National assembly to support local government autonomy the. What links here related changes upload file special pages permanent link page. Rather than a debate on local government autonomy, we should be asking whether we need states. The topical issue of local government lg autonomy in nigeria in relation to the development of the localities. Aug 30, 2017 local government autonomy, the nass dothnowrong. The system of local government by democratically elected local government councils is under this constitution guaranteed. Local government autonomy as an imperative for true. The major challenge bedeviling the operations of local government area in nigeria is local government autonomy as local government areas in nigeria are not truly autonomous. The quest or agitation for local government autonomy has been a recurring decimal in the evolution of the nigerian federation. Since 2008, the question of whether the 774 local government areas within the federal republic of nigeria should be granted autonomous status like the states or not has been a recurrent decimal during constitutional amendment debates in nigeria. They are also political documents that reflect and communicate important aspects.
In nigeria, the nature and structure of transactions or interactions between the three tiers of government determine the degree of autonomy. The federal military government accepted the report by recognizing local governments as a third tier of government and assigning specific duties to them see fourth schedule of the 1979 constitution. Also the paper presents problems of sustaining local government autonomy in nigeria. Enugu assembly endorses local government autonomy vanguard news. The local government system was conceived to bring government and development closer to the grassroots, unfortunately midway it turned out to be the cashcow of rapacious state governors and state. The politics of local government autonomy in nigeria reloaded felix akpan, phd okonette ekanem department of public administration, university of calabar, nigeria abstract the politics of local government in nigeria reloaded has been inspired by the 20 constitution amendment process initiated by the national assembly. It is interesting to note that even the federal government has in recent times joined in championing the course of local government autonomy. Local government administration in nigeria and the localist. Department of public administration ahmadu bello university, kongocampus, zaria kaduna state, nigeria. Local government autonomy latest breaking news from nigeria. I think that was a right move, otherwise nigerias wahala will multiply if the 774 local government councils are granted autonomy because they will take corruption to the next level, said. This is with a view to understanding the intricacies of the fundamental problem of local government autonomy in nigeria.
Local government and fiscal autonomy for local government. Nigeria is a federation, with three tiers of government. An overview of local government autonomy and its functions in. The politics of local government in nigeria reloaded has been inspired by the 20 constitution amendment process initiated by the national assembly. The topical issue of local government lg autonomy in nigeria in relation to the development of the localities, the raison detre of lgs, has been examined in this paper. The framework for local government autonomy was put in place at least in a formal sense but the. Speaker house of representatives, mr yakubu dogara, on tuesday in abuja said the national assembly was committed to ensuring that local. Local government autonomy in nigeria essay sample the basic irony between the u. Read all the latest news, breaking stories, top headlines, opinion, pictures and videos about local government autonomy from nigeria and the world on today. Pdf the topical issue of local government lg autonomy in nigeria in relation to the development of the localities, the raison detre of lgs, has.
Mrs lizzy samuel teacher i think the issue of local government autonomy would have been ideal if we have honest, sincere and selfless people as chairmen. Why local governments should be given autonomy vanguard news. Port harcourt polytechnic, nigeria abstract the question of autonomy for local government has long divided both scholars and practitioners of the nigerian local government system and the polarization remains. Local government autonomy and development of localities in. Obviously, compared to a state governor, it is easier to hold the local government chairperson to account. Local government in the united states refers to governmental jurisdictions below the level of. This paper looks beyond the arguments for the merits or demerits of local government autonomy as encapsulated in the dominant debate. Zever abstract the focus of the paper is on autonomy induced governance problems of local government. It revealed that there is a remarkably difference between local government autonomy and democratic governance in nigeria and usa. Local government administration in nigeria and the localist theory. So if the local government are autonomous, i think it will be the best for the country.
The process of democratizing local government administration started as far back as 1954. The paper examines local government and intergovernmental relations in nigeria. Pdf his paper undertook a historical overview of the development of the local government system in nigeria, especially from 1950, when nigeria became. Local government is not sovereign like independent nationstate. This paper seeks to demonstrate how the fissiparous tendencies bearing on the nigerian national polity make policy of using state creation to achieve national integration a failed strategy. The scope and future of local government autonomy in nigeria. So far the local government system in nigeria has not been stable and thus its future remains bleak, uncertain and insecure. Local government autonomy bill news latest breaking. The paper examined a comparative analysis of local government autonomy and democratic governance in nigeria and usa. Politics and challenges of the 1999 constitution asaju, k. Local government administration in nigeria has been in existence since 1972 and its primary function is to bring government nearer to the people at the grassroots. During the colonial period, there were reforms through the northern nigeria, western nigeria, and eastern. Pdf local government autonomy and its effectiveness in.
The paper will also examine some of the inherent factors inhibiting local government autonomy in nigeria. Sep 03, 2017 to explain if full autonomy is given to nigeria local government system ofu local government will enhance its service delivery. In strengthening local government autonomy, the government commitment to the cause of local government autonomy was demonstrated by the babangida administration when it was announced that the share of local governments from the federation account was increased from 10% to 15% in 1991 and then to 20% at the expense of the state government. Jan 06, 2018 local government autonomy and the nigerian federation. Jan, 2017 to make the local government areas viable and functional within the federation called nigeria, i suggest that rather than continue to toy with the impracticable idea of autonomy, the constitution should be amended by the appropriate authorities to divest the state governments of the powers to conduct local government elections. Local government autonomy in nigeria essay example. But despite constitutional provisions that specify the powers of each level of government in nigeria, local governments are suffering from lack of autonomy. Local authorities in many advanced countries enjoy relative. Failed approaches to national integration and local autonomy henry e. Local government autonomy, the nass dothnowrong the. However it is imperative at this juncture to state that local government financial autonomy is speculated in the various legal documents reveals that it is not.
The local government areas in nigeria have however, not been very effective due to the fact that they are very much dependent on the state government. The paper argues that local government is not mutually exclusive of other levels of government and. The study adopted secondary source of collecting data. Many reasons, ranging from the political to the socioeconomic, have been given for the creation of local government. What are the reasons for the creation of local government in nigeria. National assembly to support local government autonomy. It also examined the nature of three tier federative structure of france and nigeria and the reasons for the failure of the model in nigeria to guarantee local government autonomy as envisaged by the design. Model and determinants of statelocal governments relations in. Pdf local government autonomy and development of localities in. The three regional governments enacted the northern, western and eastern nigeria local government laws of 1954 respectively. Local government and fiscal autonomy for local government in. Dec 19, 2017 speaker house of representatives, mr yakubu dogara, on tuesday in abuja said the national assembly was committed to ensuring that local government administration in the country got autonomy.
Since the inception of the system of local government in nigeria, there had been persistent clamour for the autonomy of the local government as the third tier of governance in the federation. Jan 15, 20 one of the arguments in favour of local governments is for the simple reason of accountability. Read all the latest news, breaking stories, top headlines, opinion, pictures and videos about local government autonomy bill from nigeria and the world on today. Local government autonomy news latest breaking stories. Exploring the nexus jide ibietan1, peter ndukwe2 abstract the main objective of this paper is to examine the nature and challenges of local government administration in nigeria using the localist theory as framework of analysis. Enuguenugu state house of assembly, yesterday assured the national union of local government employees, nulge, that they are behind them in. The nigeria union of local government employees nulge south west zone, said the approval of local government autonomy will help put an end to the security challenges in most of the rural. Invariably, effective autonomy and igr that respects the powers and. Local government autonomy in nigeria essay 998 words.
A need for constitutional reform the basic irony between the u. Olowu says local government should have some degree of. Sep 07, 2017 home news enugu assembly endorses local government autonomy. At the theoretical level, it will add to the frontier of knowledge of nigerian federalism and local. The main objective of the study is to intellectualize local government autonomy from a new perspective from the ones in extant literature. But unfortunately, the reverse is the case in nigeria. Local government and intergovernmental relations in nigerias.