“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them”, says Albert Einstein.
According to Professor Nchuchuwe, while borrowing a leaf from the definition of Democracy by Abraham Lincoln, he said, Local Government is the government of the people by the people and for the people at the grassroots. Local Government enjoys an autonomous status which entitles it to take certain legislative, administrative and financial decisions though under the conditions and within the limits of law.
Aside the foregoing clear definition of local government, it is also a well-known fact that the nearest government to the people is the local government. It is classified as the third tier of government in Nigeria and saddled with constitutional duties of performing certain functions. It’s pertinent to make it explicitly clear that local government councils are viewed as multi-purpose in that they have responsibilities for all functions that a typical local government performs within their area of jurisdiction.
Generally speaking, local government councils are saddled with two groups of functions. The first functions which are regarded as their main functions are enshrined in the 1999 Constitution, while the second groups of functions are duly described as civic and agency functions. These sets of functions include- minor maintenance of federal and state roads, civic mobilization, provision and maintenance of healthcare services among others.
In the Fourth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution, the functions of local government councils are deemed to be either exclusive to it or are to be carried out in conjunction with the state governments within which they domicile.
Functions of local government as explicitly enumerated by the Nigerian Constitution include:
1- Collection of rates, radio and television licenses
2- Establishment and maintenance of cemeteries, burial grounds and homes for the destitute.
3- Establishment, maintenance and regulation of slaughter houses, slaughter slabs, markets, motor parks.
4- Construction and maintenance of roads, streets, street lighting; drains and other public highways, parks, garden, open spaces or such public facilities as may be prescribed from time to time by the House of Assembly of a State.
5- Provision and maintenance of public conveniences. Sewage and refuse disposal.
6- Assessment of privately owned houses or tenement for the purpose of levying such rates as may be prescribed by the House of Assembly.
7- Control and regulation of:
(i) outdoor advertising and boarding
(ii) movement and keeping of pets of all descriptions
(iii) shops and kiosk
(iv) restaurants, bakeries, and other places for sale of food to the public
(v) laundries
(vi) licensing, regulation and control of sale of liquor
8- Licensing of bicycles, trucks, (other than commercially propelled trucks), canoes, barrows and carts.
Aside the foregoing and according to No 2 of the same 4th Schedule, local government councils also perform other functions concurrently shared with the state government.
Below are such functions:
1- Provision and maintenance of primary, adult and vocational education;
2- Development of agricultural and natural resources, other than the exploration of minerals.
3- Provision and maintenance of health services; and
4- And other such functions as may be considered for a local government council by the House of Assembly of a State.
In view of the above, the ambiguity of the constitution with regard to the local government system in Nigeria has always been one of the clogs in the wheel of progress of the supposed third tier of government. For instance, number 4 function of local government in the 4th schedule, as enumerated above pulverised the entire Constitutional stance, to begin with, a House of Assembly is empowered to, perhaps make local governments moribund and ineffective. The caveat of sole control of the state assemblies over the local government administration is antithetical to extant laws, including the 1999 Constitution as amended.
The 1999 Constitution in section 7 (1) said: “The system of local government by democratically elected local government councils (which) is under this constitution guaranteed and accordingly, the government of every state shall subject to section 8 of this constitution, ensure their existence under a law which provides for the establishment, structure, composition, finance and functions of such councils.”
On one hand, the constitution proclaims local government as a tier of government, while same constitution also subsumes it under state and federal control. No doubt, these provisions of the constitution make mockery of the whole idea of a third tier of government and make LG an appendage of higher levels of government in Nigeria. Succinctly put, local governments are still seen in Nigeria as babies that are not yet matured to be independently left alone. Yes, the prevailing ambivalence in the 1999 constitution should be of great concern to discerning minds. Because this same constitution that gave a third tier status to local government, also gives the states the powers to establish or create local government under section 8 of the same constitution.
Apart from the contradictions in the constitution, I have also closely observed that the supposed constitution failed to anticipate or address the conventional challenges facing local government, such as prebendalism and kleptocratic politics. Believe you me, local government problems and challenges are encompassing, from fiscal problem to structural problem, intergovernmental relation, human resources management, and course, obscurities in the constitution among others. It also beats imagination that some local government functionaries do not know what is expected of them and those that know do not know how to carry it out. This is also part of the challenge faced by local government.
In the area of finance, local governments face herculean but surmountable challenges. Government cannot run its day to day activities without money which means government is money. As blood is to human so also money is life wire of any government of which local governments are no exception. There are two major sources of local governments finance or revenue- internal and external revenues. Internal sources otherwise known or called Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) are those sources from which local governments generate their resources within their territories. These include taxes; rates; health charges; economic charges from petty trade fees, trade license fees; investments; rents etc. External sources otherwise known or called Externally Generated Revenue (EGR) are those sources local governments generate their funds/resources outside their territories. These are allocations from the federal government, donations from philanthropists, foreign aids, recovered loots, allocation from the state government, loan from banks etc.
Section 162; sub-section 3 of the 1999 Constitution made it mandatory for the federal government to allocate certain percentage of the federally collected revenue to local governments in Nigeria. While Federal and state governments are constitutionally entitled to get 48.50% and 24.00% respectively, local government is given 20.00% from the federation account. The remaining 7.50% is set aside for special funds which are meant for ecological problems, stabilisation account, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Development of mineral producing areas and as derivation fund to be shared among mineral producing areas in the states and local governments. Out of this 7.50%, 1% is shared between local governments and mineral producing areas in the states.
Furthermore, the law made is compulsory for the state governments to apportioned certain percentage of their internally generated revenue to the local governments monthly to augment their revenue to be able to discharge their responsibilities effectively and efficiently. It is clearly stated in the Revenue Act of 1981 that state governments should allocate 10% of their internally generated revenue to the local governments within their jurisdiction. It is, however, remain to be seen if the various state governments carry out this statutory financial duty to their various local governments.
Meanwhile, not a few people have argued and i wholeheartedly agreed with their submissions, that the lopsidedness in the sharing formula of the federation account made nonsense of the essence of creation of local government, which is, but not limited to bringing government nearer to the people. Local Governments are where government impacts are mostly felt in terms of infrastructural development and provision of basic amenities to the people at the grassroots. If funds are in short supply to the local governments, developmental projects will definitely elude the local people because government is money and without money government at the local level will be emptied and helpless; and helplessness, it is often said leads to hopelessness. A bottom-up approach should be embraced by the federal government in that the sharing formula of the federation account will be rejigged to be more favourable to the local governments. Local governments should get larger chunk of money from the federation account in order to enable them discharge their responsibilities effectively and efficiently. Even though in a saner clime, local governments do not get allocation from the central government. As an independent entity, they solely rely on their IGR to bring about developmental programme and projects in their localities. Nowhere in the world are local governments being financed by federal government. Nigeria’s own situation is peculiar. By and large, in spite of the peculiarity nature of Nigeria in local government administration, I tenaciously believe we can still raise the bar if various local government administrators can be up and doing. If only they could think outside the box in order to augment or shore up the IGR of their councils, and financial slippages, waste and corruption should be discouraged and arrested if needs be. They should maintain fiscal disciple and diversify the revenue base of their local governments. They should also muster the political and administrative will to carry along the tax payers on the true financial status of the councils at all times. Doing this will be beneficial to both parties in the long run. The tax paying public are critical stakeholders in the local government project and in project management, every stakeholder must be carried along.
Tunde Ogunmola is the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Naija News Direct (www.naijanewsdirect.com). He has over two decades of experience in journalism. At present, he’s running a programme in Local Government Administration and Development Studies at the prestigious Lagos State University (LASU).
