16 Nov 2008 |
|
Who Wants Local Councils Scrapped? By Reuben Abati Some Senators from the South South are insisting that local councils should be expunged from the Constitution as a third tier of government by the Joint Constitution Review Committee of the National Assembly. Theirs is one of those typical Nigerian responses: if a system is not working, jettison it. But the best treatment for headache can't certainly be the removal of the head. What exactly is the problem with local councils in Nigeria? The general consensus is that local councils are ineffectual and inefficient. The 1999 Constitution in the Fourth Schedule assigns a number of responsibilities to local councils. These are essentially grassroots functions, focussing on the quotidian needs of the people. The principle is that local council administration and the involvement of local people in the making of their own circumstances should be a major aspect of Nigeria's economic and democratic development. But since the colonial era, this has been a major source of anxiety. It is often said that things worked better in Nigeria in the past but that is not ncessarily true with regard to local administration. For example, the Ibadan District Council established in 1954, was soon overtaken and hobbled by partisan political interests. Even the Ibadan Municipal Government (1957 - 1979) which produced a number of star administrators had a chequered history. Tunji Bello in his "Why Our LGAs Don't Work" (ThisDay, October 2, 2007) has made an exception for the Lagos City Council and cited military rule as a negative factor, this may be true but usually even where certain local councils have shown some creativity perhaps on account of the personality of the leadership at a particular time, this has not been sustainable. This failure has inspired many attempts at reform and redemption. There was the famous 1976 Local Government Reform with the objective of making local councils more accountable. By 1986, under the Babangida administration, the problem had still not been solved, prompting the Political Bureau set up by that administration to pay special attention to the importance of local government and the need to upgrade it. A year earlier, there had in fact been a Dasuki Committee on Local Administration in Nigeria which made far-reaching recommendations on how local councils could be strengthened. The Dasuki Committee recommended further decentralisation of local councils, the autonomy of local councils, higher revenue allocation to local councils and a change of attitude towards local councils by both Federal and state governments. The Dasuki report was thorough and instructive. In May 1989 and again in September 1991, the Babangida administration created more local councils, rasing the number within a two-year period from 301 to 589. By 1999, the number stood at 774 including the six area councils of the Federal Capital Territory, all listed in the First Schedule of the 1999 Constitution. Some state governments, notably Lagos and Enugu states, exercising their powers to establish local councils under Section 7 of the Constitution have since created development centres and neighbourhood committees to further decentralise the governance process. Still, the Nigerian people complain about the absence of government in their lives. Local councils and their personnel are unpopular. They are famous more for the punitive, multiple levies they collect from the people, and their arrogant officials who demand bribe even from couples seeking to formalise their union at the marriage registry. In 1999, the politicians who took over power from the soldiers had promised to strengthen the local government system by returning power to the people at the grassroots level, by involving the people in the running of their own affairs, and by making government meaningful to their needs and aspirations. But in virtually every sphere, and particularly in relation to local administration, the new rulers have proved to be worse than the soldiers they replaced. Local councils are ineffective for a number of reasons, majorly, excessive federal and state government control, and continuous interference in local government affairs. Local governments are usually referred to as the third tier of government, considering that they derive their powers from the Constitution, but the paradox is that they do not constitute an autonomous tier of government. Section 7 of the 1999 Constituion ties them to the apron-strings of the state government, by empowering states to legislate for their creation, structure, composition, finance and functions. It is a power that state governments wield to the hilt. In virtually every state, local councils exist only in name as states encroach on their functions. Power is exercised almost solely by the state Governor who parades himself as the "Executive Governor", a title that is unknown to the 1999 Constitution. He is also the party leader and officially, the "wisest" man in the state!. Local Government Chairmen are the Governor's "yes men", and any council chairman who tries to assert himself could be suspended from office or removed. In the case of one independent-minded local council chairman in Ekiti state between 2003 and 2007, he was visited at night by assassins! This over-centralisation of power defeats the principle of federalism behind the idea of separate tiers of government. It is one of the sore points of Nigerian democracy. In terms of financing, the 1999 Constitution further places the local councils under the control of the states; Section 162(6) creates a "State Joint Local Government Account", the definition of which is further provided in sub-sections 7 and 8 to wit the state is given powers to pay local councils under its jurisdiction on "such terms and in such manner as may be prescribed by the National Assembly... or as may be prescribed by the House of the state". There is an unstated reference here to the Federal Allocation Formula under which the local councils are entitled to 20% of Federal Revenue. In reality, the councils never get their share of Revenue Allocation. Their resources are diverted by both the Federal and state governments. Under the Obasanjo administration for example, money was deducted at source from local council revenue for the purported construction of healthcare centres in all 774 local councils by the Federal Government. The Yar'�dua government has since ordered the re-payment of this illegal deduction, and we can only hope the money has been paid back with interest! State governments under the guise of helping the local councils to perform their functions also divert or withhold money meant for them. The Lagos state government between 1999 and 2007 even came up with the novelty of alleging that all the council chairmen in the state had willingly ceded some of their functions under the Constitution to the state government! During the First (1960 - 1966) and Second (1979 - 1983) Republics, the foundation for the excessive politicisation of local government affairs had been laid but the sins of old are incomparable to contemporary ommissions. Local council elections are conducted by State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIEC) which are invariably controlled by state governments. The SIECs are a creation of Section 197 of the 1999 Constituion but there is nothing independent about them. State Governors are desperate to win council elections since this is a reflection of the standing of political parties at the grassroots level. Those elections are rigged even more brazenly than any other election, as in the example of the nationwide council elections in PDP-controlled states in December 2007. In April 2007, even out-going Governors (Oyo state's Rashidi Ladoja and Plateau's Joshua Dariye) wanted to conduct local council polls before the expiration of their tenure so they could install their loyalists in power at the grassroots. The attitude/quality of persons at the local council level is another major part of the problem. Local council chairmen between 1999 and 2007 set up an organisation, a strange creation called ALGON: Association of Local Governments Of Nigeria under which these Chairmen purport to speak with one voice, and agree on projects of common interest. It represents a silly and beggarly cop-out, since local council administration is meant to highlight local differences and comparative advantages, and diversities rather than a uniform approach to governance. Equally strange is the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE). There is a centralisation mentality, also at the local council level which defeats entreprise and innovation. But worse is the obsession of local council perosnnel with chieftaincy titles and ceremonies, and their well-adverstised corruption. Whatever funds are allocated to, or levies collected by the councils are shared between the Chairman and his councillors, the so-called legislative assembly at the coucil level exits only in name. In many local councils, the level of staffing is poor, the leadership is made up of the flotsam and the jetsam of the community, motor park touts, stark illiterates, and the like. State Governors out of insecurity do not encourage local stars and competitors to become Local Government Chairmen. Scrapping local councils would however not solve any of these problems, it would only make State Governors more powerful, centralise power further, create more opportunities for theft, and widen the gap between the grassroots and government. The continuing challenge is how to decentralise power, ensure proper federalism, and strengthen the local councils beginning with the Constitution amendment process, which hopefully the present National Assembly will take more seriously. In relation to local councils, Sections 7, 162, 197 and the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution are in need of urgent review. Under the Fourth Schedule in particular, Bakassi Local Government continues to be listed as part of Nigeria long after it had been unlawfully ceded to Cameroon! The local councils must become autonomous, the State Local Government Joint Account should be scrapped, and the Federal Revenue Formula should be reviewed in favour of the local councils, state governments should no longer conduct elections into state councils, structures should be created to ensure greater accountability at the council level, entry level qualification for council elections should be raised and the people must become more vigilant in asking questions about how local resources are spent. Rediscovering that level of people participation in local politics is essential. The bigger task is the much needed reform of Nigeria's political culture, which has long been hijacked by a privilege-seeking elite and the belief that money-making is the purpose of politics. A View Of Nigeria I HAVE been reading Martin Meredith's The State of Africa: A History of Fifty Years of Independence (Jonathan Ball, 2006) and Richard Dowden's Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles (Portobello Books, 2008). Nigeria continues to generate much interest in Africana studies, but it is unfortunate that we continue to show up in major reviews and publications as a nation of failed potentials, a nation that tags along nonetheless, and has refused to change and grow in spite of the enormous abilities of its people and the vast resources of its land. Karl Maier's This House Has Fallen (London, 2002), a dour portrayal of life and society in Nigeria had generated much concern, but Meredith and Dowden, both journalists and writers who know Africa intimately and have written extensively on the subject, also offer insights that are equally instructive as enlightening contributions to the African debate. Meredith traces Nigeria's descent into normlessness in the context of similar failures across sub-Saharan Africa. Dowden's more sympathetic and partly-autobiographical reflection on Africa is equally detailed and rich. His portrait of Nigeria in Chapter 16: "Look Out World: Nigeria" is worth reading. It is so hauntingly true, it is annoying. Dowden doesn't spare any detail, he knows Nigeria too well, he traces the roots of its failure. He begins as follows: "Nigeria has a terrible reputation. Tell someone that you are going to Nigeria and if they haven't been there themselves, they offer sympathy. Tell anyone who has been to Nigeria and they laugh. Then they offer sympathy. No tourists go there. Only companies rich enough to keep their staff removed from the realities of Nigerian life do business there. And big companies rarely mention Nigeria in their annual reports for fear of hwat it will do to their share price. Journalists treat it like a war zone. Diplomats regard it as a punishment posting. Everyone has a Nigeria story from beyond the normal bounds of credibility. Some are terrifying. Most are funny. Nigerian politicians try to pretend that its bad image is some Western conspiracy against Nigeria and Africa. The truth is that Nigeria's popular image falls short of reality. It is not just white visitors who fear it. I told a Ghanaian cab driver in London that I was going to Nigeria. He was quiet for a moment. Then he said: '� lived in Lagos once. Give me a million - a billion pounds, I would not go back there. Never. It is the most terrible place in the world.' Lagos is the heart of Nigeria and its gateway to the world. Vast, ugly, sweaty, traffic-jammed, smog-choked, Lagos is a cauldron of superlatives all fighting each other, a frenzy of hustling humanity, scrabbling for survival. 'The land of no tomorrow' is how one Nigerian journalist described Nigeria. Lagos is the city of no tomorrow. People here live as if their future depends on what they can grab today.....Lagos is like a Hong Kong feeeling it's fallen behind, a New York without the good manners...Impenetrable, incomprehensible to outsiders, Lagos survives. It pulsates. It grows. It works. So does Nigeria. By any law of political or social science it should have collapsed or disintegrated years ago. Indeed it has been described as a failed state that works..." Uhmn. Does this country really work?
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
# 
Your Comments
Please make The Square an enjoyable experience for everyone by refraining from gratuitous ad-hominem contributions, defamatory comments and off-topic posting. Such posts will be removed.