ABSTRACT
The study
examined the impact of
inter-governmental relations in local governments in Nigeria.
More specifically, the study
sought to assess the inter-governmental relationship and Local Government
Administration in Nigeria.
Population was drew from Lagos Island Local Government
Headquarters, which involved all the departments of the Local Government.
Yaro Yamane formula was used to determine the sample
size, which consist of 229 staff, while the simple statistical method of
frequencies and percentage were applied.
The data used for this study were collected through
two main sources, namely; Primary and Secondary sources of data, 229
respondents duly participated in the survey and a well- developed questionnaire
was designed to elicit information from the respondents.
Result from the study indicated
that the impact
inter-governmental relations have on local Government is mostly negative
thereby affecting the process of local government affairs.
Also the local government due to the power given to it through the
constitution, has its own autonomy share of resource distribution which helps
it develop rapidly.
Base on this, the study advised
that all the levels of
government should be part and parcel of policy formulation relating to the
issues at hand, furthermore considering the fact that they are the third tier
of government, the government should distribute resources to them in order to
help them develop and be independently in their own, and lastly Resources
sharing must address the necessity for rapid development at the grassroots
levels.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1
Introduction
Inter-governmental relations refer
to the structures and processes which exist in a decentralized system
of government for the coordination of the activities of the various levels of
government as they perform their constitutionally-assigned roles inter-governmental
relations encompasses all the permutations and combinations of relations among
the units of government in a federal system, it comprises the activities and
attitudes of persons occupying positions in all the units of government under
consideration: Federal, State, Local as well as in the judicial, legislative or
executive branches of government as they relate with each other
Inter-governmental relations includes conceited and regularized actions of
officials as well as the one-time occasional occurrences such as new statutes
and landmark court decisions in their interrelationship. In fact, it is
inter-government relations, which makes a federal entity a system of
government. Otherwise, the federation becomes just a collection of independent
entities. As a result of the relationship between levels of government in from
the principle of division of powers in such way that no level of government is
subordinate to the other on matters constitutionally allocated to it, but also
from a realistic conception of federalism as a total system of imperfectly
shared responsibility.
1.2 Background
of the Study
Since all governments within the
federal system serve the same people, the sharing of powers provides a
compelling imperative for intergovernmental cooperative transactions.
In contemporary federal political
systems, intergovernmental relations flow vertically and horizontally in five
separate and different channels, namely:
Federal—State;
Federal—Local; State—State; State—Local and Local—Local
In the Nigerian federation, the
horizontal relations among states and among local governments remain
underdeveloped, while the channels for inter-governmental federal state and
even federal local relations are better developed, notwithstanding the increasing
trend for meetings between states on geo-political basis and the periodic
meeting of local government officials.
1.3 Statement of the Problem
To appreciate the depth of crisis in the Federal
system in Nigeria, one has to follow the recent trend of the raging controversy
between the Federal and State Governments over the exercise of power or control
of revenue resources of local government on how not to have assumed the undue
Prominence given to it as a constitutional question if Nigerian Leaders, particularly
the Federal level had adhered strictly to the norms of federalism and followed
the precedents established by the past democratic governments in Nigerian
federation.
In Nigeria, the issue of sharing resources among the
three levels of government has remained controversial due to lack of acceptable
formula. It generates tension and bad
blood among the three tiers of government.
This has resulted in setting up of different committees or commissions
to prescribe the formula to be used.
Also there exists a conflict between the Federal, State and Local government
over acceptable formula for sharing revenue.
For instance, the conflict is usually whether the
principle of derivation, need, natural interest or landmass should be used as a
basis for the purpose. Even when these
principles may be generally accepted as the main basis for working out revenue
allocation formula, conflict might arise following as to which of the principles
takes precedence over others as the main criteria for sharing the revenue.
This is the problem of tax jurisdiction, which refers
to the problem of which aspect of government should collect what revenue over a
particular area. These have been serious
problems between the Federal, State and Local Governments. Their share of tax revenue seriously affects
local governments. They are the lowest
level of government. Likewise they
collect the least amount of tax revenue, which makes them still stagnant.
Another problem is the existence of control of one
level of government by another in any aspect (Abonyi, 2005). Local governments are dominated by the
Federal and State governments. They do
not have their own autonomy, making them too dependent on the other levels of
governments. Mention must be made of the
problem of finding the best method of channeling revenue from one level of
government to another especially from the Federal to the Local Government.
(Ugwu, 1998: 90).
1.4 Objectives of the Study
The main objective of the study is Impact of
Inter-governmental Relations on Local Government Administration in Nigeria,
with particular reference to Lagos Island Local Government Area of Lagos State.
Other objectives of the study include;
1.
To determine the relevance of inter-governmental relations in
Nigeria
2.
To determine the main sources of conflict among the various levels
of government in inter-governmental relations in Nigeria.
3.
To recommend solutions to inter-jurisdictional conflict among the
various levels of government.
4.
To recommend measures required for an improved inter-governmental
relations in Nigeria.
1.5 Significance of the Study
This study will be of great benefit to Lagos Island
Local Government Area of Lagos State.
This is because it will be exposed to the challenges it is facing in
inter-government relations.
It would also be of great significance to researchers
by way of making them aware of problems that have been uncovered by these
researchers, so that they would know where to start from in their subsequent
research work in the area of inter-governmental relations in Nigeria.
The study would be significant to policy makers and
policy implementers, as they would make use of the findings and recommendations
of this study.
1.6 Research
Questions
1.
Did the constitution make any provision for intergovernmental
relations in Nigeria?
2.
What are the areas of intergovernmental relations in Nigeria?
3.
What is the relevance of intergovernmental relations in local
government in Nigeria?
4.
What are the causes of conflicts between the levels of government
in Nigeria?
5.
What effects has intergovernmental relations had in Local
Government Administration?
1.7 Scope of the Study
The study is in the Impact of Intergovernmental
Relations in Local Government Administration in Nigeria. But due to the fact that there are many local
governments in Nigeria, the researcher decided to center the research in Lagos
Island Local Government Area of Lagos State as the case study.
1.8 Definition of Terms
In the course of this research work, some concepts
were used and for easy and comprehensive understanding of the entire work,
these concept shave been explained.
1. LOCAL GOVERNMENT: This is the
third tier of government within the State and is charged with the responsibility
and administration of the people at the grass-root. It is also a government established at the
local level through an Act of Parliament to deal with specific matters as it
affects the local people.
2. CENTRAL GOVERNMENT: This is
not only the first but the mega-government which exercise exclusive powers and
its superior to both the State and Local Governments.
3. GOVERNMENT: This is the agency
of the ruling class which is charged with the responsibility of exercising the
state powers on behalf of the people.
4. OBJECTIVES: This is the
end-result to which an organization or government’s activity is to be
directed. Objectives are hierarchical in
nature and are determined or formulated after economic social and political
forces affecting the organization have been appraised.
5. DEVELOPMENT: It is the
qualitative and qualities, self-improvement of man that applies to whole
societies and people. It means the
removal of obstacles to the progressive or qualitative transformation of man
and such obstacles include hunger, poverty, ignorance, disease, mal-nutrition,
unemployment, to mention but a few.
6. ADMINISTRATION: Administration
is determined action taken in pursuit of conscious purpose. It is the systematic ordering of affairs and
the calculated use of resources, aimed at making those things happen which we
want to happen and simultaneously preventing developments that fail to square
with our intentions. It is the marshaling
of available labour and materials in order to gain that which is desired at the
lowest cost in energy, time and money.
7.
INTER-GOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS: The interactions that exist among
various levels/tiers of government within a state.