Prior to 1976, Nigeria operated multiple local government councils based on the British, French and American models. The North experimented a system of local government known as Native Authorities, which consisted of a Chief with a council called either Chief and Council or Chief - in -Council. The system was also known as the Lugardian Native Authority System. The Native Authority System preserved and restored the authority of the traditional rulers which made it easy to maintain law and order. The sizes of the native authorities in the Northern region were large and that made them difficult to be administered from a particular centre.The number of local councils were more manifest in southern Nigeria. There were as many as five different kinds of local government councils in each of the two southern regions of Nigeria and they included: local councils; all-purpose district councils; divisional councils; and city councils. These local government councils were not subordinate to each other and the instrument that created them specified their functions and powers and the areas of their jurisdiction. The structure of these Southern Nigeria councils was fashioned in a way that the territory of Lagos had one - tier system; the then Eastern Region had two -tier system while the Western and Mid- Western regions had a three-tier system.In the National Guidelines for Local Government Reform published in August 1976 by the then Gen. Obasanjo administration aimed mainly at unifying the hitherto multiple system of local government in Nigeria as a strong third-tier of government in practical terms, a lot of changes were carried out in the system of local government in Nigeria.It defined a local government as a government at the local level established by law to perform specific functions within defined areas. Local governments are vested with substantial powers to take control over local affairs. Again the 1999 Constitution empowers the states to control the local governments, which the Federal Government cannot do.However, the way local governments operate today show abysmal failure of leadership from the centre, which has led to high profile corruption in the country. Local governments has become embodiment of callous debauchery thereby messing up the purpose of setting them up.Though Nigeria has 774 recognised local governments to meet the required needs of the local people, poverty has become endemic in the country, leading to many calling for their total scrapping. Though the then military governments distorted the local government reforms, the succeeding civilian governments have not made any efforts to revive it. Instead, stories of embezzlement in the councils by the so-called administrators abound. Some of the state governments have also established Local Council Development Areas to meet the demands of common people. Yet, these LCDAs have not helped to alleviate the sufferings of the common people while those elected to control the local affairs are only interested in embezzling the council funds. If these local governments can manage their resources efficiently, the local people can equally feel the presence of government.It is lamentable that ever since local governments were set up, nothing significant has happened to the local people other than massive corruption that has ravaged the entire system. Some states have over 24 or 30 local governments each, yet no meaningful development takes place. Some party leaders have dubiously used their power to impose unpopular candidates on the electorate, making some elected council chairmen and councillors to indulge in massive diversion of public funds. Besides, the condition of infrastructure at the local governments is deplorable because some of the state governments are not adequately monitoring the activities of the local councils.Godday Aguriase Odidi, 20, Oro Street, Ajegunle, Apapa, Lagos. 08058124798, 07086603306
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