BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The desire of the rural population to participate directly in the affairs of their communities is driving the rising demand for local government in every corner of the world. Local government is, in reality, as ancient as mankind, as it is the only form of human administration that has existed throughout history. The notion of human society is cloaked in the requirement of community development through a recognized local administrative system that culminated in local government administration As opined by Enemuo (2016). Despite contemporary advancements in politics, economics, technology, communication, transportation, and other disciplines, local government has endured as a tool of grass-roots and national growth.
The 1976 local government reforms in Nigeria defined local government as governance at the local level implemented by representative councils formed by law to exercise particular functions within defined areas (Adedeji 2015). These rights should offer the council significant control over local issues, as well as the personnel, institutional, and budgetary authority to start and direct the provision of services. It also exists to determine and implement projects that complement the activities of the state and federal governments in their respective areas, which is to be accomplished through the active participation of the people and their traditional institutions, so that local initiative and response to local needs and conditions are maximized.
According to the United Nations Office of Public Administration, local governments should have jurisdiction over local affairs, including the authority to levy taxes or compel labour for specified objectives. It further stipulates that people who would rule such institution should be elected or locally selected. Local governments must also be legally established (Ola, 1984). According to Aliyu & Kohen (2019), Local government is the third-tier of government in Nigeria vested with the responsibility of transforming various communities into effective socio-economic and political advanced structures for national development that is the improvement of the quality of life of the people (Adedeji 2015). As a result, the local government system is an administration of rural regions by individuals who are familiar with the demands of their community. This style of administration is based on the premise that because the people are aware of the requirements of their community, they will do all possible within available resources to improve the place ((1979 constitution Federal Republic of Nigeria).
Because of its critical role in mobilizing local resources for real socioeconomic and political changes in rural regions, local government is an agent of grass roots development. The role of local government in rural development. The role of local government in rural development may be traced back to the time of community-based attempts to build individual societies, when local governments were utilised to mobilise all resources for development (Adamolekun, 2017). As a result, every government strives to influence the lives of its population through economic, social, and political development projects. According to early academics, this creates the basis of collaboration and reciprocity between government and society, resulting in the preservation of that society's well-being. When members of a society combine their efforts and resources, they achieve their common goals more effectively. The capacity of government or political institutions to execute such fundamental responsibilities as providing comforts and security to the governed must thus be the source of legitimacy (Adedeji, 2015).
Every government owes its citizens the duty to develop them through the supply of portable water, health care, education, roads, food, housing, and any socioeconomic factors. Such provisions must also contain a structure that allows people to have a voice in what they get and how they obtain it. Members of society can be expected to execute their own civic obligations to the government and society at large in this regard. Legitimacy refers to the system's ability to foster and sustain the conviction that the present political institutions are the best fit for the society's growth and development. Groups consider a political system as legitimate or illegitimate based on how well its principles align with theirs (Enemuo 2016).
The establishment of three levels of government in Nigeria is thus anticipated to respond to these roles or obligations. While the three tiers have different geopolitical bounds of jurisdiction, they all have some shared obligations for the growth of the country in general and their distinct regions of influence in particular. In terms of human resources and financial resources, the federal government is the wealthiest, followed by the states, while municipal governments are the lowest. However, the latter is the most accessible to the bulk of the country's citizens, particularly those living in rural regions. The local government administration is most suited for the development of rural areas that are far removed from both the state and central governments.
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