CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Local Government administration in Nigeria has passed through four distinct phases. The first phase or epoch covered the period between 1914 and 1950; the second period fell within 1950 to 1966, the third epoch 1967 to 1976, while the final era was from 1976 to date (Olasupo, and Fayomi, 2012).

The period (1976-1979) in which the military administration of Murtala/Obasanjo lasted, is usually regarded as a period of watershed in the annals of local government administration in Nigeria. It was the first time a concerted effort would be made by the federal government to brighten the future of local government. Local Government was not only accorded its pride of place in the socio-economic well-being of the country, it was also seen as a way of bringing government closer to the people. Consequently, a uniform system known as single tier structure was adopted throughout the country (Kunle, p.130, 2005). This uniformity, according to Kunle, can be conceptualized in terms of the following:

(a) The functions of local governments;

(b) The structure of the local governments;

(c) The financial resources of the local governments;

(d) The place of traditional institutions in the local governments;

(e) Relationships with state government; and

(f) Law enforcement.

In terms of functions, there was uniformity of function and responsibilities for all the local governments throughout the federation. These functions and responsibilities were later to be enshrined in the 1979 Constitution of Nigeria.

The political and administrative structures were also uniform in all the local governments in Nigeria. Every local government council was headed by an elected chairman. The administrative wing was headed by career administrator styled secretary to the local governments. In addition, all local governments were departmentalized.

In order to ensure that every local government has a successful take-off, the then federal government made available a sum of one hundred million (N100 million) during the 1976/77 financial year to all the local governments in the federation. It must be stressed that, that was the first time a substantial amount of money would be disbursed to local government in Nigeria. According to Ola (1984, p.90) this sum (N100 million) can easily be compared with a grant of N1million and N1.5million made to each state of the then existing twelve states in the federation during the 1973/ 74 and 1974/75 fiscal years respectively for distribution to their local government. Similarly in 1977/78, the sum of N250 million was earmarked; in the same period, the sum of N300 million was appropriated while in 1980, N278 million was allocated (Kunle, p.131, 2005).

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