Instituting a veritable LG system in Nigeria

Recent reports indicate that the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) is advocating for the autonomy of the Local Government in Nigeria as a panacea to the dereliction of local government in the country. According to the report, the ALGON chairman, Kaduna state branch, Akuso Danjuma, at the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja stated that the association is working hard to ensure there is autonomy of the local Government as enshrined in the constitution.

There is no doubt that local governments in Nigeria have not really performed as they ought to, because of their emasculation and the usurpation of their allocation by state governments which has consequently hindered grassroots development.

Experts proffer that local government in Nigeria is established by law and is a product of decentralization. As a federation, Nigeria has three tiers of government -federal, state and local whose intergovernmental relations are mainly established by the constitution. Each tier is required to operate within its area of jurisdiction; and any action to the contrary is null and void to the extent of its inconsistency with the law; and this is meant to guarantee the autonomy of each tier. The act of decentralizing power, may take the form of devolution, which refers to a transfer of authority to local government units. The local government is thus an administrative agency through which control and authority relates to the people at the grassroots.

According to analysts, in the United States of America, the degree of autonomy granted local authorities is derived from ideals and values such as liberty, equality, democracy, unity and diversity; and such ideals are at the core of their national identity and shape the nature and character of state politics.

However, we note that several local government reforms have been initiated by successive governments to ensure that local government autonomy is achieved in Nigeria. The local government reforms initiated by the Babangida administration from 1986 to 1992 is the most outstanding of all the reforms because it introduce and also amplified the issue of local government financial autonomy, by ensuring that local governments got their allocation directly from the federation account; it abrogated the Ministry of local government; and introduced the legislative and executive arms of government to the local government system in Nigeria. In fact the reform tacitly freed local governments financially from the apron string of the state governments. But unfortunately, successive administrations after Babangida’s administration emasculated both the administrative and financial autonomy of the local governments.

Despite the recognition of local government by the constitution as the third tier of government, there are numerous substantiations from several reports of constitutional policies set up by successive administrations over the years that restrain local government autonomy. Some of these policies include the establishment of ministry of local governments, local government service commissions, caretaker committees and appointment of sole administrators to oversee activities of the local governments. Even the Senate and House of Representatives have committees on local government. These policies no doubt contribute significantly to the non performance of the local government and the attrition of their autonomy. Therefore if the local governments are to carry out their functions as enshrined in the Nigeria constitution, state and federal governments, as well as the National Assembly must desist from creating offices or policies that hinder local government autonomy.