8 April 2008
column
Lagos — This topic was provoked by a statement credited to Alhaji AbduRaheem Adisa, the chairman of Moro Local Government in Kwara State. He had while presenting his budget for the 2008 financial year last week urged the Federal Government to "concentrate on the developments of the rural areas by increasing allocations to the local governments to ensure overall development in Nigeria".
Adisa is not the only one in this line of thought. Several LG chairmen from different states have previously spoken in a similar manner. In fact, some had even begged that their allocations be paid directly to them instead of through the states. These LG chairmen and their backers who continue to express this kind of sentiment must be persuaded to perish the thought. What every serious minded local administrator who wants a well-articulated grass-roots development should be praying for now should be how to get the Federal Government to hands off completely from local government affairs.
In any case, why should the FG be allowed to continue to allocate Federal revenue to LGs as if they are federating units? Why should the matter of LGs be an issue in the National Assembly considering hundreds of other national matters that can not be exhausted in the life time of any legislature? Why should the issue of local government creation or faulty local elections in one state a matter to be brought before the National Assembly? Buoyed by short-term political gain, several of the LG chief executives do not believe why these issues should not be as they are now? Often times, they behave like rain-beaten chickens constantly in need of cover and as a result, often use their nose to spite their face. Many do not understand the concept and philosophy of local government. They get carried away by federal allocation which gives them an illusion of an independent government. They sacrifice long-term vision for grass-roots development in an attempt to seek federal protection.
One of the tragedies of the present LG system is the tendency of the practitioners to perceive it as a federating unit. It is not. And it must never be allowed to assume one. At best it is administratively and financially a third-tier of government which existence is subject to state control irrespective of special allocation from Federal purse. It is the special allocation from Federal revenue as provided for under section 162(3) (5-8) of the constitution that gives them an illusion of separate entities. This illusion is strengthened by provision of section 7 which guarantees a system of democratically elected local government councils and which accordingly mandate every state to ensure their existence. It is my view that the provisions of sections 7, 8 and 162 have all combined to stall the growth of LG system and grass-roots developments nationally. In the first place it is wrong for a partner in a federation to begin to legislate for the other partner on how to run its component parts. If federalism is anchored on the recognition of heterogeneous nature of a society and then proceed to divide powers between the central government and the constituent states, then for the same constitution to dictate a structure of a local government is not only abnormal, it is self-defeatist. This is one of the legacies of military rule. Before the military rule, we had a vibrant local government systems based on the peculiarities of each region. The military began their demolition in 1967 and completed it in 1976. By establishing a local government system in a unified command system, our LGs became alienated from their constituencies. They lost credible manpower as well as ability to create an enduring administrative structure that best suits every particular geographical area in the country.
We may then ask, what is the similarity between Bauchi LG and Lagos Island LG? What is so common to Aba LG and Maiduguri or Kazaure LG? Or is there a shared affinity between Ethiope LG in Delta and Pankshin LG in Plateau State? What of between Moro LG in Kwara and Onitsha in Anambra? Any compatibility? Even within a state such as Lagos, Epe and Ikeja LGs have little in common in terms of social needs and expectations. In all these as in many others, they are not culturally, geographically, commercially or economically or even sociologically compatible as to warrant an adoption of a similar system of LG. Yet this is what section 7 of the constitution has sought to impose. What this section has sought to do is to limit the power of state for imagination, creativity and to exploit peculiarities of local areas in determining how an area is best administered. For instance, states such as Lagos and Cross River who have started building world class standard infrastructure would need local administration of international standards to maintain and multiply them. The present structure of LG makes it practically impossible to attract highly skilled man power at the local level to sustain this kind of momentum. In fact, given the development currently taking place in Lagos Island and Victoria Island, it is obvious, that except Alausa continues to maintain them, the present LG structures are too ill-equipped to manage them.
Therefore, what is to be done is to first expunge every clause pertaining to LGs from the constitution including section 162 (3) and (5-8) pertaining to allocations from Federal Revenue. Matters pertaining to LG should be seen strictly as a residual matter. If Governor Babatunde Fashola or Governor Isa Yuguda and the states Assembly believe they must create as many as 100 LGs in order to meet their political and economic peculiarities, they would be free to do so and how to finance them should not be a federal business. They would also be free to determine the model of LG they want to adopt. If Bauchi State feels an emirate system is best suited for a particular LG, it would adopt it. And if Lagos prefers to create a city manager under a board concept, or mayorality in some parts of the state as it operates at present in some states in United States, it would be free to do so. In fact, in some small cities and towns in Germany and United States, it is the residential or community associations that determine who heads the city council. This is one major restructuring our LG system urgently needs. When states are allowed freedom to create and determine the system and structure of their LGs, they are able to attract the best manpower, the best administration, cultivate better and dynamic stakeholders, attract investors and the people will ultimately get efficient services. Similarly discipline and competence would become more manifest.
Lastly, there is the need to address the concerns of some media critics who believe the governors are the main problem because they often hijack the LG money from the federation account and as a result leaving the LG matter entirely to the states will only worsen the situation. For me this argument is misplaced. In the first place, it assumes that all the governors are rogues and then it presumes that all the 36 governors must act one way and that there is no remedy to checkmate a corrupt governor. Given the recent happenings in respect of some former governors, this argument has become Jejune. In fact, the more reason why Federal Government responsibility to LGs should be eliminated is that it would make the governors fully accountable for everything that happens in their states. In fact, adopting different systems of LG administration has a capacity for creating competition for developments amongst states. And if the Federal Government wants to help that competition; it can even tout matching-grants for states that have the best health and education practices in local constituencies.
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