NIGERIA: 25 YEARS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT
REFORMS AND DEMOCRATIZATION

As  a military Head of State, between  February  1976 and september 1979, I Was privileged to participate in the conception and implementation of the  Local Government Reform, with the hope that  Successive administration in the country would make the local government the main instrument of rural development  and training  ground for the firm enthronement of democratic rule.

It is pertinent that the Murtala-Obasanjo regime was meticulous in devising an electoral mechanism that would represent the various wishes of our heterogeneous society, minimize ethnic friction and maximize the chances of all levels of government working together. This was anchored on the sustenance of a more democratically-based and unified local government system. A crucial issue in the developing  world is the question of  development of rural areas, and this question constituted the major plank upon which the Local Government Reform was initiated.

The launching of the Local Government Reform accentuated expectations that the economic advancement of Nigeria’s rural areas would quickly follow. The eradication of poverty and illiteracy, improvement in the quality of life, provision of social amenities, arrest of rural-urban drift and the enthronement of good governance area accepted as legitimate aspirations of the grassroots dwellers. These are the primary tasks before the local government s and for those who seek fulfillment, the challenge of development offers the most exciting and rewarding experience.

The creation of local governments is only a means to an end, because with self –autonomy a new phase in the struggle for survival and development begins. When the pioneer Local Government Councils were inaugurated in January 1977, the then military regime made it crystal clear that “the fundamental purpose of these reforms is to spread development to every corner of the country and the complete democratization of the Local Government System” Democratization implies good governance and the judicious utilization of available human and natural resources and potentials.

Towards real transformation of our rural communities.In other words, the third tier of government, so appropriately described, was introduced with the principal aim of modernizing the rural areas by providing relief to the communities through provision of essential amenities.  There is also the objective of bringing the government nearer to the people.

In a space of quarter of century, some remarkable trends and challenges in grassroots administration have emerged. While the period witnessed the emergence of popular appeals for self determination culminating in phenomenal increase in the number of the present democratic dispensation, the local Government Areas themselves manifested some manner of growth and development. I have always held the view that the lateral expansion of number of Local Government Areas has virtually reduced many of such LGAs to mere development areas. We can at least concede, however, that this has brought government nearer to the people and vice visa.

I am highly excited to be identified with this publication, which seeks to put in true [perspective development trends in 25years of Local Government Reform and Decentralization in Nigeria. That the publication is out at a time when the third tier of government is battling for constitutional identity and equal tenure ship with other tiers of government, makes the book a veritable guide post for local government administrations, law makers, researchers and scholars alike.

Nigeria: 25 years of Local Government Reform and Decentralization, will also be of immense value and benefit to community leaders, government functionaries, women, intellectuals, workers, the political class, investors and all those interested in rural transformation and the substance of democracy in Nigeria.

NIGERIA: 25 YEARS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT REFORMS AND DEMOCRATIZATION, 1976-2011
For effective grassroot development and good governance.
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