Problem and Prospect of Local Government Autonomy in Nigeria
CHAPTER ONE
Objectives of the Study
The study has both general and specific objectives.
General objective: The general objective of this study is to investigate the problems and prospects of local government autonomy in Nigeria: A study of Imo State Local Government System :(1976-2013)
Specific Objectives: The specific objectives are:
- To find out the extent to which the operation of the state-local government joint account promote autonomy of local government in Imo State.
- To examine the extent to which the nature of personnel relationship have promoted the autonomy of local governments in Imo State.
- To suggest measures that can be adopted to ensure local government autonomy in Imo State and Nigeria.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEWED OF RELATED LITERATURE
Nexus between Local Government and Rural Development
The local government, being the government nearest to the rural populace, is one of the best institutions for generating motivation and encouraging mobilization for self-help, as well as inducing the much needed wider participation of the local population in the decision-making process at the local level. It is estimated that rural local governments account for about 80 percent of the entire Nigeria population, and it is plausible to argue as pundits do, that the socalled third world is a rural world where any meaningful discussion of rural development really means not only talking of overall national development, but also because it is in the rural areas that the problem of inequitable distribution of resources or a marked lack of purchasing power and of grinding poverty in which the wretched members of society stagnate and stare one in the face with brutal clarity. To guarantee the satisfaction of basic social needs, therefore, local responsibility and co-operation must be encouraged and that can best be developed through the participation of the local citizenry, not only in the affairs of their local government, but also in their own community affairs. It is important to observe that the existence of the third tier system of government in Nigeria should at least, halt the deteriorating living conditions in the rural areas of this country. An effective local government will be better disposed than the state or federal governments not only to stem the grim reality of the “rising tide of rural poverty”, but also better placed to evoke the spirit of “local co-operation”, thereby being more able to galvanize and mobilize the support of local citizenry in participating in all the programmes that may affect them.
Factors Undermining Local Government Autonomy in Nigeria
There are numerous challenges facing local governments in Nigeria, these ranges from institutional fragility to systemic decay in the polity. But the following are the most problematic areas that are posing challenges to autonomy of the tier in the country. These include: –
Constitutional issues – The 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) made it difficult for local governments in the country to operate as an autonomous tier because of its provisions that relates to that level of government in the federal arrangement. Financially, the constitution provides for a joint state– local government account which all revenues accrued are pooled there, and this gives the state governors an opportunity to deny local governments what is due to them. Furthermore, the existence of the state independent electoral commission democratizes the system and paves way for plating
State- Local government joint projects– State governors use their powers and compelled local governments to engage in joint projects which has little or no relevance to the people of the areas instead of allowing the tier to come up with projects that were initiated by the people who felt that it is an areas that they needed the local governments to address. In most cases, these projects are either abandoned or left without commissioning resulting into a waste of resources or channeling a huge sum that may be used to execute a number of projects in the area. Although such joint projects are being done with the consent of the councils, but in most cases, they lacked the powers to reject the idea because they were not elected in free and fair elections as such they are only obeying the directives of their political godfathers at the expense of the majority populace.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, we described the research procedure for this study. A research methodology is a research process adopted or employed to systematically and scientifically present the results of a study to the research audience viz. a vis, the study beneficiaries.
RESEARCH DESIGN
Research designs are perceived to be an overall strategy adopted by the researcher whereby different components of the study are integrated in a logical manner to effectively address a research problem. In this study, the researcher employed the survey research design. This is due to the nature of the study whereby the opinion and views of people are sampled. According to Singleton & Straits, (2009), Survey research can use quantitative research strategies (e.g., using questionnaires with numerically rated items), qualitative research strategies (e.g., using open-ended questions), or both strategies (i.e., mixed methods). As it is often used to describe and explore human behaviour, surveys are therefore frequently used in social and psychological research.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents the analysis of data derived through the questionnaire and key informant interview administered on the respondents in the study area. The analysis and interpretation were derived from the findings of the study. The data analysis depicts the simple frequency and percentage of the respondents as well as interpretation of the information gathered. A total of eighty (80) questionnaires were administered to respondents of which only seventy-seven (77) were returned and validated. This was due to irregular, incomplete and inappropriate responses to some questionnaire. For this study a total of 77 was validated for the analysis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain problem and prospect of local government autonomy in Nigeria. In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges of problem and prospect of local government autonomy in Nigeria.
Summary
This study was on problem and prospect of local government autonomy in Nigeria. Three objectives were raised which included: To find out the extent to which the operation of the state-local government joint account promote autonomy of local government in Imo State, to examine the extent to which the nature of personnel relationship have promoted the autonomy of local governments in Imo State and to suggest measures that can be adopted to ensure local government autonomy in Imo State and Nigeria. A total of 77 responses were received and validated from the enrolled participants where all respondents were drawn from Imo state. Hypothesis was tested using Chi-Square statistical tool (SPSS).
Conclusion
In this study, we have examined local government autonomy and its implications in the governments of Imo State. We conclude thus; that local government autonomy in Nigeria means freedom to recruit and discipline her own staffs, control and management of their staff and resources; ability to make policies and laws without external interferences, ability to provide services within her allocation limits and awards of contracts with the limits of her resources and functions. That inadequate funding; activities of the ministry or Bureau of local government, the establishment of Local Government Service Commission poses challenges to the autonomy of local government system in Nigeria. Finally, in order to ensure local government autonomy and effective service delivery at the grassroots level, there is the need to restructure the Bureau of ministry of local government; need to discontinue the states joint local government account so that local government would directly get their allocation from the federal account, that local government financial resources should be upgraded; that local government commission should be constituted by the local government itself and not state, and to clarify the roles and responsibilities of state and local government so that autonomy and effective performance of local governments would be granted.
Recommendation
- To guarantee the autonomy of local governments in Nigeria, it is imperative for the ministry or Bureau of local governments to be scrapped or restructured to ensure its control by the local government authorities.
- There is the need to discontinue the practice of states join local government account so as to ensure that local government directly get their allocation from the federal account without any hitch. This will assist local government in functional performance. This means that local government should be made to enjoy substantial autonomy over its budgetary, revenue and fiscal matters.
- It is imperative for the local government service commission to be proscribed to enable local governments to constitute their own commission and appropriately assert their autonomy, since it has been observed that the existence of autonomy of local government due to the fact that it is state government which controls all issues relating to the personnel management of the local governments.
- There is an urgent overriding need for greater clarity of the respective roles and responsibilities of the state and local governments. This is because it has been observed that joint performance functions by both the local and state governments have put local governments at the sub-servant positional this limits the operational autonomy of the local governments and paves way for the intrusion, interference, distraction and control of the local government by the state government.
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