COURSE

GUIDE

PAD 707
LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

Course Team Dr Pius Abang (Course Writer)

Prof. Chikelue Ofuebe (Content Editor)
Dr David C. Nwogbo (Programme Coordinator)

NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA

PAD 707 COURSE GUIDE

© 2018 by NOUN Press

National Open University of Nigeria
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University Village
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Nnamdi Azikiwe Expressway
Jabi, Abuja

Lagos Office
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Victoria Island, Lagos

e-mail: [email protected]
URL: www.nou.edu.ng

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, in any form or
by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Printed 2018

ISBN: 978-978-8521-81-5

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PAD 707 COURSE GUIDE

CONTENTS PAGE

Introduction………………………………………………….. iv
What You Will Learn in this Course……………………….. iv
Course Aims………………………………………………… v
Course Objectives…………………………………………… v
Working through this Course………………………………. vi
Course Materials…………………………………………….. vii
Study Units………………………………………………….. vii
Textbooks and References…………………………………… viii
Assignment File……………………………………………... viii
Course Assessment………………………………………….. viii
Tutor-Marked Assignment………………………………….. ix
Conclusion…………………………………………………... ix

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PAD 707 COURSE GUIDE

INTRODUCTION

Local Government Administration is one- semester course for students

offering PGD in Public Administration. It is a 2 credit units course
consisting of 13 units. Each unit is supposed to be covered in two hours. It
is also core a course.

The course consists of 3 modules and 13 units. The units are: theoretical
basis of understating local governments, structures and functions of local
government, financial management in local governments Local
Government Finance and Decentralization. The Nature and Scope of Local
Government, The Significant of Local Government, Evolution of Local
Government, The 2003 Local Government Reforms, Local Government and
Service Delivery in Nigeria, Local Government Administration and
Grassroots Development in Nigeria. etc.

This course Guide tells you briefly what the course is all about, what
course material you will be using and how you can work your way
through these materials. It also highlights issues of timing for going
through these units, and explains the Activities and Tutor-Marked
Assignment. There are supposed to be tutorials attached to this course and
taking advantage of this will bring you into contact with your teacher which
will enhance your understanding of this course.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN IN THIS COURSE

The overall aim of this course on Local Government Administration is to

expose you to how public administration takes place in local government.
This is done to broaden your perspective on public administration and
stimulate your interest in local government. It is also to make you
appreciate that local government may be small governments but its
administration is a reflection of what takes place in higher government.

During this course, you will learn about the significance of local
government and structure of local governments.

You will therefore learn about the philosophy behind local government,
what they are really created to do and how they are structured to do
it, how has local government evolved over time, what are their sources of
finance, how do they manage finances and what development do they effect
in grassroots development; knowledge of these will lead to the appreciation
of the institution and the service they render.

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PAD 707 COURSE GUIDE

COURSE AIMS

The main aim of this course is to abreast students with the composition
of Local Government Administration as a third tier of government. This
course will bring to the fore the understanding of local government as the
closest level of government to the grassroots. The significance of local
government is highlighted including the development and types of local
government systems.

The specific aims of the course are as follows:

a) For students to be introduced to the importance in having local

government
b) The dimensions and characteristics of local government
c) Understanding local government as a platform for political and
popular education
d) Understand how local government promotes the spirit of liberty and
equity
e) How local government is an effective solution to local problems
f) Undertake an x-ray of the local government system through the
lenses of several constitutional reforms
g) How the local government has evolved over time and the landmark
changes occasioned by the evolution

COURSE OBJECTIVE

To successfully underscore the aims of the course as outlined above, the

course set overall objectives. These objectives are contained at the
beginning of each unit. It is expected that the student goes through the
objectives of each unit as he/she reads along. These objectives at the
beginning of every unit are intended to present a summary of the course
unit to enhance the reader’s understanding.

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PAD 707 COURSE GUIDE

Some of the broad objectives of the course as a whole are indicated below;

On successful completion of the course, you should be able to;

1) Underscore the local government as a channel of communication

between the people and the government.
2) Examine the contribution of the military to the growth of local
government system in Nigeria.
3) Appraise the foundation of the local government as laid
down by the colonialists.
4) Underscore the significance of electioneering at the local government
level.
5) Examine the essence of financial management at the local
government level.
6) Identify the role of local government in grassroots development
7) Underscore the basis of conflict between Association of Chairmen
of Local Government (ALGON) and the Governors of the state, etc.

WORKING THROUGH THIS COURSE

To complete this course you are required to read the study units and
recommended textbooks and explore more current materials on the internet.
You may also need to visit the local governments around you to observe
practically some of the things conveyed in this course, for example,
services delivered by local government. You could also have a chat with
local government staff on a wide array of issues including the problems
they face. Note also that local government is a living subject and there
are developments daily about the organization especially in your country,
so, you are advised to keep abreast of these in the newspapers and
magazines and even the radio.

In this course, each unit consists of exercises or activities to test

your understanding from time to time. At a point in your course, you are
required to submit assignments for assessment purposes. At the end of the
course is a final examination. Below you will find listed all the components
of the course, what you have to do and how you should allocate time to
each unit in order to complete the course successfully on time.

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PAD 707 COURSE GUIDE

COURSE MATERIALS

Major component of the course are:

a) Course Guide
b) Study Units
c). Further Readings
d). Activities and Tutor-Marked Assignment

Everything is contained in each unit except the test books which you may
have to prepare. You are advised to source current materials on the
net and avail yourselves of newspapers and magazines and other
publications on local government. You may contact your tutor where you
run into problems about text books.

STUDY UNITS

There are thirteen units in this course as follows:

Module 1

Unit 1 The Nature and Scope of Local Government

Unit 2 The Significance of Local Government
Unit 3 The Development of Local Government
Unit 4 Types of Local Government Systems
Unit 5 Functions and Problems of Local Government

Module 2

Unit 1 Evolution of Local Government System in Nigeria

Unit 2 Local Government Reform under the Babangida Era and the
Introduction of Presidential System at the Local Government
Level
Unit 3 The Fourth Republic
Unit 4 The 2003 Local Government Reforms

Module 3

Unit 1 Local Government and Service Delivery in Nigeria

Unit 2 Planning for Development at the Local Government Level
Unit 3 Financial Management and Accountability at the Local
Government Level
Unit 4 Local Government Administration and Grassroots
Development in Nigeria

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PAD 707 COURSE GUIDE

Each module is representing a homogenous body of issues on Local

Government Administration and Revenue Generation.

You must read each unit carefully. The basic knowledge on the topic is
conveyed here. An update of the knowledge is in reference materials of
currency. Supplementary reading is advised. As you work through each
unit, the core of the units is at the 3.0 level. The conclusion (4.0) helps to
round up what has been said far while “summary” (5.0) gives a brief
summary of the major issues discussed. This is meant to assist you to
remember the key issues and simplify the discussion at the end.

At the end of some issues discussed at the 3.0 level in the unit, you
will come across “Activity”. These are meant to provide simple question to
enable you comprehend or remind yourself of the things discussed
before the Activity. Answers are directly provided in most cases.

Do not consult the answers until you have attempted the questions. You
may sometimes observe that the answers provided give you more insight
than may have been originally conveyed, (especially with the tutor-
marked question. This is part of the characteristics of essay question).

TEXTBOOKS AND REFERENCES

There is no compulsory textbook for this course. However, as you go

through the course, you will observe that some textbooks are recommended
often. This shows that it is crucial to a number of units. Please try and
consult these. Moreover, each unit has it own assigned texts and document.
You should also lay your hands on these for further understanding.

ASSIGNMENT FILE

The major assignment required of you is a tutor-marked assignment (TMA)

which you are expected to complete at the end of each unit and mail to your
tutor.

COURSE ASSESSMENT

Your assessment for this course is made up of two components:

i) Tutor-marked assignment
ii) Final examination

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PAD 707 COURSE GUIDE

The practice exercises (or activity) are not part of your formal assessments
but it is important to complete all of them. If you do the practice exercise, it
will facilitate your understanding of the subject matter or topic and
your tutor-marked assignments.

TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

Each unit in this course has a TMA attached to it. You can only do this
assignment after covering the materials and exercise in each unit.
Normally the TMA are kept in a separate file. Your tutor will mark and
comment on it. Pay attention to such feedback from your tutor and use it to
improve your other assignments.

You can write the assignment by using materials from your study units and
from textbooks or other sources. It is however preferable that as a graduate
student, you should demonstrate evidence of wide reading especially from
texts and other sources –something to show that you have researched more
widely.

But do remember that copying from any sources without acknowledgment

is plagiarism and is not acceptable. You make references properly when
you refer to other people’s work.

The assignments are in most cases essay questions. Examples from your
own experience or environment are useful when you answer such questions.
This allows you to apply theory to real life situation.

CONCLUSION

Local Government Administration and Revenue Generation is an

interesting course. It provides you with theoretical, comparative and case
study perspective in understanding the subject matter. It is designed to
enable you understand the workings of local government and appreciate its
usefulness as a tier of government. Perhaps those of you who have been
ignorant about this institution will after this course start to take interest and
start applying yourselves to this institution. Good Luck and enjoy the
course.

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MAIN
COURSE

CONTENTS PAGE

Module 1……………………………………………………… 1

Unit 1 The Nature and Scope of Local Government…… 1

Unit 2 The Significance of Local Government ……….. 14
Unit 3 The Development of Local Government ………. 19
Unit 4 Types of Local Government Systems………….. 28
Unit 5 Functions and Problems of Local Government… 35

Module 2……………………………………………………… 45

Unit 1 Evolution of Local Government System in Nigeria 45

Unit 2 Local Government Reform under the Babangida
Era and the Introduction of Presidential System at
the Local Government Level……………………… 54
Unit 3 The Fourth Republic……………………………… 68
Unit 4 The 2003 Local Government Reforms……………. 73

Module 3………………………………………………………… 79

Unit 1 Local Government and Service Delivery in Nigeria… 79

Unit 2 Planning for Development at the Local Government
Level…………………………………………………. 92
Unit 3 Financial Management and Accountability at the
Local Government Level…………………………….. 104
Unit 4 Local Government Administration and Grassroots
Development in Nigeria…………………………… 115
PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

MODULE 1

Unit 1 The Nature and Scope of Local Government

Unit 2 The Significance of Local Government
Unit 3 The Development of Local Government
Unit 4 Types of Local Government Systems
Unit 5 Functions and Problems of Local Government

UNIT 1 THE NATURE AND SCOPE OF LOCAL

GOVERNMENT

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 The Nature and Scope of Local Government
3.2 Importance of having Local Government
3.3 The Meaning of Local Government
3.4 The Dimensions of the Concept of Local Government
3.5 The Characteristics of Local Government
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION

It is important that as a preamble to understanding the course, “Local

Government Administration” we should first underscore the nature and
scope of Local Government. That way, you shall originate a mind set
on the place of Local Government in the whole activities of mankind.
This preamble will provide an insight into why Local Governments are
needed to drive development. Why can’t they be development at the
grassroots except until Local Governments are created?

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to;

• Give at least five reasons why local government are necessary

• State categorically the importance of local government
• Identify the different dimensions of local government
• Identify the characteristics of local government

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 The Nature and Scope of Local Government

Local Government forms an indispensable part of governance and

administration in any country. It is the closest tier of government to
the people, therefore, it bridges the gap between the government and
the governed.

Federalism shares powers and functions of government between the

Federal, State and Local Government. This is the medium through
which people can get to the people otherwise they will be alienated.

Local government’s jurisdiction is limited to a specific area and its

functions relate to the provision of civic amenities to the population
being within its jurisdiction. A local government functions within the
provision of the statute which has created it. it is subordinate to the
state/provincial/regional government which exercises control and
supervision over it. but the activities of the local government are not
less numerous. Local government has been undertaking new activities
which either regulated the conduct of the citizens or are in the
nature of service such as provision of health care facilities, provision
of markets, security, electricity, pipe borne water, public conveniences
in public places, feeder roads, etc. In fact, the local government is
the tier of government that the people can see, touch or feel. Therefore,
the people expect the local government to possibly provide all of their
needs.

3.2 Importance of Local Government

The importance of local government can be stated specifically thus,

a) It is more democratic. This is so because it increases the scope for

citizenship participation in the government of their locality.
b) It provides valuable political education. it exposes the citizens to
power and authority, power play, its uses, and challenges of
power management
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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

c) The local government provides a training ground for future

political leaders
d) Provision of services. There are certain services for which the
local government is the most efficient provider. Like caring for
the Community’s poor, the aged, handicapped and orphans etc.
In John Stuart mills appreciation of the invaluable contribution
of local government in this perspective, he observed that “if
local government did not exist, it would have been created”
e) Local knowledge is brought to bear on local government
f) It is more sensitive and responsive to local opinion. The
councillors and representatives are closer to the people and
respond much easily to their demands or to be voted out.
g) Promotion of political integration and national unity: local
government has a way of promoting national unity through
the opportunity it affords for popular political participation.
h) Promotion of local freedom/autonomy: local government is the
closest tier of government to the people, if the system of local
government is truly local, it provides special opportunities for
people to complain about the quality of services it renders and
about the conduct of council official.
i) Power is more widely dispersed which is a safeguard against
tyranny. The local government system protects against this.
j) Local variations and needs in service provision can better be
handled by local government since it understands the needs of its
own locality

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

Having understood the importance of local government, in what way do

you think the system of local government can be made to function more
effectively than it is today?

3.3 The Meaning of Local Government

Local government is the third tier of government mandated by law to

cater for the needs of people at the grassroots. It serves as a conveyor
belt that takes the central government closer to the governed. It has been
defined severally by scholars and organizations according to their
backgrounds. We shall observe a few of those definitions.

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

Bello – Iman (2007) defines local government as:

The unit of administration with defined territory, powers and
administration authority with relative autonomy which its administrative
authority could be elected or appointed exclusively by the people.
This means that, according to Bello-Imam, when a local body that
claim to represent the people is not chosen by them it can only be a
local form of administration.

According to D. Lockard, “Encyclopaedia of social sciences” defines

local government as a public organization, authorized to decide
and administer a limited range of public policies within relatively small
territory which is a sub-division of a regional, or national government.”

According to P. Stones, Local government can be defined as “that part

of the government of a country which deals with those matters which
concern the people in a particular locality” he points out further that the
local government acts as the communities housewife, in that it makes
our surroundings fit to live in keeps the streets clean,, educate our
children, builds our houses and does all those other similar jobs which
enable us to lead a civilized life.

Vankata Rao (1965) opines that “local government is that part of the
government which deals mainly with local affairs, administered by
authorities subordinate to the state government but elected
independently of the state authority by the qualified residents”

According to L. Golding, local government can be defined as

“management of their own affairs by the people of a locality”

Jennings (1947) defines local government as “governmental organs

having jurisdiction not over the whole of a country but over specific
portion of it”.

The United Nations defines local government as;

A political sub-division of a nation (or in a federal system, a state)

which is constituted by a law and has substantial control of local affairs
including the power to impose taxes or to exert labour for prescribed
purposes. The governing body of such an entity is elected or otherwise
locally selected.

The Reform document (Nigeria 1976) defines local government as;

Government at the local level exercised by representatives council,
established by law to exercise specific power within defied areas.

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

From the eight definitions above, certain features of local government

stand out

a. That local government is a subordinate system of government

b. It has both legal and constitutional power to perform certain
legislative, administrative and quasi judicial functions
c. Has the power to make policies, prepare budgets and a
measure of control over its own staff
d. It has legal personality i.e can sue and be sued
e. It exercise authority over a given territory or population

These definitions, point at local government as having government

features within limited powers.

This can be further broken down more specifically as follows;

a. Legal entity which can sue and be sued for wrong doing
b. Power to make its own laws, policies, plans and budget on what
to do, how, why, where, when, for who and at what cost.
c. Legislative body called a council composed of elected
councilors and a chairman to make laws and policies
d. Executive body called the committee composed of appointed
or elected officials and the chairman to formulate policies and
laws.
e. Administrative body called the local government service
composed of career civil servants to assist in formulating and in
implementing laws and polices
f. Power to tap human, financial and material resources for public
use within the geographical area
g. Answerable to a higher level of government (National or state
or regional) on certain power and functions it carries out
(especially concurrent function) this is to say that a local
government is not absolutely autonomous.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2

From the features of local government, identify at least 5 features that

makes local government a tier of government.

3.4 The Dimensions of the Concept of Local Government

The concept of local government thus is multi-dimensional. It has been

pointed out that it is basically an organized social entity with a feeling
of oneness. The local government is an integrant of the political
mechanism for governance in a country. As a body corporate with
juristic person, it represents a legal concept. Furthermore, the local

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

government is an administrative concept, not known to other levels of

government, with its councilors involved in making, unmaking and
remaking administrative decision in council and its committee with
direct bearing on civil services to the local people and now in nation
building activities. Similarly, geography and demography of a local
area along with economic factors offer important dimensions in the
conceptual articulation of local government. Not only has this, but also
environment, contributed to its birth, growth and development with an
object to have a comprehensive knowledge about the concept of local
government, it would be worthwhile to discuss its various
dimensions in some detail which are as follows:

Dimensions of the Concept of Local Government

Social Political Economic Administrative

Geography Legal

A) Social
Local government is an organized social entity. This in turn
develops into;

Feelings convergence among people

Feelings of divergence among local areas
Provides a basis for firms of local government it rural, semi-urban,
metropolitan, commercial, industrial and tribal.

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

The factors responsible for the various forms are identified as

Strengthen character of population

Local financial resources
Commercial and technical services
Comm. facilities and other civil services
Means of communication
Banking

Some Examples:

(i) A small group of human settlement with agriculture as a major

profession of the people and inadequate means of
communication is characterized as a rural local authority
(ii) A human settlement with diverse professional in agriculturalists
and non agriculturalists co-existing along with some means of
communication is often classified in places like India as
municipality

B) Political
The political dimension of local government presents to us the
most important of its concepts, which is however, different from
others; forms of public agencies, inspite of the fact that they
have some common characteristics. Since the operational
freedom to fulfill local needs and aspirations with necessary
popular mandate is the hall mark of local government, it is thus a
variant of democracy, inspite of its variance in form. To be more
specific, because of its democratic character, it impacts political
education on the local people.

C) Economic
The concept of local government has an economic
dimension of much significance. A local body can prove to be
efficient and effective without much effect if the locality is
economically sound. It has been pointed out that the economic
base of different classes of the community determines the local
politics. In India, for instance, a rural local authority is dominated
by the farmers, while an urban authority has professionally
diversified composition. The economic dimension in nutshell
highlights the facts of the local authorities: One, with a hearing
on their very existence as units for self governance and their
legitimate place in the national development. The cumulative
effect can be in the form of partnership between government
and local government so as to achieve the ultimate goal of
good life.

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

D) Administrative
In fact, the local government is operationally an administrative
organization with the influence of politics, administration and
technology. The local authorities have been placed in such a way
that both as unit of local self-government and as agents of
government, they may succeed in achieving the optimum results
without sacrificing the basic norms of democracy. This is so
because they confirm to the two cardinal objectives of public
administration; efficient performance and responsible
performance. Initially, local government may face some
problems, but with the attainment of maturity, local government
may produce results that may combine the best of the two worlds,
democratic and bureaucratic.

E) Geographical
With territorial jurisdiction over a particular human
habitation, the local government may be conceptualized in
geographical terms.

The Geography includes, the features like

Physical Demographic Economic

These features in turn affect the policy formulation, implementation and

law pertaining to local governments

F) Legal
The legal dimension of the local government presents two
things one, it is the agent of state and as much, represents
public interest. In the capacity of the agent of state, it exercises a
part of the sovereignty of the state delegated to it within its
geographical boundaries. Two, it is a self-governing institution.
In this capacity, it must exhibit three qualifications, which are
explained as:

It must exist as an organized entity followed by some minimum powers

in the form of

It must have character of a government

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

(i) A an agency it must be chosen by the people

(ii) It must be accountable

It must possess

(i) The right to enter into contract

(ii) It must have the right to purchase and dispose of property

Autonomy reality to raising the revenue Preparation of the budget

Control and management of local resources i.e. human, fiscal and
material

In a nutshell, it can be pointed out that legally, the local

authorities can be described as creatures of government. Not only this,
but, the contention that local self-government is an inherent right of
local people is no longer held valid. The developing countries, that lack
wrong traditions for grassroots democracy do not present a happy
picture in India, the local bodies have been dissolved or
superseded frequently. This shows the tendency of the higher level of
government to destroy its own creatures. The need of the hour is to
provide some constitutional safeguards until favourable democratic
traditions strike roots.

3.5 The Characteristics of Local Government

The discussion regarding meaning of local government makes it clear

that there are certain characteristics on which the systems of local
government are based. Some of its important characteristics are as

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

follows:

(i) Local Areas: A Local Government unit as far as its jurisdiction

is concerned has a well defined area which is fixed by the
concerned state government. This area can be termed as a city, a
town or a village. The territorial limits of a local body unit are
fixed by the state government subject to changes from time to
time through legislation.

(ii) Local Authority: The administration of a particular locality is

run by an authority or body of persons who are elected directly
by the people residing in that particular area. The authority which
includes the elected representatives of the people is responsible
for management of local affairs in that area.

(iii) Civil Amenities for Local Inhabitants: The primary

objective of local government is to provide certain civic
amenities to the people at their door- steps. The provision of
these civic amenities ensures the healthy living of local
community. These services are specifically means for those
inhabitants who are living in that restricted area for which the
local government unit has been created. It has been rightly
pointed out that all these amenities which make living better,
physically, economically, socially and culturally should be
assigned to the local inhabitants.

(iv) Local Finance: In order to perform its functions effectively, it is

necessary that every local government unit is provided with
adequate finances. The services provided to the local inhabitants
are largely financed out of finances raised locally. The local
inhabitants are required to pay taxes imposed by the concerned
local authority, it is the authority of local government. However,
unlike other levels of government that accords it a unique
position among corporate bodies, this authority has legal and
constitutional basis. Infact, the local government possesses
revenue raising and spending authority only to the extent that the
state/central government grants it to them.

(v) Local Autonomy: Local Autonomy means the freedom of

the local government to decide and act in the sphere of
activities and functions allotted to them by the statute under
which they are created. Among other things, it implies the legal
right of the inhabitants of a local area to choose their
representatives to govern the locally concerned, according to the
laws framed by the local council and to adopt the budget. It is
however, to be understood that the authorities which have been

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

given the responsibility to run the local government are neither

sovereign nor self-created entities and they will have to depend
upon the higher levels of government for their creation, rank,
powers and functions.

(vi) Local Participation: The success or failure of developmental

plans at the local level depends upon the active participation of
local people for whom these plans are made. It is a local
government which provides an opportunity to the local people to
participate in administration. If the goals of development have to
be achieved, people’s participation is a prerequisite for it.

(vii) Local Leadership: The people who come under the purview of
local government, especially those living in rural areas, are
generally illiterate, inexperienced, non-professional and unaware
about the functioning of local bodies. Strong leadership
therefore needs to be provided to those people. This leadership
is provided to the people from the local area in the shape of
elected representatives and elected bearers of the elected
councils in regard to the policies and programmes of the
government.

(viii) Local Accountability: Local Government units which are

created to provide civic amenities to the people are accountable to
the local people. The residents of a local area keep a watch on
local authorities to ensure effective performance of their
functions. If a local body becomes inefficient and is not in a
position to provide satisfactory services to the people, it faces
severe criticism of local residents.

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

(ix) Local Development: Local Government is concerned with the

overall development of the people living within its area. Every
activity of local government is therefore aimed at development.

It can be pointed out that in spite of the legal authority given to

the local governments; the impoverished state of the finances of
most authorities in the developing counties like Nigeria is a severe
handicap to responsible local government because the backbone of
local government is financial autonomy which Nigeria local government
are lacking.

4.0 CONCLUSION
Against the backdrop of the foregoing, the local government
represents the voice of the ordinary man. Apart from reducing the
volume of work from the central government and bringing government
closer to the governed, the local government is sensitive to local desires
and aspirations and provides a veritable platform whereby such
aspirations can be realized. The local government is subordinate to the
state government subject to various measures of control. Local
government becomes an indispensable tier of government because of
what it represents to the rural communities and individuals. The whole
essence of local government shall begin to unfold as we voyage into this
course progressively.

5.0 SUMMARY
A flash back at some of the major issues raised in this first unit will help
to refresh our memories.

Local governments are the closest tier of government to the

grassroots. They possess the features of a responsible government
mandated by law to carry out certain responsibilities in their jurisdiction
they are subordinate to the higher levels of government thereby subject
to some measures of control either financially or politically.

ANSWERS TO SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

Contributions
- Local government requires financial autonomy to enable them
carryout their enormous functions effectively.
- Reach out to communities under the local government
jurisdiction beyond the headquarters of the local government.
- Exploit local initiatives through regular town hall meetings
with the rural people
- Comment should participate in rural annual festivals to get
close to feeling the purse of the people about government

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

activities.

ANSWER TO SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2

Contribution
- That the local government is a subordinate system of government
- The local government has both legal and constitutional power
to perform certain legislative, administrative and quasi judicial
function
- Has the power to make policies, prepare budgets and a
measure of control over its own staff

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

Discuss the view that local government is an indispensable tier of

government to modern day democracy.

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Bello – Imam I. B (2007) The Local Government System in

Nigeria. Ibadan: College Press & Publishers Ltd. P.6

Lockard, D. “Encyclopedia of Social Sciences”, Vol. 9 New York, O. 45

Stone, P. (1963) “Local Government for Students” London, McDonald

and Evans Ltd P.1

Muttalib M. A, ad Akbar Khan (1982) “The Theory of Local

Government”, New Delhi Sterling Publishers P.1-3

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

UNIT 2 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF LOCAL

GOVERNMENT

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 Platform for Political and Popular Education
3.2 Promotes Spirit of Liberty and Equality
3.3 Effective Solution to Local Problems
3.4 Reduce the Burden of Work of State/Central Government
3.5 Channel of Communication between the State Government
and the Community
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION

In this unit we shall voyage into the significance of local government,

why did J. S. Mill say that if local government did not exist it would
have been created? It goes to explain what local government represents
in the life of the individual, the community and of course the nation.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, the student should be able to;

• Identify the significance of local government to the community

Identify the importance of local government to political and
popular education
• Analyse the usefulness of local government to leadership training
• Examine the contribution of local government to national
development

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 Platform for Political and Popular Education

Lord Ripon’s Resolution of 1882 emphasized the need of political and

popular education through local government. It is not primarily with
a view to improvement in administration that their measure is put
forward and supported. It is chiefly designed as an instrument of

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

political and popular education highlighting the significance of local

government as an educational institution. Prof Laski says: “The
institution of local government is education in perhaps a higher
degree at least contingently, than any other part of government. And it
must be remembered that there is no other way of bringing the mass
of citizens into intimate contact with persons responsible for decision
making. Local government is a system which ensures effective
participation of citizens in administration and makes them realize their
responsibilities towards the society.

3.2 Promotes Spirit of Liberty and Equality

The local assemblies of citizens says De Tocque Ville, add to the

strength of free nations. “Town meetings are to liberty what primary
schools are to science: they bring it within the people’s reach, they
teach men how to use and how to enjoy it. A nation may establish a
free government but without municipal institutions, it cannot have the
spirit of liberty. The concept of equality has many meanings but in the
context of local government it may enhance equality by providing
access to political office and political activity for wider groups of
people than are accommodated through national politics.

3.3 Effective Solution to Local Problems

All the problems are not supposed to be solved by the central

and state governments. I facts, there are some problems which occur at
the local level and need to be solved locally in accordance with local
needs, atmosphere, environment and wishes of the people. To be
acquainted with all these things, the government shall have to step down
to the local level in order to solve local problems in an effective manner.

According to H. J. Laski “we cannot realize the full benefits of

democratic government, unless we begin by the admission that all
problems are not control problems, and that the results of problems
in their incidence require decision at the place and by the persons,
where and by whom the incidence is most deeply felt.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

List at least 4 reasons why local government is seen as a platform for

political and popular education and effective solution to local problems.

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

3.4 Reduce the Burden of Work of State/Central Government

A large number of functions are performed by local government which

otherwise would have been performed by central/state government.
This, local government not only provides certain essential services to
the people, but also reduces the burden of central/state government as
well. If the central/state government is overloaded with work, it
becomes incompetent, in capable and inefficient to perform its
duties. Therefore, local government is necessary for the development of
initiative and interest of local masses in government and responsibility.
Local government is an invaluable socio-political laboratory for trying
and testing on a small scale, various new proposals for government
organization and socio- economic policies. It is persevere of local colurs
in the national life.

3.5 Channel of Communication between the State Government

and the Community

Local government serves as a channel of communication

between state government and the community. The demands made
by the local community are on the one hand transmitted to the state
government, the creator of local government and on the other hand,
people living in far flung areas come to know about the government
policies and programmes through local bodies. This, local government,
ensures close relationship between the people and the higher level of
governments through the device of communication.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2

If local government did not exist, it would have been created. What is
your take on this statement?

4.0 CONCLUSION

Local government means the administration of the affairs of a locality in

urban and rural areas by the people through their elected representatives.
It may be described as government by popularly elected bodies charged
with the administration and executive duties in matters concerning the
inhabitants of the particular district or place and vested with powers to
make bye laws for their guidance. The urban local government operates
in towns and cities through Municipal Corporations, Municipal
Committees, Cantonment Boards, Town and Notified Area
Communities.
5.0 SUMMARY

Although the significance of local government is inexhaustible, we have

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

explained significant aspect of local government that makes

local government an indispensable tier of government in the
architecture of administration. We can recap for instance, local
government offers a platform for political education, promotes spirit
of liberty and equality, effective solution to local problems, reduce the
burden of work on state/central government and creates a channel of
communication between the state government and the community.

ANSWER TO SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

Contribution
- The institution of local government is education in higher
degree at least contingently
- It is the only way of bringing the mass of citizens into intimate
contact with persons responsible for decisions making
- There are problems which occur at the local level that also
require to be treated locally in accordance with the wishes of
the people
- Government must step down to local level to be able to
solve local problems.

ANSWER TO SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2

- How would have been possible for government to harness local

human and material resources of local government was not
created?
- Charity they say begins at home. It is the local government
that provides a veritable platform for that truism.
- Some problems are not control problems, and it is only local
government that appreciates problems in accordance with
their environmental peculiarities and needs.
- A training ground for future leaders
- Experimental laboratory for national development etc.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

Identify at least 4 reasons advanced for the significance of local

government.

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Alexis de Tocque Ville (1953) “Democracy in America”, the Hency

Reeve Text Phillips, Bradley (ed) New York, Alfred A. Knpt P.
61

Ranny, Austin, (1958) “Governing of Man” New York P. 484

Akpan P. C. (1984) Modern Local Government Administration in

Nigeria, Kaduna Baraka Press Ltd. (Chapter 1)

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

UNIT 3 THE DEVELOPMENT OF LOCAL

GOVERNMENT

CONTENTS
1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 Agitation for Reform of Local Administration from 1935-
1950
3.2 Regional Reform of Local Government in Nigeria (1950-
1959)
3.3 Local Government and Democratic Governance in Nigeria
3.4 The Great Reforms of 1976
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION
The development of local government and the evolution of local
government in Nigeria are inextricably interwoven. This is to the extent
that one might consider them a repetition of each other. But for
purposes of clarity we shall underscore the differences between the two
areas. Whereas development of Local government has to do with the
changes introduced into local government administration to enhance
development beginning from nationalist agitation for reform of
local administration to the great reform of 1976 when the unified local
government was introduced in Nigeria to reposition local government as
a third tier of government and the basis for national development, the
evolution of local government underscores the gradual metamorphosis
that enveloped the Nigeria local government system at certain stages in
history till date. This shall be explained further in module 2.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, the students should be able to understand;

• The reform that took place in colonial administration between

1935 – 1950
• The major elements that were common to the reforms in the 3
regions
• Local government and democratic governance in Nigeria
• The major developments that came with the great reform of 1976
3.0 MAIN CONTENT

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

3.1 Agitation for Reforms of Local Administration

Among the nationalist agitations for changes in colonial

administration between 1935-1950, was the reform of Local
Administration properly known as the Native Authority.

The argument by the agitators then was that the Native Authority was
non- participatory and anti-development. There was too much emphasis
on maintenance of law and order through the use of the police, the native
courts and prisons.

Others are:
a. The need to remove women from payment of poll tax
b. Employment of educated Nigerians in the senior cadre of
the Native Authority Service
c. The election of councilors to participate in policy making
d. The discontinuation of the Indirect Rule System of Local
Administration.

This led to the regional reform of 1947 (Richards Constitution)

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

What were the agitations of the nationalist against the Native Authority
System?

3.2 Regional Reforms of Local Government in Nigeria 1950-

1965

In response to the agitation of some nationalist to the policies of Native

Authority System, the East, North and West were established in 1946
under the Richardson Constitution. By 1951 under the Macpherson
Constitution, each of the three regions had a house of assembly that
could legislate on regional matters including Local Government. The
first region to pass the law on Local Government reform was the East in
1950, followed by the West in 1952 and then in the North in 1954.

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

The major elements that were common to the reforms in the 3 Regions
were:

i) Introduction of elected councils in all Native Authorities

ii) Changes of names from Native Authority to Local Councils in
the East and West
iii) The introduction of multi-tier Local Government System in the
East and West
iv) The reduction of the role of the traditional rulers in policy
making through the introduction of Chief in Council at Chief and
Council.

Chief-in-Council means that the power of a traditional ruler to

veto the decision of a Local Council; while Chief-at-Council is a
situation whereby the decision of elected Councilors overwrite
that of a traditional rulers. This part has greatly hindered the
representativeness of the grassroots through their traditional
rulers with its application in the Northern Region alone.

v) The expansion of functions assigned to Local Government by

the Regional Government to include provision of development
programs.

st
Nigeria became an independent nation on October 1 1960. The post
Independent Regional Government maintained the features of the local
reform of the 1950s. However, all was not well in terms of the
relationship between the Regional Governments and Local Governments
in the following areas:

i) The election of Councilors on party basis whereby, the ruling

party in each of the three regions later four rigged the election
and therefore made nonsense of democracy at the local level.
ii) The control of Local Government policy making process
and policy decisions by the regional government. All policies
made by the Local Government Councils were either vetoed or
amended by the Regional Government.
iii) The employment, promotion and discipline of Local Government
staff were entirely and completely controlled by the Regional
Government
iv) The funding of the local government by the Regional
Government was the biggest stick used by the latter to whip the
former so much so that, the Local Government that failed to obey
were starved of funds to carry out their service delivery functions
at the grassroots.
The outcome of these and other punitive measures of the Regional
Governments rendered Local Governments ineffective, unproductive

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

and non developmental to the extent that Local Government Service

became unattractive to graduates and professionals.

3.3 Local Government and Democratic Governance in

Nigeria

The independence was greeted with high expectations from Nigerians,

particularly the desire for participatory democracy at the local
government level. Unfortunately, the First Republic inherited the
colonial local government structure and witnessed a setback in their
administrative structure, finances and democratic activities. The set
back in the democratic governance of the local government during
the period were noted through two regional instruments as follows:

Firstly, Obi (2010) holds that local governments in Nigeria during this
era were regionalized, and operated with different structure at different
regions. The establishment of Provincial Administrative Law of 1962 by
the Northern region crippled the powers of the local government in the
region, as the Native Authority re-emerged with the traditional rulers
doubling as the traditional rulers and regional political actors. In the
Western region, Igbuzor (2009) states that the local government
(amendment) Law of 1960 abolished most powers of the local
government councils, and reduced their functions, with the Local
Government Service Board as a supervising agent of the region. The
Western region crisis of 1962-65, which resulted to anarchy and
collapse of the administrative structure in the region, worsened the
matter. The Eastern regions was not left out of the net, as the ministry
of local government was used as a regional organ to regulate the
activities of local government councils, and reduce the council to mere
appendage of the region.

Secondly, the emergence of regional party politics and over

politicization of the party in the local governments weakened the local
government councils in Nigeria. The local government service board
and ministry of local government as obtainable in different regions
were serving as regional agents to regulate local government activities.
These bodies were controlled by different political parties in power at
the region - Action Group (AG) in the West, Northern People Congress
(NPC) in the North, and National Council of Nigeria and Cameroons
(NCNC) in the East. Obi (2010) opines that in most cases even when
members of the councils were elected as in the Eastern and Western
regions, and appointed in the Northern region, the members of the
council were answerable to the political party in power in the region and
not the local people. In the Western region, elected local government
councils were dissolved by the ruling party - Nigeria National
Democratic Party (NNDP) in 1965 led by Samuel Ladoke Akintola due

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

to the Councils support for AG led by Obafemi Awolowo during the

crisis of 1962-65, and replaced with care-taker committees made up of
the supporters of then ruling party - NNDP (Meredith, 2005).
Similarly, Nwosu (1992) opines that in the Eastern region where the
political actors were not members of the party in power at the regional
level, such local governments were deprived of their statutory functions,
as the issue of NCNC government at the regional level led by Dr.
Okpara against Dr. Okezie's Republican Party at Umuahia Ibekwu Local
Government Area in the region was a good example. In the Northern
region, Onor (2005) adds that as an attempt to destabilize democracy in
the local government councils, the councils were used to manipulate
the electoral process in favour of the ruling party - NPC.
Indeed, it is important to state that over politization of the regional
political parties and regionalization of the local governments weakened
the democratic governance of the local governments within the period
under review. Thus, leading to the argument that there was no functional
local government council in Nigeria within this period, rather what was
in operation was local administration.
Within this period, local governments witnessed fundamental changes
in their structures, functions, revenue allocations, and democratic
activities.

The emergence of military rule in Nigerian politics on 15 th January,

1967 via the coup d'etat led by Major Chukuma Nzeogwu brought
General Johnson Thomas Unonakwo Aguyi-Ironsi as the first military
Head of State. Obi (2010) holds that on assumption of office, the
military government dissolved the existing local government councils
and replaced them with care-taker committees to run the affairs of
the councils in the country. Egurube (1991) adds that the local
government political actors were answerable to the state military
governors, and not the rural people. The implication is that local
government councils lost their democratic structures and functions,
thereby leading to deprivation of democracy in the local government
administration. The local people were deprived of democratic activities,
as they had no say on who rules them and how they were ruled.

Authority flows from the military governor and the local people were
forced to comply.
3.4 Great Reforms of 1976
In 1976, the General Obasanjo led military government embarked on
a more significant local government reforms in Nigeria. The reforms
were based on the observation of the Federal Military Government
that the local governments had over the years suffered severe
deprivation of its democratic powers by other governments (FRN,

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

1976). Upon the above, on 19 th August, 1976, the federal military

government instituted the local government reforms committee, under
the headship of Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki. After the tour of the country for
due consultation, the committee submitted her report tagged "Guidelines
for Local Government Reforms, 1976". The guidelines were approved
by the federal military government. The reforms had several objectives
aimed at repositioning local government for effective service delivery
and participatory democracy in the local areas.

Significantly, the 1976 local government reforms made some provisions

and impact on local government democratic governance in Nigeria as
stated below:

The introduction of widely accepted definition of local

government in Nigeria as stated by FRN (1976) as follows:

"Government at the local level exercised through

representative Council established by law to
exercise specific powers within defined areas. These
powers should give the council substantial control
over local affairs; as well as the staff and
institutional and financial powers to initiate and
direct the provision of services, and to
determine and implement projects, so as to
complement the activities of the state and federal
government in their areas, and to ensure through
devolution of these functions to these council and
through active participation of the people and their
traditional institutions, that local initiative and
response to local needs and conditions are
maximized".

By this definition, local government became recognized as a third

tier government at the local level in Nigeria. It marks the end of
provinces, districts, native authority and administration,
and the beginning of democratic government at the local level
in Nigeria.
The reform brought for the first time in the history of Nigeria a
unified local government system with defined functions and
structure to achieve democratic governance irrespective of the
state in Nigeria.
The reform resulted in the creation of 301 local governments
for the first time in Nigeria to exercise democratic activities at
the local level.
The provision for elections of the political actors of the local
government through secret ballot system on a non-party basis

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

gave hope for participatory democracy of the local people in

politics of Nigeria. The local people are to participate and
determine who rules them at what point, with the actors to be
answerable to the people.
The reforms provided for 5% federation allocation to the local
government to enhance local government financial independence
and viability for democratic activities in Nigeria.
The reform resulted in the introduction of nationwide election
guidelines for the conduct of both direct and indirect elections in
the councils. The effect was that by January, 1977 councils
were constituted based on the secret ballot elections, which
was manifestation of the local people participating in the election
of their leaders.
Structurally, Wapmuk (2005) opines that the reform
provided for the political control of the local government to be
vested on the council, and exercised through the councilors
known as the supervisory councilors. This is a step towards
political development and democratic growth of the local
government in Nigeria.
However, there was a contradiction to democratic development
and stability in the reforms , by providing for local government
as a third tier of government in one hand , and providing for local
government service commission (LGSC) as an agent of the state
to regulate local government personnel services on the other
hand. The challenge is that the local government staff, who are
charged with the responsibilities of enforcing the local
government policies could be manipulated or frustrated by the
LGSC on event of policy disagreement between the state and
local governments, thereby depriving the local government the
opportunity of achieving effective implementation of democratic
policies in the area.
Remarkably, the reform created an opportunity for
discussion of local government democracy and development in
the 1977-78 Constituent Assembly, and further enshrined in
the 1979 Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria. Obike
and Nwaodu (2010) added that this is the very first time local
government appeared in Nigerian Constitution , with defined
status and functions as a third tier government, as contained in
Section 7 (1) of the 1979 Constitution as:

"The system of democratically elected local

government councils is under this constitution
guaranteed and accordingly, the government
of every state shall ensure their existence under
law, which provides for the establishment,
structure, composition finance and function of

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

such councils."

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2

What significant changes were brought about by the great reforms of

1976?

4.0 CONCLUSION

The colonial administration through the Native Authority Systems was

dysfunctional hence the Nationalists agitations that they were non-
participatory and anti-development. The colonial native authority
system was implemented separately by the regions. Although elected
councils were introduced in all the native authorities, change of names
from Native Authority to local councils took place in the East and West.
There was also an introduction of multi-tier local government system in
the East and West. There was no democratic practice at the Local
government level until 1976. The 1976 reforms brought for the first time
in Nigeria a unified local government system with defined functions and
structure to achieve democratic governance in all states in Nigeria.

5.0 SUMMARY

The development of local government beginning from the colonial

administration native authority system was directed at making the
local government functional and responsive to the aspirations of the
people at the grassroots. The idea was to reposition the local
government system in order that it can be more participatory and
development oriented. This reform resulted in the introduction of
nationwide election guidelines for the conduct of both direct and indirect
elections in the councils. The reform also provided for the political
control of the local government to be vested on the council and
exercised through the councilors known as supervisory councilors. This
was the first step towards political development and democratic growth
of the local government in Nigeria.

ANSWER TO SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

The Native Authority System emphasized more on the maintenance

of law and order rather than development.

ANSWER TO SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2

- The introduction of a unified local government system

with defined functions and structures to achieve democratic
governance irrespective of the state in Nigeria.

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

- The provision for elections of the political actors of the local

government through secret ballot system on a non-party basis
which gave hope for participatory democracy.
- The reform introduced nationwide election guidelines for the
conduct of both direct and indirect elections in the councils.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

Explain the significance of the provision of section 7 (1) of the 1979

constitution to the local government system in Nigeria.

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Amadi, I. R. (2000) Evolution of Local Government in Eastern Nigeria,

1900-1990 Calabar Historical Journal Vol. 4 No. 1

Egurube J. O. (1991) “The Evolution of Local Government in

Nigeria, A Systematic Perspective” in Nzeribe, C.G.O (ed)
Current Issues in Public Administration: Enugu: Fourth
Dimension Publishers Ltd.

Federal Republic of Nigeria (19979) The Constitution of the Federal

Republic of Nigeria, Lagos: Government Printer

Goddey Wilson (2013) “The Politics of Local Government Reforms

and Democratic Governance in Nigeria Local Government”
Journal of Developing Country Studies Vol. 3 No. 1

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

UNIT 4 TYPES/FORMS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT

SYSTEMS
CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 Type of Local Government Systems
3.1.1 Single Tier System
3.1.2 Multi-Tier System
3.2 Forms of Local Government System
3.2.1 The Mayoral Model
3.2.2 The Conciliar System
3.2.3 The Managerial Model
3.3 Decentralization
3.3.1 Devolution
3.3.2 Deconcentration
3.3.3 Delegation
3.3.4 Privatization
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION
In this part of the course, you shall be introduced to various types or
forms that the local government takes in different parts of the world.
First and foremost, you must understand that local government is the
third tier of government especially in a federation, whereas it is a
second tier of government in a unitary state. It is important to
note however that every government be it Federal, Unitary,
Confederal or as the case may be, makes use of local government
system as a veritable medium of communication between the central
government and the people at the grassroots.

2.0 OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to;

• Identify the various types of local government

• Explain the various forms that local government can take in
some parts of the world
• Identify and discuss the various forms of decentralization
• Examine the essence of devolution of power to the local system

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 Types of Local Government Systems

A local government system is usually organized either as:

(i) A single-tier local government, or

(ii) A multi-tier local government

Under the single-tier arrangement, one local government council

performs all the functions assigned a local government within its area
of jurisdiction. This is the structure in Nigeria today where each local
government plans, executes and manages all local services within its
area. The merits of this model includes easy coordination of available
resources and activities, reduced overhead costs since fewer personnel
is employed and easy identification of officials that are
responsible for particular services by the local population.
However, in cases where a single-tier local council cover a large
area or a multiplicity of ethnic groups, remote areas and minority
groups may suffer neglect.

The multi-tier structure is one under which two or more local

councils share responsibility for local services within a given local
territory. For instance, in the old Western Region, a local government
consisted of the divisional council within which there were a number of
district councils, each of which, in turn, was composed of many local
councils. This system has the advantages of bringing government closer
to the people of providing more opportunities for leadership to the
people and of allowing each zone within the council to develop at its
own pace. The multi-tier system has the demerit of constant conflict
among the different levels usually over funds. Often the lower tiers in
this system are too poor to attract expert personnel and to execute
meaningful projects.

3.2 Forms of Local Government System

Three broad forms of local government internal management

arrangements have been identified. They include:

(i) The mayoral model

(ii) The conciliar system and
(iii) The managerial arrangement

The mayoral or mayor-council model is identical to the presidential

system of government. This is the system that is currently in use in
Nigeria. Under it, both the chief executive (mayor or chairman) and the

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

legislature (the council) are independently elected by the people for

fixed terms of office. There are two forms of the mayoral system: the
“weak mayor” or “strong mayor” models. The weak mayor is one
which, in spite of his position as the main political leader of his council,
the mayor does not have the sole power to appoint, remove and
supervise his council’s administrative staff, some of whom are elected
by the people. Under eh strong mayor pattern, the mayor is the only
elected executive official and he has the power to appoint and dismiss
department heads and he shares policy-making functions with the
council.

Under the conciliar system, the council which is directly elected by the
people selects a presiding officer usually from among its members but
occasionally from outside. The whole council acts as a legislature while
the work of administrative supervision is performed either by the mayor
or the cabinet of the council to guide policy formulation ad
implementation. Forms of the conciliar system are used in France,
Britain, Germany and other European countries.

The managerial or council-manager pattern is one in which an elected

council sets broad policy but hires a manager to serve as the Chief
Executive. The manager is vested with responsibility for supervising
administration. He is expected to be a professional and to work full time
and at the pleasure of the council the managerial model is the pattern in
use in most American cities.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

1. What is the difference between single-tier and multi-tier

system of local government?
2. In which form of local government system that the Mayor is
given the power to appoint and dismiss departmental heads?

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

3.3 Decentralization

Models of Decentralization
Four types or degrees of decentralization have been identified. These are

(i) Deconcentration
(ii) Delegation
(iii) Devolution and
(iv) Privatization

(i) Deconcentration: This involves the reduction of authority and

responsibility among different levels within the central
government. It may take the form of shifting of workload from
central government ministry headquarters to staff outside of the
national capital. In another form, deconcentration may be by way
of field administration under which decision-making discretion is
granted to field staff. Another form of deconcentration
is local administration under which subordinate levels of
government such as provincial and local government are agents
of the central government.

(ii) Delegation: Under this form of decentralization, the central

government transfers responsibility for decision-making and the
administration of functions to semi-autonomous organizations
such as public corporations, housing authorities, and
agricultural development authorities. These agencies are
granted broad powers to plan and implement programmes over
specific activities under the indirect control of central
government ministries. Examples of delegated decentralization in
Nigeria include the Nigerian Airways. National Electric Power
Authority, NEPA, the Federal Housing Authority etc.

(iii) Devolution: This form of decentralization requires the

creation of independent sub-national levels of government that
are outside the control of the central government. Effective
devolution implies the transfer of responsibility for specified
local services to autonomous local government units that are
elected by the local population and are granted the power to
raise their own revenues and to decide policy directions.

(iv) Privatization: Under privatization, permission is granted to

community groups, cooperatives, voluntary associations, business
and other non- governmental organizations to provide services
either alone or in partnership with public agencies.
The four models of decentralization which we have just discussed
deconcentration, delegation, devolution and privatization are

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

collectively called administrative decentralization. A close examination

will indicate that administrative decentralization concerns the
redistribution of decision-making authority, responsibility and financial
resources for providing public services among different levels of
government and between the public and private sectors. The other broad
form of decentralization apart from administration decentralization is
spatial decentralization. This entails the distribution of central
government investments in services, facilities and infrastructures in a
way that will strengthen the economies of secondary cities and towns
throughout the country. In Nigeria, spatial decentralization is
achieved through the principle of federal character which requires
the federal government to locate projects in different parts of the
country.

It is important to observe that the different forms of decentralization

are no mutually exclusive. Each is suitable for a particular purpose.
Countries often adopt a combination of the models so as to
promote efficiency in the provision of services and to strike
appropriate balance between centralization and decentralization.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

1. Which form of local government system is best suited for your

country?
2. How is the Conciliar system better than the managerial model?

4.0 CONCLUSION

We have narrated the types and forms of local government systems as

they operate in different parts of the world. The various types and forms
of local government systems only explains the magnitude of importance
attached to this level of government. The local government is seen as a
platform where the citizens can develop political culture, appreciate the
efforts of the various states and federal government. It is difficult if not
impossible for any state to administer successfully all functions of
government through the central organs of the state.

The communists countries tried to exercise central rule over all

localities of the state but met with either resistance or failure. Since
1936, having learnt from experience, the former U.S.S.R officially
recognized the need to administer a wide range of functions on a local
basis, albeit with rigorous control by the central power and through
the communist party machinery. Hence, the central government cannot
effectively carry out detailed local administration and cannot give
full weight to local preferences and prejudices in every issue.

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

5.0 SUMMARY
Having gone through this unit, we can summarize the key issues as
follows:

Under the single tier arrangement, one local government council

performs all the functions assigned a local government within its area of
jurisdiction. This is the structure in Nigeria today

The Multi-tier structure is one under which two or more local councils
share responsibility for local services within a given local territory

The Mayoral or mayor council model is identical to the presidential

system of government. This is the system that is currently in use in
Nigeria.

Under the Conciliar system, the council which is directly elected by the
people selects a presiding officer usually from among its members but
occasionally from outside.

The managerial or council manager is one in which an elected council

sets broad policy but hires a manager to serve as the Chief Executive

ANSWER TO SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

1. Under the single-tier arrangement one local government council

performs all the functions assigned a local government within
its area of jurisdiction. This model deals with easy
coordination of available resources and activities, reduced
overhead costs since fewer personnel is employed, and there is
easy identification of officials that are responsible for
particular services by the local population.
2. The multi-tier structure on the other hand is one where two or
more local councils share responsibility for local services within
a given local territory. This system has the advantages of
bringing government closer to the people; of providing more
opportunities for leadership to the people, and of allowing each
zone within the council to develop at its own pace.
3. Under the strong mayoral model the mayor is given the power to
appoint and dismiss departmental heads. And he also shares
policy making functions with the council

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

ANSWER TO SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2

1. The form of local government system that is best suited for

my country (Nigeria) is the strong mayoral model. That is
because the strong mayoral model carries with it the true
semblance of a presidential system that Nigeria copied from the
United States of America.

2. Under the conciliar system, the council which is directly

elected by the people selects a presiding officer usually from
among its members but occasionally from outside. Whereas, the
managerial model hires a manager to serve as a Chief
Executive. This hiring of Chief Executive might lead to
misunderstanding because the hired man is not part of the
elected council and therefore may be pursuing a different
ideology from the elected council.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

Why do we have local government as a third tier of government.

7.0 REFERENCE/FURTHER READING

Oyeleye Oyediran (1988), Essays on Local Government and

Administration in Nigeria Lagos: Project Publications Ltd. p.2

Remi Anitowose and Francis Eemuo (1999) (Ed) Elements of

Politics Lagos: Malthouse Press Ltd

Akpan C. Pius (1984) Modern Local Government Administration

in Nigeria, Kaduna Barka Press Ltd.

Austin Ranney (1975) The Government of Men 4 th Edition. Hinsdale.

The Dry Den Press.

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

UNIT 5 FUNCTIONS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 Principles
3.2 Comparative Perspective
3.3 The Nigeria Example
3.4 Challenges and Problems of Local Government in Nigeria
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION

By now, you are supposed to be familiar with the concept and

role of local government. Whatever way you look at local government,
it is the functions they perform and how much of it they perform
efficiently at a given point in time that matters. In this unit, you will be
taken through what these functions are, how these functions are
allocated and a comparative experiences as to the classification and
nature of these functions in a few advanced and developing countries.
The function of Nigerian local government is also presented in full.
Some of the problems associated with these functions are briefly
highlighted.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this Unit, you should be able to:

• Identify three principles governing the assigning of

functional responsibilities to local government
• Differentiate between the various classification of
functions in three countries
• List the various functions of local government in Nigeria
under two classifications.

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 Principles

There are certain principles to consider while allocating

functions to local government

- The nature of such local government – urban or rural. The

functions of rural local government are more mundane and
simple than urban ones.
- Viability of the local government. The question here is
whether the local government has the capacity (human and
material and financial resources) to discharge these functions.
- The local government will be subjected to the standards
required by the central government especially in efficiently
services and planning.

In general, the functions which local governments should perform are

these:

1. Which require detailed local knowledge for efficient

performance;
2. In which success depends on community responsiveness with
participation;
3. Which are of personal nature requiring provision close to
where the individual affected live;
4. In which significant use of discretion or understanding of
individuals is needed.

3.2 Comparative Perspective

Local government at the lowest tier of government performs primary

functions.

This is deliberate since the central governments control more funds and
has better competence and expertise to handle more secondary or
gigantic programmes.

However, city governments, borough and urban or municipal

councils take up greater and more …….. urban rural councils

Most constitution or Acts, established functional areas that local

governments can engage in. In such an exercise, some functions are
concurrent between the local government and the state or governments
while others are exclusive to local governments.

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

The Nigerian constitution makes this distinction. While exclusive

functions include planning, revenue generating related functions,
welfare like services like cemeteries, roads, street lighting, the
concurrent ones include agriculture, health, education (especially
primary education) and many other functions prescribed from time to
time by the State House of Assembly. (Constitution 1999 – Schedule
IV).

In Britain, local authorities perform three broad functions: (i)

Environmental (ii) Protective and (iii) Personal.

Environmental functions concerns the citizens immediately physical

surrounding – road construction, provision and maintenance of street
lighting, water supplies, recreation grounds, street cleaning and refuse
disposal.

Protective functions are those that deal with safety of citizens i.e, police
and fire services. Personal services – deal with individual well being
such as housing, education, libraries and museum, schools and health
services. It should be noted that in Britain today, the most significant
complex and cumbersome function of local authorities is Housing.
However, not all local governments can perform these functions. In
Rural Districts, Parish Councils have limited control in matters of
local interest such as allotments, burial grounds, lighting, and provision
and amenities, such as recreation grounds, bus shelters and Parish halls.

Local authorities can in addition acquire further power through

delegated legislation or bye-law. They also have general powers to
acquire land by agreement by means of purchase, lease or exchange.
In the United State, special districts are created to carry on specific
functions or projects. The most numerous of such is the school with its
main functions as management of the public school system.

Other functions performed by local government is the US are police and

fire protection, public works, libraries and recreation, public utilities,
city planning, public health, airports, harbour and housing. These are
indeed gigantic functions which municipal especially city governments
can take on.

In India, the functions of the Panchayati Raj (i.e. local government)

Perform follow a similar pattern like the above except for police and the
gigantic function of harbours and airports. Functions here are similar to
the Nigerian situation. Briefly the functions can also be classified as
obligatory and discretionary. Such functions include agricultural
programmes, animal husbandry, buildings and communications,
education administration, fishery, forestry, small scale industries,

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

irrigation, medical services, etc.

The Urban councils could perform obligatory functions like

conservation, street lighting drainage and construction and
maintenance of roads. Larger ones could also engage in water supply,
street cleaning refuse and disposal, fire service and primary schools.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

Urban local government performs more complex functions than rural

ones. Please list 5 of such function.

3.3 The Nigerian Example

To celebrate on this functional responsibility of local government a

rundown of the functions of local government in Nigeria is done
below as contained in the 1999 constitution (fourth Schedule)

FUNCTIONS OF A LOCAL GOVERNMENT COUNCIL

The Local Government system, composed of democratically

elected Local Government Councils, is guaranteed under the 1999
Nigerian Constitution, section 7. Based on this section 7, the 1999
Nigerian Constitution provides for the functions of a Local
Government Council under its Fourth Schedule. This schedule tends to
derive mainly from the Basic and Constitutional Transition
Provisions (Decree 15 of 1987). Thus, functions of Local Governments
are categorised into;

i. The Exclusive list; and ii. The Concurrent list.

The exclusive list of functions is those functions that are solely
performed by Local Governments, while the concurrent list of
functions are those that the Local Government performs in
collaboration with State and Federal Governments. The State
and/or Federal Government can also perform these functions on
behalf of Local Governments until Local Governments are in a
position to perform such functions. According to the Fourth
Schedule 1 of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution.

The main functions of local government councils are as follows:

a) The consideration and the making of recommendations
to a state commission on economic planning or any similar
body on - the economic development of the state, particularly
in so far as the area of authority of the council and of the
state are affected, and proposals made by the said
commission or body;

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

b) Collection of rate, radio and television licenses;

c) Establishment and maintenance of cemeteries, burial grounds
and homes for the destitute or infirm;
d) Licensing of bicycle, trucks (other than mechanically
propelled trucks) canoe, wheel barrow and carts;
e) Establishment, maintenance and regulation of laughter houses,
slaughter slabs markets, motor parks and public conveniences;
f) Construction and maintenance of roads, street, street
lightings, drains and other public highways, parks, gardens,
open spaces, or such public facilities as may be prescribed from
time to time by the House of Assembly of a State.
g) Naming of road and street and numbering of houses;
h) Provision and maintenance of public conveniences, sewage
and refuse disposal;
i) Registration of all births, deaths and marriages;
j) Assessment of privately-owned houses or tenements for the
purpose of levying such rates as may be prescribed by the
House of Assembly of a State; and
k) Control and regulation of:
a) Out-door advertising and hoarding
b) Movement and keeping of pets of all description,
c) shops and kiosks,
d) Restaurants, bakeries and other places for sale of food to
the public,
e) Laundries, and
f) Licensing regulation and control of the sale of liquor,
l) The functions of a local government council shall include
participation of such councils in the Government of a State in
respects of the following matters-
The provision and maintenance of primary – adult and
vocational education;
The development of agriculture and natural resources,
other than minerals resources
The provision and maintenance of the health services, and
Such other functions as may be conferred on a local
government council by the House of Assembly of the
State.
Local government administration also carries out informative functions
such as enlightenment, development projects, administration, democratic
and leadership initiative and maintenance of peace, law and order in
the locality (Awotokun 2005). In addition to the above, the local
government administration also provides the following functions:

I. Inspection of meat and abattoirs;

II. Provision of nursery, primary and adult education
III. Provision of scholarship and bursaries award

39
PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

IV. Provision of public libraries and reading rooms;

V. Agricultural and animal health extension services and veterinary
clinics, fire service
VI. Lighting and drainage

3.4 Challenges and Problems of Local Government in Nigeria

1. Corruption
One of the fundamental problems of contemporary Nigeria is
corruption. It has thrived, progressed and flourished unabated.
Corruption has been institutionalized to the point of accepting it as a
part of our system. Albeit corruption is ubiquitous, it is found all over
the world, but the degree of its manifestation varies from system to
system (Lawal and Oladunjoye, 2010: 232). Corruption is the greatest
bane of local government administration in Nigeria. At the grassroots
level, corruption has been canonically accommodated, entertained, and
celebrated within the system. In the local government setting corruption
is misnomerlabelled and euphemistically referred to as “Egunje” (a
slogan which means “illegal offer” in Nigeria) and a major hindrance to
good government.

It has been identified as one of the problems confronting effective

local government administration in Nigeria, also non-adherence to
provisions of the financial memorandum (FM), conspicuous
consumption of the part of the local officials, lifestyles that are not
commensurate with official sources of income, imposition of leaders on
the local government through corrupted political process and low wages
of local government officials (Ali, 2008). Some of the areas where
corruption thrives in local government in Nigeria include the following:

a) Inflation of prices of bought items;

b) Over estimation of cost of projects;
c) The ghost worker syndrome;
d) Poor financial base and limited revenue
e) Award of contracts and subsequent abandonment;
f) Payment of huge sums of money to political godfathers;
g) The age-long belief by the officials that people are ignorant,
illiterate and unenlightened;
h) Lack of accountability
2. Lack of Autonomy
Autonomy simply refers to freedom, independent, free from external
and remote control but in Nigeria the reverse is the case, Local
Government are totally independent, they are managed by the federal
and state governments who dominate over the local government
administration through the state government offices of local

40
PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

government affairs, the ministry of local government, and the

local government service commission. All these government agencies
are denying the autonomy of self-dependent administration of Local
Government in Nigeria.
3. Leadership problem
In most states in Nigeria, the ruling party appoints and blesses the
candidate who must run for election at the local government level.
Without their blessings, such candidates cannot win an election. The
various state governments also appoint caretaker chairmen for the
Local Government Council, who are mostly stooges and appendages of
the state governor. Even when elections are held, the ruling party in the
state and the state government, in particular, rigs and manipulates the
election process to favour their preferred candidates. It is a clear case of
who pays the piper dictates the tune. This again creates inefficiency of
administrative performance and diversion of local government
functions, as well as oriented programs for the local people.

4. Unskilled Workers
Local government in Nigeria are faced with the problem of
inadequate skilled workers such as engineers, accountants, medical
doctors, town planners, statisticians, etc. Reasons for this unfortunate
development are that, there is a very low image of local government in
the minds of these professionals. Again, there is lack of job satisfaction
that can keep them in the local government. Most skilled and
qualified personnel’s and professionals prepare to gamble their luck
either in private organisations or establish their own firms rather than
risk staying at the local government where there are no incentives,
and they may be wasted away. This has forced local governments to
depend on unskilled labour. For example, some are diploma and
certificate holders who cannot defend the certificates they hold. These
circumstances are a great challenge to local government efficiency.
People who don’t know their left from their right in what they do can
hardly be productive and effective.
5. Inadequate and Poor Budgetary Allocation
Local governments in Nigeria are known to suffer from inadequate
and poor budgetary allocation. This is done by deliberate cut-offs of
budgetary allocation to the local government by some States
Governors either for political reasons or absolute corruption. The
siphoning of funds through frivolous activities and fictitious contracts to
their party members and friends greatly affects the financial needs of
local governments. This is one of the major reasons why local
government in Nigeria usually performs below expectation, thereby
making the third tiers of government meaningless and lacking the
diffidence of democracy.

6. Administrative Inefficiency

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

Local governments in Nigeria suffer from administrative inefficiency

and ineffectiveness resulting from low educational qualifications of
staff, poor motivation, autocratic leadership, poor work environment,
etc. The management and control of finances is a central factor in the
management of local governments. The quality and
promptness/effectiveness of local government services depend on the
quality and quantity of workers in the system.

Politically, politicians divert from their campaign promises through

scheming of ways to remain in office and swell their private financial
bank accounts with public funds from the local government. They
abandon principles of good governance and democratic ideals that are
fundamental in promoting administrative efficiency in order to satisfy
their selfish desires.

7. Lack of provision of Basic Social Amenities

The decline in delivery of social services for the people at the
grassroots is perhaps, felt more by common people. This revealed that
the local government administration has failed in meeting the basic
needs of the people – good roads, metro-transport, potable water,
regular electricity supply, sanitations and rehabilitation of local road
under their local jurisdiction, qualitative healthcare delivery and
education. Close on the heels of this is poor or non-maintenance of
existing social services. Local Governments appear to have failed in this
respect thereby leading to strong voice for the cancelation or
eradication of the third tiers of government which is Local Government
Administration in Nigeria.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2

List 5 mandatory and 3 concurrent functions of local government in
Nigeria.
4.0 CONCLUSION

Local Government can be seen to be saddled with a lot of functions

from the trivial to the gigantic. The problem in performing these
functions is with the resources available to do this. Such resources may
include financial and manpower. In the advanced countries, these
worries are not as acute as developing countries. Most developing
countries depend on grant from the central governments to run these
function. To reduce such problem of funding, a lot of functions
especially the exclusive or mandatory functions have revenue attached
to them, In lot cases these functions can be referred to as extractive
functions because in performing them, local government is indirectly
raising revenue for it services.

In Nigeria, the experience has been that the tax base of the rural

42
PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

community is very low and therefore local government experiences

great difficulty in performing this function. At times it neglects such
extractive functions and wait for grants to carry out the other functions.

The implication had been low viability and low level of autonomy since
these units are largely dependent on statutory allocation to function.
This issue is raised again in subsequent unit under local government
finance and Problems of Local Government.

5.0 SUMMARY

You have come across different types of functions local government

perform. On the one hand, they have been classified as
(extraordinary) and concurrent. The India to classification of
Obligation and discretionary is similar to the Nigeria classification
above.

In Britain, the classification is on the bases of environmental, protective

and personal. The US classification is close to this. Some of the sections
irrespective of countries are mundane while others are complex (e.g
harbour, airports etc.)

Performance of functions requires lots of money. In developing

countries, functions that ought to generate funds for local government
are not as attractive as the advanced countries because of the law taxable
capacity of individuals, communities and their economies. However, the
best way to judge a local government is through its functional
performance.
ANSWER TO SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

a) Water supplies
b) Police services
c) Fire services
d) Libraries and museums
e) Airports

ANSWER TO SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2

Please check the list under 3.3.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

What do you understand by Executive (mandatory) and concurrent

functions of local government (in Nigeria) and why are they so
classified?

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. (1999) Federal

Government Press.

Federal Government Press, Guidelines for Local Government Reform,

(1976)

J. H. Price (1975). Comparative Local Government. London:

Hutchinson & Co. Ltd. Pp 160-185.

M.P. Barber. (1974). Local Government. London: Macdonald & Evans

Ltd. Ch.3.

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

MODULE 2

Unit 1 Evolution of Local Government System in Nigeria

Unit 2 Local Government Reform under the Babangida Era and
the Introduction of Presidential System at the Local
Government Level
Unit 3 The Fourth Republic
Unit 4 The 2003 Local Government Reforms

UNIT 1 EVOLUTION OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT

SYSTEM IN NIGERIA

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 The Colonial and Post Colonial Era
3.2 The Early Military Era 1966-1976
3.3 The Late Military Era 1976-1979
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Readings

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Local governments as a tier of government have generated much

interest globally.

This global interest in the local governments anagents of mass

mobilization and development has also-given rise to series of scholarly
postulations. One interesting aspect of these postulations is that
each scholar sees and defines the local government according to his
perception and purposes.

Incidentally, these numerous definitions have not succeeded in distorting

peoples perception of what it stands for. In order to buttress our
assertions we would look at how some scholars and practitioners have
defined the local government.

According to Orewa and Adewumi (1992) "Local government is a

system of local communities and towns which are organized to maintain
law and order; provide some limited range of social services and co-

45
PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

operation of the inhabitants in joint endeavours towards the

improvements of their conditions of living". Going further they asserted
that the "local government provides the community with a formal
organisational framework which enables them to conduct their affairs
effectively and regulates the actions of their members for the general
public".

Akinyele (1988) defines it as "a political submission of a law which is

constituted by law and has substantial control of local affairs". While the
Federal Republic of Nigeria Guidelines for local government reforms
(1976) defined local councils as "governments exercised through
representative councils established by law to exercise specific powers
within defined areas".

From the above definitions, we can surely conclude that all the authors
have almost the same ideas about what the local government is and what
it is supposed to achieve.

On the other hand there are those who believe that the local government
system is not useful and as such should either be scrapped or reformed.

It was from this angle that some have argued that the local government
system like constitutions transported into developing countries did not
suit the political culture of the areas and therefore proved functionally
unsatisfactory. They therefore called for a reform of the present system
in order to make them suitable for the political culture of the people and
more responsive to their yearnings and aspirations. They believed that
this present structure cannot achieve its set objective hence the loud
calls for its reformations.

2.0 OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit you should be able to:

• Identify the evolution of local government during colonial, post-

colonial and early military era in Nigeria.
• Underscore the rational behind the retention of the native
authority system during the post-colonial era
• Identify some of the functions performed by the native authority
system
• Underscore how the native authority system assisted the British
to penetrate the vast territory called Nigeria
3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 The Colonial and Post Colonial Era

The Colonial Period

46
PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

This period marks the beginning of the modern local government

system in the country. Prior to this period, traditional institutions were
at liberty to practice any system of administration that suited their
environment and peculiar circumstances. However with the advent of
colonialism at the turn of the century, the natural development process
of the people was arrested. The colonial policy of exploitation
took root and the indirect rule system was introduced to help the
British penetrate the vast territory that is Nigeria.

The colonial local government system was known as the Native

Administration system or simply native authorities. In this system the
structure was described by Oyediran (1988) as "Characterized by a
military - like chain of responsibility extending from the Governor
and lieutenant Governor down to the Resident; District officer, Chief
or Emir, District Head or Chief and town or village head".

The system of Administration which allowed the traditional authorities

to flourish under the close supervision of the Resident became the
hallmark of indirect rule. It must however be pointed out that: the
traditional institutions were inferior to the colonial authorities for as
Alex Gboyega (1989) remarked "the values of the colonial system
did not admit of parity of status between the Chief, that is the traditional
ruler and the Resident".

The local government at this period was seen purely as been

instrumental. It was this a tool for colonial exploitation of the
colonies for the- benefit of the metropolis. Whatever changes that
were made on the traditional institutions already in existence were,
.done ostensibly to further the exploitative agenda of colonial rule.
Ikime and Crowther (1970) in advancing this argument stated that:

The use of indigenous political institutions for the

purpose of local government was contingent on certain
modifications. These modifications fell .into two
categories: Modifications of aspects of traditional
government that was repugnant to European ideas of
what constituted good government, and modifications of
the colonised country

47
PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

The Native Authorities though very conservative in outlook due to it’s

illiterate- traditional orientation still performed some of the functions of
modern local' government. Their functions were legislative, executive
and judicial in nature.

At this point it is pertinent to point out that the system was highly
centralised and excluded the emerging educated elites. It was from this
group that agitations for reformations of the authorities emanated and
with time these reforms changed the face of the local government system
in the country.

The Post-Colonial Era.

This era marked the regionalisation of local governments in Nigeria.
Local governments were essentially the responsibility of the regions.
Thus there existed far-reaching disparities in their structures, functions
and composition. This-also reflected on their power and influence in the
three regions.

In the Northern region, the Native authority system which existed under
colonial rule was continued. This was not surprising because most of the
political actors in the region at this time were products or
beneficiaries of the Native Authority system. They therefore felt very
comfortable with and well disposed to the system. The influence of the
Emirs was also, another factor. The Aristocratic and near Feudal
Theocratic system which operated in the region tied the Northern
peoples congress which was in control of the region, to it's apron strings
and as such made' .sure that they were in control of the political
compass of the region; The local government was essentially part of this
agenda, thus they made sure that the Native Authority system which
granted them enormous powers, influence and prestige was retained.

The Native authorities also served as a breeding ground and veritable

institution for the training and recruitment of regional political actors.
This in part explained the symbiotic relationship that developed between
this two tiers of government.

The East established a two tiered District and local 'Council '•system' in
the rural areas, and a three tiered system composed of an all purpose
municipal, urban County and County councils. At this time members
of the various councils were 'mostly elected. 'Though these 'councils
are -supposed to be autonomous since the members' were elected
representatives of the people, the party in power still exercised a
strong 'control over-(hem through the ministry for local government,
the local government inspectorate and the local government service
Board.
In the Western Region, a three tiered structure was in .operation,
However the crises which engulfed the region after independence

48
PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

and which led to the 1962 state of emergency had terrible

consequences for the local governments.

The reasons for this was because prior to the crises, the A.G. which was
the government .in power in the region,- was also the dominant force in.
the councils. However after the state of emergency, the new party in
control of the region tried to establish themselves at the grassroot
through the local governments. The councils were (bus seen and used
as avenues for planting the coalitions surrogates at the grassroots. Like
"the Eastern region, they also tried to control the councils through the
instrumentality of the local government Inspectorate as well as the
local government Service Board.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

Identify some of the Functions performed by the Native Authority

System

3.2 The Early Military ERA 1966-1976

This era- was a period of great political instability in the country. As

expected all efforts were geared towards maintaining stability and
combating the Biafran threat of secession. The entry of the military did
witness some changes in the councils as the local government
administrations were dissolved and new care-taker or
administrators imposed on them. It must also be pointed but that the
nature of military regimes which are usually centralised and
authoritarian affected the councils since the various regional
governments made no pretence of allowing the councils a semblance of
autonomy.

As observed by Egurube (1991) "To the extent that local government

policy actors, derived their legitimacy not from the people but from
state governors during this period the conclusion that these served more
as watch dogs for their military bosses at the State level can 'hardly be
faulted. Local government institutions were thus : from all intents and
purposes governed by predominantly instrumental and penetrative
objectives"

In conclusion we would say that despite the structural changes that were
made during this period, nothing really remarkable happened at the
local government level during the early military era.
3.3 The Late Military ERA 1976-1979

This period was a watershed in the annals of the historical

evolution of local governments in Nigeria. This was the period when

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

the most remarkable reform of the local government system in Nigeria

was carried out. The main thrust of the reform was a standardisation
of the councils nationwide.

The reform had as it's objectives:

To bring about even and rapid development at local levels

throughout the country;
To appropriate, serious and development activities responsive
to local wishes and initiative by developing or
delegating them to local representative bodies;
To facilitate the exercise of democratic self-government close
to the local levels of our society, and to encourage initiative and
leadership potentials;
To mobilise human and natural resources through the
involvement of members of the public in their local
development; and
To provide a two way channel of communication
between the local communities and the government.
(Guidelines for Local Government Reforms 1976)

In order to maintain a uniform standard in the size of the councils, a

demographic size of 150,000 to 800,000 people was stipulated as the
minimum and maximum population of any council in Nigeria. Local
political actors were also to be chosen by elections. This reform had a
very profound effect in the North where the old Native authority S/stem
was still in practice albeit in a camouflaged form, Nwatu (1995) has
stated that "in no other period did the local government gain
prominence as was the military era". However some scholars have
argued that the changes induced by the reforms were not as far-reaching
as it ought to be. To this group the changes were more apparent than
real. Egurube (1991) - stated that "the reform was more symbolic than
real, and that the changes it introduced were more cosmetic than a
decentralist logic,

While not going into the logic of this argument, we believe that the
reforms had a positive impact on the system and set the tone and
standard for other reforms of the local government system in Nigeria.

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2

List at least five objectives of the reform that took place between 1976-
1979

4.0 CONCLUSION

Local government reforms in Nigeria was not unprecedented. It

follows that the system was introduced into the Nigeria political
culture without recourse to Nigeria’s political milieu and
antecedence. It became a matter of trial and error hence the numerous
reforms. The structures that came with the local government system
could not achieve the stated objective of local government which led to
several calls for reformation. There was the need to make the local
councils more responsive to the yearnings of the people and make
them real agents for the mobilization of the masses while putting
them in a position to contribute their own quota towards national
development that the various reforms have been initiated.

5.0 SUMMARY

The Colonial period marks the beginning of the modern local

government system in the country. Prior to this period, traditional
institutions were at liberty to practice any system of administration that
suited their environment and peculiar circumstances.

The post colonial era marked the regionalization of local governments in

Nigeria. Local governments were essentially the responsibility of the
regions. Thus there existed far reaching disparities in their structures,
functions and composition. This also reflected on their power and
influence in the three regions. In the Northern region the Native
Authority system which existed under colonial rule was continued. The
people of the North were comfortable with and well disposed to the
system. The Native Authority system also served as breeding ground
and veritable institution for the training and recruitment of regional
political actors.

The East established a two tiered district and local council system
in the rural areas, and a three tiered system composed of an all
purpose municipal, urban county and country councils. At this time
members of the various councils were mostly elected.

In the Western Region, a three tiered structure was in operation,

however the crises which engulfed the region after independence and
which led to the 1962 state of emergency has terrible consequences for

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

the local government. Thereafter there was a military interregnum in

1966 and the local government was influenced by the new regime up
to the period of 1979 when the military ushered in a second Republic in
Nigeria. Whether military or civilian, the transformation of the local
government system has continued till date. The National Assembly in
2017 is debating strongly in support of full autonomy for the local
government in Nigeria. The debate has been taken to the state Houses
of Assembly. If this goes through, then we shall be having 2017
Local Government Reforms. Reforms of the local government system,
one can say, has no end.

ANSWER TO SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

The Native Authority System apart from maintaining law and

order, they also performed legislative, executive and judicial functions.

ANSWER TO SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2

The objectives of the reforms that took place between 1976 –1979 are as
follows:
- To bring about even and rapid development at local levels
throughout the country
- To appropriate, serious and development activities responsive
to local wishes and initiative by developing or delegating them
to local representatives bodies
- To facilitate the representatives bodies
- To facilitate the exercise of democratic self-government close
to the local levels of our society and to encourage initiative and
leadership potentials.
- To mobilize human and natural resources through the
involvement of members of the public in their local development
and
- To provide a two way channel of communication
between the local communities and the government
(Guidelines for Local Government Reforms, 1976)

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

Why are local government reforms necessary?

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Adamolekun, L. and Rowland L. (1979) the New Local Government

System in Nigeria: Problems and Prospects for Implementation,
Heinemann, Ibadan

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

Balogun M. J. (1987) Public Administration in Nigeria A

Developmental Approach. Macmillan Education Publisher

Crowder M. (1970) West Africa under Colonial Rule, London:

Huchison & Co. Publishers Ltd.

Egurube, J. O. (1991) (Ed) “The Evolution of Local Government in

Nigeria, A Systematic Perspective” in Nzeribe C.G.O. (Ed)
Current Issues in Public and Local Government Administration
Enugu: Fourth Dimension Publishers Ltd.

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UNIT 2 LOCAL GOVERNMENT REFORMS UNDER

THE IBB ERA AND THE INTRODUCTION OF
PRESIDENTIAL SYSTEM AT THE LOCAL
GOVERNMENT LEVEL

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 Constitutional Reforms
3.2 1988 Reforms and Dotun Philips Committee
3.3 The Introduction of the Presidential System
3.4 Statutory Checks on the Powers of Local Government
Chairmen
3.5 Problems arising from the Introduction of Presidential
System
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION
The inadequacies in the Nigeria Local Government System and
the arbitrary powers of the state governments over the local
government councils made Nigerians to embark upon a search for a
better system of local government that would stand the test of time.
Based on the Political Bureau and Dasuki Reports of 1987, the Federal
Government created sub-ordinate units out of the 301 multi- purpose
units called local governments. Each local government council was
structured into a pyramidal format with the village constituting the
primary unit, the Development Area Office constituting the
intermediate unit while the local government council constituted the
apex unit. The purpose of this was to achieve the decentralization of
services provided by the local government. The villages were to
become the target of state and local government programmes and
activities. This reform would enable the people themselves to be
involved in the supervision, control and guiding local government and
other government functionaries deployed to the field. It also envisaged
that the people would be more directly involved in the provision of
services for their common good. The sum total was that the people
would be more meaningfully mobilized for production and
community development.
Under this reform exercise, state military governors appointed Caretaker
Committees consisting of chairman, vice-chairman, supervisors and a

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secretary to the local government council. Later in 1987 elections were

conducted on non-party bases to run the affairs of the local government
councils. This was a prelude to the return of democratic rule to Nigeria.
Most of the recommendations of the Dasuki report were implemented by
the Babangida regime in its local government reform exercise.

General Babangida set up the Constituent Assembly which came out

with far- reaching resolutions which were later entrenched in the 1989
Constitution. The Dasuki Report and the provisions of the 1989
Constitution of Nigeria formed the basis of the local government reform
carried out by General Babangida from 1985 and 1993.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

By the end of this unit, you should be able to;

• Underscore the constitutional reforms that took place in
the local government during the “golden era”
• Understand the implementation guidelines to effectuate the
provisions of Decree No. 10 of 1991
• Examine the introduction of the presidential system at the local
government level
• Explain the problems that erupted as a result of the
introduction of the presidential system.

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 Constitutional Reforms

The local government in Nigeria witnessed what can be classified as

the “golden era” during the Babangida administration (1985-1993). He
introduced measures to enhance the economic viability of the local
governments and also ensured more constitutional autonomy for them.
Highlights of the local reforms under Babangida include:

a. The direct remittance of local government funds from the

Federation Accounts as well as at source deductions of states
10% internal revenue direct to the local government councils.
b. Increase in the local government share of the Federal Account
from 10-15 percent in 1991 and from 15-20% in 1992.
c. The 1989 Constitution made local governments truly
autonomous; hence the
Ministries for Local Government throughout the country were
abolished on 1st October 1991.
d. Presidential system was introduced at the local government
level in 1991.

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The chairmen and his appointed supervisors formed the executive arm
while the elected councilors constituted the legislative arm. This brought
about incessant conflicts between the two arms of government and
general instability in the local government.

The 1989 Constitution gave the local government councils the status of
a third tier system with considerable autonomy. The intension of the
framers of this constitution was to erode all past anomalies associated
with the subordinate existence of local government councils to the
State Government. On 1st October 1991, General Ibrahim Babangida in
his budget speech announced the abolition of the Ministries of Local
Government throughout the country because of the suffocating control,
which the states exercised over Local Governments. The 1989
Constitution recognized 449 Local Governments with the provision
for creating more and adjusting the boundaries of the existing ones.
Section 7(1) of 1989 Constitution provided for democratically elected
Local Government Council, but at the same time, the States were
charged with the responsibility for bringing them into being, thus,
subordinating the Local Governments to the State Governments.

In April 1991, the Vice-President Agustus Aikhomu, in a nation-wide

broadcast announced a two-tier system of local Government i.e. the
executive and legislative arms and issued implementation (presidential)
guidelines to effectuate the provisions of Degree, No. 10 of 1991. These
guidelines were:
i. The executive arm of the Local Government consists of the
Chairmen, Vice- Chairmen, Supervisors and the Secretary to the
Local Government
ii. The Councils became the legislative arm with the elected
councillors performing legislature functions. The legislators have
to elect from among themselves a leader and a deputy leader;
iii. There was head of Personnel Management Department who was
designated as a Council Clerk, who keeps proper records of
council proceedings.

The 1989 Constitution made provision for the functions of the Local
Government Councils headed by the Executive Chairmen, which
include exclusive and concurrent functions which were to be performed
by both the states and local governments.
The functions of the legislative arm were spelt out as shown below:

i. Law making, debating and passing Local Government legislation;

ii. Debating, approving and possibly amending Local Government
annual Budget, subject to the Chairman’s veto which could be
overridden by two- third majority of council members.
iii. Vetting and monitoring the implementation of projects and

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

programmes in the Local Government annual budgets;

iv. Examining and debating monthly statements of income and
expenditure of the local government;
v. Impeaching the Local Government Chairman who has committed
an impeachable offence in accordance with the 1989 Constitution.
vi. Advising, consulting and liaising with the local government
Chairman;
vii. Performing such other functions as may be assigned to it from
time to time by the State House of Assembly.

By this act the presidential system was effectively extended to the

local government level in Nigeria by the Babangida regime with several
consequences. The provisions earlier listed had far reaching
consequences for the running of the affairs of the Nigerian Local
Government System. The reform introduced checks and balances into
the administration of the local government. However, the council
chairmen were so powerful that the elected councilors could not act as
effective checks on them. This resulted in all kinds of crimes committed
against the local governments. Be that as it may, there is no doubt that
the Babangida local government reform was initially successful. It was
in the later part of his administration that the situation painted above
manifested itself. To worsen the already ugly trend, the 1988 Civil
Service Reform in Nigeria and its application to the local government
has done a lot of damage to this tier of government. The combined
effects of all the above is the entrenchment of indiscipline, corruption,
gross mismanagement, phenomenon of “sharing” and the consequent
neglect of rural development in Nigeria.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

Identify the constitutional changes that marked the “golden era” of

Nigeria local government system

3.2 1988 Local Government Reforms

Even though the reforms were highlighted under the constitutional

changes, a recap is necessary at this juncture. The 1988 local
government reforms by the Babangida administration is a milestone
in the local government practice in Nigeria. Like the 1976 Reforms,
it introduced some radical changes to the system.
The Babangida regime set up an 11-man Committee headed by Dotun
Philips to recommend appropriate changes in the Civil Service of the
three levels of government in the country. To this effect, the committee
came up with the following local government reforms:
a. The chairman of the local government became the Chief

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Executive and Accounting Officer of the Council provided his

role as accounting officer shall exclude signing vouchers and
cheques. This provision was an essential element of democracy
because it allowed for checks and balances. This equally implies
that the chairman was the leader of the council who had overall
control over all resources including men, material and money.
This resolved the earlier friction between the chairman and
secretary in the administration of the council.
b. The position of the Council Secretary was made a political
appointee whose tenure correspondingly ended with the
administration that appointed him/her. The secretary therefore
ceased to be a career position.
c. Establishment of operational departments in each local
government. It provided for a minimum of four and
maximum of eight operational departments including:
personnel, planning, research and statistics, finance and
supplies, works and others.
d. Professionalization of Local Government Service: Local
government civil service employees were required to spend all
their career in one particular department which they were
posted to on assumption of duty based on qualification and
area of specialization of employee. This was done to promote
efficiency.
e. Establishment of Audit Alarm Committee to alert the
necessary quarters when there were clear indications of
misappropriation and embezzlement of council funds. This was
part of the mechanism to check corrupt practices and to
enhance accountability. It was a preventive arrangement to
check fraud by council officials.
f. Junior Staff Management Committee: The reform provided for
a junior staff management for officers on grade level 01-05, and
also established a senior management committee for
personnel/management functions such as promotion,
discipline and confirmation of staff.
3.3 The Introduction of Presidential System at the Local
Government Level

The operations of the Local Government Councils in the present

dispensation are guided by the 1999 Constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria. It recognizes 774 LGAs as defined by First
Schedule Part 1. Section 7(1) of the constitution provides that:

The system of Local Government by democratically

elected Local Government Councils is under this
constitution guaranteed; and accordingly, the

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Government of every state shall, subject to section 8

of this constitution, ensure their existence under a law
which provides for the establishment, structure,
composition, finance and functions of such councils.

The implication of this provision is that the local government councils

are to be democratically elected but the State Houses of Assembly
are invested with the „power‟ of making laws for the detailed
operations of the councils i.e. functions, structure, composition, finance
etc, as deemed appropriate for their states. This implies that the unified
system of local government in practice since 1976 has ceased to be.
Each state is therefore; free to enact their own laws for the
administration of the respective local government in their states.
Consequent upon this, the various State Houses of Assembly in the
country introduced the presidential system at the local government
level through their enabling laws. The same problems associated with
the Babangida reforms persisted and have even worsened.

In June 2002, when the tenure of the councils elected in 1999

nationwide expired, the various State Governments did not conduct
elections into these councils for over two years. Rather, as in 1979-
1983 during Shehu Shagari era, the states resorted to the appointment of
transition committees or caretaker committees or by whatever name
called which was clearly at variance with the constitution and
norms of democracy. Thus, the people at the grassroots were once again
denied participation in choosing their leaders and the governance of
their own localities. The local government chairmen under this
dispensation were very powerful and adjudged by many to be very
corrupt. One important trend to observe is that from Babangida era in
1990-1993 and the subsequent regimes to date, the rate and depth of
corruption, mismanagement and lack of grassroots development has
been on the increase, even in spite of state control of the local
governments.
In furtherance of the 1999 Constitution provision on local government,
the Benue State House of Assembly for instance, enacted the Benue
State Local Government Council Law No. 25 (Establishment Law,
2000) which provides for the Executive and Legislative arms of the
Local Government. The executive arm consists of the chairman, Vice-
chairman, Supervisors and Secretary to the Local Government who is
head of service. The legislative arm consists of the leader, deputy-
leader and Councilors. There is also a Clerk of the Legislative Council
appointed by the Local Government Services Commission.

The main functions of the Local Government Councils i.e. executive

arm include (See Part VII. Sections 45 and 46 of Benue State Local
Government Law 2000).

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The formulation of economic plans and development schemes

for the local government areas.
Collection of rates and issuance of radio and television licenses.
Establishment and maintenance of cemeteries, burial grounds
and homes for the destitute or infirm;
Licensing of bicycles, trucks (other than mechanically
propelled trucks) canoes, wheel barrows and carts.
Establishment, maintenance and regulation of slaughter
houses, slaughter slabs, markets, motor parks, and public
conveniences;
Construction and maintenance of roads, street lights, drains,
parks, gardens chief‟s palace, open spaces or such public
facilities as may be prescribed from time to time by the House of
Assembly of the state;
Naming of roads and streets and numbering of houses.
Provision and maintenance of public conveniences, sewage
and refuse disposal.
Assessment of privately owned house or tenement for the
purpose of levying such rates as may be prescribed by the House
of Assembly of the state;
Registration of all births, deaths and marriages; control and
regulation of
i. Out-door advertising and hoarding
ii. Movement and keeping of pets of all description.

Functions of a local government Council shall include participation of

such council in the Government of a State as respects the following
matters.

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

a. The provision and maintenance of primary, adult and vocational

education;
b. The development of agriculture and natural resources, other
than the exploitation of minerals.
c. The provision and maintenance of health services; and
d. Such other functions as may be conferred on a Local
Government by the House of Assembly of the state.

The main functions of the Legislative arm are contained in Part VII,
Section 47 (a- d) of the Benue State Local Government (Establishment)
Law 2000. These are:

a. Debating, approving or amending the annual budget of

the Local government subject to the Chairman‟s veto, which
may be set aside by two- third majority of members of the Local
Government Legislative Council;
b. Vetting and monitoring the implementation of projects and
programmes in the annual budget of the Local Government from
time to time;
c. Examining and debating the monthly statement of income and
expenditure rendered to it by the chairman of the Local
government;
d. Impeachment of Local Government Chairman who commits
impeachment offence in accordance with the constitution.
e. Advising, consulting and liaising with the chairman of
the Local Government, and performing such other function as
may be assigned to it from time to time by any law of the state.

The introduction of the 1991 Presidential System as well as the 1999

constitutional provision on local government was to achieve the
following objectives:

Strengthen the local government system and enhance its

status and autonomy by giving it a parity of treatment with
higher tiers of government, thus enabling it to fully fulfill its
assigned roles as the third tier of government in the
Federation.
Streamline the practice at the local government level with
what obtains at higher tiers of government, thus facilitating the
internationalization of the principle and practice of presidential
system at the local government level. This is bound to serve as
significant training ground for leadership at the higher tiers of
government.
Strengthen the system of checks and balances by the
establishment of the Office of the Auditor General of Local
Governments, the process of Audit alarm and the principle of

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recall. There was also the need to check the excesses and
abuses pertaining to the management and application of public
funds and resources (Oyelakin, 1992)

3.4 Statutory Checks on the Powers of Local Government

Chairmen

In view of the enormous powers and functions of the chairmen and their
executives there was likelihood of corruption of power and hence the
need to make laws that will control their activities. The following laws
were made in this respect:

i. The Chairmen and Vice Chairmen of Local Governments can

be removed from office by the president under section 34 and
292 of decree No. 15 of 1989 and the 1989 Constitution
respectively for gross mismanagement.
ii. Further more section 23 and 304 of decree No. 15 of 1989
and the 1989 Constitution respectively provided for the recall of
the Chairman and other members of the council which operate in
the nature of vote of no confidence passed on the effected
member by his own people who voted him.
iii. Again, there is Local Government Service Commission
established by section 29 and 195 of decree No. 15 of
1989 and 1989 Constitution respectively. The primary function
of the Commission includes to serve as a review body for all
petitions from the local governments in respect of appointments,
promotions, and discipline.
iv. The Chairmen and other members of the council were compelled
to observe and conform to the code of conduct under the Code
of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Decree of 1989 and 1989
Constitution respectively.
v. In case of financial control the office of the Auditor General of
Local Government was established and was charged with the
responsibility of auditing of all accounts of the local governments
without direction from any other authority or person.
vi. The legislative arms of the local government can exercise
legislative powers by enacting bye-laws on any matter but can
only become law when assented to by the chairman and is also
not contrary to the provisions of the state law and the constitution
of Nigeria.
vii. The general functions of the legislative arm of the local
government are a further check on the power of the executive
arm of the local government.
viii. Power of House of Assembly to suspend or remove local
government chairmen. Under section 6 of the Benue State
Local (Establishment) law, 2000, the House of Assembly has

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

powers under section 128 and 129 of the 1999 Constitution to

suspend any Chairman or council to enable proper investigation
and determination of allegations against such chairmen or
council. If such allegations are proved, this could lead to removal
of the chairman or dissolution of the council.
ix. The Anti Corruption Law (ICPC) of the Federal Government is
a further check on the powers of chairmen, their executives and
the legislative arms of the local government.

3.5 Problems Arising from the Introduction of Presidential

System

There are a number of problems that have arisen from the introduction
and practice of the presidential system at the local government level.
Some of these problems include the following:
i. Problem of inter-governmental relationship: By the
introduction of the presidential system at the local government
level, one presupposes the existence of local government
autonomy. But under the 1989 and 1999 Constitutions, there
is no autonomy for local government because there has been
many instances of interference by both the state and
federal governments. Also there are possibilities of role conflicts
over functions as a result of overlapping responsibilities. The
local governments are usually the greatest loser in the equation.
ii. Conflict between the legislative and executive arms of the local
government because of the separation of powers and functions:

a. The tendency of the legislative arm to misuse the

impeachment clause as a result of many grievances, real or
imagined;
b. The non participation of elected councilors in the
administration of the local government like contract
awards, staff recruitment, postings etc are sources of their
grievances.
c. The councilors became part-time legislators to “meet at
least once in a month” contrary to their expectations.
Worst still, there was not much to legislate upon, so they
have become redundant most of the time.
d. The Secretaries, Supervisors and other aides
appointed by the chairmen took over their places as
executors of local government programme with much
advantage accruing to them at the detriment of the
councilors.
e. Corruption and misapplication of funds as a result of
the constant threats of impeachment by the legislators.
Very often the chairmen use this opportunity to

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misappropriate and mismanage local government

funds.
f. Constant instability in the local government system as
a result of ranglings and squabbles between the
legislative and executive arms of the local government
over the spoils of office.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2

Identify the problems arising from the introduction of the presidential

system in Nigeria local government.

4.0 CONCLUSION

It can be observed that the Nigerian local government system has

witnessed significant reforms in the past nearly sixty years, beginning
from 1951.The reforms redefined local governments and changed
their orientation from field administrations of the state governments
to being semi-autonomous local government structures that were
responsible to their electorates. One of the important aspects of the
reforms was the policy that local governments are now entitled to a
proportion of the funds from the federal account. Increased allocation
of resources into local government system has ensured that local
governments have access to substantial revenues to enable them
to execute the range of responsibilities allocated to them by the
reforms and subsequently by the constitution. Another important
innovation of the reform was/is the policy decision to provide training
at all levels to all categories of local government officials in three
Nigerian Universities; Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Ahmadu
Bello University, Zaria and University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

The progress made in the local government reforms in the 1970s were
virtually eclipsed in the early 1980s when the authority vested by the
1979 Constitution in the states to create local government led to a
proliferation of local governments which over-stretched the limited
capacity of governance at the local government level. This situation was
halted after the fall of the 1979-1983 civilian administration of Alhaji
Shehu Shagari in the 1983 coup d’tat led by the Buhari/Idiagbon.

The creation of states in Nigeria has always led to the creation of more
local governments by the military. The number of local governments
rose from 229 in 1970 to 301 in 1979 and to a peak of 781 when state
governments were given authority by the constitution to create local
governments. After the overthrow of the civilian administration in
1983, the number was again reduced to 301 and later raised to 449 in
1987, 589 in 1991 and 774 since 1996. The urge to create more Local

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Government Areas has been rejected by the federal government. This

issue was a subject of litigation between the states and the federal
government, which the latter won. This situation led to the withholding
of the funds meant for the local government councils in Lagos State
during President Obasanjo‟s era.

However, this action was voided by the Supreme Court. Therefore, all
the local government areas created by the state governments then
have been reverted to development areas.

During the Babangida era, from 1988, the federal government

strengthened local government institutions by abolishing the Ministries
of local governments, paying federal allocations directly to the local
governments, granting local governments authority to prepare and
approve their own budgets and taxes independently, transferring primary
education and primary healthcare and all related issues and increasing
the local government share of federation account.

From 1999, the fates of local governments have declined. The 1999
Constitution has placed local government directly under the state’s
control, Ministries of local government have been reestablished in many
states, and no more direct funding of local governments and the practice
of presidentialism at the local government level is now in place in many
states of the federation. Today, however, local governments remain
the key institution in local governance. It is the basic unit of the
country’s political system, the primary level of grassroots
political mobilization, and a major reference point in the distribution by
government of certain economic and social goods and services (Otobo
E. “Nigeria”, in Adamolekun L. (ed) 2002).

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5.0 SUMMARY

The first schedule part 1 section 7 (1) of the 1999 constitution provides
that:
The system of local government by democratically elected local
government councils is under this constitution guaranteed; and
accordingly, the government of every state shall, subject to
section 8 of this constitution, ensure their existence under a law
which provides for the establishment, structure, composition, finance
and functions of such councils.

The implication of this provision is that the local government councils

are to be democratically elected but the State Houses of Assembly are
invested with the powers of making laws for the detailed operations of
the councils ie functions, structure, composition, finance etc as
deemed appropriate for their respective states. Therefore the unified
system of local government in practice since 1976 has ceased to be as
each state is free to enact their own laws for the administration of the
respective local governments in their states.

ANSWER TO SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

- The remittance of local government funds from the federation

accounts as well as at source deductions of states 10% internal
revenue direct to the local government council.
- Increase in the local government share of the federal account
from 10-15 percent in 1991 and from 15-20% in 1992.
- The 1989 constitution made local government truly
autonomous; hence the ministries for local government
st
throughout the country were abolished on 1 October, 1991.

ANSWER TO SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2

- Problem of inter-governmental relationship;

- Conflict between the legislative and executive arms of the local
government
- The tendency of the legislative arm to misuse the impeachment
clause
- The councilors became part time legislators to meet at least once
in a month contrary to their expectations etc

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6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

Compare and contrast the 1976 local government reforms and the
1988/89 reforms in Nigeria

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Enyi John Egbe (2014) Native Authorities and Local Government

Reforms in Nigeria Since 1914 Journal of Humanities and
Social Science Vol. 19, Issue 3, pp. 113-127

Federal Republic of Nigeria (1976) Guidelines for Local

Government Reforms, Kaduna: Government Printers

Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999) The 1999 Constitution Abuja,

Government Printer

Onyediran O. (1988) Essays on Local Government Administration,

Lagos, Project Publishers United Nations (1999) Public
Administration Aspect of Community

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UNIT 3 THE FOURTH REPUBLIC

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 Issues arising from the Provisions of Decree 36 of 1998
3.2 ALGON Versus State Governors on tenure Elongation
3.3 The Council Polls of 2002
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Local government reforms under the Babangida administration

made some significant landmarks in the practice of local
government as a third tier of government. However, there were
some short comings in the reforms, first staff of local governments
were not prepared for reforms as there were no induction courses
to familiarize them with the new system. Secondly, most
local governments lacked financial base to sustain the autonomy as
many of them could not generate more than 5-10% of their needed
funds from local revenue sources, there was too much dependence on
the direct subvention from the federal government for their financial
survival (Minna, 1993) it became obvious therefore that there is still
much to be done at that level. The third-tier of government drew so
much attention in this republic, not mainly for performance but on
issues arising from tenure and postponed elections.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:

• Identify the shortcomings of the so called golden era of the local

government system
• Explain the complications arising from Decree 36 of 1998
• Underscore the ALGON versus state Governors saga
• Examine the role of INEC in the 2002 Local Government
Elections

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3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 Issues arising from the Provisions of Decree 36 of 1998

Constitution

The council chairman and their councilors were voted into office via
(the Basic Constitutional and Transitional Provisions) Decree 36 of
1998. The Decree specified a three year tenure for them which ought
th
to expire on the 29 of May 2003 or as the Decree puts it “A local
government council or an Area Council in respect of Abuja shall
stand dissolved at the expiration of 3 years commencing from the
date of the first sittig of the council”.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

What were the issues that arose from the provisions of Decree 36 of
1998?

3.2 ALGON Versus State Governors on Tenure Elongation

The council chairman however, felt that what was good for the
goose would equally be good for the gander by demanding a four year
tenure. They presented a united front under the aegis of the Association
of Local Government Chairmen of Nigeria (ALGON). ALGON was
able to lobby the National Assembly for a one year extension of their
tenure. The extension which was contained in the Electoral Act 2001,
was challenged at the apex court by the state governors.

The states in going to court believed that the National Assembly not
only exceeded its limits, it also usurped their functions. Their belief was
hinged on section 7(1) of the 1999 constitution which states that:

The system of local government by democratically

elected local government councils is under this
constitution guaranteed; and accordingly, the
government of every state shall, subject to section 8
of the constitution, ensure their existence under a law
which provides for the establishment, structure,
composition, finance and factions of such councils.

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On the 28th of March 2002, the Supreme Court ruled on the matter. It
stated that:

No law by the National Assembly can validly increase

or alter the tenure of elected officers of local
governments; the National Assembly has no power,
except in relation to the federal capital territory to
make any law or division of councils for election
purposes, qualification of candidates and date of
elections among others; the National Assembly
has no power to make laws to qualify or disqualify
candidates for election under the 1999
constitution. The National Assembly can only make
laws on registration of voters and procedure
regulating election of a local government council, it is
the House of Assembly that has power to make laws on
elections for the posts of chairman, vice chairman or
councilors of local government; sections 15-73, 110-
122 excluding section 16, 26-73, 115, 97, 117 ad
118 (1-8) of the Electoral Act 2001, are inconsistent
with provisions of the 1999 constitution and are
accordingly null and void and inoperative.

The judgment which was hailed nationally as a landmark judgment was

a big blow to council bosses that were preparing to spend one
more year in office. The Governors, thereafter started making
arrangements for council polls.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2

What was the bone of contention between ALGON and State

Governors?

3.3 The Local Government Elections of 2002

The council polls could not hold in 2002 despite the fact that it was
first fixed for April 13 2002, later May 18 2002 and then August 10.

There were the speculations that it would hold first in September, later
November and even December 2002 but it still did not hold. The two
factors that prevented the conduct of the elections in 2002 was the
inability of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)
to provide the electoral register, and the registration of new parties.
Though it was then felt that the council polls would hold immediately
after the April/May General Elections of 2003, no concrete reasons were
adduced why democracy is being denied at the grassroots. The

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setting up of the Technical Committee on Local Government Reforms

by President Obasanjo in June 2003 put paid to the conduct of the
Elections until the president and his men so decide.

It is quite instructive here to point out that the 1999 constitution actually
set the stage for the confusion and intrigue that has bedeviled the local
governments since
1999.

4.0 CONCLUSION

The third-tier of government drew so much attention during the fourth

republic, not mainly in terms of performance but on issues arising
from tenure elongation and postponement of council polls. In a
nutshell however, the Babangida era that ascribed golden era for the
local government had some obvious loop holds that exposed the third
tier of government to ridicule. How could the tenure of local
governments be put at three years by the 1998 reforms as against the
four years of Governors in the states? The local government chairmen
under the aegis of Association of Local Government Chairmen of
Nigeria (ALGON) lobbied their way through the National Assembly
to get an extra one year to make their four year tenure like the state
governors but lost the case at the apex court. For the state governors to
have gone to the apex court to challenge the four year bidding of local
government chairman is a clear indication that the governors are in
agreement to the second place status of the local government councils to
the state government. There is nowhere in Nigeria where a State
Governor has called for local government election immediately after
the three year tenure of their local government regime. Instead, they
appoint a caretaker committee for that one year period until another
election is conducted. In most cases, there will be no elections at the
local government especially if the government is not sure of another
tenure. They use this period to siphon local government allocations.

5.0 SUMMARY

What appeared as golden era for the local government in Nigeria was
not without it’s shortcomings. The third tier of government suffered
constitutional harassment ranging from tenure of the local
government chairmen and council elections. Decree 36 of 1998 gave
the local government chairmen a three year tenure instead of four like
the State Governors. Although the Electoral Act of 2011 contained the
four year tenure for the council chairmen, the State Governors went to
the Supreme Court to challenge the provisions of the Electoral Act,
2001. The Judgement at the apex was in favour of the State Governors
and it became a big blow to the council bosses that were preparing to

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spend another one year in office.

ANSWER TO SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

i. The issue of 3 year tenure for local government chairmen

instead of 4 year tenure
ii. An area council stands dissolved at the expiration of 3 years
commencing from the date of the first sitting.

ANSWER TO SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2

i. Tenure elongation to 4 years by the local government chairman

was opposed by the State Governors to the extent of seeking
redress at the Supreme Court

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

What is the implication of the Supreme Court Judgment that endorses 3

year tenure for Council Chairmen to the performance of their
constitutional responsibilities.

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Enyi John Egbe (2014) Native Authorities and Local Government

Reforms in Nigeria Since 1914 Journal of Humanities and
Social Science Vol. 19, Issue 3, pp. 113-127

Federal Republic of Nigeria (1976) Guidelines for Local

Government Reforms, Kaduna: Government Printers

Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999) The 1999 Constitution Abuja,

Government Printer

Onyediran O. (1988) Essays on Local Government Administration,

Lagos, Project Publishers United Nations (1999) Public
Administration Aspect of Community

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UNIT 4 THE 2003 LOCAL GOVERNMENT REFORMS

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 Reasons that necessitated the 2003 Reforms
3.2 Sanda Ndayako Technical Committee
3.3 Aftermath of the 2003 Reforms
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION
The 2003 Local Government Reforms did not come as a surprise
especially with the saga that occasioned the 2002 council polls. The
2002 council polls could not hold despite the fact that it was fixed for
April 13, 2002. It was obvious that democracy was being denied at the
grassroots. The Obasanjo led administration sprang into action by
setting up a technical committee on Local Government Reforms
headed by the Etsu Nupe Alhaji Sanda Ndayako.

2.0 OBJECTIVES
By the end of this unit, you shall be able to;

• Identify the reasons that necessitated the 2003 Local Government

Reforms
• Underscore the Sanda Ndayako led technical committee and the
philosophy for setting up the committee
• Examine the aftermath of the 2003 reforms against the backdrop
of the third tier level of government.

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 Reasons that Necessitated the 2003 Reforms

The president in a nationwide broadcast on the 18 th of June 2003
informed the nation that the Council of State (made up of the President,
his vice, the 36 state governors, all past presidents and the leadership of
the National Assembly) has agreed on a reform of the Nations Local
Government System.
The president said the review was necessitated by “three disturbing
trends among others, which had been identified with the recent inception

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of democratic dispensation in the country:

i. The non-performance or gross under-performance of the local

governments
ii. The high cost of government and near-prohibitive cost of
electioneering campaigns to individual political contestants in
Nigeria, and
iii. Atomization and continual fragmentation of local government
councils including impractical division of towns and cities
into unworkable mini- local governments.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

What were the reasons that necessitated the reforms of 2003?

3.2 Sanda Ndayako Technical Committee

Arising from the above, the council decided to set up a Technical

Committee. The Technical Committee of experts in local government
affairs drawn from all the geo-political zones have as their terms of
reference to:

i. Examine the problem of inefficiency and high cost of

government with a view to reducing cost and wastage at the
three tiers of government;
ii. Review the performance of local government within the last
four years and consider the desirability or otherwise of
retaining the local government as the third tier of government
in that regard consider, among other options the adoption of a
modified version of the pre-1976 local government system of
government.
iii. Examine the high cost of electioneering campaign in the
country and consider among other options, the desirability of
whether political parties rather than individual office seekers
should canvass for votes in elections and consider any other
matter, which in the opinion of the technical committee are
germane to the goal of efficient structure of government in
Nigeria.

The Technical Committee which had Alhaji Sanda Ndayako, the Etsu
Nupe as chairman was inaugurated on June 25 2003. Unfortunately
the Etsu died on duty and was replaced by Mallam Liman Ciroma.
The committee submitted it’s report to the president on Thursday
November 23, 2003. The report which was presented by the Deputy
Chairman Prof. Akin Mabogunge on behalf of the chairman, submitted
that “the federal, state and local government have failed in meeting the

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aspiration of the people. The Deputy Chairman said that the committee’s
recommendations include the need to grant the local government third
tier status, a shift from the presidential to the parliamentary system at
the local government level in the interest of economy, the retention of
the 774 constitutionally recognized local government councils, and the
abolishing of the state joint local government account among others”.

3.3 Aftermath of the 2003 Reforms

It must be pointed out that the setting up of the technical committee

elicited a lot of criticisms especially from opposition parties. They felt
that the President lacked the powers under the law to set up the
committee. As a matter of fact, the terms of reference handed to the
technical committee demonstrated a display of ignorance on the part
of the Obasanjo led administration. For instance, the technical
committee among other things, were to,
Review the performance of the local governments
within the last four years and consider the desirability
or otherwise of retaining the local government as the
third tier of government in that regard, consider
among other options the adoption of a modified
version of the pre-1976 local government system.

Two things stand clear from thisterms of reference that place the
administration’s idea under scrutiny.

- Whether or not to retain local government as a third tier of

government
- Considering a reversion to the local government system that
existed before 1976

First of all, no civilized country in the world today operates without

local government. That is because the local government is the closest
tier of government to the people much more than the state or federal
government. Where the state government or federal government trace
their origin to certain constitutional developments like the Richards
constitution that brought about regionalism in Nigeria, these regions
have transformed to states and the Oliver Lytelton’s Constitution of
1954 that ushered in a federation in Nigeria which gave
prominence to the Federal Government of today, there is no colonial
constitution that can lay claim to the creation of local government
because local government has been there right from when God created
man. When God created the first man and woman, he mandated the
man to take charge of every other thing around him as a government.
All that the local government has gone through is reforms upon reforms
as a modification to suit the change in time and space. Therefore, no

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administration, whether civilian or military has the moral justification to

consider retention or otherwise of a natural tier of government.

The second lacuna of that terms of reference was the consideration of

reversal to the system of local government that existed before 1976
which occasioned the rationalist resistance because the system was
adjudged by the nationalist as non- developmental and non-
participatory.

If any tier of government should be considered whether to be or not to

be, it is the state government. By the peculiarity of the Nigerian state,
we do not need the state government because their existence has led to
the failure of the local government in Nigeria. A three tier structure of
federal, local government and community councils is better for Nigeria
especially given the present circumstances.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2

What were the terms of reference give to the technical committee

on Local Government Reforms, 2003?

4.0 CONCLUSION

The local government more that any other tier of government has come
under scrutiny in the form of reforms. This is not as a result of their
non-desirability as the 2003 local government reform would claim, but
because of the need to reposition the third tier of government in a
manner that will better address the aspirations of the people at the
grassroots.

5.0 SUMMARY

By way of summary, three things necessitated the 2003 Local

Government Reforms, they are:

i. The non-performance or gross under-performance of the local

governments
ii. The high cost of government and near prohibitive cost of
electioneering campaigns to individual political contestants in
Nigeria, and
iii. Atomization and continual fragmentation of local government
councils including impractical divisions of towns and cities into
unworkable mini- local governments.

The terms of reference handed to the technical committee included

among other things, the examination of the problem of inefficiency and

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high cost of government with a view to reducing cost and wastage at the
three tiers of government.

The technical committee recommended that the local government be

granted third tier status, and the retention of the 774 constitutionally
recognized local government councils and the abolition of the state joint
local government accounts, etc.

ANSWER TO SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

- Non-performance or gross under-performance of the local

government
- The high cost of governance and near prohibitive cost of
electioneering campaigns. etc.

ANSWER TO SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2

- To examine the problem of inefficiency and high cost of

governance
- To consider the desirability or otherwise of the retention of local
government as a third tier of government etc.

6.0 TUTOR MARKED ASSIGNMENT

Examine the terms of reference handed to the technical committee on

2003 local government reform against the backdrop of the significance
of local government to national development.

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Enyi John Egbe (2014) Native Authorities and Local Government

Reforms in Nigeria Since 1914 Journal of Humanities and
Social Science Vol. 19, Issue 3, pp. 113-127

Federal Republic of Nigeria (1976) Guidelines for Local

Government Reforms, Kaduna: Government Printers

Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999) The 1999 Constitution Abuja,

Government Printer

Onyediran O. (1988) Essays on Local Government Administration,

Lagos, Project Publishers United Nations (1999) Public
Administration Aspect of Community

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MODULE 3

Unit 1 Local Government and Service Delivery in Nigeria

Unit 2 Planning for Development at the Local Government Level
Unit 3 Financial Management and Accountability at the Local
Government Level
Unit 4 Local Government Administration and Grassroots
Development in Nigeria

UNIT 1 LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND SERVICE

DELIVERY IN NIGERIA

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 Overview of Local Government and Service Delivery in
Nigeria
3.2 Challenges to Effective Service Delivery at the Grassroots
Level in Nigeria
3.3 Key Issues in the Quest for Effective Service Delivery
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION

In all emergent states, local government has become the main

fundamental instrument for the acceleration and sustenance of
development. Local government is widely acknowledged as a viable
instrument for development and for the delivery of social services to
the people. It is believed that this third tier of government is strategically
placed to fulfil this condition as a result of its proximity to the rural
people, which enhances its ability to easily articulate and aggregate the
demands of the people (Ugwu, 2008). As observed by Agagu (2004),
the need to catalyze balanced development, maximize citizens’
participation, and stimulate government responsive service delivery
necessitates the creation of the local government. The local government
serves as a form of political and administrative structure facilitating
decentralization, national integration, efficiency in governance, and a
sense of belonging at the grassroots. The local government is a unit of
administration all over the world.

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The Local Government is the closest tier of government to the people

in Nigeria, yet the resident population is denied the benefits of its
existence. This is evident in the environmental state, deteriorating
public school buildings, poor market facilities and lack of health care
centres. The failure of the Local governments in the area of service
delivery has made the citizens to lose trust in government as an
institution. In some areas, council officials are better known for the
harassment of citizens than service delivery (Olusola, 2011). The major
concern here is the extent to which goods and services are delivered to
local citizens in the right quantity and at the right time.

The constitution assigns service delivery responsibilities to the three

tiers of government with the states and local governments playing the
most significant role in the delivery of basic services such as
education, health, housing, water, and waste disposal services. Given
the Millennium Development Goals and the huge resources that have
accrued to the various levels of government, it is pertinent to review the
performance of service delivery since the country’s return to democratic
rule in 1999.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you are expected to;

• Identify at least five services expected of local government to

deliver to its people
• Identify the challenges to effective service delivery at the
grassroots level in Nigeria
• Examine the way forward to meet the challenges to service
delivery

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 Overview of Local Government and Service Delivery in

Nigeria

The local government is essentially created as a viable political and

administrative organ for the transformation of all communities and for
delivery of essential services to the citizens. Local government plays a
central role in enabling the achievement of development at the grassroot
level. Governments should therefore continuously seek new and better
ways to build service institutions that have the capacity to champion and
advance the course of development. Local government must create an
appropriate and conducive environment for the people at the local level
through efficient and effective service delivery. It is responsible
for the creation of an appropriate and conducive environment in

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which all sectors of the economy can perform optimally, and it is this
catalytic role of local government that propelled governments all over
the world to search continuously for better ways to deliver their
services (Aluko, 2011).

By law, local governments are mandated to provide the following public

goods and services:

i. Establishment and maintenance of roads within the towns of

the district, including sidewalks, street lights, and street
drainage system,
ii. Construction of water reservoirs in towns and villages, iii.
Construction and management of primary schools.

Other essential functions include:

The construction and management of centres for the care of the

mother and the child,
Physical planning of the settlements of the districts and
registration of the immovable property,
Solid waste collection and disposal,
Food and livestock markets,
Slaughterhouses,
Management of self help projects,
Registration and maintenance of civil register, and
Issuing business licenses, among others.

A key purpose of local government is to promote the well-being and

quality of life of citizens and communities through effective and
accountable representation and efficient performance of functions and
delivery of services. Local authorities have certain advantages over
more centralised organisations. The constitution assigns service delivery
responsibilities to the three tiers of government with the states and local
governments playing the most significant role in the delivery of
basic services such as education, health, housing, water, and waste
disposal services. Local government’s commitment to the principles of
quality customer service have been illustrated in recent years through a
variety of practical developments, such as extending opening hours of
operation, improving facilities, providing more accessible services, e-
government initiatives, and published service standards, in many cases
through public customer charters and customer service actions plans.

In Nigeria, government’s services are described as inefficient,

ineffective, and never meeting clients’ demand on time. When the
present government came into power, it had vowed to change the lives
of the citizens of the country for the better. It became necessary to

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change the methods of delivering services to the people. For the

government to be able to bring this ideal to reality, it was then urgent
to move away from the conventional approaches to public service
delivery where government was the sole provider of services to the
public and seek alternative, cost effective and efficient ways of
delivering services to the public in a manner prescribed by the
Constitution.

Nyamukachi (2009) describes three ways in which government failure

to deliver services through local government can be interpreted: inability
to achieve the goals that government has planned and budgeted for;
failure to deliver on unplanned and unbudgeted goals; this becomes
difficult to achieve as government’s plans are linked to the budget.
If not planned for, it means it is not budgeted for and therefore it
will not be realised during that time. This, however, reflects on the
government’s planning process and the level of community
involvement. The inability to render quality service is evident by the
number of poor quality of services, the number of clinics that are not
properly equipped and the quality of roads that are constructed.

Poor service delivery and governance remains an overwhelming

challenge in most local government in Nigeria. Of major concern is the
degree of corruption, institutional capacity constraints relating to
appropriate skills and staff, lack of transparency, dysfunctional of ward
committees, lack of accountability by councillors and municipal
officials, lack of public participation in issues of governance, failure to
comply with municipal legislation and other by-laws, failure to
prioritize community needs and budgeting processes not aligned,
tensions between the political and administrative sections of the
municipalities and weak financial viability of local governments.

The present 1999 Nigeria Constitution recognises the local

Government as the third tier system of government. However, nearly
all the local governments in Nigeria are either crippled by the force of
the state or wilfully not performing to people’s expectation in the
country. One then ask these among many questions: what is the role of
the local government and what is the role of the state and how can it
improve the frame work within which local government operates in line
with the new public-private partnership of the Federal Government?

Describing the requirements of the access principle for effective public

service delivery, Batho (2006) explains that all citizens should have
equal access to the services to which they are entitled. The openness and
transparency principle has it that citizens should be told how national
and provincial (states, local governments) departments are run, how
much they cost, and who is in charge.

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3.2 Challenges to Effective Service Delivery at the

Grassroots Level in Nigeria

It is an irony of fate that the military induced reforms in the Nigerian

Local Government has its attendant contradictions since the military
structure is essentially hierarchical, thus the operation of Local
Government cannot be isolated from such contradictions that
characterized military hegemony. Adeyemo (1996) opined that the
Nigerian Federalism remains a formidable problem is evident in the
various contradictions of military rule and the decrees they have
spurned. One of the greatest challenges is that of limited capacity.
Although their strength and capacity have grown steadily since
independence, local governments are still not able to perform their roles
and discharge their functions much as expected. Their autonomy is
limited and they remain unable to manage essential functions without
assistance from central government.

One of the most serious problems currently militating against local

government is on the exact status of local government under 1999
constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The problem according
to Adeyeye (2001) arises out of the various provisions in the
constitution, which tend to contradict or impair one another.
Similarly, some of these provisions are blatantly ambiguous, and if
stretched, could easily result into operational or functional stolidity.
Similarly, the continuous overbearing role being exercised by the
states poses a tremendous threat to the autonomy of Local
Government. These can be seen within the realm of various
contradictory rules, instructions, and supervisory powers passed down to
the local councils, some of which are outside the constitutional
jurisdictions of the Local Governments. Local government authority in
Nigeria lacks the requisite financial autonomy desirable and necessary
for effective management of their financial resources. The much
touted local government autonomy envisaged by the theory and
practise of fiscal federalism in Nigeria is more or less a political
gimmick. That is precisely why it is a myth rather than reality (Akindele
& Olaopa,
2002).
To talk of absence of effective service delivery in local government is to
talk of the presence of corruption in the local government system in
Nigeria. Local governments have become vineyard of corruption where
council political officers sit to share the statutory allocation from the
federation account. Instead of being used for public good, the
allocations are diverted to personal use. Indeed, since the advent of local
government in Nigeria in the 1950s, Odion-Akhaine (2009), noted that

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the social problem of corruption has dogged it. To be sure, local

government is no longer local government but local corruption. It has
thrived, progressed, and flourished unabated in Nigeria. Corruption has
taken the central stage in most local governments. This tendency is
obviously a national malady. Most internally generated revenues do not
go to the local government account. It is viewed by patrons of ruling
parties and their clients as political reward for ‘faithfully enabling the
party to win or remain in office’. The sources of these revenues are
regarded as “Cash Point” for daily reimbursement of ‘operators’. At
the end of the day, the local governments are worst off financially.
Little wonder, they now depend on the federal and state governments
for funds to at least, pay the monthly salaries and wages of their
workers. It may not be off the mark to suggest that what most local
governments do in recent times is merely source for money to pay their
workers salaries and wages. All other developmental projects and
programmes are put on hold ‘until the financial condition of the council
improves’, the local authorities would refrain.
Corruption has been institutionalized to the point of accepting it as part
of our system. Albeit, corruption is ubiquitous; it is found all over
the world, but the degree of its manifestation varies form system to
system. At the grassroots level, corruption has been canonically
accommodated, entertained, and celebrated within the system. In the
local government setting, corruption is misnomer labelled and
euphemistically referred to as “EGUNJE” (a slogan which means
“illegal offer” in Nigeria). Kolawole (2006) laments this situation
when he opines that “in spite of the establishment of the Independent
Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission (ICPC),
corruption still thrives in our society.” In his analysis, Kolawole was of
the view that the lack of funds was no more a constraint on local
government performance, but a mismanagement and misappropriation
of the funds accruable to it.
Adedeji (1970) blames the ineffectiveness of local administration on the
following reasons: lack of mission or lack of comprehensive functional
role; lack of proper structure (i.e. the role of local governments in the
development process was not known); low quality of staff; and low
funding. According to him, these problems lead the local governments
into a vicious circle of poverty because inadequate functions and
powers lead to inadequate funding which result in the employment of
low skilled and poorly paid staff.

Another problem of local government in Nigeria is inadequate finance

to carry out its statutory responsibilities. Local governments do not
posses viable sources of generating funds especially the rural based
ones. They therefore depend heavily on fund allocations from the
federation account for the purpose of carrying out their basic
responsibilities. This problem from the viewpoint of Enemuo (1999)

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arises from their incapacity to raise funds internally and insufficient

transfers from the central governments. Local governments in the
country lack the required finance to make their impact felt in every
community under their jurisdiction. This has greatly affected the
effectiveness and performance of local government in Nigeria.

Local level political leadership has a significant role in strengthening

local government. Local level leadership has grown since independence
but the capacity of many councillors leaves much to be desired. The
grassroots organizations such as Community Development Associations
need to be more active, and community participation strengthened.
Productivity of local level organizations remains another challenge
despite various productivity enhancing measures such as work
improvement teams and performance management systems. Declining
standards of integrity are also a matter of concern (Sharma 1998). The
administrative machinery’s accountability to the people needs to be
strengthened, and administration needs to become more responsible,
responsive and sensitive to peoples’ needs and expectations.

It is common knowledge that some staff members of local government

councils are not recruited solely on the basis of the possession of
requisite knowledge and experience. Political considerations and
patronage in most cases take over their recruitment policies, thus making
lack of qualified staff to manage the books of the local governments a
grave problem.

Employment at local government level in Nigeria is based on

favouritism, nepotism, ethnic and political consideration and other
extraneous factors that replaced and displaced competence,
qualification, experience and performance. Entrance into the local
government staff forum is usually through junior staff cadre as it is the
compensatory tool of the chairman as necessitate by spoils system and
prebendalism. This grade level 01-06 whose payment status is as
low as N24,000.00 (US$150) at most is naturally not suitable for any
skilled worker. A graduate of any field, all things being equal, will not
listen to such pronouncement let alone accepting the offer. If he does,
thanks to unabating unemployment, he must, as a matter of necessity,
device another means of adding up to his salary, which ordinarily
cannot meet his physiological needs. Therefore, the local government
suffers (Emeh, et al 2009). Onyishi (2002) blamed the problems of
personnel department of the local government on overcentralization
hence lumping seldom makes staff assessment efficient. Onah (2002)
pointed at political interference from the states and the influence of
ethnicity, favouritism and nepotism. Majorly, irregular payment of staff
salaries and total absence of fringe benefits and physical working
conditions which are usually very poor are all awful conditions

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impacting negatively on the personnel management of local government

councils.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

List at least four challenges to effective service delivery at the

grassroots level in
Nigeria

3.3 Key Issues in the Quest for Effective Service Delivery

What are the mechanisms required to ensure that local

governments are transparent and accountable to local communities?
How can the lack of skilled human resources be tackled? And how can a
harmonious relationship be created between urban local governments
and residents, so that they can be responsive to one another, working
together to improve living conditions through effective service
delivery?

In a sense, the problem of service delivery is best defined in

terms of characteristics of the delivery system. Most local-government
reforms in Nigeria have focused on 'strong/ local governments, giving
them financial resources commensurate with their functions. Given the
antecedents in terms of poor performance, the objective of any such
reforms should place the emphasis not on 'strong local governments'
but on an efficient and responsive system of service delivery.

The relationship between urban local governments and residents needs

to be reoriented in order to make meaningful headway in terms of
service delivery. Governance of the cities has to be creative, integrating
urban residents and grassroots organisations in policy implementation.
As observed by Akin (1995: 11):

A unified management system in which the strong

society is, as it were, harnessed by the state must be
encouraged. To achieve this outcome requires an
appreciation of the critical importance of radicalizing
traditional quarters or neighbourhood organizations
in these cities. If the majority of urban residents
are more conversant with the adaptive institutional
structures which their societies have created to cope
with the urbanization process, and are either unaware
of the formal urban structures of colonial origin or
find the bureaucratic hassle of relating to them
discouraging, then to involve them in the prevailing
urban management processes would entail three steps.

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First, the adaptive institutions that have emerged to

deal with particular problems must be officially and
legally recognized. Second, these institutions must be
integrated into the normal processes of urban\
management. Third, efforts must be made to
progressively change the rules and procedures of
these institutions to gradually align them with the
existing modern urban management system.

More effective urban administration should be based on identifying all

the city neighbourhoods, analysing the nature of their organisation,
appreciating their leadership, and making efforts to harness and mobilise
these organisations for the overall administration of the urban area. This
may or may not involve providing each neighbourhood with a pool of
resources to operate more effectively. It may or may not entail giving
the local leadership special designation (as distinct from that of elected
councillors). Neighbourhood leadership depends on individuals through
whom information can flow from the local governments to local
residents and vice versa. To reduce the level of alienation in the urban
areas, people need to know more about what is going on in their cities.
They must also appreciate what their own responsibilities are, both
financial and otherwise. Any serious reform of urban administration
must closely examine the structures of governance at the neighbourhood
level within each municipality and try to integrate them with the local
authorities. It must also enhance their capacity to function effectively
within the context of a modern municipality. Enhancement of capacity
may take the form of seminars, lectures, and short-term courses, not
only for neighbourhood leaders but also for the heads of voluntary
organisations, women's societies, and youth groups. All of this will
serve both to mobilise the urban population and to reinforce the
foundation of a transparent and participatory system of urban
governance for effective service delivery.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2

What are the key issues to Effective Service Delivery?

4.0 CONCLUSION

• Effective service delivery must be tailored to the

circumstances of the location.
• This requires credible evidence based measures and sound
economic reasoning. The best way to make effective policy is
to make sure that its guiding principles are evidence based,
learned from experience elsewhere, in addition to pragmatic
mechanism to expand the evidence base for Africa.

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Efforts to strengthen service delivery should therefore be directed at

building the capacity of local government organizations. This requires
clarity of policy and a commitment to its implementation. People have
to be taken on board and policies for them have to be made with them.
The local authorities must ensure that their finances are not mismanaged
and standards of integrity and accountability are maintained. There has
to be zero tolerance for corruption and mechanisms of control and
accountability have to be strengthened. The performance of local level
political leaders could be strengthened through organization of
workshops, seminars and published material which could enhance their
knowledge and understanding of their expected roles.

Accountability and transparency must be encouraged and promoted in

the local government system so as to attain good governance for
effective development at the grassroots level. Corruption must be
deterred and punished in the local government system to enhance
efficient and effective service delivery at the grassroots level. There is
need for a change of political values by the dominant political elite, to
accord local governments the needed autonomy to carry out their
responsibilities. There is no doubt that Nigeria has come a long way
with the constitutional inclusion of local government as a third level of
government not solely dependent on the whims and caprices of the
states. While the motive of the constitutional recognition of local
governments which in the main is to ensure local government autonomy
may not have been fully realized in Nigeria due to the obvious failure of
the higher level governments especially state governments to respect the
provisions.

Local governments in Nigeria need adequate autonomy that can

facilitate their operations and development of their localities. This
should emanate from institutionalized democratic process of
elections for representative local government councils as and when
due. This should be in line with what obtains at the State and Federal
government levels where elections are timely conducted. Adequate
autonomy should be manifestly accorded local governments in other
areas such as finance, revenue generation and expenditure,
personnel administration and development matters. The State Joint
Local Government account should be abolished. As a way forward, a
leaf could be borrowed from the way the federal government tried to
tackle the issue in 1988. There should be capacity building for local
councils to take advantage of modern tools of local governance that are
being developed worldwide. This must combine the political and
administrative cadre of the councils.

Local governments need to have adequate and sustained sources of

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revenue, so that they can be responsive to the needs of their

communities. Revenues are not presently collected in an efficient
manner, though resistance from tax payers cannot be ruled out.
Financial management practices employed at the local governments was,
until recently, quite primitive. Councillors and local government staff
should realize that, by law, they are mandated to provide services to the
communities in their localities; hence, greater service delivery must be
planned and budgeted. Specifically, the systematic collection and proper
disposal of garbage should be given utmost attention, as it grossly
affects the health and well-being of the society.

In ensuring effective local government administration in Nigeria, it is

important that the local government should rationalize its expenditure
patterns so as to, at least, achieve optimum performance. It is
indisputable that in Nigeria the local government even though it might
have gone through several stages of development has come to stay as
the third tier of government. Also, from conception till date, the
relevance of local government areas in the scheme of governance in
Nigeria has not been in doubt. It is seen as a channel through which
governance and development at the federal level can quickly reach
the people at the grassroot. Local governments should also capitalize
on the willingness of the local communities and systematically plan and
finance quick impact projects that are sustainable and beneficial to all.
The recent practice of local governments in enhancing service
delivery capacity should therefore be sustained and strengthened.

5.0 SUMMARY

We have categorically highlighted the mandate given to local

government to provide such services as establishment and maintenance
of roads, construction of water reservoirs in towns and villages,
construction and management of primary schools, etc against the
backdrop of challenges to effective service delivery in Nigeria
among which include the following;

- Problem of inadequate fund

- Absence/undeveloped revenue sources
- Problem of corruption
- Political interference
- Instability in council leadership
- The status of local government as distorted by the 1999
constitution
- Absence of accountability

We have however advocated that to overcome these challenges efforts

should be geared towards strengthening capacity of local

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government organizations. The local authorities must ensure that their

finances are not mismanaged and standards of integrity and
accountability are maintained.

ANSWER TO SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

Challenges;
- Corruption
- Problem of inadequate fund
- Undeveloped revenue
- Instability in council leadership

ANSWER TO SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2

- Encourage the unified management system and the adaptive

institutions that have emerged to deal with particular problems
must be officially and legally recognized
- These institutions must be integrated into the normal processes
city, town or urban management
- Efforts must be made to progressively change the rules and
procedures of these institutions to gradually align with the
existing modern management system.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

What can possibly be done to ensure effective service delivery in

the local government?

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Aderonke Majekodunmi (2016), The State of Local Government and

Service Delivery in Nigeria: Challenges and Prospects, Africa’s
Public Service Delivery and Performance Review Massoud
Omar (2009) Urban Governance and Service Delivery in
Nigeria Development in Practice, Vol. 19 Number 1. February,
2009

Olusola, O. O. (2011) Boosting Internally Generate Revenue

of Local Governments in Ogun State Nigeria: European, Journal
of Humanities and Social Sciences, 8 (1)

Onah, F. O. (2008) Human Resource Management 2nd Edition Enugu:

John Jacob’s Classic Publishers

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UNIT 2 PLANNING FOR DEVELOPMENT AT

THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT LEVEL

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 The Principal Aims of Local Government
3.2 What Planning is all About
3.3 Planning Process and Techniques
3.4 Problems Associated with Planning at the Local
Government Level
3.5 Suggestions for Improving Planning at the Local
Government Level
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The centrality of local governments in national development cannot be

overemphasised. It is the responsibility of local governments to take
development to the grassroots level where about 80 percent of Nigerians
live. Due to the recognition of their importance in the development
process, local government have been assigned many roles some of
which include provision of markets, motor parks, slaughter houses
and other many economic activities, which have direct bearing on the
lives and, livelihood of people at the grassroots level. These
functions call 3 for the need for local governments to order the sequence
of their development. Because of scarcity of resources, the need for
local governments to plan becomes imperative.

Ever since the Macpherson Constitution of 1951 provided for reform at

the local government level, planning for development at the local
government level has become a routine in Nigeria.

It is a fact that local governments became involved in development

planning with the introduction of the 1976 reform, which placed
local governments' representative council. Following these reforms,
local governments throughout the country became agents of
development. Many of them have embarked on various development
projects such as expansion of primary school facilities, basic health
facilities, rural water supply, provision of markets, etc. Furthermore,
since 1976 more resources have been flowing into the coffers of the

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local governments, culminating in, 20 percent of the consolidated

revenue going to them. Besides statutory allocation, local governments
also generate revenue from commercial ventures, user charges and loans
hence the need for them to embark on comprehensive plans for the
development of the grassroots level

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you shall be able to;

• Underscore the principal aims of local government

• Underscore what planning is all about
• Examine planning processes and techniques
• Identify problems associated with planning at the local
government level

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 The Principal Aims of Local Government

The principal aims of local governments were to:

(i) Make appropriate services and development activities

responsive to local wishes and initiatives by devolving or
delegating them to local representative bodies;
(ii) Facilitate the exercise of democratic self-government close to the
local levels of society, and encourage initiative and leadership
potential;
(iii) Mobilise human and material resources through the involvement
of members of the public in their local development; and
(iv) Provide a two-way channel of communication between local
communities and government (both state and federal).

Subsequent administrative measures in the 1980s enhanced the

importance and autonomy of local governments. Such measures
included an increase in their share of federal revenue, direct
disbursement of such revenues to them, abolition of some political and
fiscal controls exercised over them by state governments, extension of
the presidential system of governance to the local government
system, entrenchment of the local government areas (LGAs) in the
constitution and the simultaneous of these areas as state and federal
electoral constituencies. Also, local governments have increased in
number from 301 in 1979 to 774 in 1998 (Aiyedun,
2001).

According to the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,

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the system of local government by democratically

elected local government councils is under this
constitution guaranteed; and accordingly, the
Government of every State shall, subject to section 8
of this Constitution, ensure their existence under a
Law which provides for the establishment, structure,
composition, finance and functions of such councils.
The person authorised by law to prescribe the area
over which a local government council may exercise
authority shall define such area as clearly as
practicable and ensure to the extent to which it may be
reasonably justifiable that in defining such area,
regard is paid to the common interest in the
community in the area, the traditional association of
the community, and administrative convenience.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

What are the principal aims of local government?

3.2 What Planning is All About

In trying to understand planning as a concept, several approaches are

possible. One way is simply to enumerate the variety of forms of
planning. This approach could more appropriately, be described as a
classification of planning. Accordingly, there can be wartime planning,
town and country planning, anti-cyclical planning, development
planning, national planning and regional planning. Another
classification, is determined by the duration of plans. Here, one can
distinguish between long-term or tactical planning, and of course
medium-range planning. This approach is useful as it may only tell us
what has been done (the product), not how planning is done (the
process). We must bear this in mind as we approach planning from a
second angle.

The second approach regards planning as a technique for making

decisions that guide future action for the achievement of desired
objectives. In that event, planning becomes technical and, rational in
the sense that it ensures that the right decisions and subsequent actions
are undertaken. Usually, the techniques are often quantitative,
mathematical, or statistical. Subjects and models such as econometric,
input-output models, simulation techniques, operations research, game
theory and computation techniques facilitate planning. Planning is,
therefore, the technique of provoking the occurrence of certain results
by means of deliberate intervention in the economic process and

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orientation in accordance with a plan. This second approach

appears to deal-more with the processes of planning as opposed to
the end product. Therefore, it may serve our purpose better.

A third approach is what for lack of a more appropriate term, one would
like to call a common sense or dictionary approach to defining
planning. Although, majority of existing definitions come under this
category, their major weakness lies in not establishing planning as a
technique and as a process. They do not, therefore, hold much
operational value.

Planning, therefore, is "the determination of anything in advance of

action." It is the process of preparing a set of decisions action in the
future, directed at achieving goals by preferable means. And to
Mecca etal, "planning is a process that is continual and dynamic...
that is based on present information." Planning could also be "a
systematised method of thinking ahead about what is to be achieved,
how, when and by whom."

For Irving Swerdlow:

Planning is a major part of the process of determining

how much and what is produced by the economic
system. It is the exercise of total government... and it
determines societal transformation... It is no
exaggeration to assert that in economic planning,
political and social decisions are often more
relevant than economic decisions. However, since
the end always justify the means, at the ultimate,
economic decisions prevail over other decisions.

A more operational and practical definition is that of Griffin and Enos.

According to them:

Economically, planning is the economic

constitution... in which the goals of an economy are
spelt out. Just as a constitution defines the organs of
government by which democracy or theocracy or
dictatorship is to be served, so plans define the means
by which economic welfare is to be improved.

Further, Griffin and Enos define planning as purposeful human activity

and for developing countries specifically as "the construction and
authorisation of economic, social and political programmes in the
underdeveloped countries."

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The above definition outlines the elements of the construction

process as involving:

Situation analysis;
Determination of aims and goals and involvement of relevant
people;
Enumeration of available resources;
Consideration of alternative ways of the resources utilisation,
data collection and selection of preferred alternative. Plan
implementation;
Consistency checks to ensure that goals can be achieved with
the resources; and
Periodic revisions to allow for unexpected events, through
monitoring .and evaluation.

The authorisation of the plan, on the other hand, is the process of

concretising and formalising the plan without which the plan is no more
than a wish. This process involves:

Transforming plans into programmes or projects;

Designating prerogatives and responsibilities setting of specific
targets;
Provision of financial and human resources; and
Establishment of communication networks to convey
information and commands.

The above definition by Griffin and Enos gives us hot just what has
been done (product) but also the steps involved in the planning (the
process). Waterston, on the other hand, has defined planning "as an
organised attempt to select the best available alternatives to achieve
specific goals." He further characterized planning as the:

rational application of human knowledge to the

process of reaching decisions which are to serve as the
basis of human action... The central core of the
meaning remains the establishment of relationship
between means and ends with the object of achieving
the latter by the most efficient use of the former.

Finally, planning can be defined as "deciding what to do, that is,

establishing goals or objectives and stating the steps to be taken to
achieve them," Thus planning bridges where we are, where we want to
go, those involved, when to get to the various stages, and resources
needed to get there.

3.3 Planning Process and Techniques

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For this section however, we find most useful Helio Jaguaribe's

description of the planning process. He begins by defining planning as
"the technique of provoking the occurrence of certain results by
means of deliberate intervention in the economic process and
orientation in accordance with a plan." Hereafter, the process of
planning is outlined by Jaguaribe in rather illuminating details as
consisting of the following stages:

(i) Plan preparation or formulation

This stage consists of three (3) elements.
(a) The study and analysis of the environment of planning.
For effective planning, feasibility studies should be carried out to
know the circumstances of that environment (prevailing
conditions) such elements as the size, shape and human
composition. Unforeseen circumstances such as natural disasters
should also be carefully studied including external relations.
Lastly, studies of available resources needed to carry out the
programme should also be made. Experts can analyse the
technical elements of the situation in a rational way, while the
prevailing opinion in the community should determine the less
technical matters.

At the pre-planning phase, that is, when the planner is

involved in situation analysis, the unforeseen circumstances
such as natural disasters, external relations are carefully studied.
Studies of available resources needed to carry out the programme
should be made. While the planner can analyse the technical
elements of the situation in a rational way, the prevailing
opinion in the community should be sourced and incorporated in
the planning: exercise. It is important that adequate consultation
be made with intended beneficiaries and other relevant
stakeholders. Their buying-in and becoming part owners of
the project or programme can enhance proper formulation and
implementation. It is usually advisable to employ local labour
around the location of major projects.

(b) The choice of plan objectives

An objective represents an image of a future state of affairs
towards which actions are directed. In choosing objectives, there
is need to consider the means at the disposal of the society or
organisation and the relationship between gods and the means
available when choosing among objectives for there are
never means enough to attain all the objectives. The objectives
should be well thought of and clarified. Incompatible objectives
must be reconciled made intrinsically valid because failure to do

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so makes it difficult to formulate policies and programme, which

are appropriate for the plan's implementation.

The choice of plan objectives can be done in two ways. Firstly,

where the choice "regarded as a technical corollary of diagnosis
of the situation, it can be entrusted to those experts who
undertook this diagnosis." The second option is to entrust the
choice to the leaders of such a community, or the community
exercises the choice either through its legislature or by plebiscite.

(c) The selection of means

The means enable the achievement of chosen objectives. The
means can also be "thought of as consisting of certain physical
quantities of resources and the manner in which they can be
employed. The means are comprised of the inputs and their
relationship, technical and institutional between the inputs and
outputs.'' The process of selection from alternative means is
divided into three:

The identification of available alternatives consistent with

the chosen objective;
The weighing of the alternatives; and
The choice of the best and most suitable of them.

(ii) Plan or programme execution

In this stage, the decision made towards achieving defined
objectives is put into action. This stage consists of two elements,
namely:
(a) Establishment of required Legal and Administrative
Mechanisms: After the choice of objectives and the means
for achieving them, there is need for proper assessment of
the existing institutions and to restructure them to meet the
plan's demands, or to establish new ones where none ever
existed.

(b) Operation of the institutions: The establishment or

restructuring of institutions would not in itself guarantee
proper implementation, hence there is need to make
these institutions functional by equipping them with the
human, material and financial resources needed.

The project must be ranked with other projects competing for resources
and found to scale the hurdle. Once a project has passed these tests and
has funds properly allocated, approved and released for it, then it is
ready for implementation. It is a common complaint in Nigeria that
plans are usually well formulated but they fail to achieve their goals

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due to poor implementation. In order to properly embark on project

implementation, the following preconditions must be met:

The project officers must ensure that there is indeed a project to

be executed and not just a project idea or concept.
If there is an identified project with a feasibility study, the project
must be further appraised or the appraisal study revalidated
depending on how long ago the study was conducted.

Jaguaribes model of the planning process ends with stage two

above, it is therefore considered rather incomplete. A third stage
is that of evaluation of plan implementation. It is proposed that
this be added for-completeness

(iii) Monitoring and Evaluation of Plan Implementation

Monitoring is a very important aspect of project
implementation. Before embarking on project monitoring, there
must be a clear perception of:

The objective of the exercise and what the results would be

used for;
The kind of information and data to be sought for or
generated;
How to analyse, store and retrieve such data and build
time series there from as necessary;
Those to be involved in the exercise;
Timing of visits;
Alerting those whose projects will be monitored and
providing advance questionnaire for completion, as
necessary;
Logistic support "such as transportation, funds,,
accommodation, report preparation, etc.

Monitoring must not be regarded as a causal exercise, whereby one

simply goes to a project site, looks at it and returns to the restaurant for
refreshment. It requires careful planning and execution to be effective
and meaningful. Monitoring may be done by project consultants who
monitor and sign certificates of performance, as well as certificate of
completion. Such certificates provide the basis for payments.
Monitoring can also be done by local government officials other than
the technical staff. Monitoring may be undertaken to enable
performance certificates to be raised to support payment vouchers; to
keep contractors on their toes; to check on the quality of work done; to
suggest mid-stream solutions to problems encountered during
execution; and to ensure that implementation is on track in terms
of structure, technical quality and timeliness.

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Lack of proper arrangement for project execution often leads to project

failure. At times also, plan/budget indiscipline meaning Implementation
of projects not included in the plan or the budget while neglecting or
abandoning those in the plan/budget leads to project underfunding. The
National Assembly and the anti- corruption Act, however, frown on this
appropriately:

Plan evaluation involves essentially three (3) steps or measures

(a) Devising procedures to collect, monitor, and measure actual
performance against predetermined standards
(b) Action to identify and analyse significant deviations from the
standards; and
(c) Taking the necessary remedial action indicated by the control
procedures.

There are also three instruments for exercising effective plan

evaluation and control:

First is auditing - this is employed for the purpose of monitoring and

recording actual performance against the plan targets.

Second is budgeting - employed for short-term, routine and, formalised

controls. The budget in turn serves two other functions. It provides
the objectives, targets and plans of the organization/community in
quantitative, primarily financial terms and monitors actual performances
against predetermined standards.
Third is information and coordination. These serve the purpose of
evaluating performances against plans to decide what corrective
measures, if any, need to be taken.

3.4 Problems Associated with Planning at the Local

Government Level

Some common problems associated with planning at the local

government level are as follows:

(a) In some cases, the individuals who are the beneficiaries ' and
end-users of projects do not contribute to problem
identification. In addition, sufficient need assessment is not done
before planning is embarked upon. The consequence is that
energy is wasted on programmes that are not related to the
people's problems and on programmes that cannot be sustained;

(b) Necessary data for planning are largely lacking at the local
government.

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

These include baseline data, ethnographic information,

demographic profile, etc. Absence or insufficient data affect
planning;

(c) Planning is a continuous process. Indeed it runs in a cycle,

therefore, requires trained hands. The situation on the ground is
that there are few planning officers in the local government.
And even the ones available are not properly trained;

(d) The general lack of financial resources, unpredictability of fund

flow, especially for the highly unviable local governments are
problems both for planning at the local government.

The Ayida Review Panel on the Civil Service Reforms (1995) on

Planning Structure for Civil Service is a source of worry on the
certainty of the very existence of the Department of Planning,
Research and Statistics (DPRS). The report recognised the relevance of
the DPRS functions and the need for a data bank for the storage,
processing, retrieval and dissemination of data.

The civil service, which is the primary instrument of government to

implement its policies and programmes, is still deficient structurally and
in terms of certain competencies. Because of the absence of appropriate
competencies and inadequacy in planning, as noted by the Doom Philips
Study Team in 1985, policies could not be translated into projects and
implemented fully. Thus, one of the major recommendations of the
Study Team on the structure, staffing and operations of the Nigerian
Civil Service (1985) was the creation of the department of planning,
research and statistics.

One need not deny the fact that the DPRS has not been able to operate
as designed. Indeed, a study carried out in 1992 to determine the
degree of implementation of the Civil Service Reforms identified the
establishment and operationalisation of the civil service, DPRS as one of
the major areas in which very little implementation had been done. A
decade after the study, information available on the performance of the
department did not suggest appreciable realisation of the designers'
expectations. Most of the functions assigned to the department have
largely remained daydreams as it has failed to carry out either sectoral or
internal research; it has not been able to offer in-house management
consultancy services to the government; and has not succeeded in
developing a database, nor develops modern management information
system. The limited success or unimpressive performance could be
due to some problems the department faced even at inception. The
department had been poorly staffed, thus the competencies required to
operate the divisions, branches and sections of the department were

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lacking. The limited support the department enjoyed from the top
leadership of each tier of government frustrated all efforts to secure
appropriate staff training and working tools/facilities for the staff of the
department. Until recently, many of the qualified first degree? holders in
Economics and allied fields who have the capacity of working in the
DPRS considered it irrational to take up civil service job especially at
local government level when the banks and other financial institutions
were offering them salaries that were multiples of those of their
civil servant counterparts. With the collapse of several banks and the
associated retrenchments, newly qualified graduates are finding it
reasonable to source for civil service job. It is, therefore, expected that
the shortage of competent graduates interested in and capable of
conducting research should abate somewhat in the foreseeable future.

Another major feature of the contemporary Nigerian research

environment is the relatively low quality of graduates of many
universities. This could be due to the lack of the latest teaching
materials. Nigerian academics are not encouraged to write textbooks
based on local knowledge and research because most publishers are
not interested in such texts due to low effective demand for them. On
the other hand, owing to the massive exchange rate depreciation and the
pervasive low purchasing power of the people, very few students can
afford imported textbooks and learned journals or got hooked to
Internet. The abysmally low level of funding of the universities and
research institutes over the last two decades made it difficult for them to
provide these facilities for graduate students-. For the same reason,'
research grants are not only small in size but have dried up in several
institutions. Consequently, research outputs of .Nigerian academics are
far below their potential (Aiyedun, 2002).

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2

What are the problems associated with planning at the local

government?

3.5 Suggestions for Improving Planning at the Local

Government Level

The following are ways of improving .planning at the grassroots

a. The people at the grassroots should contribute significantly in
determining their needs and identifying their problems on which
'plans must be hinged. The implication of this is that
projects should not be imposed on communities; rather,
projects should be generated from them;
b. There should be an established planning, research and statistics
(PRS) unit in all local governments in the federation. This would

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make for adequate data generation and storage. In addition, it

will lead to greater proficiency of staff and facilitate continuity
of planning;
c. The local governments should endeavour to accelerate the
incidence of training for their staff to enable them appreciate
and participate in cycle of planning;
d. All planned projects should be within the resources of the local
government. Projects should not be started if the sources of
funds are uncertain;
e. There should be more constitutional provision for local
government autonomy in terms of revenue sourcing, in line
with expected expenditure and viability of the local
government. Unviable local governments should be restructured
to make them viable;
f. Since the local government's internally generated revenue comes
from minor sources, and must therefore, be supplemented with
federal allocations to enhance effective discharge of local
government functions, a •function- based approach to revenue
allocation should be adopted whereby each tier of government
receives allocation commensurate with its relative basic local
resources endowment;
g. Some local governments are worse off than others in revenue
mobilisation and utilisation, and so may need to be assisted,
supervised, directed, and/or controlled by higher levels of
government more than others. Such local governments include
those which are newly created and those in rural areas both of
which face critical development challenges but lack
adequate revenue mobilisation and utilisation capacity. This is a
pragmatic suggestion which acknowledges diversity rather than
uniformity, and not a theoretical negation of the need for local
government autonomy.

To this effect, funding mechanisms (formula) should be revised to take

account of the need for special consideration or compensation for
existing inequalities in the distribution of resources, especially revenue,'
bearing in mind the differences between urban and rural local
governments in the yield of internal revenue sources. There should be a
more effective approach towards improving their internally generated
revenue as well as adoption of measures to curb corruption and instill
transparency, honesty, discipline and accountability in local government
management. Attainment of these objectives can come through
conscious efforts to enlist community participation in their activities -
from design and implementation to monitoring and evaluation.

4.0 CONCLUSION

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Planning is closely related to the activities that constitute the bedrock

of resource management and control in the local government.
Planning is not only central to the traditional functions of management
but occupies primary position in management. But planning is directed
towards finding effective ways of harnessing available resources;
making rational decisions and choices; and achievement of goals.

Planning is essential for all management activities especially

development activities. Planning at the local government level is
associated with many problems including lack of funds and inadequate
training of staff. Consequently, we have recommended, among others,
that all local governments should establish a functional department of
planning, research and statistics (PRS) to make planning a continuous
affair. In addition, adequate funds should be made available to the local
governments to enable them make deliberate and result-oriented
planning.

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5.0 SUMMARY

In this unit we saw the principal aims of local government as follows:

- To make appropriate services and development activities

responsive to local wishes and initiatives by developing
or delegating them to local representative bodies
- To mobilize human and material resources through the
involvement of members of the public in their local government
etc

We also analysed the processes and techniques of planning as follows:

- To study and analyze the environment of planning

- To make a choice of plan objectives
- To select means, and
- Programme execution

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

Explain the significance of monitoring and evaluation of programme

planning

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Aborishade, Oladimeji (1987) “Reforms of Local Government in

Nigeria “Times International, October 19th 1987

Adamolekun L. and Rowland L. (Ed) (1972) The New Local

Government System, Ibadan: Heinemann Education Books

Cameron, Sir Donald (1934) The Principles of Native

Administration and their Application, Lagos: Government
Printer

Campbell, M. J. (1963), Law and Practice of Local Government in

Northern Nigeria: London, Sweet and Maxwell

Ganduje A. Umar (2006) Democracy and Local Government

Administration in Nigeria Ibadan: Spectrum Books Ltd.

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UNIT 3 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT AND

ACCOUNTABILITY AT THE LOCAL
GOVERNMENT LEVEL

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 What is Financial Management?
3.2 Accountability Conceptualized
3.3 Measures for Ensuring Efficient Financial
Management and Accountability in Local Government
3.4 Problems of Accountability in Local Government
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Public money ought to be touched with the most scrupulous

consciousness of honour. It is not the product of riches only but of the
hard earnings of labour and poverty. It is drawn even from the bitterness
of want and misery. Not a beggar passes or perishes in the streets whose
mite is not that mass.

The desirability for prudent and judicious management of public funds

cannot be overemphasised. Public funds are public trust in the hand of
local government officers, as such; they should be efficiently utilised
and properly accounted for. This is what has given birth to the
issue of financial management and accountability, the various
provisions for ensuring efficient and effective financial management and
accountability at the local government level.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

By the end of this unit you are expected to;

Explain what financial management is all about

Identify the scope of financial management
Identify the main functions of financial management
Identify the elements of financial accountability
Identify the problems of accountability in local government
3.0 MAIN CONTENT

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3.1 What is Financial Management?

Financial management is "that part of the total management function

concerned with the effective and efficient raising and use of funds"
(Brockington). Two important issues can be noted from the
definition, i.e., the requirement of efficiency and effectiveness.
Financial management is therefore not limited to raising and
spending of funds but concerned with efficiency and effectiveness in
the utilisation of such funds.

Generally, financial management is concerned with the following:

(1) Defining funds requirements in an organisation and how it will

be generated as economically as possible.
(2) The spending of funds in a way that it meets the demands of
compering claimants and yet maximises the public interest.
(3) The execution of programmes in an efficient and cost effective
manner.
(4) Providing safeguards to ensure that community resources are
lawfully used to accomplish public ends.
(5) Giving a proper stewardship for funds obtained and utilised.

From the above, it can be seen that the purpose of financial

management in the public sector is to ensure efficiency of economy and
effectiveness in the generation and utilisation of public resources. At
the local government level, the main functions of financial
management are to ensure

(i) Control
(ii) Accountability
(iii) Resource allocation, and
(iv) Revenue generation. These are important functions, which
require the involvement of all local government employees, both
political and career.

3.2 Accountability Conceptualized

Accountability has today become a very popular concept in our

political and administrative vocabulary. This is not surprising since
accountability' lies at the heart of representative government. It is in
this regard that governments the world over endeavour to ensure that
necessary constitutional, administrative and institutional machineries
are installed to make those elected or appointed to manage public
affairs account for their actions while in office. The global concern
with the issue of accountability has been well articulated by Devy
and Klein According to these writers:

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Accountability is one of the fashionable words of our

time... over the past decades, new institutions and
new techniques have been developed in the service of
accountability. (This) mirrors wider concerns in the
modern welfare state which is also a service
delivery state. Its development has compounded the
problems of making those who deliver services
answerable both to those who finance them and those
who use them.

One of the areas that have traditionally been the focus of much of the
constitutional and institutional arrangements has been in the
management of public funds. It is in this regard that a variety of
rules, regulations and instructions are instituted to guide public
officers in the proper conduct of finances entrusted to their care.

Accountability consists of four elements:

(i) Political
(ii) Legal/ judicial
(iii) Moral and ethical, and
(iv) Financial: (Halidu et al (1988). However, our concern here
with is the last element, which is financial. Accountability in the
financial sense according to these writers:

Involves among other things adequate checks and

balances (controls) on the disbursement and use
of the Local Government financial resources. It also
means that proper purposes for which they are
approved and that best value is obtained for all monies
spent.

It is further observed that financial accountability is enhanced where

(a) There is orderly and accurate recording of financial transactions

(b) Performance can be appraised in relations to inputs of men,
money and materials, and
(c) These exist an efficient internal auditing system.

With democratic institutions now fully in place at the grassroots level,

Adewale (1993) has observed that the central idea behind democracy is
that government should be accountable and responsible to the people
for the policies adopted and the manner in which they are carried out.
This is the essence of auditing, reviewing and controlling of the work of
government whether central, state or local, to ensure that they are in

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agreement with the wishes of the people.

However, accountability when restricted to local government "involves

eliminating or at worst minimising any loses of the local government
funds and property". (Orewa, 1988) This implies "that contracts, jobbing
orders and local purchases of materials and equipment should be
undertaken and procured at the most reasonable prices, and the assets
procured or job done should be of the best quality under the prevailing
circumstances".

Furthermore; accountability "also includes the accurate preparation of

financial and other records of the local government, and for the
maintenance of an efficient system of reporting of the activities and
performance of the various levels of management to the higher
authorities" (Orewa, 1988). From the above discussion, accountability
implies that the chief executives, supervisory councillors, and
councillors must of necessity report to the people of their areas
on the achievements, and problems of the councils at specific and
regular intervals. This is what accountability is all about.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

What are the main functions of financial management?

3.3 Measures for Ensuring Efficient Financial Management

and Accountability in Local Government

Over the years, various measures have been adopted to ensure

prudent financial management and accountability in our local
governments. These include constitutional provisions, the local
government financial memoranda and internal arid external checks on
the activities of local government officials.

Specifically, the 1979, 1989 as well as the 1999 constitutions

guaranteed the system of local government by democratically elected
local government councils. In addition, the constitutions : granted
powers for the authorisation and control of public funds and made
provision for the auditing of public accounts.

The Financial Memorandum (FM) is another written instruction on the

control and management of local government financial transactions.
The FM states categorically that every local government is responsible
for ensuring that adequate control is exercised over the receipts, custody
and disbursement of its funds.. It states that all transactions must be
promptly accounted for and that all documents and records relating to
financial transactions must be produced as required to the auditor or

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internal auditor. Essentially, the local government must ensure that:

There is compliance with the provisions of the FM;

Financial direction under the law and any other financial
instruction by appropriate authority be strictly observed;
All revenues are promptly collected and brought to account;
Every expenditure is properly authorised and satisfactorily
achieves the purpose for which it is intended;
Adequate safeguard exists for die custody of funds, stores and
other assets of the local government;
All annual estimates, supplementary estimates, development
plans accounts, financial statements, and other financial reforms
are submitted on die due dates and on the manner required by the
memoranda;
Boards of survey of enquiry are appointed on:
(a) Cash on hand
(b) Revenue earning books
(c) Losses of funds
(d) Stores
(e) Bonds of local government officials
(f) That where applicable, all staff duties are adequately
bonded;
;
(g) That appropriate disciplinary action is taken against
any individual held personally responsible for, losses
of funds or stores, for making improper or unauthorised
expenditure, for failing to collect revenues for which he is
responsible, or in any other way failing to discharge
properly financial dudes.

Other measures for ensuring accountability include the following:

(a) The role of the chairman as chief executive of the local

government and the power to recall him to come and account
for his actions even after he/she might have left office;
(b) The spending limits
(c) The creation of the office of director of local government audit.
(d) The internal control service - audit alarm committee
(e) The external control service e.g. by the state and federal
governments which relates to issues of budgets, byelaws,
capital projects, statutory auditing of accounts of local
governments
(f) The contract, jobbing order, etc. which must be signed only by
the officer recognised by law to do so,
(g) The codification of offences and sanctions for ease of checks
and balances so that no officer will feign ignorance of the law.

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3.4 Problems of Accountability in Local Government

In spite of the numerous provisions, it appear there is a failure on the

part of the existing rules to achieve true public accountability in
financial management, eliminating the possibility of corrupt practices, as
well as encourage efficient and effective practices for achieving best
values for money spent in our local governments. Reported cases of
corruption and mismanagement of funds are daily affairs in the country'.
In 1996, chairmen of all the 18 local governments in Kaduna State were
arrested, detained and charged to court by the military administrator for
colluding with officials of the federal pay office to divert allocations
meant for their local governments to private pockets. About the same
period, the chairman of Abuja Municipal Area Council was removed
and the treasurer of the council was dismissed over financial
recklessness. In the Fourth Republic, many chairmen have been taken
to the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) for
corruption. All these demonstrate beyond doubt that there is financial
recklessness in our local governments.

Generally speaking, the problems of accountability in local f

governments include the following:

Firstly, lack of qualified manpower. The numbers of qualified staff (i.e.

professionally qualified) are grossly inadequate for the task of financial
management and control in most local governments. There are few
accountants on the employment of local government throughout the
country. Treasurers of local governments have not been adequately
trained to the expected level of financial managers.

Secondly, there is the poor internal set up of the internal audit

division of most local governments. Since, the internal auditor is made
responsible to the chairman, he or she (the internal auditor) cannot be
in a convenient position to discharge his or her duties without
prejudice.

Thirdly, there is the problem of relationships with the elected

representatives. Such relationships are not strong enough to encourage
the raising of audit alarm. The fear of victimization has not
encouraged the career staff to raise audit alarm in most local
governments in the country.
To ensure effective financial management and accountability in
our local governments, there is the urgent need to do the following:

(a) There is the need to adopt modern accounting techniques

presently in use in the private sector like cost and
management accounting and also the institutionalisation of a

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

dynamic auditing system;

(b) Watchdog organisations such as the Code of Conduct Bureau,
Public Complaints Commission, public' accounts committees,
and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC)
should be given adequate resources and independence to
perform their jobs of exposing unethical practice and investigate
complaints of administrative abuses.
(c) There is the need to remove the internal auditor from under the
control of the chief executive so as to make him effective and
bold to operate the audit alarm system;
(d) Need to force the chairman of every local government to render
monthly returns of receipts and payments to the state
government.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2

Identify the four elements of accountability

4.0 CONCLUSION

There is no gainsaying that prudent financial management and public

accountability confer legitimacy to the actions of public officers and
restore public confidence in the behaviour of public officials. For this
reason, the constitutions of die Federal Republic of Nigeria, the
handbook on local governments, the local governments financial
memoranda and a number of decrees on local governments have made
elaborate provisions on financial management and accountability and
probity on the local government system. The stipulation of duties and
responsibilities in the financial memoranda is intended to ensure
financial management and accountability in local government.

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

5.0 SUMMARY

In this unit we underscored the whole essence of financial

management and accountability in local government

“Financial management is that part of the total

management function concerned with effect and
efficient raising and use of funds”

Most importantly, financial management in local government, we also

examined the scope of financial management as;

- Defining funds requirements in an organization

- Spending funds in line with the demands of competing claimants
- Execution of programmes in an efficient and cost effective
manner
- Giving proper stewardship for funds obtained and expended

We went further to highlight the elements of accountability as follows:

- Political;
- Legal;
- Moral and ethical, and
- Financial.

ANSWER TO SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

i. Control
ii. Accountability
iii. Resource Allocation iv. Revenue Generation

ANSWER TO SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2

i. Political
ii. Legal/Judicial
iii. Moral and Ethical
iv. Financial

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

Discuss the measures for ensuring efficient financial

management and accountability in local government.

7.0 REFERENCE/FURTHER READING

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

Abdullahi U. Ganduje (2006) Democracy and Local Government

Administration in Nigeria. Ibadan: Spectrum Books Limited.

Abubakar H. and Odongenyi P. “Financial Management and

Accountability in Nigeria” Being Discussion Notes at the
Orientation Workshop for Functionaries of Local Governments
on Guideline for the Implementation of the Civil Service Reforms
in the Local Government Service.

Adewale, I. A. (1993) “Financial Accountability at the Local

Government Level in Nigeria” Being a Paper Presented at the
National Workshop on Revenue Allocation and Generation for
Local Governments in Nigeria. Institute of International Affairs,
Lagos

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

UNIT 4 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

AND GRASSROOTS DEVELOPMENT IN
NIGERIA

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 Objectives of Grassroots Development
3.2 Programmes of Rural Development in Nigeria
3.3 Local Government and Grassroots Development
3.4 People’s Role in Grassroots Development
3.5 The Role of Community Organizations and Groups in
Grassroots Development
3.6 Community Development Associations ad Cooperative
Societies in Grassroots Development
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Among the many reasons for creating local governments in Nigeria is

grassroots development. Though grassroots development, which is also
known as rural development has been given various interpretations,
based on different ideological leanings, it could be seen as a "process
embracing a host of economic, social and political activities, whose
ultimate objective is the enhancement of human welfare and societal
transformation and progress." (Maikasuwa, 2002).

Another view sees grassroots development as a self-generating process

of socioeconomic and political improvement in which die masses are
meaningful participants as well as sharers in the costs and benefits.
Because welfare and progress have several dimensions, the
development process should serve a number of purposes, which include:

(i) Reduction of poverty,

(ii) Raising people's standard of living,'
(iii) Expanding the range of choice open to people so that they
choose for themselves more satisfying lives,
(iv) Enhancing the capabilities of people so that they may come
closest to fulfilling their potential, and
(v) Enhancing the participation of the people in meaningful
political activities, as well as in policy making and execution.

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

2.0 OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit you are expected to;

• Identify the objectives of grassroots development

• Explain programmes of rural development
• Identify objectives of rural development programmes
• Identify specific functions of the local government
• Explain the role of people in grassroots development

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 Objectives of Grassroots Development

The ultimate objectives of grassroots development thus
translate into improvements in the standards of living which can be
achieved through rising incomes, increases in health, nutrition,
education, agriculture, infrastructure and so on. Also, for such
improvements to be achieved there has to be investment in human
capabilities., particularly in education, skill acquisition and health.
And such investment will enable people to work productively and
creatively as they seek to achieve full potential. However, to achieve-
these objectives, the development effort has to be supported with sound
economic policies, strong infrastructure and a sustainable build-up of
human and institutional capabilities. Over and above these fundamental
requirements, a successful grassroots development effort requires good
governance, managed by an enlightened political leadership operating
in a stable political system that creates an enabling
environment in which capable people have the incentive to work
effectively. Grassroots development requires leadership that is inspiring,
people-oriented, exemplary and transparent.

Having seen what grassroots development is all about, our next

attempt is to describe the present situation of the rural areas in the
country. As a matter of fact, a visit to the rural areas is. a sad and
unforgettable experience. Everywhere one turns, there is hunger,
wretchedness, squalor and frustration on the faces of the rural people.
The rural areas are generally characterised by lack of health
facilities, potable water, access roads, communication system,
electricity, functional schools and other infrastructural facilities.
Furthermore, the nutritional level of what is consumed in the rural areas
is low. Although, it is the rural areas that produce food for the nation,
regrettably, the quality of food products they produce are sold to earn
meager income, while they consume the unmarketable ones.
Poverty in the country is felt mostly in the rural areas. The Health
Organisation (WHO) surveys on Nigeria have shown that throughout

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

the year, about 40% of rural families consume less that 80% of the
protein requirement.

3.2 Programmes of Rural Development

Since colonial periods, the following programmes have been

formulated and implemented aimed at developing the rural areas:

Programmes Objectives
Farm Settlement Scheme Aimed at creating conducive atmosphere
for development at the grassroots level through provision of
infrastructure such as potable water supply, road construction,
dispensaries etc.

Agricultural Development Projects

The main purpose of ADP is to stimulate increased food production and
enhanced the income of rural population.

River Basin Development Authorities (RBDA)

The principal objective is to raise the agricultural productivity as
well as the "standard of living of the rural areas.

Directorate of Foods, Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI)

Responsible for financing construction and rehabilitation of
infrastructure such as roads, water supply, earth dams and rural
electrification.

Better Life Programme/ Family Support Progjramme

Aimed at alleviating rural poverty, particularly among women.

Peoples Bank and Community Bank Programmes

Designed to- make banking services more accessible and extend credit
to the poor.

Mass Mobilisation for Social and Economic

A micro approach at mobilisation whose aim is to encourage die
participation of rural people in their

Reconstruction. (MAMSER)
development through active political participation.

The Nomadic Education Programme

Aims at making primary education available to nomadic children
without endangering the sustainability of pastoralism - a very
prominent occupation among the Fulani ethnic group:

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PAD 707 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

Oil and Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission

(OMPADEC)
Responsible for providing special aid to the oil producing areas.

Primary Health Care Scheme Aims at providing at least one

health centre in every local government.

National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA)

To encourage small-holder farmers to bring more land under
cultivation and thereby improve agricultural output.

Strategic Grain Reserves programme (SGRP)

The objective is to achieve stable prices for grains by buying large
quantity at harvest period, storing them and releasing thereof during off-
season periods when prices are high because of scarcity. SGRP is
also used for providing emergency-assistance wherever it may be.

National Directorate of/Employment (NDE)

Responsible for vocational skill development and small-scale
enterprises programmes designed to combat unemployment.

National Economic Reconstruction Fund (NERF)

Provides long-term loans at interest rates to promote small and medium
scale industrial projects.

Community Action Programme for the Poverty Alleviation

Programme (CAPPA)
The objectives are
(a) improvement of living conditions of the poor through
targeted, cost-effective, demand driven and promptly delivered
programmes, and
(b) enhancement of the productivity of the poor through skill
improvement and empowerment of the nutritional statues of the
poor, through improve household, food security and health
practices.

Family Economic Advancement programme

Established to complement CAPPA.(FEAP)

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National Urban Mass Transit Programme

To ease the problem of transport congestion for workers in the urban
centres

Expanded Programme on Immunisation

Two types of immunisation as advocated by WHO and UNICEF-
infants below the a m; of one year being provided immunisation
BCG, diptheria-per Two types of immunisation as ossis-tetanus,
third dose (DPT3), oral poliovirus, fourth dose (OPV3), and measles;
and.,
(b) immunisation of pregnant women with two or more dose of
tetanus toxiod.

Programme under the Social .Development Policy for

Disadvantaged Group
These are rehabilitation programmes for the disabled, beggars, children,
the aged and juvenile delinquents.

Others with laudable objectives include: National Commission for Mass

Literacy, Universal Basic Education, Rural Banking scheme, Nigeria
Agricultural and Cooperative Bank, Petroleum Tax Fund etc.

In spite of the laudable objectives of these programmes, they did not

record any tangible success because they were introduced' from the top
and implemented by bureaucrats who were totally strangers to the
communities that were supposed to benefit from the programmes.
Moreover, the target beneficiaries were completely excluded from the
conception, planning and execution of the programmes. The rural
people were "treated merely as instruments instead of catalysts of
change.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

What are the objectives of grassroots development?

3.3 Local Government and Grassroots Development

The principal justification for the existence of government at any

level is the promotion or advancement of the common good or welfare
of the citizens. The common good of the larger society is more important
and takes precedence over the interests of any individual or section of the
society. The tier of government, which is closest to the ordinary people at
the grassroots level in Nigeria, is the local government. This is the level
of government, which should be the real foundation for genuine
grassroots development in the country.

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To be effective catalysts for development, local governments must throw

away the tradition of seeing themselves as insignificant organs whose
primary responsibilities are to assist in controlling the masses,
maintaining law and order, collecting all kinds of taxes and levies, and
executing a few trivial projects (culverts, drainages small market stalls,
etc.) while leaving real development projects and programmes to the
state and federal levels of government. The constitutional and legal
provisions setting up local governments have charged them with
the responsibility of participating actively in the "economic planning
and development of the local government area concerned".

In pursuance of this objective, Part IV Section 27 of the constitution

has assigned clear and specific functions to the local government.
These functions include:

Formulation of economic planning and development schemes

for the local government areas;
Collection of rates and issuance of radio and television licences;
Establishment and maintenance of cemeteries, burial grounds
and homes for the destitute or infirm;
Licensing of bicycles, trucks (other than mechanically
propelled trucks) canoes, wheel barrows and carts;
E s t ab l i s h men t , , ma i n t en an ce an d r eg u lat i o n o f slaughter
houses, slaughter slabs, markets, motor, parks and public
conveniences;
Construction and maintenance of roads, streets, street lightings,
drains, parks, gardens, open spaces, or such public facilities as
may be prescribed from time to time by the Governor or House
of Assembly of a state;
Naming of roads and streets and numbering of houses;
Registration of all births, deaths arid marriages;
Assessment of privately owned houses or tenements for the
purpose of levying such rates as may be prescribed by
the Governor or House of Assembly of a state;
Control and regulation of outdoor advertising and
hoardings; movement and keeping of pets of all
descriptions; shops and kiosks; restaurants, bakeries and other
places for sale of laundries; and licensing, regulation
and control of the sale of liquor;
The provision and maintenance of primary, adult and vocational
education;
The development, of agriculture and natural resources other
than the exploitation of minerals;
The provision and maintenance of health services; and
Such other functions as may be conferred upon a local
govern ment by the Governor or the House of Assembly of

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a state;

Some of these functions may look simple, elementary or even

inconsequential. Yet they are the foundation upon which real progress
can be built at the local level. The failure of local governments
to discharge these simple functions effectively, efficiently and
conscientiously tends to rob local communities of the vital elixir for
actual take-off into genuine development.

Local governments can only be effective instruments of

development if they emphasise the following:

The principle of participation whereby the ordinary people or

masses are involved or have a direct say in determining the
decisions, priorities, policies, programmes and projects of
the local government;
The principle of responsiveness whereby the leaders are
guided by the wishes of the masses and preoccupied with
trying to meet, the needs, yearnings and aspirations of the
ordinary people instead of. the pursuit of their own interests
and those of their friends and associates;
The principle of accountability whereby the resources and
funds accruing to the local government are judiciously
managed, openly accounted for, and their use subjected to the
scrutiny of the normal regulatory bodies as well as the public
to ensure that public officeholders do not abuse the people's
mandate
The principle of service to the people in place of inordinate
ambition to control and dominate them;
The principle of respect for dialogue and debate rather than
coercion or the use of force as the basis for solving problems and
building consensus;
The principle of effective planning as a basis for
determining the broad goals and priorities which should inform
the direction and operations of the government.

A situation where each set of elected or appointed officials pursue their

own agenda to the neglect of the wishes of the masses cannot make for
effective local governance. A situation where the principle of service is
pushed into the background and needed improvements in infrastructure,
public welfare and community facilities are neglected cannot make for
grassroots development. Neither can the pursuit of arbitrary, ad hoc and
uncoordinated projects and programmes lead to meaningful or
sustainable development. Local governments must begin to do things
differently in the new and challenging environment of the 21st century.
3.4 People’s Role in Grassroots Development

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It is, however, a known fact that no government, no matter its good

intentions, resources and manpower, can provide all the services,
infrastructure and facilities that will transform the society and eliminate
poverty in its entirety. Governments must allow, encourage and
energise the people to organise themselves so as to complement the
efforts of government through identifying their own problems, devising
solutions to these problems, and mobilising their resources, talents and
creativity to pursue those actions which will improve their own situation.

The beginning of wisdom in local governance lies in the ability to discern

between those things which government should do for the people and
those things which the people can and ought to do for themselves. The
failure to marry government's projects and programmes with the
people's efforts, abilities and priorities has been one of the major
shortcomings of Nigeria's development strategy. Unless people are
organised and encouraged to pull their own efforts and resources together in
pursuit of the development of their communities, their standards of living
will continue to fall below their expectation. By the time they combine
their efforts with those of the government, they will discover that vital link
which is the secret of success in development.

Everywhere in the world, people have had to get directly involved in

their own development through self-help activities, philanthropic
assistance and community mobilisation. The need to tap, harness and
strengthen the spirit of self-help, brotherly concern, and community
service is very critical for the people's collective welfare and progress. If
there is anything we can learn from our traditional philosophy as Africans,
it is that our own personal welfare as well as the collective survival of
the social system all depends on our readiness to be our brother's keeper
and render service to the community that brought us up.

The crisis in which we find ourselves today derives largely from our
abandonment of this philosophy. Everybody now thinks that he can only
prosper by outsmarting and therefore impoverishing his brother or
neighbour, or by grabbing all the resources that should have gone into
building a better social system for all of us. The opposite, is indeed, what
brings about progress. Our African tradition has imbued us with a very
strong sense of community. This is a value and an asset which we should
not allow ourselves to lose. Not only would we have wrecked everything
"African" about us, we stand to pay dearly in future for losing our sense of
community.

This explains why community development should be important for

us. Community development is essentially about the things we strive
to do through our own efforts to build the communities in which
we live. Community development has been defined by the United

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Nations as:

The processes by which the efforts of the

people themselves are united with those of
governmental authorities to improve the economic,
social and cultural conditions of communities, to
integrate these communities into the life of the nation,
and enable them contribute fully to national progress
(UN 1956: 7).

The emphasis in this definition is primarily on the people, and only

secondarily on the government. If you would pardon the crude edges of
my analogy, the government can be compared to an ass. Like any other
ass, it has a tremendous amount of energy, But it requires somebody to
give it a kick and a direction before it does what it is obviously capable
of doing.

It amounts to over-optimism to imagine that government will necessarily

come to your assistance whenever you have a problem or a need. It is in
fact foolhardy to imagine that government will step in, without your
asking, to do those things you desire. Enlightened people and
communities have a responsibility to map out what is good for them
and then pressurise government to assist in those areas where
government can perform creditably while leaving to the community
those things which the community can do better. It is in this regard that
social clubs, community development associations and other social
organisations have a very critical role to play.

Existing facts indicate that these organisations have played a very

important role in spearheading community development activities
everywhere in this country. Research has shown that communities in
which such organisations are lacking have tended to lag behind in terms
of development. In some communities these associations, even when
present, have not played the kind of role expected of them.
Communities with strong, active and responsible organisations have
been in the forefront in terms of development even when government
has neglected to play its role. In other words, it is principally people and
their organisations which build nations and communities, but with
assistance from government.

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3.5 The Role of Community Development Associations

and Cooperative Societies in Grassroots Development

Many social groups and organisations exist in different

communities which can serve as catalysts for development. They can
be pioneers or initiators of different projects and innovations, many of
which might be treated with suspicion if they were coming from the
government. Coming directly fro m the people's initiatives and
felt needs, such projects and innovations have a higher chance of
success than government projects. It is much easi er fo r such
local so cial g roups or co mmu nit y -bas ed organisations (CBOs) to
win the support of the people, draw on their material and human
resources, and mobilise them to participate in the execution of such
projects and programmes.

T h er e ar e man y t yp es o f o rg an i s ed s o ci al g ro u p s o r
associations which can impact positively on the development
process in our local communities. We can classify these community
organisations into three broad types. The first consists of
indigenous organisation or associations which were already in
existence long before the arrival of the colonial masters. These include
the traditional authority structure; indigenous credit associations
(esusu, adashe, biki, or contribution clubs); labour exchange
cooperatives (called gayya among the Hausa, aro among the Yoruba,
egbe among the Nupe, etc.); age-grade associations; and other
traditional self-help organisations. Many of these indigenous
organisations are still alive and very active in many of our local
communities.

The second category consists of modern government-initiated or

government- induced associations or organisations. Examples include
modern cooperative societies, community development associations,
vigilante groups, farmers' organisations (e.g. young farmers clubs,
livestock associations, fadama or irrigation farmers associations etc.),
district and village planning committees business associations, etc.
These organisations are often recognised and registered by the
government and their development activities end to attract government
assistance.

The third category consists of modern voluntary organisations such

as Boys' Brigade, Boys' Scout, Girls' Guide, social clubs, philanthropic
organisations, youth clubs, women organisations, etc. These associations
either cater for the welfare and recreational needs of their members,
or extend philanthropic support or assistance to needy individuals,
groups and communities.

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We will comment briefly on the roles and contributions of some

of these groups. The essence here is to illustrate the
potentialities of these groups and associations if effectively
mobilised for grassroots development.

3.6 The Role of Community Development Associations

and Cooperative Societies in Grassroots Development

The need for people to get involved in their own development

through self-help activities is not only desirable but inevitable. The
need to tap and harness this spirit of self-help, which is an enduring
feature of all local communities in Nigeria, lies at the root of
community development. Governments at all levels, most especially
the local government, should devise strategies of stimulating,
energising and supporting the self-help efforts of the people so as to
accelerate the pace of development at the grassroots.

Experience has shown that members of different communities in

Nigeria, whether resident at home or in the towns, have mobilised
themselves into community development associations (CDAs) and social
clubs. These associations have played a crucial role in spearheading the
development of their communities. Many self-help projects and
activities undertaken in most rural Communities in Nigeria
have been initiated, sponsored or supported by such organisations
and associations. The role played by these associations is such that they
have been recognised as the foundation of an y sust ainabl e prog
ramme o f grass roots Development. The local government should
strengthen and support these associations and organisations
through grants-in-aid, appropriate training, technical support and
capacity-building.

Co-operative societies
While community development associations are primarily p
reoccupied with th e provisions o f social ameni ties and
community facilities (roads, culverts, water supply, electricity,
schools, health facilities, post offices, etc), cooperatives attend
primarily to the economic interests of their members. They are
economic institutions geared towards enhancing the economic
wellbeing of their members in the areas of savings mobilisation, credit
procurement, marketing, production, and consumption. Cooperatives
constitute one of the most reliable instruments for raising people's
productivity and transforming the local economy.

The benefits which cooperatives can bring to small-scale rural producers

are so many that they have been seen as the most ideal institutional
mechanism for mobilising and assisting the rural population. This

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potential is recognised in Nigeria's past development plans. The

Third National Development Plan sees cooperatives as "potentially
powerful instruments for increasing the scale of existing small
farmers and achieving rapid rural transformation"; while the
Fourth Plan emphasises that "government will give all necessary
encouragement towards the development of the modern cooperative
movement" in order to achieve "development through self-help,
mobilise development resources at the lower and middle-income levels,
and provide effective organisations that can attract credit, as well as
provide a vehicle for implementation of government economic policies
and programmes" (Nigeria: Third National Development Plan, p. 292; and
Fourth National Development Plan, p. 52).

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2

Identify at least five (5) specifications of the local government

4.0 CONCLUSION
This unit has highlighted the roles which various organisations
and social groups can play in development at the grassroots level. We
started with local governments, the level of government which is nearest
to the grass roots and has primary responsibility for grassroots
development. Local governments, we have shown, have a dual
responsibility in the development process: the first as the provider of
those infrastructure, facilities and municipal services needed at the local
level, and the second as a catalyst or activator charged with the role of
moblising, energising and galvanising all other local groups and
organisations to rise up to the challenge of contributing maximally to
the development of their communities.

It has been argued in the chapter that the secret of development lies in
recognising what government should and must do for the people and
what the people can and should do for themselves. The government and
the people should therefore, complement each other in the tasks of
promoting grassroots development. Once recognised and given an
opportunity to perform, many associations, clubs, organisations, and
social groups which exist at the community level can play very
wonderful roles in the development process. After all, nobody knows
where the shoe pinches better than the persons wearing it. The local
masses have a very important role to play, alongside government, in
the process of bringing development to the grass roots.
5.0 SUMMARY

In this unit, we have examined local government administration and

grassroots development by bringing to the fore some salient issues
bordering on grassroots development.

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For instance, development of the grassroots hinges on;

- Reduction of poverty
- Raising people’s standard of living
- Expanding the rate of choices for people so that they choose for
themselves
- Identify programmes of rural development in Nigeria

ANSWER TO SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

i. Improvement in standard of living

ii. Increases in Health Care facilitated
iii. Increases in education, agriculture and infrastructural facilities etc
iv. Skill acquisition
v. Sustainable build-up of human and institutional capabilities.

ANSWER TO SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

i. Formulation of economic planning and development.

ii. Collection of rates and issuance of radio and television licenses.
iii. Construction and maintenance of roads.
iv. Control and regulations of outdoor advertising.
v. The provision and maintenance of primary, adult and vocational
education.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

Discuss the roles of people and community association to grassroots

development.

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Abdullahi U. Ganduje (2006) Democracy and Local Government

Administration in Nigeria. Ibadan: Spectrum Books Limited.

Akeredolu-Ale, E.G. (1988), "Some Remarks on the Concept and

Strategy of National Development with Special Reference
to Nigeria" A paper Presented at the DFRRI National Seminar
on Integrated Rural Development (for Military Governors), held at
Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Lagos, December
1988.

Maikasuwa, S. (2002), "The Youth as the Backbone of Development."

A paper presented under the auspices of a symposium organized

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by Tudun Kofa Youth Development, Association, Keffi.

Nkom, S.A. (1989), "Mobilizing Rural Youths for Agricultural

Development" Proceedings of the AERLS National Rural Youth
Workshop, Auta, S. J. (ed.) (1989), Zaria: AERLS, A. B. U.

Nze, F. (August 1992), "Generation and Utilization of Local

Government Revenue in an Attenuated Economy and the Need
for Emphasis on Basic Needs Projects." A paper presented at a
workshop organized for local government functionaries in
Kaduna State by Green Belt Ventures Ltd.

Yagup, N. (February 1993), "Promoting Basic Needs Projects

in Local Government Administration." A paper presented at a
workshop for Local Government functionaries in Sokoto State
organized by Green Belt Ventures Ltd.

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