Why Local Governments matter

By Mohammed Aliko Mohammed

With 774 Local Government Area (LGA) councils officially enshrined into the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, this tier of government remains the most dynamic and diverse tier of government.

It’s the closest to the populace and therefore more in tune with their pain and anguish. Made up of the chairman, councillors and supervisory councillors, the Constitution in its fourth schedule, clearly defines the responsibilities of this salient tier of government. These include maintenance of cemeteries, collection of TV Licenses, licenses for trucks, bicycles, canoes and wheelbarrows, naming roads, the regulation of slaughter houses and motor parks, provision and maintenance of public conveniences, sewage and refuse disposal are amongst other responsibilities of the LGA Councils.

Others are: registration of all kinds including registration of births, deaths and marriages, pets of all descriptions, shops, restaurants, bakeries, laundries and most notably licensing are all under the purview of LGA Councils.

They also carry out assessment of privately owned houses or tenements and regulate the sale of liquor.
Most importantly, the provision of primary, adult and vocational education as well as primary healthcare falls under the purview of LGA councils.

Now think about it for a minute, virtually all of these responsibilities impact you as a person, directly. If you are a vegetarian, you eat bread at home or food at a restaurant or use the motor park or market.

If you escape all of the other responsibilities of LGA councils, you will eventually die and be buried at a cemetery run and maintained by an uneducated twit you chose not to brace the elements to vote for or against.
We have looked upon the local governments as three letters on a number plate: AAA or CBK. We think ‘that’s where I am from, or it kind of looks like my initials’ and that’s it.
Now take a mind trip again and see if you can recall your LGA headquarters or the name of your current LGA C chairman, over 95 per cent of us have no idea.

We are so unconnected with the world around us but so interested in the chaps in Abuja. We think of the Abuja folks as the cool ones, the crème de la crème, the ones who wear the graduation gown, the flowing robes and the silk ties.

They are the ones that have Twitter handles and Facebook pages operated by a handler. You think they would solve your problems, right?

You are Wrong. They are mostly there for the lights, drama, food and the pay. Currently, the Local Governments are an extension of the states.

They are the tools that some governors use to compensate the boys. When you have a back itch, you wish you have one of those artificial plastic hand-like things sold in Lagos traffic to reach were you hand can’t. That’s exactly what the LGAs are to the state governments.

An artificial hand that scratches an itch on their backs. Allocations from the federation account to LGs are routed through the states and disbursed in most cases as the State Chief Executive deems fit on the advice of the State Assembly.

The phrase “joint account” is the sweetest thing to the ears of some state governors. Most often than not, the LG sole administrators/chairmen/coordinators or whatever name they are called, receive a cheque for salaries and maybe a little more for miscellaneous expenses and that’s it.

The all-powerful commissioner of local governments, who almost always is the”favoured one”, will advise the LGs on approved projects, costs and contractors.
The LGs have over the years discarded their revenue making responsibilities or seconded them to a cartel of obscure consultants, mostly fronts owned by employees of the local governments.
I feel I need to quote the constitution for clarity, and to absolve the states from the joint account issue.

Three sections quoted below give legitimacy to the states to establish and operate, as well as a right of the local governments to partake in the largess accruable to the country.

It saddles responsibility with State Assemblies as well as prescribes a formula for such allocations: 162(3) Any amount standing to the credit of the Federation Account shall be distributed among the federal and state governments and the LG councils in each state on such terms and in such manner as may be prescribed by the National Assembly.

162(6) states that each state shall maintain a special account to be called “State Joint Local Government Account” into which shall be paid all allocations to the Local Government Councils of the State from the Federation Account and from the government of the state.

162 (8) states that the amount standing to the credit of LG councils of a state shall be distributed among the LG councils of that state on such terms and in such manner as may be prescribed by the House of Assembly of the state.

After looking through the above provisions of our constitution, it becomes clear that leaving the responsibility of governance to totally unqualified, unfit and unexposed persons, is a real disservice to our children yet unborn.
Going forward, there will be a need for us to look closer at the abilities of persons who put up obscure posters in hidden locations seeking to serve us in capacities that we often overlook.

If you go into American history, the billionaire, Micheal Bloomberg, the 6th richest man in the world, way ahead of our Dangote, was the 108th Mayor of New York. In local vocabulary here, a “common Local Government Chairman.”
If it makes you feel any better, the Revenue Mobilisation and Allocation shared a total of N652,229,000,000.00 in June 2017, and 22per cent+ was meant for the 774 LGA.

Now do the math. What’s the little share that comes to your local government? If that was handed to you, what would you do to better your immediate environment…? That is LG autonomy.

[email protected]. Twitter@mma19999

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