Fluidity in democratic local governance: the Achilles’ heel of Nigerian Local Government

Democratic local governance emerged in Nigeria in the 1950s as a result of the granting of regional self-government status by the British colonial government. After more than sixty years of local democracy in the country, it is regrettable that while local government is of strategic importance in the national development process, its contribution has not been substantial. This is in spite of enormous resources that have been committed to ensuring that it contributes significantly to the national development process. Advancing the capacity of local governments to act effectively and accountably requires democratic local governance, relative autonomy and the political will of the local actors to engage in activities that significantly benefit the local populace. The argument of this paper is that, while these three factors are prerequisites for sound local government, the issue of democratic local governance is the key factor which when addressed will drive and strengthen the other two factors to put local government on a sound footing. Where democratic local governance advances and flourishes, decentralisation becomes more effective and local governments and the communities concerned gain the authority, resources, and skills to make responsive choices and to act on them effectively and accountably.Keywords: Democratic local governance, local government, Nigeria

The Problem of Integrating Traditional Rulers Into the Contemporary Local Government System in Nigeria: A Pathway to Resolving the Challenge

This paper attempts an examination of the problem of integrating traditional rulers into the contemporary local government system in Nigeria with a view of resolving the problems arising from the tradition/modernity nexus in the present scheme of things. Two basic questions guided this work. The first question relates to the relevance of indigenous traditional institutions to the challenges of contemporary democratic process. The second question relates to whether traditional modes of thought behaviour and institutions constitute resources or impediments to the projects of modernization and development. This paper concludes that the goal of modernization is to generate rapid increase in social wealth and its driving force is economic development; and where traditional institutions are able to contribute positively to this goal, it should not be jettisoned.Key words: Traditional Authority Systems, Traditional Rulers (Emirs, Obas),Cultural Revivalism, Antimodern

Spoils politics and environmental struggle in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria

The protracted conflict in the Niger Delta communities is currently being diagnosed with a view to understanding the nature of the resource struggle. From the 1980s, the region’s cry of marginalization and exclusion from oil revenue allocation was couched in a wave of environmentalism. Environmental activism had assumed the shape of peaceful community protests against the transnational oil companies and was largely directed at ecological remediation and environmental justice. Environmentalism has now assumed new dimensions both in demands and strategy. The struggle has advanced to a low intensity conflict ostensibly against the state which has resulted in the militarization of the region. Although amnesty has been granted the militants by the federal government since October 2009 as a first step to resolving the conflict, there has been criticism trailing its framing and implementation that did not take into account some historical and socio-political antecedents of conflicts in the region. This paper revisits these and applies the greed and grievance framework to investigate the nature of the conflicts. It examines the pattern of environmentalism and discusses the complex nature of the conflicts against the curtailment of primordial motivations if environmental justice is to be achieved. Contrary to the literature, it demonstrates how grievance may manifest in greed in a mutually reinforcing pattern.Keywords: Greed, grievance, militancy, environmentalism, Niger Delta, Nigeri

The dilemma of Local Government at Work in Nigeria

This paper attempts a scan of local government at work in Nigeria in the critical areas of revenue generation, budgeting, development planning, provision of services, and community mobilization. The study reveals that the third tier of government in Nigeria is still characterised by low revenue generation ability, inability to provide adequate services and amenities both in quantitative and qualitative terms, tendency to prepare ambitious budgets, inability to avail of the benefits of development planning and to live up to the expectations of their clientele. For the citizenry at large, especially the illiterate and rural communities that form the bulk of the population of the local governments in many cases, there is a great deal of frustration arising from the poor performance of local governments in the country over the years. This situation is not peculiar to Nigeria alone. Similar scenario is witnessed in other developing countries. The Nigerian case however provides us facts which when analysed provide us  pathological clues to the maladies afflicting local governments in less developed countries.Keywords: local government; revenue generation; budgeting, development planning; community mobilization