EVALUATION OF INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

1.1 Introduction

Local government is usually referred to as the foundation of any democratic and responsible government. It is the tier of government that is nearer to the citizens. Local government in many countries of the world is regarded as competent unit of government that can assess the needs of the dwellers; mobilizes and harness local resources with the help of local talents and support from the central government. Community development strategies whether they are technocratic, reformist or radical, envisages rural industrialization from the point of economic growth, regional balance and social equity. It is the constructive technical co-efficient, based on their own resource endowments that augment the additional support and determination for a strategy of rural industrialization (Okoli, 2005).

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.

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1.2 Background of Study

The local government in Nigeria is the closest government to the people especially those who reside in rural areas. It is most important institution which can be used as a tool for motivating and encouraging self-help in rural areas as well as helping rural dwellers participate in the process of decision making at the local level (Eluwa, 2012). Local government in Nigeria according to Bello- Imam (2007) was established for four main purposes which include; furtherance of democracy that involves the people’s participation, local autonomy, development of national unity and service provision such as road, healthcare among others which they can best provide compared to other government levels. He further stated that there are a number of factors that prevent the attainment of these purposes. These factors can be attributed to the inadequate and incompetent personnel, excess controls by both state and federal governments owing to the autonomy they lack, differing and conflicting orders from higher levels of government, inability of councilors and chairmen to actualize their mandate due to lack of determination as well as lack of adequate funds.

The importance of rural development as a catalyst in the general development of a nation especially a developing one like Nigeria is increasingly being given much attention. This is due to the fact that there is visible gap that exists between rural and urban areas when measured by distribution of resources, infrastructures, human resources and employment which have made rural development essential. This inequity has put rural areas in a disadvantaged situation in many sectors including the economy, politics and the likes. It has also brought about rural-urban migration which is a major consequence of rural underdevelopment and this has resulted into increased unemployment in the city while denying rural areas workforce for agriculture at the same time (Zakariyau, 2014).

Every government, irrespective of its ideological inclination is responsible for the socio, economic and cultural transformation of its people. As a system therefore, it goes beyond its intrinsic structural arrangements of the three arms (legislative, executive and judiciary). The functional segmentation into micro and macro levels in order to maximize efficiency in the distribution, re-distribution and regulation of the societal values. Though, this drive has been reflected in every face of the political history of the country, the aggressive balanced development policy of the ambitions independent Nigeria was no doubt a determinant approach at ensuring bottom up transformation through responsive decentralization of national development strategies.

Local government, which is the third tier of government in Nigeria have undergone various reform towards making the system more efficient and effective in rural development autonomy introduced by Mohammed/Obasanjo regime. The idea behind the entire exercise was to make local government an effective stratum of government rather than leaving them more appendages to their various states government (Okoli, 2005). Currently, there is no nation in the world without a local government system, though with differences. It follows that there must be a local body conversant with the local needs and problems. This body should be created by law to provide services to the local people by means of an elected council which is served by professional officers.

Therefore, in Enugu State where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to evaluate the Institutional Support of Local Government in Community Development.

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1.3 Statement of Problems

The problem of local government not serving their functions is a pervasive and recurring one. This is due to the glaring underperformance of the administrators that are saddled with the responsibility of managing the government resources at the grassroots level for development of rural communities. The local government is expected to become more active in facilitation social and economic development at the grassroots level. The local government is a potential social and economic booster if well equipped. Although some factors like inadequate finance, lack of technical manpower, denial of autonomy militate against the efficient administration at the local level. The local government despite these problems struggles to maintain a high standard in socio-economic development.

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1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to evaluate the Institutional Support of Local Government in Community Development using Udi Local Government Area in Enugu State as a case study. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To examine ways of making institutional support local government effective and efficient in the discharge of its duties;
2. To find out ways of encouraging and mobilizing the local people to participate in the activities of the local government;
3. To explore means of developing the socio-economic activities of the people at the grassroots level; and
4. To proffer solutions to some of these factors that has affected the institutional support development of local government area in Nigeria.

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1.5 Research Questions

The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:

• What are the ways of making institutional support local government effective and efficient in the discharge of its duties?
• What are the means of developing the socio-economic activities of the people at the grassroots level?
• What are the ways of encouraging and mobilizing the local people to participate in the activities of the local government?
• What are the solutions to some of these factors that have affected the institutional support development of local government area in Nigeria?

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1.6 Research Hypothesis

In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.

Hypothesis One

• H0: There is no way of making institutional support local government effective and efficient in the discharge of its duties
• H1: There is way of making institutional support local government effective and efficient in the discharge of its duties

Hypothesis Two

• H0: There is no significant factor that has affected the institutional support development of local government area in Enugu State
• H1: There is significant factor that has affected the institutional support development of local government area in Enugu State

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1.7 Significance of Study

The findings of this study will generally aid to the growing number of literatures on local government affairs more particularly on the roles of local government administration in economic and social development of rural areas in Nigeria and pragmatic solutions offered towards making them more efficient and responsive to the needs of rural dweller and also to policy makers and researchers alike.

To practitioners and researchers in the field of local government administration, the research study will thus serve as a reference material and a source of secondary data to researchers.

To the government at all levels, the study will serve as basis for the states and federal government to work towards discovering the importance of local government system as to making the local government system within their jurisdiction more viable.

This study will be of immense benefit to other researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.

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1.8 Scope of Study

The scope of this research is focused on the Evaluation of Institutional Support of Local Government in Community Development using Udi Local Government Area in Enugu State as a case study.

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1.9 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
3. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
4. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

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1.10 Definition of Terms

Local Government: Ugwu (2002) defined local government as third tier level of government created for the purpose efficient and effective administration of the localities while the 1976 local government reform conceived local government as government at the local level exercise through representatives council established by the law to exercise specific power within defined areas.