Between Nigeria And Its Dying Third Tier
As a country, Nigeria loudly boasts of having 774 local government areas across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Nigeria, as it is presently constituted on paper, runs a tripartite levels of governance: federal, state and local governments. While the first two are like the big brothers with their imposing stature and structure, their third last-born sibling, the local government, is dying or dead in different states of the federation.
Entrenched in the Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution (as amended) are autonomy of and interdependence amongst these different levels of governance for effective running of the day-to-day activities of their respective domains, essentially for the security and welfare of Nigerians.
Autonomy simply means the right or condition of self-government; freedom to act or function independently, while interdependence denotes a state of being mutually dependent or reliant on one another. Literally, these two words seem antithetical, but in the context of governance, they are not as the Constitution clearly delineates the roles and functions of each tier of government, commonly referred as the exclusive, concurrent and residual lists.
Despite being the closest to the people at the grassroots, one can convincingly argue that the local government councils all over the country are non-existent, and where present, are largely subservient and ineffective. A close look at the constitution and functions of the local government validates this claim. A local government area has a chairman, as its chief executive, and other elected members of the council, called councilors; these run the affairs of the LGA for a period of three years, starting from the date the council members take the Oath of Allegiance and the Oath of Office.
Amongst the functions of the local government as stipulated in the Constitution are the following:
One, collection of taxes and rates; two, provision of primary education; three, establishment and management of burial grounds, cemeteries and home for the invalid; four, establishment, regulation and management of motor parks, markets and public toilets; five, construction and maintenance of roads, parks, drainages, streets, and other open spaces; six, naming and numbering of streets and houses; seven, provision and management of public transportation, health centres and refuse disposal systems; eight, registration of births, deaths and marriages, etc.
However, if one samples the opinions of residents of many local government areas within the length and breadth of Nigeria, one would find out that these functions have either been hijacked by the state government or abandoned by the local government due to lack of self-governance and all it embodies. This is why many emperor governors in different states in the country, always install their stooges as either caretaker or ‘elected’ chairmen and council members, who must always do their biddings whenever they call.
We have even seen situations where governors bought nomination forms for aspiring chairmen and council members and sponsored all their campaigns. As the English adage goes, he who pays the piper calls the tune. These governors are now the Alpha and Omega whose words are law in the local government areas, thereby eroding the autonomy of the third tier, rendering it ineffective and killing it gradually, while the people pay with their lives directly or indirectly.
Also, the problem of the local government is largely fiscal. Technically, the local government as the third tier of government has financial autonomy, but realistically, that is not the case. The sharing formula amongst the three tiers of government in the federation is the federal takes 52 per cent, the state 36 per cent and the local government 21 per cent.
Overtime, the states usually take the lion share of the local government allocations, while releasing only a portion for the LGAs. This invariably makes effective governance difficult, if not impossible. This is why there is extreme infrastructural decay all over different local government areas in Nigeria, with primary education and health centres in comatose and absolute truncation. At times, the caretaker committees put in place by the state usually help themselves with even the insufficient funds of the LGAs, further compounding the problems of the people who should enjoy the dividends of democracy at the grassroots.
Then one begins to wonder what needs to be done to revive the dying or dead third tier. The panacea is for the people at the grassroots to wake up, become active citizens who will demand and fight for good governance, right from their immediate environment. While the majority are disillusioned with the state of affairs of things in the country, we must understand that nobody is coming to save us from the predatory and selfish leadership in the land. Thus, we must rise up to save ourselves, participate fully in processes that make leadership and hold those in charge accountable. An active, vibrant and vocal society will enforce good governance towards achieving the desired democratic gains.
Victor Oluwayemi, PhD is an independent researcher, who bagged his doctorate from the Department of English, University of Ibadan, with a specialisation in media and migration studies. He is a(n) social commentator, teacher, editor and research consultant. He can be reached via tvoluwayem@gmail.com.
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