State of the Nigerian Federation: Reviving Local Government in response to colluding communal disturbances
Generally, the evolution of Government has grown to the level of classifications based on certain defining schemes. It is observable that the more complex human society becomes, the more humans have thought to responsively craft parameters to modify and/or reconstitute formations of political architectures in response to growing demands. As human societies get larger and more complex, the need for categorising government into levels have long in the past been identified and instituted to cater for new demands. In this light, as the society assumes broader dimensions, the need for decentralising power architecture from a central government to lower units for administrative efficiency has well been brought into reality.
Thus, crafting government institutions of lower delegations to attend to pressing local needs which may be difficult to be addressed by a distanced central government, has for long been identified as a necessity as human society expands with more complexities. This has therefore, led to the evolution of what has been described as tiers of Government, particularly as pronounced under a Federal structure. This is not however, to say that there are no such devolution within the formations of other systems of Government. In the defining character of this devolutionised patterns, similar features of separation of power among organs of government have further been identified as paramount within each level of Government, particularly within a Federal system.
Nigeria as a Federal entity is not an exception from the definitions of the structures of what characterises a Federal system. However, the subject of the character of the Nigerian Federation has been a subject of many colours. This owes to the linking of several socio-economic and political disturbances to what has been described as the dysfunctions of the working patterns which do not bear relevance to present demands. Argument has thus been advanced on the necessity for remodeling the Federal structure of the Country.
One of such arguments has been the necessity for stronger devolution of power from the central to the federating units and thus other lower levels of government. The prevailing formation which depicts too much concentration of power in the Federal Government, is believed to be an imbalance which gives the Federation a closer definition to a unitary system in terms of Government authority. Arguments have thus been raised that the tardy attention that majority of socio-economic and political disturbances get, is due to the distance between the locales and the central government where the overwhelming power to address these issues dwells. It is therefore apparent that while the lower level of Government would have been more proactive to addressing these issues given their closeness to the environs of manifestations, the power to do so lies more in the central government. Matters relating to the economy and security among other social issues, have been noted to be suffering from these skewed deformity.
More recently, the concern over security issues have led to some of the federating units according to regional compartment, coming up to create security formations to secure their regions. This subject at the on-set had been one of controversy which at some point drew legal contentions from the Federal Government among other contesting views, at the wake of what was described as ‘unconstitutional grounds’ in the development towards the South-West security outfit tagged “Amotekun.” While this is on security, there are however myriads of other socio-economic issues which the litttle or absence of power by lower levels of Government to address with sense of immediacy, has continually led to yielding collision of disturbances which in recent times could be seen manifesting in several stormy dimensions.
Local government in Nigeria has been a subject of confusing concern, touching on the definitions of its existence, its performance and the deficient posture notable of the entity, inter-alia. The subject on its existential definitions alone, has been a controversial topic in perspective. Its defining character as an apparent appendage of the Federating units have been subjects of arguments. On this ladder, dwells the call for the autonomy of the unit as an independent tier of Government. However, the acceptability of this in the Nigerian constitutional definitions remain nebulous.
The prevailing rot within this unit of Government could not less be unconnected with some of these controversial lacunae which by and large has placed the entity in a corner of the background where it appears imbecilic to attend to needs that should ordinarily fall within its capacity to address. The issue of local security matters, health, infrastructures, amenities, and local commercial activities, among other immediate communal needs which should profoundly be put into order with the force of immediacy by the local government, have suffered neglect which has in turn degenerated into strings of confusing disturbances compounding to render the Federation into a state of shambles and lawlessness.
The lamentations over the ineffective posture of local government councils across the Federation with little or no impacts, is one subject of concern that demands premium attention by political stakeholders in the alarming necessity to redeem the Country from the signs of collapse perceivable from degeneration via a myriad of socio-economic and political threats and deformities. Registering concern over the comatose state of Local Government in Nigeria, immediate past President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan had on Monday while speaking as a guest at a youth foundation programme hosted by the founder of TOS Foundation, Osasu Igbenedion in Abuja, had averred that the greatest failure the Federation has had is the failure of the Local Governments. He was quoted: “From my little experience in politics, as a deputy governor I was in charge of Local Governments in Bayelsa State. Of course, I moved up to become the President. The greatest failure we have in this country is the failure of the local Governments. The Local Government system has failed and we must admit it. Whatever we intend to do, one key area we must consider is the Local Governments. If the Local Governments are functional then it is easy.”
It is high time the necessity of addressing the turbulence bewildering the Federation be approached with sincerity of efforts with reformative parameters. Such efforts would practically require moving away from the prevailing traditional formations which have openly failed in meeting present needs. In this light, turning to embrace political reformation of the power relation between the levels of government must be put into the forefront of priorities with statutory modifications to devolve powers in the working architectures among the levels of government; such that will give resemblance to the need to address local matters compounding to debilitate the entire fabric of the Federation. This is thus, essential to significantly redefine the rotten imbecilic posture of Local Governments in the Federation. The role of Local Government in a heterogeneous entity like Nigeria with entanglements of complexities, rightly demands a working structure so virile in responsive architecture to attend to immediate needs with the most possible promptness obtainable.
