Local governments as fi rst point of development

Local Governments as the third tier of government is the closet to the grassroots and also is the most neglected, it has become a siphon avenue for corrupt persons and government offi cials.

Th is has not augured well for developmental strides to be achieved at the grassroots, a lot of complaints has been made that issues of local administration in Nigeria has to do with lack of fund and independence, but in instances where they are available, they are being abused by the heads of the local government councils.

Local Governments in Nigeria ideally should be the fi rst point of development, they are to be the backbone of development in Nigeria, it is the continuous underdevelopment in rural areas that is causing the high rise of migration from rural areas to urban areas, when the rural area has a relative development, we won’t be having population explosion in the urban area.

Some of the reforms by various governments which had yielded little or no result have made a lot of us to start questioning if local governments are still viable. In my view, they are still needed and important to our national growth; they only need to be strengthened. Th e heads of the councils should be more accountable to their people.

Leaders with grassroots background should be chosen, the ones with grassroots backgrounds are in tandem with realities and problems the people in the local areas are facing, this will easily help the leaders to fashion out solutions to the problems easily as they already know the root of the problems. As stated earlier, corruption is the major problem facing the local government administration. It is in the light of this ugly monster that Niger state governor took disciplinary action against some council chairmen in the state. Th e council chairman of Suleija Local Government was removed from offi ce for abuse of offi ce and fi nancial recklessness while the council chairman of Katcha Local Government is on suspension for the same off ence. Abubukar Sani Bello, following public outcry over inability of the local governments to pay salaries despite the bail out by the state government set up a panel to probe them.

Th e governor took this decision after giving the local governments fi nancial autonomy, he discovered that some of the council bosses were involved in fi nancial recklessness and the need to put a stop to it necessitated the setting up of the panel. With the above, one can conclude that most times it is the undoing of the council bosses that are causing untold hardship to the people at the grassroots.

In Niger State, the governor gave the local governments the fi nancial autonomy but unfortunately it is being abused by the council chairmen. Now, the question is, is the mismanagement of local governments caused by the kind of people we elect as our chairmen or is it the system? Th ere are a lot of local government chairmen that are performing well, some, even with limited resources, are bringing developmental strides to their people. Mokwa Local Government chairman in Niger State, Hon Idris Yahaya Ndasode, has projects on going in each of the eleven wards of the local government. Th is he has been able to achieve by utilising the meagre resources at the disposal of the council. He has also made sure that staff salaries are paid as at when due. He is among the few council chairmen that do not owe staff salaries. Th ere are some council chairmen like Hon Ndasode that are doing fi ne and need to be encouraged for better performance.

As much as we want more power to be given to local governments to be independent, to oversee its staff , to have fi nancial powers in order to execute projects and complement the eff orts of other tiers of government, we should bear in mind that there is need for proper checks and balance of the activities of local governments in Nigeria. Ahmed Haruna Tswata, Minna, Niger state

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