A former british colony, nigeria became independent on september 30, 1960 and a republic on october 1, 1963. Local government administration in nigeria problems and. It had been part of system of government among ethnic groups in nigeria particularly the yoruba. A country is classified as developed when is able to provide qualitative life for her citizenry. Thus, the subsequent local government decree of 1989, 1990 and 1992 have all intended to operationalize the third tier status of local government in nigeria, therefore, granting it a high degree of autonomy as well as increase in their revenue allocation. National development plan of nigeria commonwealth governance. Development will be insignificant in such a political system if the government does not positively affect the life of the people of the grassroots or if development eludes the grassroots dwellers. The local government in albania is established and the functions are based on the principle of local selfgovernance. Nigeria in the last fifty years has been battling with the problems of development in spite of huge human, material and natural resources in her possession. It was introduced the east in 1955 and west in 1957 with responsibility to serve as a means of rural development in nigeria.
Introduction the existence of local government has always been defended on the basis that it is a crucial aspect of the process of democratization and intensification of mass participation in the decisionmaking process. The decision of the federal government of nigeria announced on 17 january, 1983 by alhaji ali baba giving all illegal immigrants numbering between. It is an incontrovertible fact that corruption has been the bane of nigerias development. The future of nigeria egovernment worldcomp proceedings. Brief history of local government in nigeria legit. Nigeria has had a relatively long experience in development planning beginning with the colonial development plan 195868. For any responsive and dependable political system, the development of the rural areas must be its major concern. European journal of sustainable development 2012, 1, 2, 183198 issn. This will enable the government to attract investors into the sector, while effectively planning to encourage the proliferation of smallscale artisan, mediumscale and largescale miners.
The focus of this paper therefore is an examination of local government finance in nigeria using iwo local government as a case study. Nigeria, july 2008 2 of slaves flowed north across the sahara for a millennium, ending only at the beginning of the twentieth century. Each local government area is administered by a local government council consisting of a chairman who is the chief executive of the lga, and other elected members who are referred to as councillors. There is thus, the need to grant local government areas full autonomy as well as increase its funding as it would help to enhance grass root participation in the development of nigeria. Constitutional development in nigeria from 1914 till date. The current number of local government in nigeria is 774. Thus, without mincing words the phenomenon has ravaged the country and destroyed most of what is held as cherished national values.
Local government administration in nigeria is as old as history and its dated back precolonial era. Historical epochs of local government administration in. The national economic empowerment and development strategy needs is the response to the development challenges of nigeria. The nigerian journal of local government studies, vol. The findings revealed that in most of the world, local governments are seen as catalyst for rural development but in nigeria, local. Library of congress federal research division country profile. Development is critical and essential to the sustenance and growth of any nation. This aside, it should be emphasized that this was a significant inroad or breakthrough in the nigeria local government system. The chairman of the lga is directly elected by eligible voters in the local government area, and governs in collaboration with the legislative arm of the local government. National interest and national development in nigeria. The evolution, development and practice of federalism in. Local administration in nigeria has passed the four distinct stages of development.
Federal and the state governments are responsible for development at the national and the state levels respectively. The nature and challenges of local government administration in nigeria local government is the system of political decentralisation in which the power base of decision making is, to a great extent, not national but local. The history of marketing extends back in time to the most primitive societies, for it can be argued that some activities that are today regarded as small fractions of marketing date back to centuries before the birth of christ. Local council members are elected from single member wards i. Legislation requires local governments to establish committees, but their remits are not specified. Within nigeria, slavery was widespread and bore social implications that are still evident. So to speak, the local government is the closest structure to the people since it has to do with the grassroots. Local government elections in the country had been on nonparty basis. On noticeable feature of our constitutional development in the past was the attempt of each region to preserve its autonomy with little or no attention given to. They were first held in 1987 during the babangida administration. Development and welfare for nigeria which was introduced in 1946 by the colonial government 19451956 sequel to a circular from the secretary of state for colonies to all british colonies, directing the setting up of a central development board onah, 2010. Community and social development act 2009 kwara local government act 1999. Nigeria should rather motivate the government to deregulate and reform the sector. The first independent government was formed by a coalition of northern and eastern political parties, with nnamdi azikiwe as the president and abubakar tafawa balewa as prime minister.
The system of local government by democratically elected local government councils is under this constitution guaranteed. Since 1999, we have succeeded in stabilizing the polity, consolidated the democratic governance structure. The paper examines local government and intergovernmental relations in nigeria. Therefore, the problem of governance, particularly at the local level, has been in a doldrums in the political history of nigeria. Historical development of marketing business plan nigeria.
Local government and intergovernmental relations in. In effect, the paper set as its objectives to examine the challenges of lg administration, previous efforts by the governments in nigeria to address the challenges and lessons that could be learnt from other workable systems. Their abilities are usually very restricted by the central government. Local governments in nigeria relevance and effectiveness. Politics and challenges of the 1999 constitution asaju, k.
The paper argues that local government is not mutually exclusive of other levels of government and. Local government, grassroot mobilization, democratic representation, colonialism, federalism. Evolution of local government systems in nigeria the history of local government systems in nigeria dates back to colonial days. The paper canvassed the need for synergy and collaborative approach to community development and reform initiatives anchored on theory to practice policy inclination.
Introduction nigeria is situated on the gulf of guinea in west africa with a land mass of 923, 768. Problems and prospect of local government administration in nigeria in nigeria, local government is the third tier of the administrative structure, following the federal and the state government. The 1976 local government reforms defined local government thus. This was the first time local government chairmen were elected through universal adult suffrage. Within this system, functions are locally and directly executed by. Local government areas of nigeria nigeria has 774 local government areas l. The 36 states in nigeria and their local government areas. The name, structure and composition have experienced. Mediumterm development plans and national rolling plans were also developed and implemented with mixed results. We intend to establish that the pattern of development of the rural areas was not meant to improve the lives of the rural dwellers.
The role of local government as an agent of rural development was redefined in 1960 s when the system was. In nigeria, the local government system operates within the presidential model. Reflections on the national economic empowerment and development strategy needs 20032007 article pdf available may 2009 with 39,040 reads how we measure. D department of political science, benue state university, makurdi abstract the paper examines rural or community development in nigeria with emphasis on the institutions, agencies, policies and strategies employed to bring about the much needed.
Local government administration in nigeria is classified as the third tier of government while several problems have been its recurring decimal and various reforms since 1976 havent been able to make the system effective and. There were local government elections in 1996, 1997 and 1998 but all proved problematic. We have the pre colonial experiences culminating in different traditional political system. Here is the list of all the 36 states in nigeria and abuja and their local government areas. Local government administration in nigeria and the. In 1950, the british system of local administration was introduced in the north through the endowment of native authority and law.
The state government sometimes delay payments to the local government areas and in most cases do not remit the complete 20. Local government administration in nigeria and community. The term federalism is also used to describe a system of the government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and constituent political units like states or. Political leadership and corruption in nigeria since 1960.
Department of public administration ahmadu bello university, kongocampus, zaria kaduna state, nigeria. The evolution, development and practice of federalism in nigeria charas madu tella1, ahmed wali doho2. In 1999, most people grossly underestimated the extent of social, political, and economic decay of the country. Role of local government in national development abstract the topic of this study is the role of local government in national development a case study of aninri local government area of enugu state. The role of nigeria local government in rural development. Using theoretical analytical method, the paper found that local government system in nigeria has been an unfortunate orphan under the state and federal government. Local government is a political subdivision of a national government, or in federal system, a subdivision of regional government in fact, local government administration is so intentioned with local government and rural development in nigeria that any discussion on one out of necessity involves the other. The development of democratic local government in nigeria. A study of selected local governments in kwara state, nigeria moshood olayinka salahu grassroots development has always been a highly prioritized issue on the agenda of almost every nation of the world.
The thrust of this paper therefore is to examine the pattern of rural and community development in nigeria, especially in those areas which have the greatest impact on the lives of rural dwellers. The introduction of uniform local government service for all members of staff within all local government within the state, etc. These local governments do not have a lot of rights and most of its decisions are made according to the central governments rules. Data for the study were gathered from facetoface interview, available records in iwo local government, text books, lecture notes, journals, reports, seminar presentation and internet materials.