ASSESSING LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION AS AN INSTRUMENT OF GRASSROOT DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 Introduction
Local government has historically provided services of importance to its citizens in rural and urban areas of Nigeria. These includes, provision of basic amenities like pipe borne water, roads, health facilities and education but of late, the role of local government in providing these services became questionable and attracted public concerns. Furthermore, it has generated national crisis as a result of increasing rate of poverty among rural people. Some critics viewed the situation at the back drop of poor budgeting, and implementation, while others sees it as federal and state government interference. Political scientists, politicians and the administrators overtime have been preoccupied with the question of the justification, the appropriate status and functional roles of the grassroots government. Some simply dismissed the matter and postulated that there was no need for government at the grassroots since most of the perceived needs of the local people can be provided by the central and provincial government who are comparatively more endowed with requisite resources. This trend of argument among divergent schools of thought produced an exciting scholastic work, which this chapter is designed to outline. On this background, attempt has been made in the ensuring analysis to discuss the concept of Local Government and justification. Why Local Government reforms, backgrounds of Local Governments, factors militating against the performance of Local Government and problems of participation and involvement. In line with the subject matter of this thesis, intellectual opinions on the conceptual nature of development, rural development and theoretical underpinning of Holistic Integrationist
2.2 CONCEPTS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT
The study of the administration and political institution of Local Government has continued to generate a lot of comments from various scholars and researchers. This is because of the fact that it occupies a very important position in national transformation effort towards accelerated growths and development. However, there is a reasonable degree of divergent ideas among most writers on the meaning of Local Government, although few definitions exist, this is to a large extent a function of the differing socio-economic and political development of local government by most writers. Some writers defined Local Government as “Local administration set up outside the main focus of the central national or regional administration”. The implication of this definition is that there is a glaring absence of legal personality, i.e. ability to sue and be sued, which is the major characteristic of Local Government. According to the United Nation (UN) office for Public Administration, Local Government is a political subdivision of a nation (or in Federal system or State) which Constitute by law and has substantial control over local affairs including the power to impose tax or exert labour for prescribed purposes, the governing body such as an entity is selected or otherwise locally elected. The above definition is akin to the one given by Robson who sees Local Government as, “A territorial non sovereign community possessing the legal right and the necessary organization to regulate its own affairs”. Looking at it from the Nigeria context, the guideline for 1976 Local Government reforms suggested a definition of Local Government thus, government at the local level which exercised specific powers within defined areas. Viewing the above definitions, Local Government can be seen as the lowest tier of government, established by laws and assigned specific responsibilities. The above definitions however contained four institutional features of Local Government and they are. First, the Local Government unit must have a legal personality i.e. like the public corporation; it can sue and be sued. Second, it must have specified powers to perform a range of functions. Third, it must enjoy substantial autonomy, especially in financial and staff matters subject to limited control from the central government; and Finally, it must have elected representatives along party line or ideological orientation Owing to the indispensable position of local government to the grassroots it will be imperative to touch on some salient aspect necessary in course of this study. The study x-rays such aspects like structure, resources and functions of the local government to the rural dwellers. As well as its central – local government relations. 20 It has been observed that the local government cannot be given a straight jacket definition or one-for-all type of definition. Golding, L. (1977) defines it as the management of their own affairs by the people of the locality. Eme Awa sees it as a political authority for the purpose of dispersing or decentralizing political powers. These definitions can be seen as deficient for lack of some ingredients. Others suggests that local government should be define in more details to specify its features, such as forms, status, within a political and administrative framework of a country. The French tradition, of public administration sees the local government subject as that, that can be treated in the French prefectorial system. But most writers in English tradition simply regards the French system as an institutional arrangement of the local aim of the central authority. A more comprehensive and up-to-date definition of local government is provided by the federal government of Nigeria (FGN) in the (1976: p.1) year guidelines on local government reform. In that document, the federal government define local government as “government at the local level exercised through 21 representative councils established by law to exercise specific functions within the defined areas. From the above definition, it is clear that the local government has a specific responsibility in providing governmental services at the sub-national levels which is the grassroots. It is also clear that not all the governmental structures that provides governmental services at the local levels that can be referred to as local government. There are many arguments about the role of local government within a political and constitutional system. While a complete review of them is beyond the scope of this study, a brief consideration of some of the main theories will help us to deliver or set a scene for the discription of the modern role of local government. May 2006 report on national prosperity, local choice and civic engagement approach to seek to deliver the greatest, overall “welfare” for society from the resource available, a local government has a set of potential advantages from this perspective. First by being close to local circumstances and having local knowledge about the area. 22 Local government can undertake or influence activity more effectively and efficiently than a national institution which must always be some what separate from the frontline. Secondly, since local government should be more accessible than a national government and are directly concerned only with one local area, local government can be more engaged with the local communities and hence more responsive. Finally and most importantly, local government enables different communities to choose to have different sorts of services different levels of taxation and to define acceptable behaviour in different ways in order to respond to their own needs, preferences and opinion. Local government should be the tier of government in which citizens can most easily get involved because it is physically close to them and there are more opportunities for engagement or participation. For these reasons the local government has been seen as the arm that is offering opportunities for citizens with the activities of government and political decision making more easily than they could at the national level. It enable people at the level learn fast about the operation of government and society.
2.3 BACKGROUND OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT 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-incouncil 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 expected 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 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 21 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 chairman as executive level of Local Government with supervisory councilors 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 successful administration introduces one administrative changes 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.
2.4 NEED FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT
The subject matter here is usually discussed under the justification for local government, as to why local government is needed in the running of affairs of the people at the rural areas of the nations. Another question that demand an answer is to know the function and values of local government in a national‟s governmental system? Generally, there are three functions associated with the local government which also constitutes the needs for its existence in the running or administration of the nation. These are:
- Political functions.
- Administrative functions
- Development functions. Each of these functional areas can be explained thus.
POLITICAL FUNCTIONS
There are different but related perspectives to the political need for a local governments. First, major perspective is that it help to promote and expands, the scope for opportunities for political participation in the public affairs of a nation. The thrust of the argument is that among the various institutional arrangement for managing public affairs at the local levels. It is the local government that provides the people with more opportunities to be represented and consulted. According to J.S. Mills, local government is needed to give them tax payers voice in their governance and for the rural areas to be properly informed and consulted on issues affecting them. Apart from creating room for increased opportunities for mass participation in the government at the grassroots, it also necessarily for accountability and resource mobilization in in public administration. Local government also help in training citizens for higher duties as legislature Mac Denzie, W.J.M. viewed in Jeremy Bentahm states that the legislators at the national levels would perform better if they have had a previous experiences about the local government. The local government can be a source for guide or briefs for once effective performance at the national levels. Richard, observed that the selection of committees in the British parliament preferred candidates who had once served in the local government. Some studies of the British system shows that large proportion of party candidates for parliamentary positions be it elective or appointment were from local government councilors or served at the local councils in whatever position furthermore, Daniel Buther in his works says 53 percent of the labour member of parliaments (MPS) and 45 percent of defeated labour party candidates in the 1964 British General Elections were former local government councilors.
ADMINISTRATIVE NEEDS
The political needs for local government enjoy every high regards of the western democratic orientation, which local government should be seen first and foremost as an administrative institution for efficient provision of services. To this group, the utility of the local government within the political and administrative framework of a country should judged by its services to the people as the grassroots. 27 One perspective the administrative needs for local government is to promotes and provide efficient services in public administration. They promotes efficiency in the following two ways – (i) through the process of decentralization and by facilitating accountability in the management of public resources at the local levels. Decentralization, therefore, promotes efficiency in two ways @ decongestion of the centre, thereby reducing the burden of activities at that level, leaving the centre with substantial amount of work which it can most efficiently handle. Secondly, because local government is closer to the people, it has more information about their problems and how to manage them. All things being equal, this kind of knowledge is expected to give local government an edge over and above agencies of the central government ministries in the (management) of resources in dealing with such problems and other centralized agencies of the central government, is better positioned for efficient and effective administration of the local resources and provision of services.
2.5 LOCAL GOVERNMENT REFORMS IN NIGERIA
The various Local Government reforms as enunciated by government actually geared at improving the Local Government system in Nigeria. Some of these reforms will be examined looking at their major objectives briefly. The 1976 Local Government reforms was the reform that made a landmark in the Nigeria Local Government system. This reform was part of the time table for the return to civil rule after 15 years of military rule spearheaded by the Murtala/Obasanjo regime. Although the concern about Local Government actually started before this, with the intervention of the federal government in Local Government finances between 1973/1974 and that of primary education in 1975. However, this reform is regarded as a pace setter in the affairs of Local Government because it created Local Governments as a third tier of government with a constitutional backing i.e. in section 7(1) 1979 Constitution. The reform also provided for the granting of autonomy to the Local Governments and uniformity in their operations in the area finance. The Local Governments were allocated a particular percentage from the federation account. It should be noted that the 1976 Local Government reforms was what finally put an end to the native authority system rule in the country. 26 Besides, other objectives of the reform include:
- To make appropriate services and development activities responsible to local wishes and initiative by developing or delegating those to local representatives bodies.
- To facilitate the exercise of democratic self-government close to the local levels and to encourage initiative and leadership potentials.
- To mobilize human and material resources through the involvement of members of the public in their local development.
- To provide a two way channel of communication between Local Government at (both state and federal to mention just a few).
Other reforms that came after those of 1976 were that of the Dasuki Committee reform 1986, the 1988 civil service Reforms (as applicable to Local Government) did not differ in form of shape with that of 1976 except that of 1988, the chief executive of Local Government (chairman) was no doubt to become the Chief accounting officer. There was also a restriction in the number of departments, a Local Government should have not more than six (6); professionalism were also introduced in a nutshell, the reforms after those of 1976 was more structurally focused. Yet, others like the 1991 reforms were more of democratic participation i.e. political mobilization at the grassroots level, the separation of the executive from the legislative arm, more funding and budgeting controls, legislature competence etc. One important feature of the 1988 reforms was its application to state and Local Governments with suitable adjustment to suit their peculiar conditions (FN, 1988:7), as such, at the local level, a deliberate attempt was made to remove them in the Local Government service (quite similar to those observed in the civil service) so as to improve the capacity of the Local Government sources to render effective, efficient and economic service to the people of the grassroots. It is also reasonable to indicate here that, the main fact that Local Government is constantly being reformed, suggest that these exercises are not produced the desired results, therefore, it‟s efforts were assumed largely negative, taking the civil service back to the situation before 1988 with slight amendments. Even though the white paper on the Ayida Panel was realized only in June 1997, its recommendations are data in the light of current demands especially of the democratic dispensation.
2.6 THE ROLE OF TRADITIONAL RULERS IN NIGERIA’S LOCAL GOVERNMENT
The traditional institution is a pre-colonial institution that has endured and continued to survive through the different political changes and developments in Nigeria. These changes have tremendously affected the type, role and functions of‟ traditional rulers over the years. A traditional ruler according to Nigerian Traditional Rulers (1 983: 1) can be defined as: A person who by virtue of his ancestry occupies the throne or stool of an area and who has been appointed to it in accordance with the customs and tradition of the area and whose throne has been in existence before the advent of the British in Nigeria. Bendel State government (1979) sees a traditional ruler as: The head of an ethnic unit or clan who for the time being is the holder of the highest traditional authority within the ethnic unit or clan and whose title is recognized as a traditional ruler title by the state government. Another definition is given by Bitiyong who sees a traditional ruler as; the indigenous source of authority in traditional society in this usage, he is seen as imbibing all the social, religious, political and cultural values of the society in question (Bello 1996:136) These definition all point out to the fact that a traditional ruler is the paramount authority or natural ruler in Nigerian communities. He is in some cases a spiritual leader and custodian of all customs and tradition of his people. Examples in Nigeria include Emirs in most northern states, Obas in Yoruba dominated communities, Obi or Eze in most Igbo dominated areas and Tor or Tyoor in the Tiv speaking areas. 30 Before the advent of the Europeans, societies in Africa evolved various forms of political organizations and institutions based on the peculiarities of these independent. Ethnic nationalities these institutions had full executive, legislative and judicial powers in their domains and exerted sovereign control over their subjects (Akuul, 2004:83). Traditional rulers maintained the machinery of government and organized enough to meet the laws and customs guiding the existence of‟ their various nationalities. Their areas of influence were then later than the present day Local Government areas. The coming of the British and subsequent colonial rule ushered in a transformation, in the roles of traditional rulers. The change was necessitated by the desire to realize the objectives of colonialism, which was the exploitation of both human and natural resources of Nigeria to meet the growing industrial needs of the capitalist metropolis. Thus, additional and chieftaincy institutions were maintained and created where they did not exist, and used in the indirect rule administration to serve the interest of colonialism. The implication of this new rule is that, rather than serving the interests of their people, the traditional rulers were now to serve the interest of the colonialists. A change therefore, occurred in their functions and roles as the) assume a new status. They were co-opted to perform roles that were completely antagonistic to the wishes and aspirations of their communities. The colonialists used them as a tool in achieving their selfish gains. This explains while Lugard (1992) as cited in Abbass (2010:65) argues that: The prestige and influence of the chiefs can be best upheld by letting the peasantry see that the government treats them as an integral part of the machinery of administration. That there ‘ire not two set of rulers— British and Native working either separately or in cooperation but a single government in which native chiefs have well defined duties and acknowledged status equally with the British officials. Their duties should never conflict and should overlap as little as possible, they should be complementary to each other and the 31 chiefs must understand that he has no right to place and power unless he render proper services to the state. There are therefore, contending views on the relevance or otherwise of traditional institutions in Nigerian development both at the national and local levels. It is argued by some scholars that, traditional rulers perform some useful functions as channels of communication between the government and the communities or people, mobilize people for community projects, and help in collection of taxes, settlement of disputes and promotion of government programmes and good governance at the grassroots hence the institution should be preserved. On the other hand, the argument is that, all the functions acclaimed to be performed by traditional rulers are in one way or the other functions of the formal institutions of government in modem states hence their importance and relevance becomes questionable and is contested (Akuul 2004:87). The above explains while president Babangida in 1987, during the inauguration of the constitutional Review Committee (CRC), submits that; There is the problem on how best to integrate those (traditional rulers) in the machinery of government without undermining democratic ideals and without destroying the affection and respect they enjoy. (Bello-Iman 1996:142). Based on the above, their role is recognized in an advisory capacity. So unique the 1979 constitution, the 1 989, 1995 and 1999 constitutions recognized the institution of traditional council in their fourth schedule part II. Unlike the pre-colonial era, they are denied the executive, legislative and judicial functions. Instead they are to perform advisory roles. Infact, Akuul (2004:89) concludes that: Traditional rulers have no significant roles to play in the development of contemporary Nigeria as evidences abound which illustrate the corrupt and partisan nature and character of traditional rulers in Nigeria. The foregoing can be subsumed to mean that, traditional rulers have no meaningful functions to perform in modem states even at the Local Government level as they only represent the interest of the dominant class and not the people as they were known for during the pre-colonial era. They instead constitute an item of huge expenditure out of the Local Government revenue that has no impact the masses and rural transformation in general. Their intervention in local politics has greatly undermined the principles of democratic governance and accountability at the local level of government and should instead be maintained for tourist purposes in Nigeria.
2.7 DEVELOPMENT NEEDS
The developing countries of the world have two broad areas of development problems for which the role of local government is needed. These are, in the areas of nation building and socioeconomic development. One development area is concerned about the problem of low level of political integration which its absence contributes poorly to nation building. In addition to their other characteristics, the developing counties are plural societies in which local governments or sectional sentiments are often stronger than other feelings of attachment to the nation. Local government contributes to nation-building as an integral parts of the process of development administration in several ways.
Constituting an arena where local political expressions are made, thereby preventing them from building up tensions because building tensions at that local level can course adverse dislocation in the central system if not properly checked or managed. The role of the local government at this point is to provide an organized environment for discussion and management of relevant national issues at the local levels. Henry Madick (1963) concerning socio-economic development opined that the role of the local government is well recognized in the growing literature on development administration. He suggested that decentralization especially at the local government level can provide a vehicle for effective development engineering.
2.8SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
The crises that Nigeria has experienced since late 1990s are as much political as economic, and Nigeria has been forced to attempt to tackle them simultaneously. The country is struggling to create a rule-based economic system in place of the discretionary, corruption-ridden, patrimonial system that operated over the past three decades. It is also attempting to establish a pluralist democracy both to underpin its economic system and as a goal in itself. Nigeria’s financial and economic collapse has led to a degree of introspection and a search for the causes of the crisis, as well as for obstacles to and strategies for recovery. The arenas, sectors, institutions and practices identified for reform or restructuring in the course of these consultative dialogues for socio-economic development include:
1. The Letter of Intent signed by the government of Nigeria and the International Monetary Fund.
2. The relationship between central and local government in the operation of regional autonomy.
3. The relationship between foreign direct investment and local investment.
4. The fiscal structure.
5. Reform of the bureaucracy and public administration.
6. The military and its business relations.
7. Restructuring the private and quasi-private sector.
8. Reform of labour relations.
9. The role of corruption in undermining reform and development. Economic recovery is a priority for Nigeria, and governance reform has been identified as the modality by which economic recovery and socioeconomic development should be addressed.
The focus on governance reform means a shift of emphasis in development policy away from the programmes of the past, which focused only on the economic aspects of governance, to one which examines economic and political measures simultaneously. This approach is an advance on economics-centred approaches, but it has some limitations that must be addressed. The parameters of governance reform cannot be determined simply by combining checklists of economic and political measures. Good governance is most likely to be secured through mutually-reinforcing institutions and practices that support economic recovery and sustain growth, and these institutions and practices must be the end-product of public deliberation and participation, ending in a degree of consensus. The deliberative process is both a means and an end in itself, but it is not necessarily linear or time-efficient. Furthermore, the institutions of governance must take root and be sustained over time before their impact can be assessed. An emphasis on governance in effect demands a complete overhaul of the whole approach to public policy formulation and social organization and radically new approaches to development policy. However, Nigeria is attempting to address these issues in a context of a weak political regime, a depreciating currency, rising sectarian and communal violence, erosion of central authority and greater demands from the regions for political autonomy or even secession. Although three years have passed since the eruption of the crisis, Nigeria’s public policy must resolve key distributional conflicts. The first of these is with the investment community and is associated with asset sales and debt resolution. The second is between programmes and projects that directly affect the welfare of the community at large, in particularly the poor. The investment community is largely concerned with issues of fiscal and financial restructuring, the reform of the bureaucracy and judiciary and the handling of corruption. The broader community is also concerned with the restructuring of the judiciary and bureaucracy and with the boundaries of the state under regional autonomy. It is also particularly concerned with issues of poverty alleviation, the environment and natural resource management, labour relations, private-sector reforms and corruption. In this transitional phase of reconstruction and reform, it is vital that the initial conditions established during the crisis are identified as the baseline, and that movements along a revised analytical framework are tracked in such a way that cause can be linked with effect and policy instruments with results. It is also necessary to highlight the point that the mechanisms of economic crisis and contagion may be different from the transmission channels of economic recovery. Although “good governance” is now a popular reform concept, it remains a puzzle. Exactly how much institutions contribute to economic performance is still to be understood. It is not entirely clear either if good institutions in themselves drive growth, or whether this depends on the nature of one institution - the state - or on the interaction between the state and civil society. Unless the correlation between institutional design and development and economic performance can be established, many policy initiatives hitherto undertaken may not be fully relevant. There does not seem to be a clearly identifiable optimum structure of governance that can serve as a universal model for developing countries. It is not even clear if different structures of governance are appropriate at different stages of development or whether these structures are linked to what the country can afford at that stage. All practical approaches to introducing governance into the reform agenda proceed by inserting a checklist of desired attributes in the economic and political realm. However, without a strong theoretical structure that evaluates alternative combinations of the governance reform package and its application in a given context, the menu approach will remain nothing more than a list of good ideas. Undoubtedly this list of ideas will emerge in respect of this and other consultative dialogues on governance reform in Nigeria. But there will be attempts to anchor this inquiry within an evaluation of vital elements of the reform package. This initial inquiry also encourages other discussions to continue the critical analysis and evaluation of the reform package within the context of social, economic and political transformation. To lead to the development of mutually reinforcing institutions and sustainable practices, the reformed institutional structures must be rooted in Nigeria’s political and economic context and must draw on the critical factors that led up to the crisis. This means that more attention must be given to understanding Nigeria’s national circumstances. Despite the enthusiasm for governance reform, there are several sobering issues that should be kept in mind as they have implications for policy. There are limitations in both in scale and timing, and there is not always a clear analytical link between specific institutional arrangements and economic performance, as some institutions are both ends and instruments. It is also very important to sequence the reforms strategically and appropriately, as many institutions and processes are interdependent and reforms must be undertaken simultaneously if they are to bear results. There is a need to set manageable priorities, so as to avoid the danger of overloading the reform agenda. Another useful strategy is to lower expectations of the immediate gains that can be achieved through governance reform, and avoid linking reforms with conditionalities. The revised institutional framework to support good governance can only be created and sustained on the basis of social consensus. To move out of this deep crisis towards lasting regeneration, growth and social cohesion, the institutional framework must be developed through deliberation and the participation of broad sections of the Nigerian political and economic community. This is an arena in which public-sector and private-sector co-operation and consultation is required. Such deliberations are the product of a democratic system grounded in the rule of law. This is a prerequisite for the transformation of Nigeria and cannot be regarded as a by-product of development. While the acceptance of democracy is not widely contested after the fall of Soeharto, there is still a contest between models of democracy. There are signs that key actors in Nigeria may favour elitist democracy as opposed to a more deliberative and participatory democracy. Elitist democracy favours public control over the political process in the form of elections and the resolution of interests through group bargaining and interest mediation. Deliberative democracy, on the other hand, focuses on public participation in determining the common good and developing a social compact in relation to the structures and processes of government. It favours free speech, public discourse, transparency and access to information. Given the differences, it is important that planners and policy-makers have a clear notion of what type of democratic state and what model of market economy their governance reforms are seeking to create. Despite the introspection that followed the onset of the financial and economic crises, several unanswered questions continue to bedevil policy makers and must eventually be addressed at more length in other consultative forums. At present Nigeria is fighting on many fronts. Its struggles include coping with enormous private-sector debts and salvaging a banking sector that is burdened by defaulting creditors and a weak currency. The government needs to develop credible policies to secure investor confidence and to undertake the redistribution of assets within a framework that is transparent and fair. Much attention should also be directed at creating employment and the delivery of basic services at affordable prices, so as to secure the confidence of the public that these issues are being treated as a priority. The rupiah remains weak despite the fact that all monetary and macroeconomic aggregates show positive developments. This raises questions as to whether the currency is weak due to political, economic and security uncertainties in the country, or due to other factors like the slackening of monetary controls and a lack of resolve on the part of the central bank in respect of monetary policy.
2.9LOCAL GOVERNMENT MOBILIZATION FOR COMMUNAL DEVELOPMENT
The strength of free people resides in the local Community. Local institutions are to liberty what primary schools are to science; they put it within the peoples reach; they teach people to appreciate its peaceful enjoyment and accustom to make use of it. Without local institutions, a nation may give itself a free government but it has not the spirit of liberty. Passing Passion, momentary interest or chance circumstances may give it external shape of independence, but the despotic tendencies which have been driven to the interior of the body social will sooner or latter break Out on the surface.’ [Alex De Tocqvile] One of the central objectives of the 1976 local government reform in Nigeria was to mobilize human and material resources through the involvement of members of the public in their local development. Mobilization connotes an assembling or putting into action or operation. It means equipping the citizens for the onerous task of community development. The Dasuki report defined the term as,,,, “to increase their level of awareness or cognition and their perceptual abilities as well as render them more effective citizens who can apply their energies positively to help promote the development of their community and to participate in a general sense in the socio- political activities of those communities’’ Local government as a grass root government is designed to transmit the pulse of other arms of government to the vast majority of the rural populace, and to equally mobilize them for effective national development. Being the government nearest to the rural people, it’s the best institution for generating, motivating and encouraging mobilizations for self help as well as including the much needed wider participation of the people especially in decision making. If a man is basically motivated by self-interest, local self government provides the opportunity for schooling such a propensity and tempering it with the interest of others in the community, which result in reciprocal relationship of recurrent well-being. Such under- standing of mutual self-interest leads the citizen to expand areas of cooperating with his neighbors, especially in the running of the community service (Olowu1988) Edward Saoume (1979) noted that “the so called third world is a rural world where any meaningful discussion of rural development really means not only talking of over-all national development’’ but also because “it is the rural arrears that the problem of inequitable distribution of resources or a marked lack of financial strength and of grinding poverty in which the wretched members of the society stagnated and stare one in the face with brutal clarity”. Aldous Huxley also noted that “the masses are utterly contemptible’’ they are incapable of abstract thinking and uninterested in any fact outside the circle of their immediate experience. Their behavior is determined, not by knowledge and reason, but by feelings and unconscious drives… It is in the light of the above that Deutch (1964) painted a picture of mobilization as large numbers of people moving away from a life of local isolation, the traditionalism, and political conservativizm and moving into a different life or broader and deeper involvement in the vast complexities of modern life, including potential and actual involvement in mass politics. The implication of the above is that effective mobilization and participation of the people in the development process of their area, as Ozor, noted would involve: a. Arousing or sensitizing the development spirit latent in the community leaders and followers towards participating in policy making, supervision and evaluation; b. Communal involvement in appropriate macro-economic and social policy formation; c. Inter-sectoral and inter-agency collaboration, co-operation and support for government at all levels in community development projects; d. Comprehensive apparatus and system of communication, community enlightenment, education and information management; e. long term vision of people-oriented development planning and; f. Appropriate safe guards for community asset custody, economic utilization of resources in puts and public accountability.’’ As a corollary of the above, the benefits of effective community participation in the development process have been aptly summarized by Ozor to include;
1. It helps to define for the local government, community needs and priorities much more accurately;
2. It reduces cost by mobilizing unused local, human and material resources;
3. It helps people to appreciate, understand and sympathized with government at all levels, on their polices and actions;
4. It contributes to political stability. It therefore follows that local government, if it is truly local is better placed to at least, halt the deteriorating living standard of the rural areas of the country.
This research work therefore argues that the local government is better placed than the other two higher tiers of government not only to stem the grim reality of the soaring tide of rural poverty, but also, be more able to evoke the spirit of local participation. This can be effectively achieved through the use of local institution and grass roots strategies and inline with this, the Dasuki reports mandated that: every traditional rulers should, as the father of the people, throw the full weight of his traditional authority to accelerate the task of mass mobilization of the people for active participation in community development programme within their area of jurisdiction It is therefore safe to conclude that the local government through the use of grass roots institution, are more able to galvanize and mobilize the support of the local citizenry for effective participation in all programmes affecting them both now and latter. As Olowu noted, “by being given power and means to determine their own affairs…, they are better able to realize corporate self- determination under prevailing political arrangement and are likely to be in a better position to appreciate the difficulties of governing’’. Maddick equally opined that “local authorities provide the opportunity for local people to participate in local decisions and local schemes within the general national policies and to act above all, as local centers of initiative and activity conducive to development”. And as Huxley equally opined, “the driving force which has brought tremendous revolutions on this earth has never been a body of scientific teaching which has gained power over the masses, but always devoted which has inspired them and a kind of hysteria which has urged them into action.