LOCAL GOVERNMENT REFORMS IN NIGERIA: A HISTORICAL REVIEW

Abstract

The paper reviewed the history of local government reforms in Nigeria from pre-independence to the fourth republic. It observed that the Nigerian government has profound interest in making the third tier government effective and efficient to provide social services to the people. But very shockingly and surprisingly too, people from the local areas in the country have not reaped the dividends of these reforms. The 1976 local government reform and the Babangida reform of 1991 provided ample recommendations for local governments to be self-sustaining for growth and development, but the opposite has continued to be the case. The paper discovered that local governments in Nigeria have experienced series of constraints, some of which are administrative, constitutional and corruption on the part of local government staff as well as state control of local governments, especially funds allocated to it from the federal account. Following the puppet status of local government and inability to fulfill its mandate of being an agent of development of the local areas, the paper concluded that Nigerian leaders and makers of local government reforms are not altruistic especially in matters affecting local governments in the country. Some recommendations were made among which were that local governments should be made autonomous especially in financial matters by amending the 1999 constitution to remove it from the apron-string of state governments and granting it a full tier status like the state and federal governments.