Promoting Development at the Grassroots: the Role of Local Government Council

Abstract

Local governments are closest to the grassroots. In this regard, they are expected to contribute meaningfully to the wellbeing of the citizenry at that level by promoting development within the communities in their various domains. In order to achieve these objectives, various functions have been reserved for the local government councils which are duly enshrined in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This study is concerned with the high poverty level at the grassroots. It is, therefore, felt that local government councils must devote greater attention to poverty eradication programmes, Areas of intervention identified include agriculture, mass literacy programmes, formation of co-operative societies and women empowerment programmes. The holistic or integrated approach to development must also be vigorously pursued by the local governments. Through this means, the local governments should aim at creating model communities in which all the basic facilities without exception such as roads, health institutions, water and electricity are provided. These matters have not sufficiently attracted the attention of the Local Government Councils. It is noteworthy that in the continued efforts to put the Local Government Councils on a platform on which they can effectively perform, the 1976 Local Government Reform was undertaken. Consequently, Local Governments were recognized as the third tier of government. Highlights of the reform included guaranteeing the councils a share from the Federation Account; a share of the states' internally generated revenue and better quality workforce, The Local Government Councils, however, continue to be assessed poorly by the general populace in the performance of their duties. A survey carried out in this study established as much. In addition, the survey identified problems besetting the Councils to range from the perceived structural defects of the local government councils to high operational costs and corruption. Issues of intergovernmental relations have also been considered in this paper, It is important to stress that for as long as local governments continue to depend heavily on the revenue from the federal and state governments, they would not have much latitude to man oeuvre in the performance of their duties. The truth of the matter is that "he who pays the piper, dictates the tune." Only very few local governments in Nigeria, if any, can exist without the allocations from the federation account. Moreover, the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria makes the local government a state matter. This paper while recognizing that the local government councils could be more functional, submits that the problems facing them are deserving of attention. Towards this end, it is recommended that periodic reviews should constitute an essential ingredient of the local government system in Nigeria in order to properly focus it to meet the yearnings of the populace. This is an area that should engage the attention of scholars undertaking future work on Local Government Councils. One of such reviews of the Local Government system is now imperative especially under the new democratic dispensation.