ROLES OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CHAPTERONE INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
The Federal Government of Nigeria, through the 1976 Local Government Reforms, explained Local Government as follows: “Local Government is Government at Local level exercised through representative councils established by Law to exercise specific power within defined areas” (Government print: 1976). The United Nations Office for Public Administration explained Local Government as: “A political division of a nation (in a Federal or State system) which is constituted by Law and has substantial control of Local affairs including the power to impose taxes to exact labor for prescribed purposes. W. A. Robson, in the Encyclopedia of the Social Services, defines Local Government as involving: “The conception of a territorial, non-sovereign community possessing the legal right and the necessary organ to regulate its own affairs. This, in turn, presupposes the existence of a Local authority with the power to act independently of external control as well as the participation of the local community in the administration of its affairs”.
The Encyclopedia Americana, International Edition (1978), volume 17, defines Local Government as: “a political subdivision of national government or in the case of Federal Systems, a subdivision of regional Government”. The New Columbia Encyclopedia (4th Ed.), defines it as the: “sub-political administration of the smallest sub-divisions of a country’s territory and population. Ugwu (2002) defines Local Government as “the lowest unit of administration to whose laws and regulations communities who live in a defined geographical area and with common social and political ties are subject. Though these definitions may tend to vary, yet they expose features characteristic of Local Government, among which are that:
i. Local Government is government at the local level;
ii. It has its autonomous existence and endowed with a legal status;
iii. Specific powers are reserved for it;
iv. It can impose taxes and incur expenses;
v. it exists within a defined territory;
vi. It is seen as a distinct tier of Government;
vii. It must provide authority over a given population;
viii. It must provide avenues for the promotion of the welfare of the members of the community;
ix. It comprises elected members, such as chairmen and councilors.
The local government, were created so as to enable the Federal and state government exercise effective control and development of the rural communities. Hence, among the effective role of the local government (Anaocha local government) is the provision of two way communication channel between the local communities and the central government through the mobilization of human and material resources at the grass root. The implication of the above is that the concept of rural as well as national development depends on the effective local government leaderships and administration for its success (Ngwu 1980) It also, implies that effective local government is required for the planning, preparation and submission of the proposal for funding and initiation of any meaningful development project in Nigeria, this goes a long way to validate the assertion made by Agu (2001) that effective and efficient leadership and administration of the local government is required for the sustenance and utilization of development project in any nation. Hence the studies of Ezike (1998:45) and Hassan (1999:66) revealed that effective implement of development project are contingent on strong leadership of the local government area, particular at the planning stage. In rural as well as national development, the understanding of the local power structure is capable of enhancing or impeding the implementation of development project. In addition local government (Anaocha) leadership is always required for the genuine involvement of the people at the grass root in any development project or activities of the government.
However, the local government (Anaocha) had actually in fulfilling their roles due to both financial as well as political problem. According to Williams (1998-50) most local government in Nigeria suffer from inadequate financial resources, this was recently known as zero accusation. Anaocha local government was vastly affected by this zero allocation epidemic and this affected a great number of developmental activities including the payment of its staff. Consequently, the available fund was not appropriately used due to the frustrating effort of the local government authority effort of the local government authority which was as a result of mismanagement. The local government in some cases suffers from over-staffing to the extent that most of its recourses are spent on the payment of staff salaries. The research seek to appraise the role of local government in Economic Development.
1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
Local government is the third tier government established to bring the presence of government nearer to the people at the grass root, with the aim of providing some basic functions or needs of life such as, food, shelter, job opportunities primary b health service, primary education, by roads, market and so on. But contrary to expectations, the local governments have noticeable failed in their constitutional responsibilities. They are generally classified as been unproductive (President Oluegun Obasanjo in his address to the nation on the reasons behind the current local government reform: 2003. Stated that this current reform is one of the major reforms previously done on the local government system in Nigeria, with their sole objective of reforming the local government system to be effective and efficient , responsive and objective. The local government is faced with a number of problems.
- The problem of lack of productivity in the local government.
- The problem of unemployment and low incomes for target group.
- Lack of improved qualities in the basic needs of life- food, shelter, job opportunities health service, education etc.
- Inability of the local government council to ensures that the poorer section of the population has some share in the fruits of economic activities. Lack of social services and economic growth. Therefore the problem confronting this research is to investigate the role of local government in economic development.
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