Why Local Governments Must Be Freed In Nigeria By Law Mefor

The 1999 Constitution clearly sees theLocal Government as a tier of
government and that is why its autonomy is inevitable. Today,
governors sit on their funds and misappropriate them. At best, Local
Government funds are used by these governors for a few cosmetic
projects in urban centres, to the detriment of the rural poor and
remote Local Governments, whereas their essence is for grassroots
development and bringing government closer to the people.
Of truth, only few Nigerians are from the States' capitals while a
greater majority of the citizens are from the rural areas. For the
avoidance of doubt, the functions of Local Governments that impact
directly on the rural populace, as detailed in the Nigerian
Constitution, are:
• Economic recommendations to the State;
• Collection of taxes and fees;
• Establishment and maintenance of cemeteries, burial grounds and
homes for the destitute or infirm;
• Licensing of bicycles, trucks (other than mechanically propelled
trucks), canoes, wheel barrows and carts;
• Establishment, maintenance and regulation of markets, motor parks
and public conveniences;
• Construction and maintenance of roads, streets, drains and other
public highways, parks, and open spaces;
• Naming of roads and streets and numbering of houses;
• Provision and maintenance of publictransportation and refuse disposal;
• Registration of births, deaths and marriages;
• Assessment of privately owned houses or tenements for the purpose of
levying such rates as may be prescribed by the House of Assembly of a
State; and,
• Control and regulation of out-door advertising, movement and keeping
of pets of all descriptions, shops and kiosks, restaurants and other
places for sale of food to the public, and laundries.
From these functions, it can be seen that Local Governments are
designed for the rural poor and has been embraced by almost every
country of the world. As a global necessity, local government
administration is such that virtually every country of the world has
one form of it or the other. In Africa, Egypt, Kenya, Mali and South
Africa have well established local government systems. In Asia,
Afghanistan, India, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Palestinian
Authority, Philippines, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Turkey also do
have.
In Europe, Albania, Andorra, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic,
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland,
Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania,
Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, United Kingdom, England,
Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland all have well established local
systems.
In the North America, Canada and Mexico are good examples as well as
the United States. In Oceania, Australia and New Zealand have
excellent local government administrations and in South
America,Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay all have
thriving local government systems.
Local government or municipal government is a form of public
administration, which in a majority of contexts, exists as the lowest
tier of administration within a given countryand that is how it is
conceived in the 1999 Constitution for Nigeria.
In all Federal States, Local Government generally comprises the third
(or sometimes fourth) tier of government but the current practice in
Nigeria has rendered the Local Government structure meaningless by
removing its autonomy. This is not so in other countries; though they
may not be independent, they are financially autonomous in all the
countries that have them.
In India the local government is the third level of government apart
from the State and Central governments. Local government is the lowest
level in the system of government in Malaysia - after Federal and
State. Local government is the third tier of government in Pakistan,
after Federal Government and Provincial Government. There are also
three levels of local government in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The Netherlands has three tiers of government as well. There are two
levels of local government in the Netherlands, the provinces and the
municipalities.The system of local government is different in each of
thefour countries of the United Kingdom. In total there are 426 local
authorities in the UK. 346 of these are in England, 26 in Northern
Ireland, 32 in Scotland and 22 are in Wales.
Canada has a federal system with three orders of government. The
largest is the federal government, followed by the provincial and
local governments. Mexico is a Federal Republic made up by 31 states
and a federal district and Local Governments as well as Brazil, which
is divided into 26 states and a federal district and municipalities at
the same time.
To restore Nigeria's Local Governmentsystem, Clause 14 proposed for
amendment by the Senate that seeks direct payment to Local Governments
from the Funds of the Federation by removing Section 162 - the State -
Local Government Joint Accounts – from the Constitution. This is
oneamendment most Nigerians are in agreement with, as the joint
account has permitted the governors to sit on the Local Governments
funds and to whimsically dispense with them as they please. Thus, to
make for accountability and for effective Local Government system, the
committee recommends the expurgation from the Constitution the
State-Local Government Joint Account. Doing so isreally needful now.
It is also important to note that the Senate is not planning to remove
the supervisory powers of the States. No; what they plan is to allow
Local Governments access to their funds directly from the Federation
Account. How they utilize the funds can then be supervised by the
governors. It is believed this will bring development closer to the
grassroots, which is the reason nations have Local Government in the
first place.
If you recall, the whole idea of Joint State - Local Government was
originally planned in a way as to have the States to contribute 10% to
the account and then redistribute to the Local Governments in the
State in order to ensure even development. In practice however, States
do not contribute the said 10% but instead, confiscate the funds that
come to the Local Government from the federation account and apply
them to the uses they decide to the detrimentof the rural poor and
grassroots development.
Critics fear that if this proposal scales through, it would only imply
that Local Governments have more moneyat their disposal to embezzle.
This would then increase political competition (including electoral
violence) at the Local Government level and therefore would not
improve grassroots development. Agreed also, the problem with Nigerian
politics may be more of the character of the Nigerian politician than
political structures, but the nation needs the right laws in place
first and foremost, while equally fighting to get the right people in
place.
Moreover, the contemplation of the Constitution is that money be made
available for development at the grassroots level with the States
retaining supervisory powers in orderto prevent embezzlement as many
fear. The fact remains: where governance is mostly needed is at
therural level. For that is where 70% of Nigerians live as well as the
informal sector feeding the nation.
The nation needs rural roads, markets, schools, parks and more,
andsuch are the functions of Local Governments. Developed as they are,
Local Governments are still an essential feature in most advanced
economies. In Nigeria, like in all otherdeveloping countries, the need
for Local Governments is even more urgent and that is why the
recommendation of the Senate Committee on Constitution Review togive
Local Governments back their money is perhaps the most importantof all
their recommendations. Let it be.
• Law Mefor, Author and Forensic Psychology, is National Coordinator,
Transform Nigeria Movement (TNM); +234-803-787-2893;
lawmefor@gmail.com.