knows where it hurts.



As an active player in the quest for the amendment of the 1999 Constitution since the 5th Senate and the Chairman of the present National Assembly Joint Committee on Constitution Review, I total subscribe to inclusiveness, participation, and consultation as indispensable elements of an acceptable, effective, and credible review of the 1999 Constitution. In fact, this is my second lecture on the constitution amendment in a space of about one month. On the 4th of June, I shared ideas with other critical stakeholders in the Nigerian project and the constitution review at the 2nd Alumni Homecoming of the Faculty of Law, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus vide a lecture entitled “10 Years of Democracy and the Quest for the Amendment of the 1999 Constitution”.


Therefore, before I proceed, I wish to appreciate the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, ALGON and the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation for their thoughtfulness in putting this seminar together to enrich discourses in topical development challenges facing the local government system and to build the capacity of these key players for better governance and administration of the local councils towards the achievement of Vision 20-20-20. This event, coming on the heels of Nigeria’s unprecedented 10 uninterrupted years of democracy, is a clear appreciation of the fact that democracy is not an end in itself, but a means which can best be sustained through good governance and practical improvement on the lives of our citizens. Incidentally, an overwhelming majority of our citizens live in the rural areas. Therefore, I count this seminar as indicative of a popular commitment to better the lots of a majority of Nigerians and by so doing consolidate our democracy.



I was given the freedom to frame the topic of this presentation around the seminar theme vis-à-vis the constitution review. My choice of this topic is underlined by the fact that the local government system could do much better if it is constitutionally and positively repositioned to deliver on its mandate. And I believe the ongoing process of the 1999 Constitution amendment presents yet another opportunity to reform and strengthen the local government system to be more effective and efficient in contributing to grassroots and national development. Constitutionally well restructured, empowered and well administered local governments are catalysts for sustainable national development. I believe that Vision 20-20-20 can succeed better if local governments are empowered to key in optimally to the vision. I will thus strive to highlight several vital facets of the subject–matter to help engender as well as widen discourse in our quest for a more utilitarian local government system through constitution-making and democracy in Nigeria.
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LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND SERVICE DELIVERY: A STUDY OF SELECTED LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN NIGERIA

LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND SERVICE DELIVERY: A STUDY OF SELECTED
LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN NIGERIA
ABUBAKAR, USMAN (Ph.D)
Department of Local Government and Development Studies
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria
Kaduna State, Nigeria.

ABSTRACT
Arising from the dissatisfaction expressed by many nations with centralised approaches to
local service delivery, a large number of these countries have resorted to decentralising
responsibility to lower level elected governments for their provision. This study provides the
findings of a field survey carried out in three states from the North-west, South- East and
South- Western parts of Nigeria. From these states, three local government areas each: one
urban, semi urban and rural were surveyed with respondents comprising of the chairman, six
heads of departments and five councillors each from the local governments (9 number) and
the civil society comprising traders and market women association, traditional rulers, a
retired civil servants, the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), National Union of Local
Government Employees (NULGE) and The Youth Association from each of the 9 local
governments surveyed. Questionnaire and interviews were conducted and the responses were
correlated and cross tabulated using the SPSS software. The result indicates a very weak
relationship between local government (decentralisation) as operational in Nigeria and
service delivery. Reasons for this development such as limited autonomy, high level
government interferences among others were highlighted and suggestions proffered to help
strengthen local governments in service provision.
Keywords: Local government, Decentralization and Service delivery
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LG AUTONOMY IN NIGERIA A HISTORICAL PERAPECTIVE

LG AUTONOMY IN NIGERIA A HISTORICAL PERAPECTIVE
INTRODUCTION

The aim of this paper is to examine the nature

ofomy, the Local Government auton its strength

and inherent contradictions in achieving the

objectives of local government system in Nigeria.

In doing this, it will be relevant to engage in a bit

of theorizing and conceptualization of the terms

local government and autonomy from different

view points. This will enable us generate a greater

power of analysis, as we observe that most of

the handed down tools, models, theories and

approaches from the West are of little utility to

the changing conditions of developing democracies.

This exercise will not in any way assume to

have exhausted all the various definitions given

by scholars and leading practitioners as to what

local government and autonomy connote. But

our choice of definition will be those that are of

relevance to the contemporary Nigerian local

government system.

At this point, it is conceived that any serious

discussion on the present local government autonomy

has to touch on our socio-economic and

political circumstances. Thus our values, sentiments

and prejudices could not escape intruding

as we make the premise as well as suggest

measures for transforming Nigerian local

government system.
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LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION IN NIGERIA: ISSUES, CHALLENGES AND THE WAY FORWARD

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION IN NIGERIA: ISSUES, CHALLENGES AND THE
WAY FORWARD
AKHAKPE IGHODALO
Department of Public Administration
Lagos State University, Ojo Lagos
+2348037222867, ighoakha@yahoo.com
&
KOLAWOLE SOLA
Department of Industrial Relations and Personnel Management
Lagos State University, Ojo Lagos
+2348035753243, iokolly@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT
Local government administration is widely regarded as government closest to the people of the grassroot.
It performs vital functions such as: political education, mobilization of the people for popular participation
in governance, vehicle for political accountability, among others. The struggle to bring about a local
government system in Nigeria has been a long drawn one. Efforts have geared towards moving the system
from local administration to local government with functional political and economic autonomy. Yet, local
government administration is confronted with issues and challenges such as: federal and state
government’s interventions in the constitutional apportioned responsibilities of local government. The
paper argues that for local government administration to realize its lofty goals, the country should return to
true federalism, enthrone positive leadership, pursuit of economic self-reliance through internally
generated revenue, and embrace attitudinal and behavioural changes to achieve good governance.
Keywords: Local Government, Democracy, Reforms and Governance.
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