Local Government and Challenges of Revenue Allocation in Nigeria (A Study of Yewa South Local Government, Ogun State) (original) (raw)
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Direct Revenue Allocation to Nigerian Local Governments: A Means to National Development
IJRDO - Journal of Business Management
The issue of revenue allocation remains very volatile, crucial and constitutes a major source of political and governmental tension in Nigeria. It has become a subject of hot debate because of the political nature of the exercise. This paper examines the revenue allocation system in Nigeria vis-à-vis the functional and institutional relevance of local government in national development. The paper strongly advocates for a direct revenue allocation to Nigerian local governments; it also identifies roles/functions capable of playing by local governments in national development; and showcases the operational and tactical roles of local government in enhancing national development. Typology of this research work is basically descriptive. Its research method is qualitative. Data for the study came primarily from secondary sources such as textbooks, journals articles, lecture notes, newspapers and academic research projects. This paper reveals the following facts: grassroots’ development i...
Revenue generation is the nucleus and the path to modern development. Thus, the study was to discuss Local Government and the controversial revenue generation saga in Nigeria: The demurrals and wayforward. The discussion is indeed necessary because local government as the third tier of government and the closest to the people especially in the rural areas needed revenue to provide basic social amenities to the people. But it is unfortunate to note that the local government management have not lived up to expectation especially to provide basic social amenities to the rural people. Thus, the objective of the research was to analyze the challenges facing Local Government in the area of revenue generation and how it affect development of Local Government in Nigeria. The researcher used secondary methods of data collection to generate the needed data. The following were some of the findings which included poor development of the areas, lack of basic social amenities to the rural people and lack of revenue to maintain the existing infrastructures. The researcher therefore recommended that the local government should provide basic amenities of high quality. By doing so, the people's interest would be geared towards giving their maximum support to the local government which would lead to the development of the rural area.
Grassroots development has always been a highly prioritized issue on the agenda of almost every nation of the world. In Nigeria, several efforts have been made by various administrations towards achieving this developmental goal. The 1976 Local Government Reforms was a great move in this direction. What actually distinguishes this reform effort from all other previous reforms in Nigeria was its formal and unequivocal recognition of local government as a distinct level of government. This was equally reinforced by several constitutional provisions in the 1979 and 1999 constitutions. Despite these great efforts which many believed would guarantee local government autonomy, there still exists a number of unresolved issues which hinders local government performance. In Nigeria, local governments get 20% statutory allocation, 10% from state " s internally generated revenue, value added tax (VAT), excess crude oil " windfall " couple with their locally generated revenue, yet, their level of project execution remain highly unsatisfactory to residents. It is therefore against this background, that this study investigates local government fiscal management and intergovernmental fiscal relations. It equally reviews statutory allocations and internally generated revenue of the selected local governments. The paper adopts the use of questionnaires to elicit data on the perceptions of local residents on the level of local government " s performance. Result shows that a strong approach to expand the scope of local autonomy will have to come through a corresponding expansion in IGR mobilization, which implies that when local government assumes a level of fiscal self-reliance, autonomy expands and performance level begins to appreciate.
Local Revenue and Services in Nigeria: The Case of Ogun State Local Governments
Annals of the Social Science Academy of Nigeria, 1992
This paper examines the links between the financial resources of local governments and the availability of local services. It also examines the 'equalisation effect' of grants from higher levels of government on resource disparities between local government areas. It was found that intergovernmental (financial) transfers do not necessarily eliminate need-resource gaps in local government areas. The existence of these gaps, in spite of grants from higher levels of government, implies that the allocation of grants negates an important objective of intergovernmental transfers, viz. to adjust for disparities in fiscal capacity among local jurisdictions caused by variations in resources, tax bases and population.
THE PROBLEMS OF EFFECTIVE UTILIZATION OF REVENUE AVAILABLE TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN NIGERIA
ABSTRACT When the researcher chose this topic: THE PROBLEMS OF EFFECTIVE UTILIZATION OF REVENUE AVAILABLE TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT, she was inspired by the high rate of embezzlement, poor leadership, low rate of accountability, general laxity of the finance department and corruption in Nigeria Local Government, and Aninri Local Government in particular. To do this, the researcher developed four (4) Questions. This questions were administered inform of questionnaires to 195 staff who were selected as a sample of the population. Apart from this, secondary data were used. In organizing and presenting data collected, tables and percentages were used as well. The data analysis revealed that ineffective utilization of revenue in the local government had created a negative impact in Aninri Local Government Area. The researcher therefore recommended that the revenue available to local government should be handled by honest and accountable personnel, those who posses sound knowledge about revenue generation and utilization. The outcome would be an effective and efficient management and utilization of local government revenue in such a way that would deliver the needed development.
Journal of Public Administration and Policy Research, 2013
The issue of revenue allocation remains very volatile and constitutes a major source of political and governmental tension in Nigeria. This paper examines the revenue allocation system in Nigeria vis-à-vis the functional and institutional relevance of local government in national development. The paper strongly advocates for a direct revenue allocation to Nigerian local governments; it also identifies roles/functions capable of playing by local governments in national development; and showcases the operational and tactical roles of local government in enhancing national development. Typology of this research work is basically descriptive. Its research method is qualitative. Data for the study came primarily from secondary sources such as articles, textbooks, lecture notes, journals, newspapers and academic research projects. The contents of numerous data gathered are fittingly analyzed. This paper reveals the following facts: grassroots' development is a forerunner of national development; basic social services are mostly needed at grassroots level; local governments afford citizens the opportunities for political participation, political socialization and political education; and local governments are capable of solving the perpetual problems of rural-urban migration, rural transformation and development. This paper assertively concludes that direct allocation of funds to local governments will facilitate promotion of grassroots' democracy, promotion of economic development, good governance, political accountability, agricultural growth and development, transparency, local freedom, accessibility to local needs, responsiveness to local wishes and initiatives, rural transformation and overall national development.
The Implication of Ineffective Utilization of Local Government Revenue in Nigeria
Local governments in Nigeria have developed over a number of years. Historically, the development of direct taxation in local government in Nigeria can be traced to the British pre-colonial period under this period, community taxes were levied on communities (Rabiu, 2004) recently the revenue that accrues to local government is derived from two broad sources, the external sources and the internal source. An effective Local Government system rests majorly on the availability of human and material resources which the nation could mobilize and harness for local governments development. In 1976, the Federal Military Government then issued guidelines on local governments reforms. The reforms which gave recognition to local governments as the third tier of government whereby government activities at the local level were taken care of. In 1988, another reform of local government was established. This gave a substantial and unprecedented reform of autonomy to the local governments in the country. With this autonomy, greater responsibilities devolved on the local government therefore, became a common knowledge that most of the local government are finding it difficult to cope with the present level of responsibilities. In addition to the participation by the local governments with state government in drawing up the economic development policies and programs of the state, local governments should also provide, maintain and control social services at the local government level. Local governments also have responsibility for primary education, agriculture and natural resources, primary health services, construction and maintenance of rural roads and rural market.
Federalism has been a mechanism that upholds unity in diversity and recognizes the value and significance of respect for minority's aspirations through vertical power sharing in a state within the federation. In Nigeria, local government system existed under different forms of system even prior to Nigerian independence but it was the Local Government reform of 1976 that institutionalized the system and made it the third tier of government. The function of local government as the third tier is in its capability of meeting the political needs of the people at the grass root as well as rendering economic and social services. Notwithstanding, the Constitutional guarantee of democratically elected local government councils, there seems to be erosion of the ideals and values that necessitate the establishment of the third tier. In light of this, the paper examines the Constitutional provision relating to Local Government statutory allocation with a view to ascertaining whether state governments should retain control of Local Government finances or not, and whether the deduction from the coffers of local governments by the state governments is lawful and justifiable.
11.[1-12]Challenges of Managing Local Government Finance in Nigeria
Since the 1976 Local Government Reforms that were undertaken to strengthen the local system in Nigeria, several challenges have cropped up, over the years, to impede the performance of local government councils in the discharge of their constitutionally assigned responsibilities. One of such challenges is the dwindling revenue base of local government councils. This paper focuses on how local government councils manage their finances against the background of lack of financial autonomy, corruption, and, undue interference in local affairs, especially in the areas of operation of joint statelocal government accounts which gives the state government undue advantage over local governments. The objective of the study to improve understanding of the revenue status of local governments so that the public may appraise the financial challenges faced by the third-tier of government in Nigeria that have adversely affected the delivery of quality services to the rural populace. The methodology used in the study was descriptive qualitative analysis. The findings show that local governments in Nigeria have not been doing well due to lack of financial autonomy, undue meddlesomeness of state governments in local affairs, corruption among local government officials, etc. it is recommended that full financial autonomy should be granted local councils on matters statutorily assigned to them, the joint state-local government councils account system should be abrogated, and honest and transparent officials should be put at the helm of affairs in the local government councils to firm up the local government system in Nigeria.