LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION AND DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH-SOUTH NIGERIA: LANDMARKS, PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS

BY DR. EDDY ERHAGBE (FHSN) (ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF HISTORY AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES AND DIPLOMACY) UNIVERSITY OF BENIN AND VISITING PROFESSOR AND DEAN, FACULTY OF ARTS AND EDUCATION BENSON IDAHOSA UNIVERSITY, BENIN CITY, EDO STATE

BEING A TEXT OF A KEYNOTE ADDRESS DELIVERED AS THE KEYNOTE SPEAKER AT THE SOUTH-SOUTH ZONAL CONFERENCE OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF NIGERIA ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND DEVELOPMENT, HELD IN BANQUET HALL, GOVERNMENT HOUSE YENAGOA, BAYELSA STATE

FRIDAY !TH AUGUST,"# $.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION AND DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH-SOUTH NIGERIA: LANDMARKS, PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS BY DR EDDY O. ERHAGBE(FHSN) PROTOCOLS SALUTATIONS PRELIMINARY REMARKS INTRODUCTION In May this year Nigerians once again marked and in some cases celebrated the 13th year anniversary of uninterrupted democratic rule in the country, the longest single span in the history of independent Nigeria. Obviously what Nigerians are en oying today, and believe should be protected, that is democracy, came by way of great struggles and sacrifices of our heroes past and some still living. Nigeria has had a che!uered history and we know that our democracy has come with the trappings of the good, the bad and the ugly. "specially in the beginnings, it was tales of stolen and rigged elections, maiming, killings, looting, and destruction of properties, which at different times led to military interventions in the governance of the country #we know that some of these unsavoury practices have continued to still rear their ugly heads in the contemporary elections in the country, but it can rightly be argued that they are becoming less widespread$. %dded to the imperfections of the electoral system has been the non&performance of some elected persons, failure to deliver on electoral promises and worse still, the wanton looting of public funds.#both 'legal(&

such as the bumper pay of legislators and the illegal ones by way of embe**lement and misappropriation of funds$. One probe after another reveals massive and monumental corruption by those entrusted with the public commonweal. +he socio& economic and political conditions of most Nigerians are on the downward trend. %ll of these have continued to push many to clamour for electoral reforms, waging of war against corruption and calls for greater commitment to the fulfillment of electoral promises. In the face of the seeming failure of governance has been growing unemployment, failing infrastructure and unprecedented insecurity. %s already stated, the Nigerian ,emocratic e-perience has been a mi-ed bag. It has not all been minus and failure. +he reality is that in different parts of the country the ideals of democracy are beginning to come to the fore, although they are yet to take total good form and be entrenched, hence the call for the sustenance and consolidation of democracy. .ome believe that there have been remarkable improvements in the conduct of elections in our country. +his belief stems from the conduct of some positively minded politicians, the conduct of electoral bodies and their agents, law enforcement agencies, the voters and the udiciary. +here is an emerging feeling that democracy is gradually becoming entrenched in Nigeria. +he fact remains however, that while there seems to be a consensus on the need to sustain democracy in Nigeria, the stability of the geo&political entity known as Nigeria is under serious threat, from bad governance, insecurity and corruption. +here is also now the emergence of new apostles and prophets of doom are gallivanting across the country talking about the dis&integration of the country in )/101 or sometimes

threatening that unless they grab power hell well be let loose on the country. +his is most unfortunate. 2overnors that have up to two years to go on their mandate are dissipating their state resources to be travelling up and down the country, holding meetings and strategi*ing about )/10 as if that was what their people voted them for, we believe they should be called to order. 3hat is becoming obvious about Nigeria4s democracy is that the impact of democracy is being felt by Nigerians at different levels at different geo&political levels. 5egional, state, and local peculiarities are beginning to determine the e-tent that governance is influencing the lives of Nigerians. 3hile some state governments are obviously positively turning around the fortunes of the citi*ens of their states, in others nothing tangible seems to be happening, 3hile some .tate governors are not performing in their .tates they are diverting attention from their ineptitude by turning Mr 6resident to a punching bag in terms of their criticisms. #7or e-ample, some governors whose region is enmeshed in palpable insecurity are travelling to pay solidarity visit to a fellow governor whose .tate is to a large e-tent peaceful, we believe the 8oko&haram invaded .tates need more solidarity visits$. 3e want to observe that at the 9ocal 2overnment level, while some are doing well in performing their duties, others have remained in the doldrums in terms of performance. . +here is a ne-us between good governance and development and the improvement in the living standard of a people. Our presentation will later *ero down to e-amine how the local governments in the .outh&.outh geo&political *one of the country have fared in

terms of governance and impacted on the development of the region, especially under the present democratic dispensation..
SITUATING DEMOCRACY AND DEMOCRATIZATION IN NIGERIA%S POLITICAL EVOLUTION.

%s the curtain was drawing on the last millennium, the drums and the trumpets were roaring to usher in a new world drive towards ',emocracy(. In breathtaking, unbelievable speed, totalitarian regimes were crumbling, and democracy was on the march, and bringing down former dictatorships and unrepresentative governments. +he historical fact is that our dear country Nigeria was not left out. %s we all know, by mid& 1;;;, precisely );th May, 1;;;, a new democratic dispensation was ushered in, in Nigeria after a protracted period of military rule. In the spirit of "aster, for <hristians that year, many Nigerians shouted alleluia, that at last they were free again to determine their destinies, in terms of governance. +hirteen years after, are these =osannas still rife among Nigerians, or are they beginning to call for the 'crucifi-ion( of ,emocracy> "ven without any scientific opinion survey, reading through newspapers, listening to people talk, looking at the faces of Nigerians, and the most cursory observation, will leave no one in doubt that there is disenchantment, frustration, an-iety, fear, anger, feeling of betrayal, demorali*ation and utter disillusionment on the part of most Nigerians, in terms of how the new democracy has positively influenced their lives. Many are still waiting for the dividends of democracy. +here is no doubt that there have been some oases of good governance in Nigeria. Interestingly most of the .tates in this region, such as "do, %kwa Ibom, 5ivers, and in the new dispensation in 8ayelsa are taking great strides in the

transformation of their developmental landscape. 3e must recogni*e that there are some that are not so thrilled by the level of development in the region, especially when viewed from the backdrop of the resources available to the governments in the region, especially with the e-tant revenue allocation formula. Many citi*ens of the region are obviously still waiting for the dividends of democracy. 3hile Nigerians are trying to come to terms with the fact that democracy may not immediately translate into better lives for them, in terms of obs, good reads, easy access to health services, !ualitative education, the very foundation of democracy is being shaking via the heating up of the polity via the violence that is rocking the country and the unabated corrupt tendencies of those running the democratic apparatus of Nigeria. It is therefore not surprising that those that are hoping that there will be true consolidation of democracy in Nigeria are calling for upholding the integrity of the country4s electoral system and dealing decisively with the issue of good governance in the country. It is in the light of the above that many have oined the clarion call for the purification and sanctification of the electoral system. +here have been slogans such as 'the peoples votes must count(, 'One Man, one vote( and of course, 'no to godfatherism(. 3e want to add our voices to these calls, because if the calls are actuali*ed, the people would have reclaimed their prime place in the electoral process and through that our democracy would become truly democratic where those in government will actually be there through the mandate of the people and would invariably respect the voters more and be sensitive to their needs. Our argument is

that by that, the people would become the 'godfathers of Nigerian politics and the politicians will now have to bow to them as their new masters. 3hen this is the situation, those in government will be sensitive to the needs of those that voted for them, not those that manipulated them into office. In the past years of election in Nigeria, the behaviour of elected persons,, and government officials and agencies have clearly positioned them against the people. +he history of Nigeria shows clearly that Nigerians are politically conscious. No doubt, unscrupulous 'leaders( have consistently misled, cheated, betrayed, e-ploited and hoodwinked their people before. +he sad part of the Nigerian story is that while Nigerians are beginning to become more aware of their rights and political power under democracy, undemocratic forces are not only poised against them , but are in actual fact threatening the very foundations of democracy in Nigeria. .uch politicians and @ leaders4 are fanning the embers of discord in the country and heating up the polity by their utterances and conduct.. +here are also those who want to perpetuate the vices of Nigeria4s politics, especially of old&violence, rigging of elections and subverting the peoples mandates. Nigeria is yearning for true patriots and not ingoists and war mongers. It is our strong belief that if the resources of the country at all levels of governance are well managed, the much talked about transformation of Nigeria will not be a mirage, It is important that before we proceed we try to define, no matter how basic, some of the critical terms that are germane to the understanding of our discourse. .ome of the terms include, politics, government, local government, and development.

DEFINITION OF TERMS POLITICS: +he word politics for !uite some time now has come to dominate the consciousness of Nigerians. <losely intertwined with this, is the word, 'politician( which of course designates those practitioners at the heart of it. 3e don4t stand to gain too much by bogging ourselves down with technicalities of definition. 3hat we need is an operational concept. %s one of its definitions, the %merican =eritage ,ictionary, 1;BA, defines politics as 'the art of science of political government(. +his definition is stretched further to state that 'in its most basic sense, politics is simply the way the society is structured, regulated and governed(. +he 3ebster4s ,ictionary defines the ad ective, 'political( as 'of or relating to government, a government, or the conduct of governmental affairs(. +hose that are actively involved in the field of the politics are called politicians, although we are all political. +he activities that are associated with getting ppolitical power, the formulation of policies and their e-ecution constitue part of the corpus of politics. %n important term arising from the definition of politics is government. .o, what is government> GOVERNMENT %s to be e-pected, there are many definitions of the term. 7or our presentation we want to take government as 'the organi*ation, machinery, or agency through which a political unit e-ercises authority and performs functions and which is usually classified according to the distribution of power within it(. In another but very relevant sense, government also connotes 'a small group of person holding

simultaneously the principal, political, e-ecutive offices of a nation or other political unit and being responsible for the direction and supervision of public affairs(. In the conte-t of political entities, government is seen as the legitimate use of force& including imprisonment and even e-ecution& within territorial boundaries to control human behavior. %ll government re!uires citi*ens to surrender some freedom in the process of being governed. 6eople surrender their freedom to be controlled in order to obtain the benefits of government. In this regard, governments are e-pected to perform two ma or purposesC maintain law and order, thereby preserving life and protecting property1 and to provide public goods and services. 3e know that through history this @ideal4 has not always been the performance of some governments. #Danda et.al +he <hallenge of ,emocracyC 2overnment in %merica 1;;)$ 3hat is most important is that unless we have governments we would be living in what the 1A th century philosopher, +homas =obbes identified as a 'state of nature(. 7or him, without rules, people would live like predators, animals, stealing and killing for personal benefit. %s well put by the %mericans in 1AA? in their ,eclaration of Independence, governments are instituted among men to help them secure the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. +hey added that governments derive their ust powers from the consent of the people. +here is the element of the social contract, whereby the people surrender some of their rights to those that govern them so that they pursue and protect the larger good. 7or them, this is done in the form of representative government where some are elected to govern, and this formed the basis of democracy. +his fundamental definition is important because if those in the

helm of affairs in the politics of our nation, at all levels know these facts we would e-pect them to behave differently from what is prevalent now& where they see the mandate given to them to serve to be one for them to pursue egoistic agenda instead of addressing the needs and aspirations of those they are representing. % dominant form of representative government in contemporary times is democracy. 3hile there are different definitions of the concept of ,emocracy the most common one is that offered by %braham 9incoln of the Enited .tates who saw it as, a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. ,emocracy does not

represent the only form of government that we have, e-cept that it is dominant today. 2overnments under democratic traditions are established within the frame work of a constitution. % constitution can be taken to be the established organ or instrument which states the basic principles and laws of a nation, state, or social group that determines the powers and duties of the government and guarantees certain rights to the people in it. It is also the organ that defines, delineates the political units and structures in a given political entity such as a country. Nigeria4s history shows that especially under military governments, the people to a very large e-tent did not determine those who governed them, and because the leaders were not chosen they were also not answerable to the people. In addition, such military governments were not bound by law, instead they usually suspended parts of the constitution, especially those dealing with the rights of Nigerians. It is because democracy 'ideally( gives the right to citi*ens to choose their leaders, and the leaders are answerable to them, and their rights are protected, that it has become the most

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attractive form of government, as against the totalitarian government that military regimes represent. It is generally believed that it is under a democracy, that the rights of citi*ens are guaranteed and en oyed. =ence, any democratic government that works to negate or refuse to work for the rights of the citi*ens could be undemocratic. It is well known that in the annals of the history of Nigeria the military for a long time dominated the political landscape of governance with only intermittent

civilianFdemocratic rule. =ence there is the seeming celebration now that for the first time, Nigeria in this fourth republic that commenced in 1;;; has had uninterrupted democratic rule. In the light of the above, all Nigerians are supposed to be interested in politics and government, because they inevitably affect all aspects of their lives, directly or indirectly. 8eing interested means that they are e-pected to participate in the governance of the country1 this is because the basic definition of democracy remains, a government of the people, by the people and for the people. <losely intertwined with the principle of democracy is the practice of election. LOCAL GOVERNMENT +here is no doubt that a multiplicity of definitions of the concept of local government do abound. %s rightly observed by 5onald 3raith the term local government 'means different things in different parts of the world and as a product of particular environment, local government has as many variants as there are countries, districts or states.( It would however be safe for us to adopt for our conte-tual e-pose of this sub ect as it relates to our discourse, the definition offered by 2.%. Odenigwe

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that sees local government as ,( a system of local administration under which local communities and towns are organi*ed to maintain law and order, to provide some limited range of social services and public amenities and encourage the co&operation and participation of the inhabitant in oint endeavours towards the improvement of their conditions of living. It provides the communities with a formal organi*ational framework which enables them to conduct their efforts effectively and regulate the actions of their members for the general public good(. % critical point to note is that local governments operate within the conte-t of larger geo&political framework such as states, regions and countries. In the case of Nigeria, it is recogni*ed as the third tier of government, with the first two being the federal and the state. +hey are clearly recogni*ed in the constitution, with their names, head!uarters, their e-pected functions and sources of income#.ee especially the 7ourth .chedule of the 1;;; <onstitution of the 7ederal 5epublic of Nigeria$. 8asically government at this level is seen as grass&root government and the government closest to the people. %s aptly observed by .hokpeka, 'the local government is the best agency through which the rural area can be developed. Garied in types and and scope as local governments maybe, as the nearest form of government to the people, it knows the people4s needs and potentials and is the best placed to harness their resources for the good of the rural area.( % critical !uestion we e-pect this conference is whether the local governments in .outh&.outh Nigeria have lived up to the above billing.

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DEVELOPMENT %gain as to be e-pected there are diverse definitions of these concept. In its most basic form development is seen as the growth of something or somebody to a higher or more advanced stage. It involves progress. .ome more technical definitions especially as they relate to society include those of the .ocialists that see development as 'a process of structural change and capital accumulation that moves a society closer to conditions in which the basic needs of people #for shelter, food, clothing, etc$ are met, full employment prevails and social economic e!uality is increasing.(#9ynn Mytelka and .tephen 9angdon$. %nother interesting definition of development is that offered by Michael 6. +odaro that avers that in the final analysis development 'must encompass more than the material and financial side of people4s lives. ,evelopment should.therefore, be perceived as a multi&dimensional process involving the reorgani*ation and reorientation of entire economic and social systems. In addition to improvements in incomes, and outputs, it typically involves radical changes in institutional, and administrative structures as well as in popular attitudes and in many cases even customs and beliefs.( +he above definitions of development help to broaden the scope of the commonly held view that development tends to connote merely infrastructural improvements. +he fact remains that the ma or focus of government should be human development which makes infrastructural development a tool for achieving the former, +hus roads, hospitals, markets, schools, contribute to improving the living

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standard of citi*ens, which ultimately results in human development. It is in this sense that at the rural level, which is the main administrative purview of local government activities, development has been seen as 'guided or managed change, the taking by the hand of the forces of change, human achievement and capacity.(#Odinkemelu$. +he point therefore is that as stated earlier in this work, the essence of government is largely to provide security and assist citi*ens to achieve a better life. In the Nigerian political set&up local governments are recogni*ed as one of the tiers of government that should help control and contribute to development, especially at the rural level. =istorically, the practice of local administration has gone through different phases in Nigeria. +hus there is the recognition of the evolution of the local government in Nigeria. +he changes that were introduced were all geared towards making the local government a system that could serve the purposes for which they were created. .ome ma or landmarks in the evolution of the local government system in Nigeria include the local government reforms of 1;A? that provided the guidelines for local governments in N geria1 the 1;B? reforms and those of

1;;1F1;;)#Maduako$. +he current form of the local government in Nigeria is given concrete e-pression in the 1;;; <onstitution that not only recogni*es, but also guarantees the e-istence of a more powerful and independent local government areas, section 1?) of the <onstitution guarantees the right of the local government to receive statutory allocation of the revenue from both the federation account and state resources. . +he 7ourth .chedule of the same <onstitution spells out the functions of the local government. 3hat really are these constitutional provisions>

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FUNCTIONS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT COUNCILS 3e believe that to properly evaluate how local government administrations have fared, it is important we remind ourselves what the functions of these councils are as spelt out in the 7ourth .chedule section A of the 1;;; <onstitution. +he section states inter aliaC##991;?&991;A 1. +he main functions of a of a local government council are as follow& #a$ the consideration and the making of +o e-ecute their functions the local government councils are to be funded from interestingly three ma or sources, internally generated revenue, contributions from the states and direct statutory allocation from the federation account. +here is no doubt that one of the ma or contentious issues in the present <onstitutional amendment debate in the country is the !uestion of how the local governments are to receive their funds& what really are the reasons for the contending positions, especially in terms of the main protagonists of the different positions. 3hat are the issues involved in the debate about the !uestion of autonomy for the local governments> 3e believe that these critical !uestions will be addressed at this conference, especially drawing from the wealth of historical e-periences of how the local councils have performed in the past.

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A CURSORY EVALUATION OF THE OPERATIONS OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION IN THE SOUTH-SOUTH &ITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THE MATRIX OF NIGERIA%S DEMOCRACY

Our ma or contention in this keynote address is that while recogni*ing some peculiarities in manifestation of local government administration , the fact remains that to a large e-tent, their tendencies are consistent with the general proclivities of democratic practice in Nigeria. .o, it is important that we first take a relatively broad view of democracy in Nigeria. .o much has been written and said about what

democracy is. 3e will ust point out some of the salient and common denominators of democracy and why it is a ma or attraction globally. In the first case, it is held that the people that govern under a democracy do so with the mandate or consent of the people, which they willing give through elections. .econdly it is a basic assumption that the people so entrusted to govern are of the people, that is to say, that some members of the community are entrusted with the responsibly of governing the people. +hirdly, it is e-pected that those who govern, do so for the people, that is protect the interest of the people. 7ourthly, through periodic elections the people have the right to renew a mandate or withdraw it. 3e would have noticed that in our identification of the common denominators of ,emocracy, a common word that emerges is that of 'govern(. +he fact is that ,emocracy is all about how people and resources are run or maintained within a given social, political or economic group, with a view to creating order and ultimately

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meeting the needs of those within the unit, and this is what governance is all about. %s the 3ebster4s Ninth New <ollegiate ,ictionary puts it, 'governance is e!uals to government, while government is defined as the act or process of governing, while govern itself means among other things, the aim of keeping in a straight course or smooth operation for the good of the individual and the whole(. +hese fundamental observations are important, otherwise we might continue to celebrate a means or method rather than celebrate the attainment of our goal. +he fact is that at the end of day, ,emocracy is ust one among the numerous ways that a people, a state or nation can be governed. %s a result of the assumptions of ,emocracy and the historical e-perience of governance the world over, there is now the dominant and e-tant thinking that democracy is the best form of governance. +his is based on the assumption that it could lead to good governance and guarantee, a prioria, good political life for peoples. =ave these assumptions come out right in Nigeria> It is interesting that 9t. 2en. %.O. Ogomudia, former <hief of %rmy .taff in a lecture delivered in 8enin in %ugust )//) identified the reasons why ,emocracy is important and popular today to include among others the followingC It provides for social and political e!uality in the society. In short, the hallmark of democracy is political e!uality. Makes for self&government by a people. It protects citi*ens4 fundamental human rights and freedoms. "nsures that the government in power pursues the general interests of the greater number of citi*ens.

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6romotes peaceful change in society. +herein lie some of the reasons why there is global hobnobbing with

,emocracy and why the ma ority of Nigerians struggle for democracy. Enfortunately, it seems that some main actors in the Nigerian political scene see it as a game to capture power, with some believing it is meant to struggle for the power for @their people4 & is it really for their people or for themselves> Ender a democratic dispensation, like that of Nigeria therefore, the people are supposed to elect their leaders, the leaders are supposed to govern for the well being of the ma ority of the people, the leaders are supposed to be accountable to the people that elected them, the leaders are supposed to be the obedient servants of the people, and the people are supposed to have the power to withdraw the mandate they had previously given out through laid down procedures such as elections. ,emocracy is supposed to be anchored on respect for the rule of law. In the adopted Nigerian ,emocratic style, the principle of separation of powers is supposed to be adhered to. %ll these are supposed to lead to good governance. +he big !uestion is whether all these assumptions have been real in Nigeria4s current democratic e-perience> +he fact is that we can easily argue, and many indeed have been doing so, that due to the many shortcomings of our ,emocracy and the obvious non&performance of some elected political elites, that what we call ,emocracy in Nigeria is a misnomer, when applied to the Nigerian situation. 3e want to aver however that more recent developments in our ,emocratic e-perience should engender more hope in our ,emocracy. +he fact that after the stipulated time we are 'given the opportunity( to

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elect our leaders, #of course not perfect$ and the leaders are being compelled to submit themselves to the people4s mandate test, should again compel us to work for the sustenance of ,emocracy in Nigeria. 7or Nigerians, we can dare say there have been some positive developments that can lead us to argue that the ,emocratic society has definitely been more receptive and conducive than under military regimes. %fter all, the incessant stories of detention and beating up of Nigerians under military rule are now very minimal, although there seems to now be greater insecurity e.g the 8oko =aram '6alavar(. ,espite the challenges there is still great faith that Nigeria will get better if the system is cleared up in all direction, especially the matters of elections and delivery of the dividends of democracy. % critical evaluation of the local government set up in the .outh H.outh would show that in some case, a ma or feature of democracy has been undermined, that is the election of the operators of the system, 9ike in most parts of Nigeria the local government councils were or are being run by appointed care&taker committees, even some states have not held elections for their local councils for as long as eight years#it is interesting to note that all the political parties have been guilty of this, even the much flaunted progressive parties$, +he fact remains therefore that abinitio these unelected council administrations are un&democratic, since their operators have been answerable more to those that appointed them than those they were e-pected to serve. +he direct implication of this has been that accountability couldn4t be e-pected or pursued. <losely tied to the failure to hold elections has been the manner of the dissolution of council administrations, especially the removal of council chairmen.

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%nother feature of some of the local government councils had been the manner some of their leaders comported themselves. 7inancial recklessness, with such clichIs as @share the money4 @carry go4 tended to be common with them. %bsentee chairmen and councilors of the councils was also a common feature of the councils, with the accusation of some of them ust visiting their local government head!uarters when allocations come, to disburse the money and withdraw and only return when new allocations come. In addition to the above has been the palpable non&performance of the local government administrations in discharging their statutory responsibilities. In most areas while pro ects were declared to have been e-ecuted they were only done on paper. 5oads, boreholes, health centers and classrooms were built and constructed on paper and in the media but definitely not on ground#%pana and "kosodin e.gs$.It has been argued that but for the first line charge for primary school teachers4 salaries from the local councils allocations many would have been without salaries. +hus the local government councils have not been the veritable instrument for the transformation and development of the local communitiesF rural areas that they were envisaged to be. In most cases while the local government administrations failed to deliver on physical infrastructure and provision of services, even less capital intensive pro ects such as mobili*ing the people to improve on their behaviour and practices couldn4t even be addressed. No doubt the above observations largely informed why 6resident Obasan o at a point started toying with the idea of abolishing the local governments, of course the !uestion then was if he was going to abolish the local governments for

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non&performance and alleged corruption, what of .tates that were guilty of the same allegation and what of the federal government itself> It will be most ahistorical to give the impression that the performance of local governments in the .outh H.outh has been one of abysmal failure, and the situation has been static. +he fact is that some <ouncils and at different times performed relatively well#5esult of a study we carried out in the south&south during the tenure of 6resident Obasan o, this is further corroborated with the e-tant pro ects that some of the local governments had e-ecuted$. In terms of the dynamism of of the situation, elections are now being held into councils in the .outh&.outh, while through a greater monitoring of the activities of the local councils such as In "do, 8ayelsa and 5ivers more concrete pro ects are being e-ecuted, while there seems to be greater sanity in the conduct of the affairs of the <ouncils. +here is no doubt that there are those that are kicking against this seeming @interference4 in the affairs of the councils. I believe that in the light of the revenue that the .tates are putting into the local governments and the obvious benefits that are being derived from this monitoring, it should be maintained. %s a matter of fact if there is greater monitoring of the performance of governments at the other levels of governance in Nigeria, Nigerians will get to en oy more the benefits of democracy. in Nigeria

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CONTEXTUALIZING

THE

CHALLENGES

OF

LOCAL

GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION &ITH THE MATRIX OF NIGERIA%S DEMOCRACY &' ()*' )+,-'. /0 1(/2 3)3'+ 1()1 4' 5)0061 ignore the larger picture of the performance democracy in Nigeria to better appreciate what is happening at the local government level. 3e believe that if we get it right at the other levels of governance it would percolate to the local government councils in terms of their helping to actuali*e the e-pectations of greater development in Nigeria. .ome basic facts remain that C %s stated above, democracy is not an end in itself. Instead democracy as a means to an end, that is, those elected working to meet the needs an e-pectation of those that elected them. +hese come under the general term of good governance. %mong other things, the government is e-pected to address the basic e-pectations of the people, especially as contained in the constitution. +hese include among othersC .ecurity 7ood =ealth .helter "ducation Infrastructure& "mployment

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 6ower 6rovision of petroleum products "tc. +he !uestion is how well is Nigeria faring in all the above sub&sectors #let us take them one by one$.3e dare say that the report card is not so cheering, this because the situation in Nigeria today is showing the peoples dissatisfaction with elected governments in meeting the above e-pectations, %s stated earlier there are pockets of progress being made in some areas and in some states, but the preponderant feeling is that of failure. It is even interesting to note, that past Nigerian leaders and even serving ones are conceding that the political leadership has failed Nigerians #<heck out the statements of 6resident Obasan o, +ambuwal, Oyegun, and even 6resident Donathan$. +here seem to be a national consensus on the urgent need to redress the situation in order to sustain the peoples4 belief in Nigeria4s democracy. =istory reassures us that Nigeria would ultimately get the right leaders that would take it to the promised land in terms of good governance. %nother problem with democracy in Nigeria has been the level of unbridled and wanton corruption and financial recklessness of elected and government officials. +his is coming in all forms. +hese includeC +he high and sometimes scandalous wages and allowances of government personnel, including legislators who fi- their own allowances.
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 7rivolous e-penditures, including foreign trips to go and watch proceedings of legislative bodies in countries like the E.%. 3hat of the new emerging cra*e by .tate governors to ac!uire private ets> 9arge entourage of foreign missions with all the attached esta codes. <ontinuing cases of inflation of contracts, une-ecuted contracts for which payments are made,#we must commend the incumbent governor 8ayelsa state =is "-cellency .eriake ,ickson for his accountability initiative via his transparency briefing by which there is public disclosure of the .tate4s revenue and e-penditure profile& other governors in the country should emulate this$ +he oil subsidy scams +he seeming inefficiency or unwillingness of anti&corruption agencies to deal decisively with corruption cases. +he charade of dealing with it has tended to create the impression that public officers can get away with their corrupt practices& what of the whole new emerging practice of plea bargaining> %ll of the above have tended to weaken the people4s faith in the current democratic dispensation in Nigeria. +here is the urgent need for a turn around if the people4s belief in the current republic is to be restored. It is important to positively observe the current performance of the oversight function of the National %ssembly over the "-ecutive especially as it relates to the performance of the budget, especially as it borders on capital
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e-penditure. 3e need to commend the legislators for this, that is hoping it is not a ploy for them to arm twist the "-ecutive to @perform4 the Nigerian way. +his should also be replicated at the state land local government levels. In terms of the local government administration in the .outh& .outh, there is no doubt that they can perform better than they are currently doing. +here is the urgent need for them to ma-imally e-ploit their internally generated revenue1 be more resourceful and creative in their pro ects conceptuali*ation and e-ecution1 mobili*ation of the citi*ens to get them to be more alive their civic responsibilities and make their contributions to community development1 they must abhor and desist from corruption and better empower themselves to enhance their performance. %n historical e-cursion into the history of local administration, especially in the early times of local government administration in Nigeria shows a more robust and development oriented administration then than what has now become the case. In spite of the shortcomings of the local government administration in Nigeria, however, it remains central in connecting with local development. It is becoming obvious that the debate about whether local government autonomy would guarantee better performance by the councils remains !uite contentious, to the e-tent that two ma or stakeholders in the sector, the NE+ representing the teachers and NE92" representing other local government employees, including council officials are signing discordant tunes, with the former against it and the latter for it. "ven the two arms of the National

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assembly are divided on it. +he picture remains so unsure that within :Bhours the %6< governors are have policy advocacy somersault on the issue& previously for it, now againstJ In this kind of flu- can we seek umbrage under the canopy of @limited4 or @supervised4 autonomy> +here is no doubt there is need to protect the local government administrations against the whims, caprices and arbitrariness of some state governments, but we believe that can be done by .tate %ssemblies that have integrity and are worth their sort. +he debate surely continues. BY &AY OF A CONCLUSION +here is no doubt that Nigeria as a nation has had a mi-ed bag of e-periences as far as the issues of governance and development are concerned. +his has also been the situation in the .outh&.outh of Nigeria as it pertains to local government administration. 3ith its great human and natural resources many believe that Nigeria should undoubtedly be the giant of %frica in all ramifications, but unfortunately this has not been the case. +here is no doubt that the country has made some appreciable strides in terms of achievements as a nation but it can and should do better. +he country cannot continue to be rich while the ma ority of the citi*ens remain very poor. +he key to achieving the potentials of the country lie in good governance anchored on solid democratic foundations. 3e are encouraged that the fortunes of this country can be turned around for good when we see the performance of such governors as <omrade %dams Oshiomhole, <omrade Mimiko, 8arr 7ashola,

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=on .eriake ,ickson, and =is "-cellency 2overnor %kpabio of %kwa Ibom .tate. "ven at the national level, a more balanced and ob ective assessment of the performance of the 7ederal government under the leadership of 6resident 2oodluck would be more charitable in acknowledging positive signals of a turn around in the fortunes of the country, especially in the face of the obstacles and distractions the government is dealing with. It is therefore our belief that local government administrations in Nigeria, including the .outh& .outh can become the veritable instrument for the development of their various areas of urisdiction. %s a matter of fact what is e-pected of the councils is to complement the activities of the 7ederal and .tate governments in bringing development to their areas. I want to end on the contentious issue of the unrepentant advocates of the restructuring of Nigeria1 especially those that are always wielding the specter of breaking up the country. %s a historian and e-pert in international studies, I believe and hold the view that the problem with Nigeria is not the structure of the country of Nigeria but the running of the affairs of the country. +here are certain e-tant fallacies about the authenticity of certain geo&political configurations of pre&colonial Nigeria, this must be corrected, so that we can focus more on conscientiously and truthfully working to emancipate our people rather than hoodwink them by parochialism and religious and ethic bigotry. I oin the ranks of those who believe that Nigeria can make it with the right mi- of leadership and followership.

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+hank you for listening and I most sincerely congratulate the organi*ers of this maiden conference of the .outh&.outh Kone of the =istorical .ociety of Nigeria. I wish all of us a very successful and fruitful conference. 2od bless us all. "ddy "rhagbe #6h., 8oston$ 7=.N

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