ABSTRACT
The study examined Local Governments Fiscal Autonomy and its impacts in Rural Development in Nigeria with particular focus in Akwa Ibom State. The study maintained that Functionality of local governments is strongly tied to the financial resources available to it. Local governments which were created to provide developments at the grassroots level, finds it so difficult to satisfy such objectives as a result of financial problems due to state interference on local government internal affairs.This study analyzed the challenges in enforcing local government financial autonomy in Nigeria. The study adopted Descriptive and Survey research methods and data were collected using secondary and primary sources. The population of the study was drawn from six local governments in Akwa Ibom State. Sixty-seven respondents were randomly selected from each of the communities bringing the total sample size to four hundred and two (402). Four hundred and two questionnaires were distributed by the researcher out of which three hundred and eighty (380) were retrieved for analysis and to test the hypotheses raised for the study. Major findings of the study revealed among others that despite the constitution provision for local government as the third tier of government, local governments in Nigeria found it so difficult to function effectively due to insufficient finances, lack of political will on the part of the Nigerian government, as well as inconsistent statutory allocation among others.Based on the above findings, it was recommended, among others, that the practice of state, local government’s joint account should be abolished, and that local government statutory allocation from the federation account should be paid directly to local government account, rather than State / local government joint account. Also critical attention needs to be paid to the local government financial issues as institutions that play diverse roles in consolidating grass root development in Nigeria.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE: BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
2.1 Conceptual Clarification – – – – – – – 14
2.2 Review of General Literature – – – – – – – 23
2.2.1 Local Government Development in Nigeria, Historical Perspective – – 29
2.2.2 The Vexed Issue of Local Government Autonomy under Nigerian Federation 36
2.2.3 An Overview of local Government Autonomy in Nigeria – – – 42
2.2.4 The constitutional limit to local government autonomy in Nigeria – – 48
2.2.5 Strengthening the local government system within the precepts of – –
a federal structure – – – – – – – – 49
2.3 Review of theoretical Literature – – – – – – 53
2.4 Theoretical Framework – – – – – – – 58
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research Design 61
3.2 ResearchArea 61
3.3 Population and Sample Size 62
3.4 Sample and Sampling Technique 64
3.5 Data Collection Technique 65
3.6 Instrumentation 66
3.7 Validity of Instrument 66
3.8 Reliability of Instrument 66
3.9 Method of Data Analysis 67
3.10 Limitation of the Study 67
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS,
AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Data Presentation 68
4.2 Data Analysis 77
4.3 Discussion of Findings 86
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Summary of Findings 88
5.2 Conclusion 89
5.3 Recommendations 90
5.4 Contribution to Knowledge 91
5.5 Suggestions for Further Research 91
REFERENCES 92
APPENDICES
LIST OF TABLES
TABLES TITLES PAGE
3.3 Population and Sample Size 62
4 .1: Distribution of Questionnaires 68
4.1.2: Percentage of Useful Questionnaires 69
4.1.3; Demographic Characteristics of Respondents 70
4.1.4 Distribution of Respondents by Age 70
4.1.5 Distribution of Respondents by Occupation 71
4.1.6 Distribution of Respondents by Marital 71
4.1.7 Distribution of Respondents by Education Background 72
4.1.8 Analysis of respondents from the question: how does Poor
implementation of environmental protection policies aggravate the
negative effect of oil exploration activities in Akwa Ibom State? 73
4.1.9: Analysis of respondents from the question: What is the resultant
impact ofcrude oil exploration and production on the environment
and Agricultural Production in Akwa Ibom State 74
4.1.10: Analysis of respondents from the question: How does oil
exploration activity posehealth risk in oil producing communities
in Akwa Ibom State? 76
4.1.11 Distribution of the Observed and Expected Frequencies for hypothesis III 78
CHAPTER ONE
BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Nigeria as a sovereign nation operates on a federal arrangement which encompasses the federal government, state and the local government councils. Onwo (1992) observed that each level of the three tiers of government derives it powers not from the magnanimity of the central government, but from the constitution; each level of government has defined responsibilities assigned to it by the constitution. The implication of this is that the three segments of governments are mutually interrelated in a unified effort to make life worth-while for the masses. Local governments operate at the grass root and are expected to provide services to their stakeholders. In a federal system like that of Nigeria, local governments are close to the people and hence could effectively alter socio-economic and political conditions within their jurisdictions. Apart from providing and maintaining basic infrastructure, local governments can complement the economic activities of other levels. This of course depends on the availability and proper utilization of funds.
The importance of finance in any administrative setting including those of government machinery at the grassroots level cannot be dismissed just with the wave of the hand. This is because financial issues in most cases occupy the very nucleus of any human relationship in a complex organization which provides social services for the general public or produces goods for profit making. In the case of local government authorities which have specified functions to perform, and social services to provide in their various localities, the place of finance no doubt deserves serious academic attention (Lawal, 2000). 1
Revenue generation is therefore an important issue for local government councils. It is through this activity that councils source the finance for funding their operation, thus to a large extent, determining the quantity and quality of services provided to the generality of people within their domain. These reason, coupled with the fact that Local government are engines of growth and development, make imperative the need for local governments to map out strategies for improvin
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