Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, says if Nigeria is to get its development aspirations right, it must get local government autonomy by all legal means.
He said this is because the local government remains the bastion of grassroots development in modern democracies.
Omo-Agege, who was represented by Dr Chuba Keshi, said this as stakeholders brainstormed during a one-day national dialogue in Abuja on Wednesday on achieving local government autonomy.
The dialogue was organized by Social Development Integrated Centre and had the theme “Local Government and Grassroots Development in Nigeria: Need for Autonomy and Accountability.”
He said it is commonplace that high crime rates, especially violent crime, insurgency, terror, banditry and brigandage are all traceable to a faulty grassroots governance structure.
“Related social vices, such as petty thieving, and rebellion among the youth, can be traced to the collapse of family values. Even the high rate of break-ups of marriages can all be traced to a very faulty culture of community administration at the grassroots level. The same with the economic distortions associated with massive rural-urban drift and the unsatisfactory management of diseases that could be taken care of at the level of primary healthcare delivery,” he said.
Read Also: Senate panel seeks financial autonomy for FERMA
Executive Director, Strengthening Advocacy for Transparent and Inclusive Budgeting Processes in Nigeria, Dr Isaac Osuoka, said about N20 trillion has been shared in the past 18 to 20 years to the 774 local governments in the country without attendant development.
The Executive Director, who was represented by the Project Manager, Prince Edegbuo, said, “Nigeria operates a three-tier government and the local government is the closest to the people. It is still very clear that lots of Nigerians live in communities and in villages. But when you go to the villages you find out that it is not where some of us who have remained in the city would want to stay for more than two days. Why is that? In the last 18 to 20 years, the 774 local governments in Nigeria have shared about N20 trillion. The question is where these funds? How come they are not seen translated into infrastructure, developments that would enhance our communities? All we need is infrastructural development and people would develop the areas.
“It is surprising that lots of economic goods, fruits and vegetables get wasted because they cannot get to the urban cities where they can be sold for the value that those goods are actually worth. It is against this backdrop of not having development at the local level that we have ventured into this national dialogue. What are the reasons why local governments have not been effective? It is because local governments have been clipped as an appendage to the states? State governors have taken over functions of local governments to the point where they now appoint those who get elected.
“When these people get into power they really do not understand they really do not understand what governance at the local level is, they start paying allegiance to those brought them into power. That is not what that tier of government is all about.
“These dialogue is about giving strength back to local governance to ensure our communities get developed. So that people who want to become chairman of local governments and councillors to the legislative arm of the council know exactly what they want to do.”
The Keynote Speaker, Barr Eze Onyekwere, noted that local governments are recognized in the 1999 Constitution.
He said the constitution visualizes a democratically elected and run local government system that will appeal to the needs of the people at the grassroots specifically and stressed full autonomy of the local government for positive change at the grassroots.
A presentation on “Local Government and Public Finance Accountability” was also made by Ken Henshaw.
The event featured panel discussions among other engagements.