by Debo Adejugbe

This is the era where there is total dependency on the revenue coming from the FG, where the LGAs are now uber-lazy, lacking in creativity to generate revenue

In my last Y!Politico piece, I discussed briefly the issue of revenue allocation in Nigeria, its politics and how it affects (or does not) the lives of the populace. While looking through the revenue sharing formula employed in allocating funds to the three tiers of government, I took a closer look at the Local Governments and how well they have been drafted into the development process with an eye on its importance as the closest government to the people at the grassroots.

Let’s not forget the standard formula as mentioned in the piece: Federal Government (52.68%); States (26.72%); and 770 Local Government Areas (20.60%). The Nigerian Governors Forum recommended this: Federal Government (35%); States (42%); and Local governments (23%).

Other than these values, the Federal government wants this breakdown: 56 percent (Federal), 24 percent (states) and 20 percent (local governments). RMAFC prefers the formula to be: 47 percent (Federal), 33 percent (states) and 20 percent (local governments) but submitted in September 2004, this recommendation: Federal Government (53.69 per cent); States (31.10 per cent); and Local governments (15.21 per cent). Everyone has their agenda but it is instructive to note that no one gives a damn about the LGAs in their grand scheming. It’s time to look at the big picture.

From the FG’s allocation, 6.5 per cent is reserved for Special Funds, leaving them with 47.19 per cent. The breakdown of the 6.5 per cent is: Ecological Fund (1.50 per cent); Solid Mineral Fund (1.75 per cent), National Reserve Fund (1.50 per cent) and Agricultural Development Fund (1.75 per cent).

Let’s not get lost in the mathematics. The Local Governments, despite getting the lowest allocation, are well funded. We have to take a critical look at how they have fared with the little –as claimed- they have been given. The implication of the crooked figures above is that the LGAs are responsible for about 21% of public expenditures in Nigeria which roughly translates to more than a fifth of the entire budgetary allocation of the entire country. It looks simpler, much more than you think.

If a fifth of our budgetary provisions, which in essence is the public expenditure, is dished out to local councils; isn’t it time we asked what they are doing with it? Look around your LGAs and tell me if the projects seen can equate to the revenues accruable to them. The constitution bestows reasonable expectations on the conduct of LGAs and their importance in the polity with functions such as: Collection of taxes and fees; Construction and maintenance of roads, streets, drains and other public highways, parks, and open spaces; Provision and maintenance of public transportation and refuse disposal etc. basically their function is rural, urban and community development.

Can we, in all honesty, say they have performed to expectation? This is the era where there is total dependency on the revenue coming from the FG, where the LGAs are now uber-lazy, lacking in creativity to generate revenue and where they could; they compete with the FG and States on who can loot the public treasury better. The last time I visited my LGA, I saw people with little or nothing to do other than to draw from the charity “Federal Allocation” presents, roaming around or in little gossip clusters.

Rather than be the closest government to the people, that understands their issues and provide the most basic of amenities such as primary healthcare, primary education, construction of markets and boreholes, homes for destitute or infirm, public transportation, refuse disposal etc. as enshrined in the constitution, they have become revenue prostitutes whose only job description is to get the allocation from the center, month after month without accompanying developments to show.

There are several bottlenecks faced by local government administration in the country which has become an excuse when we ask for accountability. Chief among them is the practice of annexing the LGAs to state government-by creating a joint account for them which leaves the LGAs at the mercy of Governors. Others are: the conduct of elections to LGAs by state governments -who install their cronies, the lack of an autonomous framework guaranteed by the constitution to govern the administration of local councils and also the lack of an explicitly defined role of local councils as a tier of government in the constitution.

These problems have made it hard for local councils to function properly. They now function as a “Ministry” in the state rather than a tier of government. The PDP and its house of corruption have helped in no small measure to relegate the LGAs to mere lapdogs in the administration of development and this has been gulped down by other parties – who now sack elected officials and replace them with appointees without repercussions.

What can be done to address these issues? Very simple! The Local Governments should be truly and workably autonomous. The practice of annexing LGAs to state governors to use as they deem fit has to stop. There should be an increased drive to make the LGAs wake up to its responsibility which can reduce the scorching poverty and the out-of-the-world unemployment figures we have in the country; they should create jobs and an enabling environment for business to thrive. They should be accountable and creative in revenue generation. Dependence on federal allocations has to stop. The 3-year tenure provision for LGA excos is constitutionally confusing –We need a standard and accountable 4-year tenure that blocks the pandering to the whims of state governors.

More importantly, our people have to take LGA elections seriously. The last LGA elections in Abuja, Edo and Kogi witnessed abysmal turn out of voters which in turn guarantees that candidates with little knowledge of governance are entrusted with the mantle of leadership. What do we get in such situations? Idiots, touts, thieves and thugs masquerading as elected officials. Nigerians should ensure the election of capable intellectuals as excos of LGAs, thus development can be fast-tracked from bottom up.

As we move into the next political dispensation, the right questions have to be asked. Those who seek our votes at the center (Presidency, Senate and Representatives) must tell us what they intend to do about LGAs. It is a simple but game-changing question. This might be the push needed to stop the madness of rural to urban migration which in the long run will add to our anti-unemployment drive and push us further into realistically meeting some of the Millennium Development Goals.

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Debo Adejugbe is a trained Telecommunications/Electronics Engineer and a certified IT professional living in Lagos. Dad to amazing Hailey and an advocate against Sexual and Domestic Abuses. Debo has political sympathy for the Labour Party. He tweets from @deboadejugbe

 

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.