NIGERIAN JOURNAL OF ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCE, 7/4, 2007

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 ECOLOGICAL CONTEXT OF NIGERIAN LOCAL GOVERNMENT

D. A TONWE & FRIDAY NCHUCHUWE

The efficiency and effectiveness of local government institutions in subserving local,

regional and national goals in modern societies is becoming more problematic than ever.

Efforts directed toward making local governments more efficient and effective is usually

approached through structural and institutional reforms. This has not yielded the

anticipated results. This study purports that the performance of local governments is

more affected by ecological factors than structural and institutional defects.

Accordingly, this paper reviews the ecological context of local government in Nigeria.

The political, economic, social-cultural and constitutional/legal components of the

ecology are highlighted. The study reveals that the environmental spectrum in which

local government operates in Nigeria has three major parts; fluid national polity,

heterogeneous poly-normative society and imbalanced fluctuating 1 economy.

Interacting at the local level, it has manifested itself in a system of local government

which is marked by institutional fragility, particularistic orientations and economics of

non-viability. The prevailing system of local government has proved to be incapable of

contributing to the realization of nation and state-building goals.

Introduction

The structure and functions, as well as the aims and objectives of government at the

local level all over the world do not vary widely when compared institutionally. This

fact notwithstanding, there is a great difference between local governments in terms of

their efficiency and effectiveness all over the world. The implication of this is that,

besides the formal structural and organizational arrangements, there are other factors

which serve both as the support and constraints for efficient and effective functioning

of local governments. The socio-cultural, economic and political milieu in which Public

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Administration-national, state or local operates, serve as parameters for the attainment

or non-attainment of set goals and objectives.

At In systemic terms, government at the local level is continually interacting with

(affected by as well as affecting), social, political, and economic sub-systems in the

society. Without giving adequate attention to these parameters, it becomes difficult, if

not impossible, to comprehend why the same structural and organizational

arrangement fail in one place and succeed in another.

It is worth mentioning however that, the idea of emphasizing ecological perspective in

Public Administration is not new. Eminent scholars like F.W. Riggs, Roscoe Martins,

John M. Gaus and Robert Dalh have emphasized the need to study the ecology of Public

Administration. Riggs himself asserted that comparative studies have their highest

value and relevance when they are empirical, nomothetic and ecological (Riggs 1962:15).

It is however interesting to note that contemporary scholars are giving an

unprecedented boost to the ecological approach in their research efforts in Public

Administration because of growing realization among them of the fact that, the march

towards evolving a science of administration would be greatly enhanced by

emphasizing the ecological perspective. Thus, it is prudent to study the ecological

parameters of local government in the Nigerian setting.

Political Geography: The Nation, States and Local Governments

Nigeria is a large country having a complex society. Nigeria like other countries in the

African continent is a historical accident. Her boundaries and peoples within them

presented no more than the limits of British Power at the time of partitioning of Africa

(Coleman 1955:41). It is bounded on the East by Republic of Cameroun, on the West by

the Republic of Benin, on the North by Republic of Niger and washed on the South by

the Atlantic Ocean. It covers an area of 923,768 square kilometers (one of the biggest in

Africa) and has a population of 140 million people which makes it the largest political

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unit in Africa. Nigeria has 36 political sub-units in the form of States, a Federal Capital

Territory serving as the Nation's Capital and 774 Local Government Areas. Appendix 1

shows the breakdown in this regard.

Political Component

The existence of Nigeria as a political entity dates back only to January 1, 1914 when the

Protectorates of Northern and Southern Nigeria and the Colony and Protectorate of

Lagos were amalgamated. At that time the British established a unitary political-

administrative system for the entire country.

By the 1930s, administrative convenience necessitated the division of the country into

four parts, namely, the colony of Lagos, Northern, Eastern and Western Regions. The

existence of the three regions as political entities was recognized in 1946. Under the 1951

constitution, the three Regional Administrations became Regional Governments in their

respective jurisdictions. Self-Government was granted to the Eastern and Western

regions in 1957 and to the Northern Region in 1959 as a precursory step towards the

nation's Independence, which was granted on October 1, 1960. Exactly three years later,

on October 1, 1963, Nigeria became a Republic, thus 'severing' all colonial links with the

British crown, but retaining her membership of the commonwealth.

It is worth mentioning that the struggle for Independence from the colonial rulers was

characterized by relatively lesser violence and bloodshed when compared with a

number of other British colonies. No doubt during the colonial era, there were incidence

of riots and disturbances, and Nigeria must have had more constitutions in fewer years

than most countries in the world, hut each was a definite step forward and was born out

of logic not bloodshed or civil commotion (Niven 1967:227). This acknowledged political

peace during the colonial era was short-lived and did not characterize the state of affairs

after Independence.

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After Independence, Nigeria adopted the Federal-Parliamentary system of Government

and for the first time Nigerians had an opportunity to shape the destiny of the country

in the form of an organized civil rule. January 15, 1966 (hardly six years after the

emergence of civil rule) saw the end of civilian administration following a bloody coup

d'etat by the military which brought Major General J.T.U. Aguiyi Ironsi to power. The

military cited the break down of administration in the country, corruption, etc. as their

reasons for taking over power. With this action of the military, they set a precedent that

was characteristic of the Nigerian political system until 1999.

July 29, 1966 witnessed a counter bloody coup which brought Lt. Colonel Yakubu

Gowon (later General) to power. His assumption of power sparked off tension in the

country. Some military officers particularly those from the Eastern Region, saw Gowon's

assumption of office as Head of State as irregular, as there were other officers in the

army that were senior to him in rank. The Eastern region on May 30, 1967 resolved to

secede from th6 country and proclaimed the region tile Republic of Biafra with Lt.

Colonel Ojukwu (later General in the Biafran Army) as Head of State. This proclamation

immediately sparked off a civil war in the country which ended with the country

remaining one in 1970. Earlier, on May 26, 1967, in the hope of forestalling succession

by appealing to minority groups in the Eastern Region, General Gowon decreed the

division of the four regions which made up Nigeria into twelve states.

On July 29, 1975 General Gowon's administration was toppled in a bloodless coup in

which Brigadier (later General) Murtala Muhammed became Head of State. Soon after

his administration took over the reins of government, it announced its programme to

relinquish power and return the country to a democratically elected government by

October 1, 1979. The program included:

(i) the creation of more states,

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 (ii) reform of the local government system and elections to local government

councils throughout the country,

(iii) the preparation of a Draft Constitution by a Drafting Committee and the

consideration of the Draft Constitution by the Constituent Assembly

composed of largely of elected representatives and a number of people

representing special interests, and

(iv) the establishment of a Federal Electoral Commission for the organisation of

elections at the Federal, State and Local levels.

During his administration, seven more states were created, which brought the number

of states in the country to nineteen. Though, General Muhammed was killed on

February 13, 1976, in an abortive coup, his administration continued under Major

General (later General) Olusegun Obasanjo.

The Muhammed/Obsanjo administration worked strictly according to their political

programme and as expected, October 1, 1979 witnessed the end of thirteen years of

military rule in the country and a democratically elected government was installed. The

country adopted a presidential system of government modelled in line with that of the

United States.

The second attempt by Nigerians to practice democracy was also short-lived. It was

marred by violence owing to electoral malpractices in the 1983 elections, corruption and

a down-turn in the Nigerian economy. The military took advantage of the chaotic

situation and seized power on December 31, 1983 and Major-General Buhari assumed

the office of Head of State.

On August 17, 1985 (less than two years later) Major- General Buhari's regime was

overthrown in a counter coup and Major General (later General) Ibrahim Babangida

assumed the office of President of the country. On October 1, 1987 the military

administration under General Babangida created two more states, bringing the number

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of states in the country to twenty-one. Eleven more states were created by the Babangida

administration in August 1991 bringing the number of States in the country to thirty.

The political programme of the Babangida military regime was to relinquish power and

return the country to a democratically elected government under a two-party system by

August 27, 1993. In pursuance of the administration's programme to return the country

to civil rule come 1993, a preliminary nation-wide local government election was held

on December 12, 1987 on non-party basis for a two year term. In 1989 the elected local

government councils were dissolved as a way of forestalling incumbents taking

advantage when party politics becomes operational. In December 1990 elections on

party basis took place at the local government level.

The transition programme of General Babangida to return the country to civilian rule

ran into troubled waters when it, became obvious that he had no genuine plan to

relinquish power to civilians. The Third Republic could only have emergency interim

government under Chief Ernest Sonekan who was toppled after a couple of months in

office by General Sanni Abacha in 1993.

On October 1, 1996, six additional states were created by the Sanni Abacha regime after

overthrowing the fragile Shonekan's interim administration put in place by General

Banbagida. This brought the number of states in the country to thirty-six. Abacha's plan

to succeed himself as civilian president failed due to his demise in 1998.

General Abdulsalam Abubakar took over the mantle of leadership and within an

unprecedented short period handed over power to an elected civilian government on

May 29, 1999. Chief Olusegun Obasanjo emerged as President in the country's Fourth

Republic. President was in power as civilian president up to 2007 when Musa Y'Adua

was elected President of the country.

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It is evident from the events catalogued above that in contrast to the widely

acknowledged peaceful political atmosphere in Nigeria during the struggle for political

Independence, the Post-Independence political atmosphere has been turbulent.

The fluid nature of the political set-up since Independence notwithstanding, Nigeria has

traditionally been a federal polity. This was categorically recognized with the granting

of self-government to the Eastern and Western Regions in 1957 and to the Northern

Region in 1959 before the country was granted Independence in 1960.

The fluid and turbulent nature of the country's political setting as had a great deal of

impact on the local government system. Instability in the National Government has also

meant instability in the governments at the state and local levels. A change from civil

rule to military rule involves a substantial change in policy and approach which

permeates all the levels of government. One important development that has

accompanied the creation of more states in Nigeria has been the creation of more local

governments and thus disrupting existing social harmony and concomitant

development efforts of the grass-roots citizenry. The creation of six states by General

Sanni Abacha's administration for example was accompanied by the creation of

additional 182 new local government areas. Inconsistency in policy and approach

constitutes a serious handicap to the efficiency and effectiveness of local government,

since it is much more difficult for local government to adjust to such frequent and

disruptive changes.

Socio-Cultural Component

Nigeria is a multi-ethnic society. Ethnographers estimate that there are well over two

hundred and fifty ethnic groups in Nigeria. Only a handful of these ethnic groups,

however, are undeniably distinct. There are three major ethnic groups in the country;

the Hausa- Fulani in the North, the Yoruba in the south-west and the Ibo in the south-

east. Other principal ethnic groups are the Edo (Bini), Efik, Urhobo, Ijaw, Tiv, and

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Kanuri. Except in very few cases, such as the Itsekiri which is an ethnic group and has

one language/dialect, these ethnic groups consist of smaller social groups speaking more

than one dialect. For instance, there exist the Ibo of Onitsha, Oguta, etc., the Yoruba of

Ekiti, Ijesha, Oyo and so on, the Urhobo of Okpe, Agbon, Ughelli, Agboro, Effurun, ete.

Usually, the various social groups forming one ethnic group share many social sub-

systems particularly religious and ancestral, and are wrapped together in many ways

through the use of one intelligible language (Onigu 1974:32).

Nigeria is one country with enormous diversity in cultures and values. Local sentiments

and attachment are still very strong in the country and sometimes stronger than the

national ones. The civil war the country had to go through from 1967 to 1970, perhaps;

most clearly portrays how strong local sentiments could be.

The socio-cultural set-up in the country at large has recorded tremendous impact on the

functioning of local government. In the Local Government areas which encompass two

or more ethnic/ linguistic groups or where there exist two or more clans within a local

government area, there is sometimes the practice of blind loyalty to one's ethnic group

or clan. There is also tendency to view the major ethnic group or clan as not caring about

or oppressing the minority ethnic groups or clans. More often than not, discussions and

debates at local council meetings reveal a great deal of ethnic or clan bias.

In certain cases ethnic and clan considerations rather than merit are uppermost in the

award of contracts and distribution of amenities by local government councils. Religious

plurality has also taken its toll on the efficient and effective functioning of local

governments and indeed the unity and stability of the country. There seems to be the

absence of respect for the doctrine of secularism by the Muslim dominated north and

the predominantly Christian south of the country. Incidence of religious riots in the

northern parts of the country involving Muslims and Christians clearly indicates the

strong attachment to religion. Just like ethnic or clan considerations, it is not unusual for

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religion to be the deciding factor in some local government councils as to who gets what,

how and when.

Economic Component

Nigeria is traditionally an agricultural country. The country before and at Independence

was mainly an agricultural economy. Available data show that well over 80 percent of

the country's population estimated at 54 million as at 1960 were engaged in agriculture

and related rural endeavours. More than 80 percent of Nigeria's foreign exchange

earnings in 1960 also came from the export of agricultural produce which were

principally cocoa, groundnut, palm produce, rubber and livestock. The share of

agriculture in the country's Gross Domestic Product was as high as 67 percent and

industry contributed as low as 3.6 percent of the Gross Domestic Product during the

same period (Olokun 1985:31).

Thus, the country at Independence was heavily dependent on the agricultural sector for

the employment cf the overwhelming majority of its citizens, revenue for domestic

budget, foreign exchange needs and the overall sustenance of the country (Olokun

1985:31). Nonetheless, with a greater proportion of the gainfully employed Nigerians

involved in subsistence farming in predominantly rural setting and employing simple

tools and unsophisticated techniques, the per capital income in 1960 was as low as N60.

Though agriculture was the country's major sector, the balance of payment was in

surplus during the 1950s. In the 1960s however, the balance of payment ran into deficit

owing to the rapid decline of the country's foreign reserve. The prosecution of the civil

war (1967-70) further aggravated this problem, and accordingly, appropriate economic

measures were adopted to halt the dwindling reserve and the reduction of the balance

of payments deficit (Olokun 1985:31).

In the 1970s and the early 1980s, the country's foreign exchange earnings increased

tremendously owing to huge foreign currency accruing from the export of crude oil

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which began as far back as 1959. This development brought about some positive and

negative changes. On the positive side, the country's per capital income increased from

N60 as at 1960 to N575 in 1983 (Olokun 1985:31). On the negative side, agriculture which

was hitherto the mainstay of the country's economy was neglected. The result was that

a country which once depended on agriculture for revenue for her domestic and foreign

exchange need, had to import agricultural produce to meet a substantial part of her

domestic needs. The situation was further worsened by the fact that the process of

industrialization was not pursued with much vigor and the country now spends a

substantial proportion of her foreign reserve to import basic industrial products. Nigeria

now relies on crude oil for a larger proportion of its internal as well as external revenue

and as much as 90 percent of the country's foreign exchange earnings come from the

export of crude oil. Efforts in recent times have been directed towards self-sufficiency in

agriculture and basic industrial products in the country. It is however sad that

fluctuation in international oil prices and management related problems have seriously

hampered the realization of this goal. The impact of the introduction of the Second Tier

Foreign Exchange Market (later Foreign Exchange Market and then Autonomous

Market) which among other things was expected to provide a realistic exchange rate for

the naira, attract foreign investments and improve the supply of raw materials and spare

parts, thereby catalysing the industrialization process is not achieving these objectives

so far. This development in the Nigerian economy has had its fall out on the third tier

of government in the country. When the economy was of a rudimentary nature,

depending on agriculture and allied rural pursuits, the local governments were able to

contribute to these activities nation-wide without much difficulty and could therefore

be assigned some credit for the good economy during the 1950s and the early part of the

1960s in the country. With the shift in the revenue base of the country owing to the

emergence of oil industry and the coi'losal amount usually involved in industrial

undertakings, governments at the local level are now faced with the problem of

consolidating their position in the emergent economic setting. Perhaps, a more

important impact of the emergence of oil revenue on local government was that it

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dwarfed the revenue from agriculture and allied rural pursuits in terms of computation

of national revenue. This development has put local governments in a disadvantaged

financial position vis-a-vis macro governments and has tended to encourage the

undermining of the strength and autonomy of government at the local level by state and

federal governments.

Constitutional/Legal Component

The 1979 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria guaranteed a system of local

government by democratically elected local government councils in the country. The

Constitution in this regard specifically states that:

The system of local government by democratically elected local government councils is

under this constitution guaranteed, and accordingly, the Government of every State shall

ensure their existence under law which provides for their establishment, structure,

composition finance and functions of such council.

In spite of this constitutional provision, local government in the country during the

Second Republic (1979 -1983) was anything but democratic. Both the Federal

Government and the State Governments were responsible for stalling the

materialization of the system of local government by democratically elected local

government councils guaranteed by the constitution. Their role in this regard can be

delineated as follows:

October 1, 1979 witnessed the swearing in of democratically elected civilian

governments at the State and Federal levels and the return of the military to the barracks.

Between October 1, 1979 and December of the same year when the tenure of Local

Government Councils was due to expire, dissolution of Local Government Councils by

State Governors across the country was prevalent. Only a few councils were allowed to

complete their tenure before they were dissolved. Gradually, all the local Government

Councils throughout the length and breadth of the country were dissolved by the State

Governments and replaced with caretaker committees appointed on partisan basis by

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 State Governors. This action of the State Governors grossly undeimined a system of local

government by democratically elected local government councils guaranteed by the

Constitution.

Granted that the various State Local Government Laws in the country empowers the

Governor of the State to order inquiries into the activities of local governments and to

suspend any defaulting local government council, this power was used in rather

irresponsible manner by State Governors during the Second Republic. This is evident

from the fact that inquiries were not instituted by the State Governors which showed

that the Local Government Councils faulted in the discharge of their functions in a

manner not conducive to the welfare of the inhabitants of their areas of authority as

required by law before the dissolution of the Councils.

An important constitutional decision is worth mentioning here. In a case brought before

the Chief Judge of the defunct Bendel State by six legislators of the then Bendel State

House of Assembly against the State Governor for dissolving all the Local Government

Councils in the State and replacing them with Caretaker Committees, he ruled that from

the evidence before the court, there was no proof that the Local Government Councils

were charged with bad government, investigated and faulted before their dissolution

was ordered by the State Governor (Ola 1983:148). This action of the State Governor he

contended was inconsistent with the Bendel State Local Government Edict 1976, which

stipulated that an inquiry must be conducted before any local government could be

dissolved and that such wholesale dissolution of the entire third tier of government was

not in any way envisaged by the 1979 Constitution (Ola 1983:148).

The 1989 and 1999 Constitutions of the Federal Republic of Nigeria obviously do not

also envisaged this kind of situation. Yet, it happened again in the Fourth Republic.

After the three-year tenure of the elected local government councils lapsed in 2002, local

government eleCtions were not conducted until throughout the length and breadth of

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the country until 2004. Though elections to local councils are already overdue, there are

no plans to hold elections until December 2007.

Thus, the Federal Government did not take the appropriate steps to ensure the

materialization of the system of local government by democratically elected local

government councils guaranteed by the 1979 Constitution between 1979 and 1983 and

between 2001 and 2003 and again in 2007 because it suited the ruling elites at the Federal

level (Adamolekun 2007:17). These lapses on the part of the Federal Government created

an opportunity for the State Governments to run the affairs of the Local Government

Councils through appointed Caretaker Committees across the country.

On the whole it may be said that the system of local government by democratically

elected local government councils guaranteed by the Constitution could not be brought

to fruition because the higher levels of government used the third tier of government as

a political chariot for the furtherance of their political goals.

Concluding Comments

The ecological approach in public administration purports to study the interaction

between the administrative system and its environment and thus would analyse the

way each of them affects the other's behaviour (Arora 1972:118). This paper has

highlighted the relevance and influence exercised by different ecological aspects on

Nigerian local government. Collectively these aspects constitute the milieu in which

local government institutions have been operating in the country. The milieu is

peculiarly prismatic, characteristic of developing countries. It has proved conducive

neither to healthy growth of local bodies nor to their proper role performance in relation

to macro-level processes of developments. This situation corroborates the hypothesis of

Riggs that the character of local government interacts in a circular fashion with its total

environment so as to reinforce whatever tendencies prevail (Riggs 1964:373).

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The environmental spectrum of local government in Nigeria has three major parts; fluid

national polity, heterogeneous poly-normative society and imbalanced fluctuating

economy. Interacting at the local level, it has manifested itself in a system of local

government which is marked by institutional fragility, particularistic orientations and

economics of non-viability. The prevailing system of local government has proved to be

incapable of contributing to the realization of nation and state-building goals. It has not

been helpful in strengthening the roots of democracy at the base of the society, nor has

it been instrumental in promoting homogeneity, egalitarianism and secularism among

the localities. Its administrative infirmity has also not enabled it to subserve the welfare

and developmental goals at the micro level. Thus the interactional pattern between the

local government system and its ecological system has mutually reinforced each other's

malignant features.

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 REFERENCES
Adamolekun, Ladipo (2007): Wither Local Governments? Vanguard, a Nigerian
Daily Newspaper, Wednesday, April 25.

Arora, R.K. (1972): Comparative Public Administration, Associated Publishing

House, New Delhi.

Bhalerao, C. N. 1 9 7 2 ) Ed.: Administration, Politics and Development in India,

Lalvani Publishing House, Bombay.

I3ienen, Henry ( 1 9 7 1 ) Ed.: Military and Modernization, Aldine-Atherton, New

York.

Bluhm, W. T. ( 1 9 7 4 ) : Ideologies and Attitudes: Modern Political Culture, Prentice

Hall Inc., New Jersey, 1974.

Bjorkman, J. W. ( 1 9 7 7 ) : Political-Administrative Relationship in Development:

Contributions and Constraints in Rural India in Sharma, S. K. (Ed.): Dynamics
of Development: An Internal Perspective, Concept Publishing Co., New Delhi.

Coleman, J.S.(1965): Nigeria-Background to Nationalism, Berkeley, California, as

cited in Ola, R.F. (1983): Local Administration in Nigeria, Kegan Paul
International, London.

Nigeria at a Glance, Information Section, Nigeria High Commission, New Delhi,

1979.

Niven, Rex (1967) Nigeria (Nations of the World Series), Ernest Benn Ltd. London.

Olokun, Isaac (1985): Illusion of Wealth, Newswatch, a Nigerian Weekly Magazine,

October.

Onigu, Otite (1974): On Concept of Nigerian Society in Sandra A.O. (Ed.): Ethnic
Relations in Nigeria, Ibadan University Press.

Riggs, F.W. (1962): Trends in the Comparative Study of Public Administration,

International Review on Administrative Sciences, XXVIII.

Riggs, F.W. (1964): Administration in Developing Countries, Houghton Mifflin Co.,

Boston.

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APPENDIX I: NUMBER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS IN EACH OF THE 36

STATES IN NIGERIA
STATE CAPITAL LGA (NO)
1. ASIA UMUAHIA 17
2. ADAMAWA YOLA 21
3. AKWA IBOM UYO 31
4. ANAMBRA AWKA 21
5. BAUCHI BAUCHI 20
6. BAYELSA YENEGOA 8
7. BENUE MAKURDI 23
8. BORNU BORNU 27
9. CROSS RIVER CALABAR 18
10. DELTA ASABA 25
11. EBONYI ABAKALIKI 13
12. EDO BENIN 18
13. EKITI ADO - EKITI 16
14. ENUGU ENUGU 17
15. GOMBE GOMBE 15
16. IMO OWERRI 27
17. JIGAWA .DUTSE 27
18. KADUNA KADUNA 23
19. KANO KANO 44
20. KATSINA KATSINA 34
21. KEBBI BIRNIN-KEBBI 21
22. KOGI LOKOJA 21
23. KWARA ILORIN 16
24. LAGOS IKEJA 20
25. NASSARAWA LAFIA 13
26. NIGER MINNA 25
27. OGUN ABEOKUTA 20
29. ONDO AKURE 18
29. OSUN OSOGBO 30
30. OYO IBADAN 33
31. PLATEAU JOS 17
32. RIVERS PORT-HARCOURT 23
33. SOKOTO SOKOTO 23
34. TARABA JALINGO 16
35. YOBE DAMATURU 17
36. ZAMFARA GUSAU 14
FCT ABUJA 6
TOTAL 224

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