CHAPTER ONE
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the study
The development challenges facing government of developing countries are both multi-dimensional and multi-disciplinary. These problems have economic, political, socio-cultural and administrative connotations. Local government is the third tier of government in Nigeria. Thus, local government is government at the grassroots level exercising specific powers within a defined constituency. This structure places local governments at an advantaged position, especially on issues of rural development. The constitutional provision for local government indicates that local government are responsible for the provision and maintenance of health services; agricultural and national resource development; provision and maintenance of primary, adult and vocational education; and other functions as may be conferred on it by the state house of assembly.
In this regard, Local governments were created with the ultimate goal of bringing government closer to the people at the grassroots. In Nigeria, the local government reforms aimed both to accelerate development and to enable the local population participate and hold those in power accountable for their governance roles. However, a true third tier has never taken off in the governance structure of Nigeria, despite the widespread endorsement of local government as a potent system to mobilise people for local participation in governance. Several studies have established the challenges bedeviling the Nigerian local government system, including issues such as poor funding, paucity of human capital, corruption, poor service delivery etc. However, little attention has been given to the deficiencies in the constitutional framework and the reforms that have shaped the operation of local government in Nigeria.
Provisions of projects are keen to the very existence of local governments. They are required to serve the public interest in areas of building feeder roads, construction of markets, health care centers, drainages, transportation, and motor parks, among others. While these functions of local government are well known and popularized by the constitution of the country. What seems to matter most to the people of the grassroots is to see tangible results of their taxes, contributions, labour expended and the judicious use of monthly allocation from the federation account to their local governments. However, the enormous benefits that the grassroots stand to derive from a sound and functional local government seem not be achieved due to misappropriation of funds by local government administrators.
Rural economic development should enable people to realize their full potential, building self-confidence, dignity and fulfillment. It should free people from the evils of want, ignorance, deprivation and exploitation; and correct existing imbalances and injustices in the society. This people-centered vision of development involves the full utilization of all available material resources and the full participation of the various people in the community for their own development. The necessity for the full participation of the people derives from the experience which shows that there is a greater chance of success if institutions provide for popular participation, local leadership and decentralization of authority (World Bank, 1975:90-98).
Past experience shows that the Federal Government of Nigeria applied a top-down (supply driven) approach to planning and management of economic and social development programmes resulting in the marginalization of the grassroots beneficiary communities. This has resulted in the under-development of the rural communities; thereby, forcing more qualified people to migrate from the rural communities to the major towns and cities where, as most people say, “it is happening”. Consequently, most highly qualified professionals at community level migrated to the urban areas, leaving only a handful behind. The overall impact of this dearth of professionals at the local level has compounded the problem, making development at that level an impossible task.
Governance in Nigeria is based on a three-tier political structure, namely: federal, states and local governments. The local government structure is known to have the weakest capacity to initiate and manage economic and social development programmes due largely to inadequate human resources.
There is no doubt that the human capacity at the local government level is limited to manage accelerated and sustainable economic and social development programmes. Thus the focus of this research is to discuss local government and appropriate capacity building for accelerated and sustainable economic and social development in Kaduna State.
1.2 Statement of the problem
The Local Government is the closest tier of government to the people in Kaduna, yet the resident population in it 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 centers under the purview of the local governments. The failure of the Local governments in the area of service delivery has made the citizens to lose trust in government as an institution. The uncontestable reality on ground today is that the Nigerian local government system has failed as a viable instrument for grassroot mobilization and rural development.
Nigeria operates a single-tier multipurpose local government system. The two major characteristics of the system across the State of Kaduna are largeness and uniformity of the local government areas; it also stands same throughout the federation. The government’s emphasis on largeness and uniformity of local government areas lead to its failure to take into full account, the traditional, political and social structure of the people. Hence Egonwan (1984:8) rightly observed that in an attempt to satisfy the principles of largeness and uniformity “communities with different modes of life, habits and surroundings were artificially merged”.
Furthermore, it led to the creation of local government areas in which the distance (both physical and social) between local governments and the communities is enormous, neither “local” in outlook nor “government” in operation. The size is too large to ensure mobilization, exploitation and utilization of local resources; mass participation, and citizen’s identification with, commitment to, and self-less sacrifice for, their local government. Ogunna (1996) rightly posits that planning is a crucial factor for rapid community development. Sustainable rural development planning entails an integrative activity which seeks to provide a framework of activities through which there is massive commitment of the resources of the rural people in order to satisfy their needs. Emvon (1988:148) identifies bad leadership as the greatest obstacle to rural development. The planning and execution of development projects requires control, co-ordination, direction and supervision in order to attain the desired goals.
Various studies such as Akindele and Obiyan,(2002), Ekpo and Ndebbio(1998), have also shown that local governments in Nigeria have been lagging behind. Rural development is a strategy designed to improve social, political, economic and cultural life of the rural community. Rural areas are primary environment in the country because they constitute the largest portion of the country’s population. It serves as a source-location for urban areas as well as foundation for urbanization all over the world. However the question that comes to mind is that if local governments are not forthcoming in rural developments, how else would development come to local government areas of Kaduna? It is against this background that the study seeks to examine the roles of local Government in rural development in Kaduna State.
1.3 Research Questions
1. What are the ways by which the Local Government Areas can achieve rural development in Kaduna State?
2. What are the causes of underdevelopment in rural areas in Kaduna State?
3. In what ways can sustainable development be attained in rural areas in Kaduna State?
4. What are the ways by which LG administrators can attract investors into rural areas?
1.4 Objectives of the study
The main objective of the study is to examine the place and roles local Governments has and are playing in achieving rural development in Kaduna State. Other specific objectives include:
1. To identify ways that LG can achieve rural development in Kaduna State.
2. To examine the causes of underdevelopment in rural areas in Kaduna State.
3. To interrogate ways in which sustainable development can be attained in rural communities in Kaduna State.
4. To enhance the knowledge of those saddled with the responsibility towards the ways that our LGA administrators can attract investors into rural areas.
5. To suggest ways in which LG administrators can attract investors to develop LGA in Kaduna State.
1.6 Significance of the study
The study will be beneficial to local government rural development initiatives; as such Kaduna can utilize the findings of the research as a basis for policy formulation as regard economic and social development. It will also contribute to the existing knowledge on Local government and economic and social development. Finaaly, the study can be used as a basis for further research as well as a good reference material to students undertaking similar research.
1.7 Research Methodology
Survey research method was used for this study. This method involves gathering data from a sample and generalizing the findings on the entire population. This design is the most recommended for an academic research of this sort requiring the administration of questionnaire.
The population of the study consists of the entire local governments of Kaduna State. Simple random sampling method was used to select the respondents in order to give every members of the population an equal chance of being selected randomly.
The study dwelt mostly on primary data through the use of questionnaire, while the researcher secondarily sourced documents from journals, textbooks, internet and unpublished and published materials to support the primary data that were personally collected by the researcher.
A letter from the department of Political Science and Defence Studies was prepared to accompany the questionnaire to each respondent; this was meant to introduce the researcher to the respondents and to state the purpose and significance of the study. The questionnaire was designed in simple language to help the respondents to easily interpreted and fill appropriately. After distribution of the questionnaire, the respondents were given three days to reflect upon the items in the questionnaire and fill them accurately. Afterward the researcher personally collected back the filled questionnaires.
1.8 Scope and Limitations of the study
The study covers an empirical examination of the impact of local Government in economic and social development in rural areas across Nigeria; with a search light on Kaduna state. The choice of Kaduna is due to its size as well as the historical heritage of the state. The years understudied is from year 2011 – 2018.
The primary limitation to this study was the lack of adequate information concerning rural development from the respective local governments. Another limitation of the study was in area of responses to research design (especially questionnaires) by the respondents. Generally speaking, the poor attitude of Nigerians in aiding research by providing needed information during cross examinations.
1.9 Definition of Terms
Local Government: According to United Nation (UN, 2003), Local Government is a political sub-division of a nation (or a federal system or a state) which is constituted by law and substantial control of local affairs including the power to impose taxes or to exert labour for prescribed purpose. The governing body of such entity is selected or otherwise locally elected. The 1976 local government reforms goes on to say that these powers should give the local council substantial control of local affairs; 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 area, to ensure through the devolution of power and active participation of the people and their traditional institutions responses to local needs and mobilize contributions.
Rural: According to oxford western dictionary, “rural” is a comprehensive non-specific word, referring to life on the farm or country as distinguished from life in the cities. Rural can also be defined as life on the farm or countryside or village, distinguished from the life in the cities or urban areas.
Development: Development means a progression from a lower and often undesirable state to a higher and preferred one. At the individual level, this implies increased skills and capacity, greater freedom, creativity, self-discipline, responsibility and material wellbeing. At the level of social groups, development implies an increasing capacity to regulate both internal and external relationships (Rodney 1982). Development is used to refer to a total transformation of a system, thus, is a multi-dimensional concept when used to describe a nation.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
This chapter reviews related literatures which includes the works of erudite scholars who have made significant contributions that are related to this study, as well as conceptual and theoretical framework.
2.2 Conceptual Discourse
2.2.1 Concept of Local Government
Local government has been the concern of every responsive political system in the world. This is because the whole idea of local government basically, is the involvement of grassroots people in the provision of social and economic amenities to the local areas. It is based on the principle that local problems and needs can be understood by the people of the locality better than by Central or State government (Arowolo, 2008:4). The existence of local government has always been defended on the basis that it is a crucial aspect of democratization and intensification of mass participation in the decision making process (Shah, 2006:15).
Local government serves a two-fold purpose. The first is the administrative purpose of supplying goods and services; the other purpose is to represent and involve citizens in determining specific local public needs and how these local needs can be met. Local representative government is a process that span and connects representation and administration at local levels within local government structures (Appadorai, 2004:287).
Local Government has been defined by various scholars in different ways. The United Nations office for Public Administration cited in (Ogbuzor 2006:2) that local government as a political subdivision of nation or (in a federal system) state, which is constituted by law and has substantial control of local affairs including the power to impose taxes or to exert labour for prescribe purposes. The governing body of such an entity is elected. Awa (1981:10) sees local government as “a political authority set up by a nation or state as a subordinate authority for the purpose of dispersing or decentralizing political power” Wraith (1984:45) also defines local government as “the act of decentralizing power, which may take the form of deconcentration or devolution.
The Nigerian 1976 local government reforms (cited in Adeyemo, 2005: 150) defined local government as government at the local level established by law to exercised specific powers within defined areas (and) to initiate and direct provision of services and to determine and implement projects so as to complements the activities of the states and federal government in their area.
The Report of the Political Bureau (1987), in Nigeria sees local government as widely acknowledged as a viable instrument for rural transformation and for the delivery of social services to the people. Local government may be seen as „‟ a segment of a constituent state or region of a nation state‟‟, established by law to provide public service and regulate public affairs within its area of jurisdiction (Ikelegbe, 2005: 37).
The above presupposes that it is the closest level to the people with powers to perform functions and mandates over its finances and manpower. It is on the strength of the above that (Ikelegbe, 2005: 37) says that „ "it is government under the responsibility of the local people and in the interest of the local population by local representative bodies". As King (1988:3) observed, the local government is universally found in modern politics, although it goes by various appellations. Its legitimacy lies on its, "claim to represent the interests or wishes of the local inhabitants and to administer their needs".
Founded on the democratic ideals, it is required „‟ that they be given an opportunity to control their affairs at this level, especially since this is the point at which their interest and welfare are most likely to be directly affected (King, 1988:3). Also, Ola (1984:11) identified three schools of thought in functional conceptualization of the local government as a unit. The democratic-participatory school “holds that local government functions to bring about democracy and to afford opportunities for political participation to the citizen as well as to socialize him politically".
This bothers on training and injection of democratic tenets in the grassroots. From the stand point of the efficiency-services school, the appropriate functional focus of local government should be the provision of services, and its success or failure has to be judged by this yardstick (Ola, 1984:12).
Local Government in Nigeria is recognized as the third tier of governmental activity. It is government at the local level exercised through representative councils 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 provisions of services and to determine and implement projects so as to complement the activities of the state and Federal governments in their areas, and to ensure, through devolution of functions to these councils through the active participation of the people and their traditional institutions, that local initiative and response to local needs and conditions are maximized. Local Government is expected therefore, to do precisely what the word government implies i.e. governing at the grassroots or local level (Salihu, 2010).
Thus, analysis or examination of various definitions of local government given above reveals that local government is a combination of various elements and no single definition is acceptable as a general definition. In essence, therefore, local government is a government institution with limited legislative power and authority which operates within clearly defined geographical and legal jurisdiction, within a nation or state.
2.2.2 Concept of Development
Development as a concept has been subjected to various theoretical interpretations and empirical operationalization. Consequently, it eludes any precise definition, nonetheless, most students of sustainable change would agree with the notion that development is a process by which a continuous increase in a system's efficiency produces the conditions which result in general upliftment. Upliftment in this context could be material and quantitative while it could also be psychological and qualitative in which case it is hardly quantifiable. In essence, therefore, development is that process, which is concerned with the general improvement of man's living conditions. Thus both the physical and psychological elements of development mutually reinforce each other in the process of general upliftment, which is tantamount to and indispensable to development (Atte, 1995).
The term development is often used as if it were synonymous with economic development or growth. In this unit and in the context or Economic and social development, we use the term "development" to mean "social-economic Development"; a much broader concept. This excludes situations, sadly not uncommon, in which a country's gross national product (GNP) is increasing but little or none of it finds its way either into the hands of the poor or into socially desirable forms of public expenditure such as education, public health and hygiene, housing or family welfare. The debate about development cannot avoid being concerned with value-laden issues like these. To talk of developing countries therefore, is to imply that these advances are actually taking place, but, even using the narrow criterion of economic growth as the measure to development, the facts give the lie to this (Lawal,2000).
2.2.3 Local Government Administration in Nigeria
The need for decentralization by devolution is further supported by the fact that centralization inhibits the active participation of the citizens in the running of their own affairs, which in most cases can lead to despotism. Local Governments in Nigeria are established for a number of reasons: (a) to promote local freedom or autonomy, (b) to provide local services or infrastructural facilities, (c) to promote national unity through efficiency of administration, (d) to enhance grassroots democracy. Local Government constitutes the most critical level of government at which the momentum to sustain national development can be created (Berry, 1996).
According to Gboyega (1983), Local government administration in Nigeria experienced fundamental changes in 1976. The 1976 local government reform creates for the first time, a single tier structure of local government council in place of the different structure in the various states. The reforms instituted statutory allocation of revenue from the federation account with the intention of giving local government councils fixed proportions of both the federation account and each state’s revenue (Awotokun, 2005). This allocation to local government councils become mandatory and are entrenched in the recommendations of the Aboyade Revenue Commissions of 1977.
According to the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, section 7(1) of the 1999 constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria stipulates that “the system of local government by democratically elected local government councils is under constitution guaranteed, and accordingly, the government ensure their existence under a law which provides for the establishment, structure, composition, finance and functions of such councils”. Section (4) adds: “The Government of a state shall ensure that every person who is entitled to vote or be voted for at an election to the House of Assembly shall have the right to vote or be voted for at an election to a local government council”. Today, there are three (3) tiers of government in Nigeria. Namely: the Federal government, the Government of the thirty six (36) states and Abuja, and the seven hundred and seventy four (774) local government councils. At present, the number of Local government councils is on the increase, compare to what it used to be few decades ago. There are ninety six (96) divisions in 1967. By 1976, the number of Local government councils increased to three hundred (300). Today, the number of local government councils in Nigeria has increased to seven hundred and seventy-four (774) (Adedokun, 2004).
The implication is that the rise in the number of local government councils has implications on the assignment of service delivery to the people at the local government councils’ level among the tiers of government. In most of the African countries, the responsibility of providing essential social services, and bringing about development to the rural dwellers has been delegated to local government councils. The types of services that a local government council may require to provide include housing, water, education, electricity, roads and transport, health facilities and other social services. As a consequence, local government councils must be able to effectively identify and target the neediest communities, have systems in place to track expenditure on projects and be able to determine if the allocation of resources has had an impact. So, it is important that any work done within the social accountability arena should have a strong focus on service delivery within the local government council’s environment. The most immediate need is to improve the ability of citizens to engage with the local government councils so that they may be empowered in gaining an understanding of where the priority areas are and what the local government councils are planning to do. It will also give citizens an opportunity to hold local government councils accountable for the delivery of social services.
According to the fourth schedule of 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, “The functions of a local government council shall include participation of such council in the Government of a state as respects the following matters: (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 such other functions as may be conferred on a local government council by the House of Assembly of the state”. Similarly, the 1999 constitution also empowers the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to allocate revenue to the three tiers of government - Federal, State and Local. RMAFC is a board constituted under the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, i.e. charged with the responsibility of keeping the Federation account and disburses the accrued revenue to the Federation Account among the three tiers of government.
The constitutional basis for allocation of revenue among the three levels of Government in Nigeria is laid down under Section160 Subsection (2) to (8). Accordingly, any amount standing to the credit of the Federation Account shall be distributed among the Federal and State government and the Local Government Councils in each state, on such terms and in such manner as may be prescribed by the National Assembly.
The monthly statutory allocation being disbursed to the seven hundred and seventy-four (774) Local government councils is meant to provide infrastructural development so that people at the grassroots will feel the pulse of the government at the three levels of governance. As agents of economic and social development, local government councils are to use the funds made available to them by both Federal and State Governments. Local government councils can equally generate revenue to improve on the lives of the people within their areas of operation through initiating and attracting developmental projects to the local government councils such as provision of access roads, water and rural electricity; sustaining livelihood through the provision of credit facilities for agriculture, arts, crafts and small scale business, and encouraging the formations of cooperative societies and other economic groupings (Ajayi, 2002).
Local government council as a public business consumes huge resources in providing vital services which are managed by elected and appointed officials. Among the essential services provided by Local government councils in Nigeria are sewer construction, fire protection, garbage collection, housing management, health care, transportation, water supply, education services (primary school), etc in response to immediate and urgent needs of its citizens (Agagu, 1997).
2.3 Local Government and Rural Development in Nigeria
The local government system has been a major feature of Nigerian government and politics since colonial rule. Though, over the years there have been changes in name, structure and composition. Prior to the attainment of Independence in Nigeria, there was no uniformity in the local government administration. According to Yahaya (1989:283), two different administrations emerged in Northern and Southern Nigeria; each of them conformed strongly to the ideological orientation of the regional political class in power. There was relative democratic system in existence in the south where the people were allowed to participate in governance, while, the north was said to be highly centralized and undemocratic. Here the authority was rested in one person.
Historically, local government developed as an institution for the provision of essential services to grassroots. The pre-colonial societies had their respective systems of local government or local administration. Through series of reforms over the years, the system has undergone so many changes in respect to structure and function. These reforms according to Omenka (cited in Tativ, 2011:2) are informed by the need to properly define the various organs and functionaries of local government and in effect, reduce the strains and stresses that may occur. He further states that, the reforms were imperative because of the realization that local government is an essential instrument for rural development.
The role of local government according to Igbuzor (2006:12) formed the second objectives of the local government reforms of 1976 in Nigeria. According to the Fourth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the exclusive function of local government include, economic planning, collection of rates and the provision of social amenities like markets, feeder roads, health services, portable water, primary and adult education,e.t.c among others at the grassroots. These functions simply defined the rationale behind the existence of local government system in Nigeria.
In Nigeria, there is a general consensus in the literature that local governments has not performed satisfactorily as an instrument of development and service delivery right from the colonial era where it served as instrument for the maintenance of law and order to perpetuate the colonial rule ((Yahaya 1979; Gboyega 1987; Olowu 1988; Bello-Imam 1996). The native administrations through indirect rule were undoubtedly the mainstay of colonial administration (Gboyega, 1987:69), without them the machinery of colonial administration would have lost its vitality and coherence (Gboyega, 1987:69). In the post-colonial era; all regional governments used local government as an instrument for coercing political support.
The most formidable weapon in this respect was the local government police which was used to harass political opponents through arbitrary arrests and detentions (Yahaya, 1979; Gboyega, 1987; Olowu, 1988; Bello-Imam, 1996), customary courts were instruments for putting political opponents behind bars without the due process of the law as known to the civil courts. Charges were not only framed up, but the guilt of the accused and their punishment were usually predetermined in party caucuses even before accused were apprehended on trumped up charges (Gboyega,1987:88). Sanitary inspectors of local government councils were apt to arrest opponent or even personal enemies of councilors of the ruling party in the council for spurious offence relating to environmental sanitation, etc. Tax assessment committee levied excessive rates on politicians and known supporters of the opposition party (Gboyega, 1987:88). The executive and judicial arms of local government became ferocious hatcheries of all manners of political intimidation, nepotism and corruption (Gboyega, 1987:89).
The ineffective performance of the local governments as agents of development or service delivery has been attributed to weak revenue base; whereby the local government have to depends almost entirely on the federal and state government for funds to perform their statutory functions, low caliber of staff; due to shortage of right manpower, poor condition of service, inability to attract trained and technical manpower, lack of motivation and career progression, intergovernmental relations; whereby local government has been unduely subordinated in their relationship with other levels of government etc, (Yahaya 1979; Gboyega 1987; Olowu 1988; Bello-Imam 1996).
All these impede the local government system from having the capacity and capability to perform and deliver results. The failure has necessitated series of reforms, the most far-reaching of which was the 1976 reform which attempted to redress the perennial well known problem of local government. (Yahaya 1979; Gboyega 1987; Olowu 1988; Bello-Imam 1996). Yet over the years to date the same problem have persisted or even worsened and today local government are seen merely as extensions of the State governments as was the case during military regimes especially before the 1976 reforms. The struggle for local government autonomy in Nigeria has been a recurring issue. It is as old as the history of Nigeria’s colonial state, despite all attempts at democratizing the system of local governments in the country, the regions/state still had strong grip of the control of local governments for varying political reasons.
Although, a large measure of autonomy was granted to the local government from the review of 1976 local government reforms to enable it sustain itself as an effective third tier of government in Nigeria and also bring a meaningful development throughout the country at the grassroots level (FRN 1976), which was subsequently enshrined in the 1979 Constitution, and also incorporated in the 1999 Constitution. In practice, the network of intergovernmental relations has seriously impeded the effort of local government to achieve the above objective. Intergovernmental relation is a product of federalism, whatever model or combination of interactions that manifest and its effectiveness to a great extent depends on the mental disposition of the political actors. The levels of interactions act as impediments to local government autonomy. In most cases, this pattern of interactions becomes indispensable and impedes development (Adeyemo, 1992:45).
It has been difficult to practice an enduring, autonomous and developmental local government in Nigeria. Even though various institutional structures have been put in place since the 1976 Local Government reform, so as to concretize certain degree of autonomy, yet an amalgam of bottlenecks have been put on an emergent autonomous and developmental local government. These are constitutional provisions, political instability in the polity, financial fiscal problems, etc. (Adeyemo, 1997:10, Igbuzor, 2006:5).
It is an irony of fate that the military-induced reforms in the Nigeria local government system have their 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.
Adeyeye (1996:92) opined that the Nigerian Federalism remains a formidable problem is evident in the various contradictions of military rule and the decrees they have spurned. Similarly, the continuous overbearing role has been exercise by state posses a tremendous threat to the autonomy and developmental needs of local government. These can be seen within the realms of various contradictory rules, instructions, supervisory powers passed down to the local councils, some of which are outside the constitutional jurisdictions of the local governments.
Moreover, political instability that strongly manifested in the polity is among the militating factors against the autonomy and developmental needs of local government. This is due to the changing and swinging of political pendulum that oscillates between Sole-Administrator to Caretaker-committee and the elected government (Adeyemo, 2005:15). The most favored system was the sole-administratorship that further ceded the local government to state control and erodes its autonomy and development (Oyelakin, 1992:77).
The usurpation of local government functions and revenue sources by state government is another serious area of eroding the autonomy and developmental needs of the local government. More often than not, parallel revenue boards, through the states unwillingly usurp and erode the revenue yielding areas of the local government. It is not uncommon to see such boards to include market, motor parks, building plan approval and forest royalty collection fund e.t.c (Oyelakin, 1992:77).
Furthermore, it is appreciated that finance is the bedrock of any meaningful development. A balance sheet of the comparative performance of Nigerian local governments is nothing to write home about. Most of the local government exists only for payment of salaries, as they depended on the federal allocation, which in most cases are deducted from source for the payment of primary school teacher salaries. Even the mandatory ten percent (10%) Internally Generated Revenue of the State to Local governments is not forthcoming (Adedokun, 2004:81).
Other contradictions that tend to erode local government developmental roles include the inability of the local governments to meet the finances of their constitutional responsibilities. Similarly, the heavy cost of implementing the separation of power poses yet another threat to local government autonomy. It was also not uncommon for most of the local governments to embark on unbudgeted expenses (as imposed on them by higher levels of government). Political instability and policy inconsistencies are yet another problem. All these additional responsibilities constitute financial burden on most local governments and a menace to their developmental efforts. According to Mackenzie (1954:14) and Ola (1988:62), local government exists to provide services to the teeming population in its domain, and must be judged by its success in providing the services. The local governments in Nigeria are expected to have the available resources in their custody to achieve their stated objectives. But considering the state of affairs in government in Nigeria, all the resources available to them are not being effectively mobilized and utilized for the benefit of rural communities, which they are expected to cater for.
In other words, the decline in the provision of basic amenities for the upliftment of the rural environment is a clear testimony that such huge amount of money allocated local government were never mobilized and utilized as expected (Ovaga, 2009:254).
That is why Sanyaolu, (2003: 17), did not mince words to state that transformation of the polity would be hundred times better than what was obtainable, if at least a reasonable fraction of money allocation in budgets were spent on their allocation sectors. In other words, the needs of the rural dwellers would have been provided for, if the local governments were to spend their revenues judiciously.
No wonder why the former President Obasanjo quoted in (Ukertor, 2009:34) described the performance of local government in Nigeria in these words:
“What we have witnessed is the abysmal failure of the local government system. It is on record that at no time in the history of the country has there been the current level of funding to local governments from federation account, yet the hope for rapid and sustained development has been a mirage as successive councils have grossly under-performed in almost all areas of their mandate”. Interventions over the local government financial operations by the higher tiers of government are another major factor militating against effective local government system in Nigeria. There have been various forms of protest by Nigerians against the interventions. For instance, Olamilekan (2006:13) was not comfortable with such interruptions by other levels of government noted that the control of the revenue accruing to local governments by both the federal and state government was not indicative of genuine desire to strengthen the local governments or meet the high expectations of the people. It is known that these tiers of government actually fund the local government system in Nigeria, but regrettably, they often turn around to collect a large chunk of allocations stipulated for the provision of rural needs. This is evident in one of the directives by former Governor Oserheimen Osunbor of Edo state, that all councils should pay One Million Naira (1,000,000) each to the state government account (Otabor, 2010:13). This directive was irresistibly carried out without any official paper issued to the payees acknowledging the receipt of such money. In addition, it is worrisome to note that the federal government intervenes indirectly. For instance, there are some federal agencies located at the local government headquarters premises and they are being directed to collect funds from their host councils for their up keep and conduct of state and national programmes.
Nigerian local governments have not been up and doing in terms of efficient and effective social service delivery to the grassroots. This is evident in the poor environmental state, deteriorating public school building, poor market facilities, and lack of health centres (Olusola, 2011:17). The provision of basic social services such as education and health, as well as maintenance of roads and public utilities within the jurisdictions of local government is now both a myth and mirage (Agba, 2006:68).
So far, the various literature that have been reviewed in this study have given divergent perspective on concept that are relevant to the subject matter of the study, among which are: the concept of local government, service delivery, local government as an instrument of service delivery etc, However, none of them have been able to effectively make “an assessment of the role of local government in service delivery, a study of Kaduna South local government (1999-2011)”. It is therefore this gap in the existing literature that this study sets out to cover.
2.4 Gaps in Literature
The notion of local government has been reviewed as administrative point of view in many studies in this literature whilst the proposition of economic and social development is largely noticed in commercial perspective. However, as it denotes in Egbe (2015), Okoh (20150 and Lawal (2015) Nigerian local government policy framework has to be focused on dynamic changes in assisting business firms or potential investors to feel good atmosphere to enhance the regional business investments. However, the critical matter is how far those initiatives are strategic in terms of long-term focused results, but this is lacking in the content of the literature. Therefore, future studies could contribute policy makers to revamp the process and people related improvements to convert local governing authorities as strategic unit for social and economic development potentials in Nigeria.
2.5 Theoretical Framework
The theory underpinning this study is the Neo-classical theory of development and Local Government Model theory.
2.5.1 The Neo-classical Theory of development:
Economists of the neo- classical school argue that development will occur only if countries liberate their economics from the trammels of government intervention in order that the neutral advantages of a free market may be realized. However, close examination of the requirements for growth and for an effective Social policy makes it clear that government intervention is unavoidable, and that it calls for planning in which these aspects are closely integrated (Berry, 1996).
This theory advocates community effort and effective participation of private and public through public-private partnership which are closely integrated. The integrated approach to Economic and social development is a deliberate effort aimed at locating key economic and social development projects that will in turn attract other basic infrastructural facilities. In other words economic and social development projects should have linkage and multiplying effects. For example, the construction of a major feeder road should form a basis for location of large community farm, potable water supply, postal facilities, rural electrification, community skills centre and markets. In the same vein, Rural Communities, by the very name, are agricultural but agricultural development alone, however, intensified, and cannot produce balanced economic and social development of adequate capacity, able to Projects in the States aimed at developing the local government area. Another programme of action for accelerated economic and social development by the government was the establishment of the Directorate for Foods, Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI) with the mandate to: (a) effectively promote a framework for grassroots social mobilization, (b) mount a virile programme of development monitoring and performance evaluation, and (c) undertake the construction of about 60,000 kilometers of rural feeder roads.
Many private enterprises or non-governmental organizations (NGOS) are today making much in-roads into economic and social development. They make contributions within the framework of planning towards integrated economic and social development in a combination of agricultural modernization and rural industrialization. An example is the World Bank, and other NGOS sponsored economic and social development projects spread all over the country covering such areas as agriculture, education, health and so forth.
The part played by the rural population itself in economic and social development is what is called community self-help programme. In many rural communities in Nigeria, economic and social development is synonymous with community self-help. The rural population funds by competitive donation, levies or local taxation, the building of local infrastructures such as Feeder roads, bridges and culverts, rural electrification, water bore holes and pipe borne water. They also generate and employ funds to build schools (Primary and Secondary). They build health centers, maternity homes and hospitals. The strategy for accelerating the pace of economic and social development is based on the principle of working in close partnership with the people. The idea is to sensitize and mobilize the entire populace especially at the grassroots level an actively involve them in effective economic and social activities. The involvement of the people can be achieved through their voluntary associations, community/town unions, age groups and working groups.
2.5.2 Local government model theory
According to Thomas (1996) there are local governments that have become established models. The prominent ones are the American model, French model and the Russian model. In the United States, the vast distances between the government and the people, sparse population and means of transportation and communication made relatively autonomous local governments almost a necessity. There exists a local government system known as American model. It descended from the eighteen century British system. It however varies from one part of the country to the other. Under this model, executive functions may be centralized or decentralized. The selection of personnel may be patron or merit system. There are areas where elections are held into offices in the local government and there are areas where elections are not held into offices in the local government in the United States.
In France, local government was developed and used as an instrument for bringing democratic equality to the people during the French revolution. The French model of local government system is under the control of Federal Ministry of Interior in France. Under the French model, the ministry of interior of the central government dominates local governments’ administration through the perfect who is an administrative officer (Paula, 2013).
Local governments in French are called communes whether rural or urban. Except for Paris, all local governments are similar in structure with each having an elected mayor and council. Ordinarily, the commune meets every quarter to adopt annual budgets. However, other matters of finance (including education and police) are primarily controlled by the interior minister. Local governments on the other hand have authorities over things that are local in nature like parks, recreation, and street maintenance. The French system is particularly strong in countries with strong central government. It is operated in some parts of Europe, the Middle East, South of Europe, the Middle East, South America, Japan, Mexico and African countries (Alfred, 2016).
In the United Kingdom, a combination of necessity and the need to bring government closer to the people to provide basic essential services led to the creation of local boards. This scenario laid the foundation for the emergence of county and borough councils (Alfred, 2016).
The Russian model of local government system has been in existence ever before the collapse of USSR. This originated from the defunct Soviet Union. The union operated as a Federal System with Fifteen (15) Republics. These were in turn divided into varieties of Local Government Councils. The councils were large numbering several hundreds of members and operated through a system of committees. Council men need not be members of the political party but were drawn from various professional backgrounds. They had decision making authority in local matters although all policies must align with that established by the central government (Felix, 2012).
For Nigeria to have model Local government councils, the Federal Government needs to study the peculiarities of individual Local government council. Local government councils should be assigned different roles according to the needs and aspirations of the people in the Local government councils. The seven hundred and seventy-four (774) Local government councils should be categorized based on the nature of essential services to be delivered, instead of using traditional classification of rural, semi-urban, and urban Local government councils. This will be in line with what is obtainable in the developed nations of the world. Also, there must be fiscal decentralization of power among the three tiers of government. Local government three tiers of government. Local government councils should be given the freedom to operate according to the need and expectations of individual local government (Lawal, 2017).
For Local government councils in Nigeria to develop the grassroots, the need arises to make local government councils model just like what is obtainable in the advanced nations of the world. The issue of fiscal decentralization of power is very essential. This will enable local government councils to provide essential services to their people at the local government level. A model local government should be able to operate according to the needs and expectation of their people. There must be effective transfer of inter- governmental resource among the tiers of government. The state government should not be made to be exercising unnecessary control on the local government if local government should be autonomous. There is need to develop a good management capacity index (Egbe, 2017).
Comparatively, Nigerian Local government councils could be compared with Malaysian Local government system, because the two countries are categorized as developing countries. In Malaysia, there is what is known as Malaysian Management Capacity Index (MMCI) used for evaluation cum rating of Local government in Malaysia from time to time. This index measures visionary & strategic leadership, performance leadership, people leadership, financial management, organization capacity, application of technology &knowledge, external relationships, innovation- products & services and results & comparative performance (Okoh, 2017).
Modeling system of Local government councils can easily be adopted, if some lacuna in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria can be amended. Local government councils should be given autonomous. There should be little or no interference by the state government in the control of Local government councils in Nigeria. The issue of inter-transfer of fund from central government to Local government councils needs to be revisited. State-Local government joint account should be cancelled. Local government councils in Nigeria should be allowed by law to operate based on the peculiarities of individual Local government council. There should be specialization in the delivery of social services by Local government councils, and Local government councils should be rated based on rate of delivering social services to the people in the Local government councils.
CHAPTER THREE
BACKGROUND OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS IN KADUNA STATE
This chapter discussed the background of this study; this includes the location and geography of the study area as well as demographic characteristics and the natural endowment of the area. The chapter equally discussed the Socio-Economic Infrastructure of the area as well as the local governments’ rural development strategies, intended impact and the investment opportunity for local governments in Kaduna state.
3.2 Historical Background
Kaduna State is located on the southern end of the high plains of Northern Nigeria. It is bounded by latitude 90.3N and extended from the Upper River Mariga on 6.05E to 8.48E on the foot slopes of the Scarp of Jos Plateau. Kaduna State is bordered by Sokoto, Katsina, and Kano States to the north, Plateau State to the South and Niger State to the West. Abuja the Federal Capital Territory also borders Kaduna to the South West. The state is the successor to the old Northern Region of Nigeria, which had its capital at Kaduna. In 1967 this was split up into six states, one of which was the North-Central State, whose name was changed to Kaduna State in 1976. This was further divided in 1987, losing the area now part of Katsina State. Under the governance of Kaduna is the ancient city of Zaria.
There are over 40 ethnic groups in the State. By 2006 census it had the population of 6, 066, 62 persons. It covers an area of 46,053sq km. Kaduna State comprises of the traditional emirates of Zaria, Birni-Gwari and Jema’a. There are 23 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the State. In each LGA, there are smaller units such as districts and wards. Some of the ethnic groups in the State include: the Hausa, Fulani, Gbagyi, Kagoro, Bajju, Jaba, Kataf, Moro’a, and Adara amongst others. Ironically, Hausa language is widely spoken by all the ethnic groups in addition to the local languages of the various groups.
The major towns in the state are Kaduna, Zaria, Kafanchan, Kachia, BirninGwari, Saminaka and Kwoi. Kaduna State is predominantly composed of Muslims and Christian population. The northern part of the State consists of mostly Hausa and Fulani who are mostly Muslims, while the southern part comprises very many small ethnic groups that are predominantly Christians. There are also many non-indigenes from other parts of Nigeria who, for the most part, are Christians in the southern part of the State.
3.3 Demographics
Kaduna has a population of 6,113,503 based on the 2006 population census conducted by the National Population Commission (NPC). The projected population as at 2016 was 8,252,400.
Fig 3.1 Map of Kaduna State
3.4.1 Political Structure
The political structure of Local Government is meant for policy makers i.e. the political office holders. This is chiefly comprised of the members of the Local Government Council. This structure plays two major roles: executive and legislative. The executive structure consists of the Chairman of the Local Government, the Vice Chairman, Secretary, Supervisors or Supervisory Councilors, and the Councilors.
The Legislative structure is the Council.
The Council makes laws and it contains principally elected representatives of the people from the various Wards or Constituencies in the Local Government. In some cases, the Chairman is part of it, while in others cases, the chairman is not part of it. To understand these structures, their composition and their roles, we have to, first, distinguish the parliamentary and presidential systems of Local Government.
(a) The Parliamentary (Cabinet) System
• The Councilors is first elected to Council as a Legislator.
• The Councilors in turn appoint a Chairman to head the Council from among Council members.
• The Chairman, his Supervisory Councilors and other Councilors are all legislators.
• The Chairman and his Supervisory Council are, however, the only members of the Executive Council (Finance and General Purposes Committee, F&GPC).
• The Chairman and his supervisory councilors play both executive and legislative role.
• In this system, the portfolio Councilors play both executive and legislative role.
(b) The Presidential System
• The Chairman is elected directly by the electorates.
• There is a separated Legislative and Executive Council.
• Only councilors belong to the Legislative Council.
• The Chairman appoints his Supervisory Councilors from outside the Council members. A Council member so appointed has to resign and his place filled through a bye- election.
• The Executive implements the laws and policies of Government, while the Council makes law and approves executive bills. The Executive does not therefore perform legislative role while the Legislature does not perform executive role (separation of powers).
• Each organ of Government (legislative or executive) serves as a check (or watchdog) against the activities of the other (check and balance).
• In this system, the Councilors do not have any executive function, unlike the cabinet system.
Political Structure under the Kaduna State Local Government (Administration) Law No. 11 of 2012
• The Chairman and Vice Chairman are jointly elected directly by the electorates in the Local Government Area.
• The Councilors are elected directly by the electorates of their respective electoral Wards in the Local Government Area.
• The Chairman appoints or nominates three (3) Supervisory Councilors from amongst the elected Councilors to be confirmed by the Council.
• The Secretary of the Council who shall be appointed by the elected Chairman
3.5 Administrative Structure
Under the Kaduna State Local Government (Administration) Law No. 11 of 2012, the administrative structure of Local Government is headed by the Head of Local Government Administration (popularly called the Director of Administration and General Services) who is appointed by the Local Government Service Commission. He is assisted by the Heads of Departments.
Under the Law, every Local Government shall have the following Departments:
• Administration, Legal and General Services
• Agriculture and Natural Resources
• Budget, Planning, Research and Statistics
• Finance and Supplies
• Primary Healthcare
• Social Development, Education and Information
• Sports and Culture
• Works, Transport, Housing, Land and Survey.
Each Department has its Units manned by Units Heads.
3.5.1 Committees as Administrative Structure of the Local Government System
Under sections 35 and 39 of the Law, the Local Government Council may appoint standing or ad hoc committee of its members for any special or general purpose. Aside from this, the Local Government Council has the following statutory and mandatory committees:
• The Finance and General Purposes Committee – F&GPC which formulates financial policy for the Local Government and grants approval for the expenditures to be incurred by the Local Government.
• Education Committee which deals with basic education matters, both primary and adult.
• Security Committee which deals peace and security matters in the Local Government Area.
• Planning Committee which deals with drawing up short and long term development programmes for the Local Government.
It should be noted that these Committees may create sub-committees; and, except for the Finance and General Purposes Committee, they may include members outside the Council. Also, a Local Government Council may establish a joint committee with another Local Government in areas of common or bilateral interest.
3.6 Kaduna State Development Plan (SDP), 2016-2020
The Kaduna State Development Plan (SDP), 2016-2020, “reflects the desire of the Government to achieve a planned, orderly and coherent development of the state and ensure its timely implementation through the annual budget. It is a mechanism of the Government to support the state economy and provide essential services so as to achieve the desired development goals of the state. The Plan articulates goals and objectives as well as strategies for attaining them. The policies and strategies in the plan are the “building blocks” that will determine actions (programmes, projects and activities) to deliver services and infrastructure to enhance the wellbeing of the people of the state”.
Table 3.5 Summary of 2019 Draft Revenue Profile of the 23 Local Government Councils
3.6 Transport Network (Feeder roads)
Kaduna State is served with 2,820km stretch of trunk "A" Federal, well surfaced roads radiating from Kaduna City in five cardinal directions westwards to Tegina, northward to Kano, eastwards to Jos, south and south-eastwards to the Federal Capital Territory. - The State Government has also constructed good tarred surface roads comparable to the trunk "A" totaling 1,200km; and several other road development projects are still going on. Again, in order to open up the large rural areas, the former Federal Government Agency, Directorate For Foods, Road ¬ and Rural Infrastructure (DFRIU), constructed feeder roads to specific project locations. For example, the road linking Rigachikun to Sabon Birnin and Gumel to Jere in Igabi and Kachia LGAs respectively, are good feeder roads. Several other stretches have been constructed in Zango Kataf and Jama'a LGAs in order to gain access to the state's rural agriculture lands.
3.7 Education
Kaduna state enjoys the leading position in educational development in the entire region. This was as a result of the efforts made by Voluntary Agencies (Church Mission Groups) in establishing schools both at primary and secondary levels prior to the acceptance and liberalization of Western education in the Northern region.
In the southern and in Sabon Gari LGAs were founded by Mission Voluntary Agencies (e.g. in ¬ S.I.M/ECWA in Kwoi, Zonkwa and Kagoro; Anglican and Baptist in Kaduna, Makera/Tudun Wada, Sabon Gari, Kafanchan, Saminaka and Kaura LGAs). Currently, access to primary school of 84.2% and primary school net enrolment of 66.1% is the highest in North West (NBS, 2006). Also, - secondary school net enrolment is 41.6% is much higher than that of the State in the zone with the nearest figure, Kano that has a net enrolment of 27.1 %.
Given the standard Pupil Teacher ratio of 1:45, Kaduna State has an estimated average of 36 public primary schools with average enrolment of about 42,027 Pupils and 1,700 Teachers (ASC,2015/2016). The ratio of Pupils to Teacher is put at 1:24. This revealed that the ratio is below the standard threshold with 21 pupils for each Teacher in the Local Governments. Taking the ratio of average population of pupils aged 6 11 (35,000) and Teachers (1,700) shows a ratio of 1:20.This ratio indicates a healthy teaching environment; it should ordinarily make teaching easier.
3.9 Health Care Delivery
Health care delivery across the LGAs is satisfactory. Health access in the State is 61.1% although only 29.7% of under-five children in the State are fully vaccinated (NBS, 2006). Besides large two units of University Teaching hospital in Kaduna and Zaria, there are large and fully equipped government hospitals located in Zonkwa, Jama'a and Kafanchan as well as in Kaduna and Zaria. Smaller government and privately owned ones are also found in towns like Birnin Gwart, Kagoro, Saminaka Organisation, and Soba. They State Government established Comprehensive Primary Federal Health Care System in conjunction with the World Health Organisation - which caters for child care, pre and antenatal health care.
Local Governments are responsible for primary health care provision to its people. The standard ratio for a PHC is 1:10,000 people, but Kaduna State ratio for 2019 is 1: 6,347 based on a projected population of 412,576. (Kaduna State Government, 2020).
This is above the standard requirement. However, the reason for this seeming adequacy of the PHCs is due to the widespread of the Wards in the LGAs making accessibility from certain locaions take several kilometers above the recommended two (2) KM distance.
Based on the projected population of Giwa LGA for 2018 to 2020 and the standard ratio of 1: 10,000 persons, it will appear that the LGA required less PHC that it currently has, but it actually require more for the coming years so as to reduce the distance covered by the villagers to reach available health facility. For this LGA PHC provision should be based on cluster of community locations that are within 2 – 3km distance. (Kaduna State Government, 2020).
3.8 Natural Endowments
Kaduna State is blessed with robust economic base because of its natural resource endowments. Agriculture is the main stay of the economy of Kaduna state with about 80% of the people actively engaged in farming. Cash and food crops are cultivated and the produce include: yam, cotton, ¬ groundnut, tobacco, maize, beans, guinea corn, millet, ginger, rice and cassava. Animal rearing is also prominent with cattle, sheep, goats as the major animal reared. - The State is equally blessed with minerals which include clay, tin ore, tantalite, serpentine, asbestos, amethyst, columbite, iron ore, kyannite, gold, and graphite, among others. Kaduna State besides being cosmopolitan, is industrialized with over 80 commercial and manufacturing industries. ¬ Investment opportunities exist substantially in mineral exploitation, commerce and industry establishment (with seven and four industrial estates in Kaduna and Zaria already laid out and provided with access roads and power) and tourism. Investment promotion is carried out through the Kaduna Industrial and Finance Company Limited (KIFC). It is a Parastatal of the state government charged with the responsibility of promoting and developing viable industrial projects. The State's score on business environment index is 56.9%.
4.5 Summary of Findings
The analysis indicates the following results:
First, the finding shows that the rural development in Kaduna State is very effective and that it is evenly distributed in all the local governments. The analysis further shows that rural development projects are effectively monitored in Kaduna state LGAs
Secondly, LGAs facilitates primary health care; provide primary education and other social infrastructures such as market and motor parks.
Finally, the findings of the research shows that lack of definition of the problem addressed, program intervention being made as well as Budget indiscipline, or implementation of projects not included in the plan or the budget and Inappropriate timing of budget releases, untimely payment of performance certificates, community and labour problems, contractor’s default, inaccurate assessment of project environment are challenges confronting LGAs in monitoring and implementing projects targeted at developing their areas.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1 Summary
The research examines the role of local government administrations in rural development across Kaduna State. Out of the entire population, 100 staff were randomly selected as the sample size. A questionnaire developed by the researcher based on like 5-point scale was used as the instrument of data collection for the study. Means scores and frequencies were used to analyze the data based on the research questions. The research result indicated that rural development plans across Kaduna State LGAs are very effective and that it is evenly distributed in all part of the State. The analysis further shows that development projects are effectively monitored across LGAs.
Secondly, LGAs facilitate primary health care; provide primary education and other social infrastructures such as market and motor parks. Finally, the findings of the research shows that lack of definition of the problem addressed, program intervention being made as well as Budget indiscipline, or implementation of projects not included in the plan or the budget and Inappropriate timing of budget releases, untimely payment of performance certificates, community and labour problems, contractor’s default, inaccurate assessment of project environment are challenges confronting LGAs in Kaduna.
5.2 Conclusion
The success of local government development schemes depend on how developmental project is managed. We have looked at project Monitoring and evaluation as instruments for ensuring the success of local governments’ rural development initiatives. Given the crucial position of local governments in the life of the people at the grassroots, its project ought to be taken seriously to make them feel government impact and alleviate poverty which is more pronounced at this level. While, there are roadblocks to successful project management at the local government level as we have identified, these challenges could be surmounted through positive leadership, prudent management of resources, ability to attract competent personnel to manage projects, constant inflow of resource, the use of global best practices, etc. Once these and other solutions are adhered to, project management will become effective at the local government level.
5.3 Recommendations
Having identified challenges facing local government rural; it is important to note that these are not insurmountable challenges. In what follows, we proffer some solutions to these challenges:
i. In the first place, Local government councils should be given autonomy. There should be little or no interference by the state government in the control of Local government councils in Nigeria. The issue of inter-transfer of fund from central government to Local government councils needs to be revisited. State-Local government joint account should be cancelled. Local government councils in Nigeria should be allowed by law to operate based on the peculiarities of individual Local government council.
ii. There should be specialization in the delivery of social services by Local government councils, and Local government councils should be rated based on rate of delivering social services to the people in the Local government councils.
iii. Projects at the local government level should be shielded as much as possible, from politics. This will ensure that only viable and rational projects are embarked upon to ensure easy completion. It is common to find in most local government councils projects that are launched just to score political points without efforts to complete them.
iv.
Also, the project bidding and tender processes for projects should be made as objective as possible so that only competent contractors are given the approval to embark on local government projects. This means that tendering of bids for projects should be made as open or transparent as possible. This practice of giving projects to relatives and political associates without following due process should be discontinued.
v. Corruption is the major bane of focal government project management. Leakages in fund disbursement due to corruption have robbed local government of much needed funds to execute crucial community development projects. The extant laws against corrupt practices should be made potent to deter public officials from taking the path of corruption. This would require the strengthening of the audit alarm committee and the due process office.
vi. Democratic governance if institutionalized will help reduce under-ground practices in local government project management. Democracy has values and mechanisms that could help prevent abuse of due process in the management of projects at the local government level. Besides, once those elected know that they would have to face the electorates for the validation of their mandates, they would be cautious in what they do while in office.
vii. Involving the local community in the planning, initiation, formulation and execution of projects is one of the ways of ensuring the success of local government projects. They should be carried along at every stage of a project. Their understanding of the environment and support for a project create a moral basis for its success. Project planning should take a bottom – top approach to bring the people directly into the process of initiating projects that will affect their well-being.
viii. Local government should vigorously pursue revenue generation in order to enjoy autonomy of actions and activities and to ensure that projects embarked u on are not still-born. More often than not, local government councils predicate over 90 percent of their project on expected allocation from higher level of government.
ix. Local governments should look inwards for funds. Also this will enable local government administration attract some of the best personnel and skilled experts to execute their projects. The tendency to see local government as a tier of government that cannot engage and pursue modernity should change.
x.
Local government should develop a competitive edge in relation to other tiers and rub shoulders with its counterpart elsewhere in the world. It should attract through well structure work incentives, human resource that could bring innovations into the art and crop of project management. This would require the appreciation of global best practices in project monitoring and evaluation.
xi. Finally, evaluate only projects and programs which are evaluable. Pre-assessment evaluation should be based essentially on the answers to the following questions: Is the program clearly defined? Are the anticipated outcomes measurable? Is the theory linking the activities with attainment of ultimate goals clear? What are the constraints of administrator’s ability to act upon the evaluation results? What range of actions might be taken as the result of different possible evaluation findings?
xii. Technocrats should be encouraged to administer local government council in order to move the administration of Local government councils with the tune of what is obtainable in the world today. The appointment could either be through local election, or by appointing technocrats or by appointing popular and accepted people of proving integrity that will cut across all the political parties in the country. These officials must be able to deliver so that people would not lose confidence in the local governance.
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