The Thoeries of Local Government in Nigeria Essay Example for Free

The Thoeries of Local Government in Nigeria Essay Rural development of the grassroots has been the concern of every responsible and responsive political system. This is because development and participation have continued to elude people of the grassroots. Development remains insignificant if it does not positively affect the lives of those in the periphery of decision making arrangement. The Nigerian state therefore created local government as the third tier of government whose objective is to ensure effective, measurable and efficient service delivery to the people. Local government is faced with various difficulties. The major concern of this paper is to dwell on these difficulties and illuminates the factors that are responsible for them. In achieving this, the paper relies on descriptive approach and unstructured interview. It concludes that problems of local government are multifarious in nature and the solutions for them should be adequate and practical in order to evolve viable and development-oriented third tier of government. Key words: grassroots, political system, autonomy, third tier, participation, development, uniformity, unity, culture, diversity, interference, national integration, performance, consciousness, concept, commitment, democracy, inefficiency, corruption, decentralisation. Introduction The expediency for the creation of local government anywhere in the world stems from the need to facilitate development at the grassroots. The importance of local government is a function of its ability to generate sense of belongingness, safety and satisfaction among its populace. All forms of government, regimes or political systems have so far ensured the attainment of this goal. Such strategy for ensuring national administrative development and political efficacy is found in the concept and practice of local government. Whatever is the mode of government, local government has been essentially regarded as the path to, and guarantor of, national integration, administration and development. In Nigeria’s socio-political context, with multiplicity of culture, diversity of languages and differentiated needs and means, the importance of such an organisation in fostering the needed national consciousness, unity and relative uniformity as well as preservation of peculiar diversities cannot be over-emphasised. Central to the creation of local government, however, is its ability to facilitate an avenue through which government and the people intermix, relate and more quickly than any other means resolve or dissolve issues that may have heated the system. Local government has been perceived as a panacea for the diverse problems of the diverse people with diverse culture. As important as this tier of government has been, there seems to be some impediments that have been infringing on its performance and functions in recent times. These impediments range from political but undue interference of the higher levels of government i. e. federal and state governments, bribery and corruption to embezzlement and gross inadequacy of well-trained and qualified personnel to mention a few. The Concept of Local Government The concept of local government involves a philosophical commitment to democratic participation in the governing process at the grassroots level. This implies legal and administrative decentralisation of authority, power and personnel by a higher level of government to a community with a will of its own, performing specific functions as within the wider national framework. A local government is a government at the grassroots level of administration â€Å"meant for meeting peculiar grassroots need of the people (Agagu, 1997:18). It is defined as â€Å"government by the popularly elected bodies charged with administrative and executive duties in matters concerning the inhabitants of a particular district or place (Appadorai, 1975:287). Looking at the existence, performance and relevance of local government, Laski (1982:411) opines that: we cannot realise the full benefit of democratic government unless we begin by the admission that all problems are not central problems, and that the result of problems not central in their incidence requires decision at the place, and by the person, where and whom the incidence is most deeply felt Local government can also be defined as that tier of government closest to the people, â€Å"which is vested with certain powers to exercise control over the affairs of people in its domain† (Lawal,2000:60). A local government is expected to play the role of promoting the democratic ideals of a society and co-ordinating development programme at the local level. It is also expected to serve as the basis of socio-economic development in the locality. Observations have shown that local government in Nigeria has not performed to expectation. Keen observers have since adduced various propositions for explaining the reasons why the system has recorded abysmal level of inefficiency and ineffectiveness vis-a-vis justification for its establishment. But before reading into the problems of local government, we shall first attempt to illuminate the historical background of local government in order to have adequate grasp of its future and achieve deeper understanding of salient issues raised in this paper. Brief Historical Background of Local government System in Nigeria Regardless of nomenclature, local government is a creation of British colonial rule in Nigeria. It has overtime experienced change in name, structure and composition. Between 1930s and 1940s, for instance, local government was known as chief-in-council and chief-and-council, where traditional rulers were given pride of place in the scheme of things. In the 1950s, election was introduced according to the British model in the western and eastern parts of the country with some measure of autonomy in personnel, financial and general administration (Nwabueze, 1982:20-21). It was on this premise that the rising tide of progress, growth and development experienced in the local governments in these areas was based. The pace of this development was more noticeable in the south than in the north. During this period, heterogeneity was the hallmark of local government as there was no uniformity in the system and the level of development was also remarkably different. The introduction of 1976 reforms by military administration of General Obasanjo brought about uniformity in the administrative structure of the system. The reforms introduced a multi-purpose single-tier local government system (Ajayi, 2000:70) The reforms also introduced population criterion under which a local government could be created. Consequently, a population of within 150,000 to 800,000 was considered feasible for a local government. This was done to avoid the creation of non-viable local council and for easy accessibility. There was provision for elective positions having the chairmen as executive head of local government with supervisory councillors constituting the cabinet. This was complemented by the bureaucrats and professionals, such as Doctors, Engineers, etc. , who were charged with the responsibility of implementing policies (1976 Guidelines). In 1991, a major landmark reform was introduced as the system had legislative arm. In addition, the Babangida administration increased the number of local government from 301 in 1976 to 453 in 1989 and 589 in 1991. the Abacha regime also increased the number to 774 local councils that we have today and the administrative structure also underwent some changes (Ajayi, 2000:71). In summary, it can be said that no public institution in Nigeria has been so subjected to frequent reforms than local government. Nearly every successive administration introduces one administrative change or the other. Apart from the celebrated 1976 reforms, state government officials have also introduced various manipulations. For instance, in Ekiti state, the tenure of elected local government officials was reduced to two years. While some retained it to reflect three years. In the southwest, except for Lagos, a caretaker committee was introduced in 2003 immediately after the general elections. In similar vein, in June 2007, some state governments dissolved their local councils and appointed caretaker committee to steer the affairs of the council prior the conduct of elections. It is germane to note here that these changes were not without resultant effects. Some of these changes met with social strife. For instance in 1997, the relocation of some local government headquarters was marked with large scale destruction of lives and property in Ondo, Osun, Delta, Rivers and Cross-River States (Omotosho, 1998:94-105). Specifically in Ondo State, the relocation of the then newly created Akoko South East local government headquarters from Oba Akoko to Isua Akoko was met with destruction of lives and property. In 1998, Abubakar administration introduced sole administrator system at the grassroots level before elections were conducted in December 1998 for the posts of chairmen and councillors. Also the dissolution of local councils in Ekiti State by the new administration of Governor Segun Oni in June 2007 generated furore between the local council’s chairmen and the governor. In essence, it has become almost fashionable in Nigeria for incumbent administration to introduce one change or the other in the institution. So far, local government system in Nigeria has not been stable and this leaves its future to remain bleak, uncertain and insecure. Problems of Local Governments in Nigeria Despite the justification for the establishment of local government and its inevitable importance to the people at the grassroots level, this tier of government seems not to have justified the reasons for which it was established. The questions that summarily come to one’s mind are: why has local government not lived up to its expectations? What are the causes of these seemingly conspicuous weaknesses? What are the challenges of the local government? And how can these weaknesses be corrected and the challenges met? The problems of local government are multifarious in nature and it is the concern of this paper to explain them in details. These problems include: Finance Despite the increase in the total amount of funds available to local government in Nigeria since early 1990s, its economic and financial profile is still very poor, relative to the development programme it is expected to carry out. This situation is not unconnected to the mismanagement and embezzlement of these funds by the local councils. Inadequacy of Skilled Workers Save for some few local councils in Lagos states and, perhaps, some southern states, local government generally has experienced and is still experiencing dearth of skilled, technical and professional staff like qualified engineers (of all types), medical doctors, accountants, statisticians, economists, lawyers, town planners, to mention a few. The facilitating factors for this include: Low image of local government in the mind of professionals who feel and think that there is no job satisfaction sufficient to keep them at that low level of public service.   Hopeless nature of the job attributable to, and arising from, low or no incentives for junior workers, no chances for creativity and innovation as well as perpetual delay in payment of salary.   Recently and more importantly, threat and fear of retrenchment of junior workers has derailed their psychological balance and affected their efficiency and output. This is fashionable in Ondo and Ekiti states where series of staff audit were being carried out just for the purpose of downsizing to reduce wage bill as a result of the demand for and payment of fifteen percent increase in salary. Manner of recruitment is questionable as it is based on subjectivity and consideration of sentiment. Employment was based on favouritism, nepotism, ethnic and political consideration and other primordial factors that replaced and displaced competence, qualification, experience and performance. Problems of Participation and Involvement For the past decades, more euphemistic phrases have since been employed to justify people’s participation at the grassroots. They include: â€Å"Development from Below†, â€Å"Bottom-up Approach to Development†, â€Å"Popular Participation†, Bringing Government Closer to the People† and other catchphrase to argue for people’s involvement the affairs that directly affect them (Lawal, 2000:66). From all indications and convictions, research and physical observations have shown that there has been more hue and cry than action. Local government prepares estimates for its revenue and expenditure without proper recourse to, and due consultation with, the people for whom the exercise is being carried out to know their needs, their problems and potentials. A number of factors are responsible for non-involvement of people in their own affairs. These include:   Loss of interests in the project that will not benefit the chairmen and their cohorts.   The age-long belief by the officials that people are ignorant, illiterate and unenlightened.   Lack of political will by the leadership to run an open administration due again to selfish interest. Poverty of socio-political philosophy for change. Misplaced Priority Hard-earned and limited resources accrued to and raised by local government are always mismanaged. Priorities are misplaced; projects are done not according to or as demanded by the people but regrettably in tune with the selfish end and aggrandisement of the political leadership in collaboration with the senior bureaucrats at the local government level of administration. Coupled with this is the greatest bane of development in the Nigerian public service in general and local government in particular which corruption is. Reports of probe panels at the three tiers of government have revealed the culpability of civil servants. Corruption in low and high places, corruption has been rampant among the senior civil bureaucrats to whom the public funds meant for developmental purposes are entrusted. Generally, wide-scale embezzlement by officials of the grassroots has made the needed development of the grassroots a tall dream and has rendered them financially incapable to discharge their constitutionally assigned responsibilities. General Indiscipline Indiscipline is rampantly perceived and well pronounced among the workers in third tier of government. The senior officers who travel to their families away from their offices on Friday return very late the following Monday or may decide to stay back till Tuesday; and the junior members of staff who directly or indirectly observe this more often than not are in the habit of playing truant with their jobs. Little or no commitment to duty has become a rule rather than an exception. Offices have been turned to marketplaces where officers hawk their goods freely. The rules that guide moral conduct and professional ethics seem to have, at worse, become cobweb that is so weak to tame the monstrous activities of the workers. Indiscriminate lustful desires are noticeable among the workers. The official’s relationship between super ordinates and subordinates has been stained. Strict instructions handed down from top echelon to the bottom are either not followed or treated with levity as a result of the immoral relationship between the boss and subordinates. Official duties are seen as an extension of private leisure. Laissez-faire attitude to work has arrested the efficiency of local government and has drastically affected its performance. Undue Interference The degree of external influence and intrusion in local government affairs by the higher levels of government is worrisome and needs re-evaluation. Situation where the state governor unconstitutionally dissolves the entire elected council’s officers without proper investigations on spurious allegations is not good for the future of local government administration in the country. Such external interference indeed subverts democratic process and undermines constitutional authority at the grassroots level. The crux of the matter is the ‘almighty’ power and misuse of it enjoyed by the state governments over local governments. Practically, and in true sense, local government in Nigeria lacks autonomous financial power. Local government is now considered as an extension of state’s ministry. The inherent nature of this problem has caused subservience, a situation where local government waits for the next directives from state government before the former could think of, let alone embarking on developmental projects. This has made local government an object of control and directives. The major challenge that local government faces is the political control the respective state governor has on the local government chairmen. This is as a result of the fact that state governor sponsors election of most, if not all, of the chairmen. They are handpicked by the state governor rather than being elected. It is a clear case of who pays the piper dictates the tune. This again creates a problem of diversion of local government funds for personal use of state governor. In Ondo state, for instance, there is this unholy alliance between state government and local councils in the state, where the state government constitutes Joint Action Committee, tagged ‘JAC’. Federal allocations to local government are first deposited into a particular ad hoc account before calling for the committee meeting. This in a way paves the way for the state government to plan for the local government and release the money in instalments. The motive behind this is to divert the money to another thing entirely which does not have impact on the lives of the rural dwellers but that will be beneficial to the state governor. Another thing is the interest that the money will generate in the bank. The implication of this is that few of the local government chairmen who have genuine intentions and are ready to perform are being discouraged. This again assigns more power and control to the state governor. The overall effect of this is the negative impact it has on the people of the grassroots as they are getting more and more alienated from developments. Also illustrative and instructive is the arrest and prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of the former Enugu State Governor, Chimaroke Nnamani, on the allegation of diverting local governments’ funds in the state. This shows the level of influence and control that state governors have over local governments in their respective states. This undue interference has incapacitated local government from effective functioning on the one hand, and alienated grassroots people from enjoying social services delivery expected of local government on the other.

The Next Generations Form of Discrimination Essay -- Argumentative Pe

The Next Generation's Form of Discrimination Education plays a key role in the development of one’s character and future achievements. The importance of education has elevated in numerous ways over time. The higher an education a person receives is expected to give an individual a better occupation and therefore result in more earned money by that individual. Human desires have led to the great want to achieve the best education in order to ensure that more then just the basic needs and wants are met by that individual, whether it is for themselves or for those that are dependent upon them. Hence the best education one can receive will contribute to the fulfillment of their desires and wants. In recent years the internet has played quite a major part in education. The internet has become almost more significant in the classroom then a piece of paper and a pencil, to a class. It has become more then just a resourceful tool for finding information it has become a means of a must have item. Such dependence is very detriment al to the educational process for although the internet seems to be everywhere, there are still many people, willing to learn, who lack such a resource. Amongst this vast nation of so many different types of people from all different backgrounds and cultures, social status is a strong clarification in society. The rate of impoverished families is so excessive in some areas, especially the south, and has become increasingly noticeable in public schooling. The situation has become enhanced as many students lack easy access to the internet. Such easy access includes home use or close location providing internet services. Many students prove that this situation is a constant battle. I was raised in a predominan... ... on the growth of such skills, both socially and mentally. Viruses and other setbacks to the internet process are also very damaging. Viruses on the internet are very destructive not only in a financial sense but can also affect users work already saved or new. It took 2.6 billion dollars to clean up the Code Red Virus that infected the internet. (Computer World) The internet is an excellent way to retrieve material but should always be used as a resource and not a necessity. The basis of a class should be internet free and should be used as a tool and guide to enhance the education process rather than take away from some students learning experience. It is great to be computer literate to learn in different ways and attain more information but if education becomes dependent on the internet what would happen if the internet was permanently down or greatly infected?

Integrated research essay Essay

Introduction Families in the twenty first century go through very many challenges. There are so many issues that are affecting this unit. Divorce is one of the factors that are really affecting this unit. Divorce can be defined as dissolution of the marriage when the partners are still alive. Since the twentieth century, there has been an increase in divorce rates in the society. This has been very prevalent in the developed countries rather than in the developing ones. Such countries include the South Korea, Canada, United Kingdom and the United States. Single parent families have become widely accepted. This has affected how people view divorce and its rate. There are various reasons that people give to explain why they opt for divorce. Other people site unfaithfulness or financial issues as a reason for divorce. A law court has to certify the divorce and also determine the terms therein. Such a thing includes issues after and before the divorce is carried out. Many spouses usually fail to agree on these terms. Such conflicts need to be solved amicably though this is hard. There are times when couples divorce just because they are incompatible. Some spouses claim to have differences that are irreconcilable that lead to divorce. Research shows that Muslims show minimal divorce rates compared to other religions. Divorce is not something that has started recently. It began very long time ago. It was even allowed by the Athenians though it was not common in the Roman culture. Divorce in general posses a challenge to many families. When a family goes through divorce, it experiences many things. There are issues dealing with allocation of assets. Matters dealing with responsibilities and taking care of children become a hard nut to crack for the parties. Relation of divorce to my own family of origin story In my family of origin, there is a story that is quite related to divorce. There is a story that goes- once upon a time there lived a man called Flamz. The man had a wife called Staiz. The two stayed together for some time but later on divorced. They had four daughters from the marriage. Staiz left the children with Flamz. Later own the daughters also got married and also divorced one after another. This story was used to explain why divorce is so common in my family. My parents are divorced and I have witnessed my two brothers also divorce. So divorce as a topic is quite related to my family of origin stories. This shows that family background can really influence a persons’ decision on divorce. Loss When a family goes through divorce, the partners automatically experience loss. There are always feelings of grief. When this loss of a loved one through divorce occurs, the parties are mostly not prepared to deal with it. This is because in most occasions it is a new thing. It is something that they have never gone through in life. When people get married, they always expect a bright future. When divorce occurs it is really traumatic even if the parties had gone through it before. The feelings of grief have to be there and the parties should not just feel normal in relation to this loss. This loss of a husband or a wife normally brings memories to the spouses that are bitter- sweet. It is normal for a partner to go through the grief feeling and this helps him or her to come back to normal. There are times when this loss makes people to be so depressed. It is healthy for such people to seek help from counselors if the depression takes a long time due to loss of a partner. This loss can make a person to be drained physically. Some people lack appetite and fail to control their emotions. Divorce can make a person experience grief due to the loss. After the people divorcing most of them even lack interest in sex, they can feel very lonely and even lack interest in doing any work. The individuals just criticize themselves. They ponder over what they did or did not do. These people need to accept that the divorce has occurred. This helps them come to a reality of the loss through divorce. The people should allow themselves to go through the pain of the loss. It cannot be avoided. Partners need to learn to function without the other person. The first reaction to loss in divorce is denial. People just think that the other person is just having some issues and he or she will probably come back to his or her senses. A person just imagines that the other party will just come back. People assume that the other party is going through a mid life crisis. The next point is where the earlier issues that existed in marriage begin to surface. There are anger feelings on how one was treated. This shows that the person is going through a healing process. The other stage is bargaining and a person feels like promising that he or she will improve or change in the areas that they were short. There is then depression and acceptance. Identity Many people normally wonder whether they can regain their identity after going through a divorce. Sometimes the marriage terminates when some partners have gone through so much emotional abuse. Other people even go through physical abuse. In the midst of this emotional turmoil, many people fail to find their real identity. Many people who go through divorce feel that they are just not themselves. They feel that they have just lost their sanity. Many people at this time of stress reach out to friends and relatives to help them come back to themselves. They just feel useless and not themselves. Most ladies who go through divorce feel that they have lost their respectable identity in the society. They even neglect their personal hygiene and good grooming. Such partners always need to come back to themselves very fast because more often than not they have children and other responsibilities to take care of. People lose their vigor and the strength to go on in life or to do anything. The parties just have to pull themselves back to normal. Many men and women who go through divorce feel they have lost themselves completely. Psychologists always help such people to come back to their self esteem and to regain their self worth.

What is the Verb Conjugation for Admettre

When you need to say to admit in French, you will use the verb  admettre. Conjugating this verb is a little tricky, but there is a pattern as you will see in this lesson. Conjugating the French Verb  Admettre Just as we add an -ed or -ing ending to verbs in English, we need to conjugate French verbs. It is a little more difficult and complex, but there are patterns involved. While  admettre  is an  irregular verb, there is a pattern here. In fact, all  French verbs ending in  -mettre  are conjugated in the same way. To find the correct conjugation, simply match the subject pronoun to the tense you need for the sentence. For instance, I admit is jadmets and we will admit is nous admettrons. The Present Participle of  Admettre You can use the  present participle  of admettre as a verb and it also works as an adjective, gerund, or noun in some circumstances. The present participle is formed by dropping the -re and adding -ant  to get  admettant. Using the Past Participle for Passà © Composà © Rather than use the imperfect for past tense, you can use the  passà © composà ©. To do this, you need to conjugate the  auxiliary verb  avoir  and use the  past participle  of admis. To complete the passà © composà ©, simply put the elements together. For instance, I admitted is jai admis and she admitted is elle a admis. More  Admettre  Conjugations In the beginning, you should concentrate on the present, future, and passà © composà © forms. However, there may be instances when you need to use one of the following. While the passà © simple and imperfect subjunctive are used primarily in formal French writing, you may need the other two. The subjunctive is helpful when the verb action is subjective or questionable. The conditional is similar, though its used to imply that something may or may not happen. The imperative may be particularly helpful with  admettre  because its used for short exclamations. When using it you can skip the pronoun. Rather than nous admettons, you can simplify it to admettons.