University of Nigeria Research Publications
OSOGHOYAI, Clarkson Author PG/MPA/99/26179 Local Government as Instrument for Rural Development: A Case Study of Title Southern Ijaw L.G.A., Bayelsa State
Social Science Faculty
Public Administration and Local Government Department
August, 2001 Date
Signature
LOCAL GOVERNMENT AS AN INSTRUMENT FOR RUI A rl'llESIS fbltKSEN'i'lCl~'1'0 TIlE StJll- Ul PROJECT SUIDERVISOII: I Osoghoyai, Clarkson a post-graduate student in the sub-Department of Public Ado~inis!raiionand Local crovc~.n~ncni(PALG) and wiih keg. No IG'MPAI9920 170 1~:; j I .i. ~irhctorilycomple~ed the requirement for the awanl of the Degree of master of I'oblic ! not i l'he work crnbodicd in this Research projcct is original ad 113s been ally ~hikdin part or lid1 Tor any othcr diplon~or dcprcr: :,f this or orlw ~iniversity I APPROVAL PAGE 1. . : 1.OCAL GOVEIWMENr1'AS AN LNSTRUMEN'I' 1Xl14 ItURALDEVELOPMEN'I': , I\ CASE S'I'UDY OF SOUTHERN 1JAW LOCAL CEVERNNII~NTAIUCA, BAY F,I,SA STATE. . PU131 ,I(: ~ll)lVllNIS'l'lU'T'lON, UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSlJliKA. EXTERNAL EXAM LNAR The primary objective of the research is lo inducc it great number ot' scllolu~.sto embark on more pc~wcsl'ul crnpiricul study which intends to ascel.lain wllc~llcrthe rlcw ruriil developnlcllt. t lence, in ordcr to i~ccon~plishthis rcsuarcll. thc soutllcsn Iji~wlocal !.ole of the local governmenl observation ol'varioi~sprojects, ir~tcrviewswilh some nlembers of stall'ol'thc said locd roads i~nd~lwkcts. I[ wiis itlclltilicd tllat, tllc inability ol' ~llclot-ill ~)v~I.III)~10 Therefore, considering the result of the study, we recommended among o~lws that:It will serve well, if the Federal Government statutory monthly allocation be scrlt directly to the local Govcr~ment;Hence, this will certainly elinlinatt: the scvcral administrative problems by the state Governn~entsin nuking tllc grants i~vailable. Again, the various local Governments should in no distance time ~xviewits expenditure formular with a view to disbursing fund for capital projects. Finally, there should be adequate improve~nent in the condition of service 01' employees .so that, workers' salaries and r~llowancesare paid in time; Hence, this will. certainly improve the standard of performance of the serving workers and also attract a high calibre of people to work with the local Government system. CHAPTER TWO 2: 1 I.iISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF SOUTI-IEIIN IJAW FACTORS MILITA'I'ING AGAINST IZlJIiAL, IXVLl.OI'RIlLiN'I' PROGRAMMES IN SOIJTtERN IJAW LOCAI.. GOVERNMENT ------.--- 7 0 CI-IAPTER ONE I:l INTRODUCTION A major and thrilling issue in Nigeria and other developing countries otherwise , known as third world countries is rural development. Tt is the process of improving the ' standard of living of the society at large, more especially the rural poor dwellers, the problem of most African leaders. -More often than not, in the national development plans of African countries, such as Nigeria, rural development is given parmount priority. For example; Dr Kenneth Kaunda, president of the Republic of Zambia, introducing the I second National 1)evclopnlent plan 1972 - 1979 slalcd: For us, developing the rural areas is a matter of life and death, though we do not urldereslirnale the problems involved.. . be must tirst of all succeed in dev9loping the n~ralareas, no matter . what our perbrmance is in other sectors. Nigeria like other African counlries is seriously faced with the problem of rural development. Since majority of her population dwell and occupy !heir lives in the rural areas, how to promote and bring up development at the grassroots level becomes a major concern. For instance, in the third National S)evcloprnent plan 1975 - 1980, rhe country's rural development policy stated: The main objectives of rural dcvelopinent are to increase rural productivity and income, diversi% nml economy and generally enhance the quality of lifi: in rurahreas... . In addition to raising agricultural productivity, effort will be made to enhance the quality of life in rural areas, ---. In addition to raising agricultural produc~ivity, effort will be made to enhance the quality of life in rural areas through the provision of basic social amenities such as health centres, pipe-borne water, feeder roads and electricity. To achieve the aforementioned objectives adequately, it has become ultimately necessary thd the masses. who require these services or for whom they are to be provided must themselves be made to participate actively. That is, they must be able to decide what is gwd for them or influence those who made the various policy decisions. According to John M. Cohen et al: "The involvement of the rural poor in making decision on developn~entefforts which affect rhem and the conthbutioo of their resources to devclopmcnt activities as well as the assurance that the poor in fact benefit from ;::tcnw:tions irrtmd to help .. them are essential to ~uraldevelopment". In Nigeria, particularly, the British philosophy of "grass rmts" de~nocracywithin an "autonomous" third tier system of government stnrcture has lor.3 been in vogue a!: one uf the cll'ective processes for rural community's development. In Nigeria, political developn~ent,local government like National Government has its history that dated back , to the CQIO&I period. The system of indigenous Adrniuistration, which was introduced by the British, was later transformed hue a modern system ol' local government in the former Eastem Nigeria. With the emergence of the local government ordinance of 1950, a modification was subsequently adopted in some other parts of the country. This local gouemrncnt Act brought into being the three - tier system, county council(urban and I rural),District councils and local councils. Each of the tiers benefited adequately in terms of political independence and was given fi~nctionsconlmensurate with its resources. Before the 1950 ordinance, the secretary of state for the colonies, had in a dispatch to all colorlial governors in 1947, pointed out that: ".. .ta ensure a firm foundation for development, we should go dowr. to individual comirlunities and to the individual tax payers themselves. Experience has 'shown the disadvantages of planning From the top ...... , The larger issues of development must be at the national level, but it is inlportant to ensure by a!l means possibie the fulliest co-operation of individual and the separate communities. The text af this despatch sent to all colonial governors is an evidence of the implici~belief and confidence the colonial zdministratior, had on local government as a machinery for rural development. , As a result of the inadequacies of tk2 :9f6 ~idiii~~cc,such as the systenl of t.axat,ion and allocation of functions, supervisions, supervision and con~rol,col~uption and mismanagement, it was replaced in the Eastern region by the local government law of 1955 and hrther reniedied by the 1958 Act. 'The 1955 law gave the n~inisterfor local I government increased powers to exercise control over the personnel and tinarxial administration of councils. Local government co~iimissionerswere appointed to support the minister for local government, and they were given such legal powers as that of ' During the 1960's in Easlcrn Nigeria, i~lihough the local councils tiitl not disappear as a second-tier institution never-il~cless,not wilh enough stalf and with linlited . resources, they became for all practical purposes 1ner.e dclibcrating cl~i~nlbcrsfix the various local communities. With the advcnt oi'the n~ilituyi~d~ninistri~tion in 1966. all lhc democratically elected urban and rural county coi~ncilswere dissolved and Govcrnnlc~lt Buceacrats were appointed as sole Atin~inistrulors.Lly tlie tirrie thc ~wlvc(12) sialcs were created in may 1967, there were in the tbrnler Liusii.1.11Region , 2 ~nunicipalitics, I4 urban, 94 counly and 900 local councils. The contemporary local government system came into existe~xein thc western region with the enactment of the western I Nigeria, that is, some ot' the L)i\isiurr;~lcourrcil:; bcic;ilni. LAI~J)I~~LI~;II.,illis ws ilS ;I result of their being hr dway tiom the peoplc and llrc wastclirl nullricr ill which tlwy spent their monetary resources. Ilence, about ;dl ol' ~lrcmisting Divisio~ralcuuncils were wiped out in 1958- 1962 and their functions, warkcrs iind 1ini1ni.c i~llocalcrl10 tlrc newly created joint Boards set up by the constirucnt District councils. 111 ~l'icother hand, the local councils wcrc unable to providc any reasonable stii~rclardof scrviccs, this was as result ot' lack of finance and pcrsolincl. 11c1uthe public lost irl~crcstin them and 72 of the then functioning 100 local councils werc eve~rtuallywipcd out in 1958.1962. It has been argued that unlike the south, the 1)cspatch of 1947 did no1 acquaint the No~thwith a welcome opportunity ['or cliunge. As i~g;iinstthe soutl~crn' politician, those in the North tended to be part of rile traditional Native Autlm-ity system, who ticqucntly vicwcd the rcl'orn~siis a tl~rcarto their power iird popi11i11Ay 'I't~at is, the tirst rcgional local govcrnlncnt law-the native or indigcnoi~sAuil~ority law of 1954 did not break with thc past in n;ime. 13y preserving tl~ccsti~blisl~ccl systcn~, IIIC North was also ipso ticto rejecting a unil'orn~local government system. 'l'lrc Na~ive Authority law of 1954 in Northern Nigeria provided hr live types ol' Na~i~c Authorities. It should be noted that, three (3) nriijor ones were considered Illore powerful (Moslem) chiefs-in-council, with n~erclyadvisory councils to assisi 1lle111. Marginally less powerfill were the chiefs-and-cou~rcilswha-e majoritarinisni prcvideil. 'I'he other type of council was the "kdcrated Nirlive Autl~wity" wl~erci1rclcpc1lilc.111' snlall Native Authorit y were mcrgcd illto one "council" wlriclr de~.ivctlils powc~.sand !'unctions from the various co~~stitucnlunils. Within 'the pcriod of 1054-1966, graduirl aiienrpts or cI'li)r~s \kcre ~ni~clcill democratizing the Native Authority council. But, surpl-isingly, the cmcrgencc ol'tlrc: elected membership did not help the development of local government as expected; instead, it put a strain on the Native ~uthorit~system operation. An early attempt to introduce a largely elected council in 11,ORIN and a few other places, resulted in factional dissention which dampened enthusiasm and ushered in a gradual process of democratization of the various councils. However, "The various form of local government in operation in Nigeria uptill 1966 were modelled after the Uritish system of local government. The county systsm which was peculiar to British was alien to the 4 Nigeria culture and did not hold etkctively". The search for a local government system more suited to Nigerian political culture was altered by the obnoxious civil war. At the end of the civil war, local government took up different shapes in dill'erent areas of the county., The aim of the reformed local government in post-civil war, Nigeria was to decentralize government using existing iocal structures for rapid econ~micand social devclopment. For instance, in the former East central states, the Local government systein known as Divisional Atiministration was adopted. Lt was a one-tier system. There were 39 divisions in the East central states and each was divided into several community council areas. It was the community that had power to raise funds, plan and implement projects. The divisional councils were mainly advisory bodies. While, in the SauthEast states, the zeal for rural developnlent after the civil war gave rise to the local government system known as "Development administration". The structure of "Development ~dministratickhadits Foundation in the village which was regarded as the traditional seat or stool of government of the people. 'The aim of "Development Administration" was to involve local communities or villages into active participation in government for the p::rpose of focussing an wen development in the local. areas. Major changes also took places in the local goyernment system in the Western and Northern states.. After the civil war, in the Northern state, the structural changes included the subdivision of some large local government units into smaller ones and the replacement of the term Native administration with either local Government Authority, local Government or local Administration. All chiefs-in-council and senior councillors were terminated and replaced with elected councils with chiefs as ceremonial presidents of councils. Among the western states of Nigeria, a one-tier system of local government known as council-manager system was adopted. Unfortunately, the st~uctureand organisational framework of the various local government system which existed in Nigeria between 1970- 1976 were inappropriate ofor rapid Rural Development. That is, the community council under the "Divisional .Administration" system in the former East central states, was an all-purpose council which led to the granting of some functions to depressed areas as many community councils were small and some fi~nctionsthat given were beyond their scope and h resources. While as in the South-Eastern states, most of the development communities. .established by the "Development Administration" were not capable in undertaking meaningful projects without regular statutory allocat.ion and external grants. As a result of the above fact, the federal nditary government in 1976 took s very ' bold step to reform the local government system. A uniform system of local government . was created for the entire country. One of the major objectives of the 1976 reforms was to establish local pvernment as the third-tier of government so that "local government should do precisely with what the word government implies, that is, government at the irass-roots or local level". The reform was aimed at facilitating rural development. It is I now twenty-five years since the inception of the reform. How far the various local government in the country has achieved this objective is still a subject of debate. However, this thesis therefore focuses cir! the various processes local governments served as an iustrument tbr rural development, parlicularly with the case of southern Ijaw local ' government in Bayelsa state. - L:2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM It is earlier noted that one major objective of the 1976 local government reform in ' , Nigeria is the desire by the government to maximize development at the third-tier government which is the grass roots government. In the "forward" of the Guidelines for local government Reform of 1976, it was 'stated. "These reforms would mean nothing if thoy did not include the certainty that as from now, every stratum of Nigerian society would beneiit fr~mthe continued prosperity of this country, through the availability of amenities, indeed, necessities, such as electricity, adequate water supply, improved transportation, I. health facilities and so on" The questions then are how has southern Ijaw local government performed in the area of the rural development? What is the relationship between the quality of statt' of a local government and its ability to accon~plish its development objectives? Is there any relationship between the motivation of workers through the provision oC adequate . . incentives and the ability aud willingness of the workers to work effectively? 1:3 OBJECTIVE OF TIlk: S'I'UDY With regard to the general and current discussions over the credibility and '. functionality of the new local government system, we dee~ned'itnecessary to embarked on an empirical or experimental research of southern Ijaw local government in order to find out the dimension, it has achieved in course oS her rural development and thc likely problems facing it. Hence, the result of such empirical research will now place us to the extent of development, the southern ljaw local government had made so far as thc major objective of local government to the rural communities, and if it has not, this thcsis is to point out the problems that Ilinders such goal artainrnenr. . . And more inlporrantly, since the creation ol' southern ljaw local govcr~inlcnlill 1991, there has been nci serious and empirical research on the 1-111.illdcvetopircr~~ uc~ivi~its of the local governnlent. 'l'llis research therel'ore is considered to be a modest artcrnpt to fulfil this purpose. L:4 SIGNIFICANCE 01; STUDY The inlportance oT this research heavily lies on the problems fixing soutllcrn Ijaw local government, I-lencc, the result will hopefully hclp to protkr solutions to I hcse p&blslns. And, also the result of rhis very research will serve iis a base for policy mat&-s in the local government ad to the countv iit large. It will also serve rhc inrerest ol' students in general, but particularly to those ol' public Administration and loc'al governme~;tin particular. It is also hoped that the ouicolnc of this work will he of grear importance to the indigenes idresidents of southern ljaw local governmcnt. 'l'hcy arc the target group 01' the rural devcloprnent activities oS the local governlwnt, bur who as well may be ignorant of the problenls facing the local government. . . 1:5 SCOPE AND LlMJTATlON OF THE STUDY First and foremost, the scope of the study is primarily concerned with southern ljaw lacal government and the various problems identified by the research. Under the limitation of the study, infact, the study was carried out within the dimensions ~f educational condition, hence, the research was carried out within a limited period of time, and the distance from the said educational envirorlment to the study area is great, the I transportation involved was very difficult and complex; And as a result of the ecological hctor, which is a typical river-rine local guvern~lientand the system of transport is water-way transportation and finally coupled with linancial constraints that limit the researcher irl some aspects orthe compilation. 1:6 LITERATURE lPEVIEW As a matter of fact, several scholars have written books on the broad areas or discipline of the co~~ceptof rural Devdopment, and also on the conccpt ul' local government. That is, many and several-write-ups have been presenled which touched on the performance of the new local pvernment syskm. I-ience, a lot remains to be done in the area of ernperical study of the rural development involvemeut of the new local governments. According to Dupe Olatun, in his book "Nigeria's Neglected Rural Majority" he presents a new view point which having a look at the Nigerian rural sector with all its interdependencies-between agriculture and rural non-agriculture rather than just at the agricultural seclor alone, the Nigerian cur-a1 sector is not only economically background, but, the gap between the local government and the urban sector has been widening in recent years. He contend Lhat, the perpetuation of colonial development policies by the Nigerians who took the mantle of leadership from the colonial administrators makes it virtually not possible for the rural people to be af'fected by :development eftouts. Conseque~ltl~,even after about ten (10) years of development by both colonial and National governments, the lot of the rural people has not improved , significantly; then, lie suggests ;hat as a kcy to rural well-being in Nigeria: Rural ' diversification so as to reduce Nigeria's external dependence; The development of appropriate teclmology that is condusive to the most eficient utilization of available resources endowment in the rural sector, improvement in human resource which consists of improvement of the following areas; such as in rural people's health, education and nutrition and the provision of other utilities, that is, an integrated approach to Rural Development. It is clear that, with the view Dupe Olatun Bosun that, the rural areas have been neglected that thc value of his book is limited by the fact. It discussed only the broad awa of Rural development and did not discuss anything about local government and its roles in rural development. Williams (1973) in his article, "The World Bank and the peasant problem" stated thus: The rural sector as a whole has lagged behind the rest of ihe economy. According to .Williams; the low prices paid by urban buyers for Farm produce has marked effect on , . agricultural developnlent, which is the mainstay of our rural areas. Williams also added that, the central focus in Nigerians development is the question of how the economy of the urban and the rural sectors can grow in harmony. Also ljere, In his book "leading issues in Nigeria rural development" accused the successive Nigerian government of being preoccupied with drumming into the ears and heads af'the rural people, the failings of past regimes, rather than developing the rural areas. ljere swiflly concluded that, this is the general pathern all over the third world countries. He said that many techniques such as "authoritarian handout" from the administration, which prescribed the utilities that, would be suitable for the rural dwellers, and secondly, the so-called '!development from below" exemplified in the . ineffective organ, not able to take initia.tives to generate wealth for developmer~treasons. It should be noted under this perspective that, both t!~etwo scholars, Williams and Ijere did not locate or identify in their books the role local government would play in rural developnient; they only pined their arguments on rural development alone. Summerising his impression about the concept of rural development in Nigeria; Ajaegbu (1976) said, they are still largely incoherent, uncoordinated efforts and programmes within individual settlement, and they have brought up various development planning problems at regional and as well national levels. He argued that, there is need for.better co-ordination of the government, community and the individual effort based on achieving an even rural development. Another prominent writer, Yahaya (1979) in his article, local government as an agent of rural development noted thar one of the objectives of the 1976 local government reforms is rural development. Yahaya stated that "the concept of rural development as a conscious and well planned development programme is a relatively new development technique in Africa. tie viewed the Nigeria rural sector as abandoned .aspect of development, not good for settlement and undeveloped. Yahaya also suggested thar, a kodification of the correlation bctween the rural sector arid urban centres so as to ameliorate the conditioned extraction of the rural areas by the urban sector. IHe also attributed the neglect of thc rural areas to the widely accepted belief that the behaviour of the rural dwellers is antagonistic to modern ideas". Yahaya also stated thal, this belief system is based on ig~oranceof the fact that some social values accepted by the rural dwellers are capable of supporting a development programme. Analysis on the constitutional functions allocated to the local government by the 1976 local government reform in Nigeria, Yahaya precisely concluded that, the various functions tended to emphasize the regulatory role of local government rather than .its distributive function. He therefore said that, local government as currently structured is basically an extractive and regulatory system, hence, not geared toward rhrd development. Yahaya went hrther to say that the neglect of the rural sector can still be attributed to the management model of development used by Nigeria This model, according to Yahaya, was characterized by a central planning organhation to, which was given the responsibility for the control and co-ordination of the national . development effort. The central planning body enjoyed an eminent status and operated like an institutional "boss" by isswing instrument to all the associated structures with the responsibility for development. To Yahaya; He clearly stated that, it is no1 nesessary for cvery body to participate in the policy formulation process, rather, it is only meant for technical personnel. Yahaya therefore, argued that, if the rural dwellcrs are modified, there will certainly be no resistance for any sort of rnodification and that, the government will certainly rere1t:e ~~-~~ciaii~i;ir. its develop~ncnt ol-ientc,.~ programmes; And inat, the mobilisation of the rural populace will certainly lead I; d~t: necessary psychological preparedness for a massive rural developmen! iihrt. Eventually, Yahaya concluded that, any rural development cannot be ~Jecluately implemented by mere enough supply of finar~ceand technically skillr manpower; ' The various function of the local government necd to be reoriented till. the altainment of rural development objectives. a: Okereke(1979)in his fantastic article "the role of agricult~,:i- in rural developn~ent in Nigeria" observed that a prominent problem of Nigeria arid infact to all developing countries is rural development. ~ke~ekr:contested that agriculture plays a vital role in rural development process. He also maintains that, the prerequisites for agricultural development and the services available to agriculture provide for most of the essential ' rural'deve~o~mentefforts. He &knowledged the structural and social amenities, such as muket centres, health centers, iuwn halls, churches, local industries, schools, communication systems can only lead to rural development, if they provide the supporting services to agricultural development. He further stressed that all the three components of ru1:al development process; agricultural development, human development I and economic and social infrastructure development mst group within a framework of integrated approach to produce the desired benefits. He concluded that, rural dcvelopment couldn'l take its position without agricultural development; He further says that, this is because, agricultural devclopment is the major ideal sector for rural development. 'The writer however, faikd to point out the actual role of local government in course of rural devclopn~ent. I Another scholar, Kulp(1970) sees the concept of rural development as a syste~t; and thereby employs system analysis to discuss it. He highlights the basic concep of problems of rural devclopn~entand uses a number of case studies from the tl..,d world countries to illustrate his point of argument. Kulp's discussion on this topic covered the . . concept of agricultural development planning system, complementii~y seclm and the strala of which education, family planning, transportation, rural h~-,il~hand inter-sectoral , allocations are noted as sub-system participating collectively in order to ensure a balance within the whole system of rural development. I-Ie concl1,ded by stipulating that special strategies to be used problems to be encountered in rural develuprnent process. This very approach provides for a good fi-amework for tabmg care of adequate rural development problem. The only disadvantage aspect of the system theory is that, it nagates the full . ir~~plc~uent~t~orrsiqge and lhzreforc Jprs not riddress ise elf to 1he cnr~l~adiclio~~sand in~c-racliorlinvolved in the implcr:rc111ut1onprocess. Another wrilzr, Odenigwe (1979) in his piryer "ri~obilizirigthe cilizens fbr su\nd to rnobilise, direct and co-ordir~atcthe utl'orts of tlit: people li)r co~amunity development. lic ackr~owledges(lurt, ndequatc supply ol' clualiiid stan' and iis well Anollier book. 111gt take 4 geqcfirl over view of local governmelit ils sin irlstrulnent of state and nation governments l'or local govcrnnlent are set up to d~itlwith niattcrs at the grassroot level. 11 easily identify available local skills, intcrest's and abilities and capitali~cdor) developing their; 'l'llcsc local sell'el'lbrts, if well encouraged and supported would contribute to the awaken ol'llle nlasscs. Citing an example of the use of local government in this manner, is exactly to be Ibund in Canada in the city of Winnpeg in Manifoba, there exist community corn~nitteesin each local witrd. '[he local cou~icilorhcads the commitice in each ward. 'l'licsc coinmittccs involve thc pcople in issues by seeking tllc ge~lcralopi~liorl, by rnobilising the pcoplc tlioughts and actions iowards the choicc 01' tl~cniijority, encourage visiblc and ti~ii~ible dcvoloping local talents. In this very process, the various conlmittccs contribute a11 input to the local ;i~idhe ~iatiorlalpolitical systcm. l'hc writer also stressed that, pcople in the developing countries have come to hold strongly thc opinion that the only physical form' of' governmcnt is dcvclopmcnt. Within the desires, intercst and "will" ol'tlie pcople. 'That is our pcople I~vccome to distrust and against tlic did of f'oreign assistance that trickle in, here and there irregularly. There is the general belief and acknowledgment, the hct that development from within ' (endogeneous development) means work, a strong personrlel desire to improve existing conditions and more sell'-co~llidcnce. It cilli easily arouse the interest ol' local I'umcrs and thereby enhance agricultural dcvelopmcnt, while utilizing rriodcrn fhcilitics ilvailable to then). Local governmcnt can more easily arrange Ibr training programmes in tile application of technical innovations, undcr this very process, the various local committees that produce barely enough food crops can become suf'ficient in foodstuffs and infact, when this takes place or occurred, a transformation from a state of poverty to one of self-sufficiencytakes place. With the above development school of' thought by Ola, in his text; The researcher, strongly recommends that, such community committees in each local ward should be established in southern Ijaw local government in order to involve the people in issues- local and National. Such committees if created will certainly contribute a considerable amount of input to the local as well as the national political system. Again, for effective development from within (endogeneous developn~ent)to take place, it is my sincere submissicjn that, such committees fkom the wards should be in practice in souther11ljaw local Government and Nigeria at large. kience, in course of adopiing the above method of adriunistration, in the local government system, it will certainly contribute the quota towards the development of the local government and the various communities anti , villages. I Ladipo Adamolekun, who also wrote on Zrge idea of local Gover~ii~n"" sincerely observed that, the 1976 local government reform has introduced ~i ~hird-tier system of government with the Nigerian governmental system which is drliled at finding solution for'the twin problems of whether, there should be effective 11~;;sparticipation in the management of local affairs and the undetined nature of orgall; /.ational framework to . ' establish at the local level. According to Atiamolekun, these t~boproblems have deiincd lasting solutions even after the previous local government ~d'orms.He further observed that, the new reform aided popular participation and supports elective participatory instiiutions as its organizational framework. He also hoped that, given the co-operation and.commitment between the federal, state and lad governnlents as well as the masses, the new system would succeed in its efforts to ;ictualize.rural development. Another major writer, 3.1 Obiukwu, in his paper "leadership prospecls in the new local government" also asserts thdt, what the new local government system requires , urgently is effective leadership. Such leadership will be one that has unity ofpurpose, a leadership that must peweived itself as func~ioningto evolvc a local yovenlment system; ' Apart from effective leadership, the new local government require enough finance and skilled manpower for effective performance of its stipulated objzctives. Uba (1 984) also stressed that "local government as a third-tier of government" In Nigeria has performed below expectations in rural developnlent, inspite of great optimism that ushered in the new local government system in 1976. He also attributed the . poor performarlce of the third-tier system of government in Nigeria to the natio~l's development process which has been urban restricted. Hence, he opn~dthat, he colonial legacy of the persist in Nigeria and this was made clear by the inability of local government to i~nprovt:the standard of living cif tl~cpeople. In addition, he concluded that, local governments in Nigeria can be made functional, ifthere is a permanent change in the political, aclmin~stlative,sod and economic activities of the socie~y. Again, a writer on the new local government system in Nigeria, S.Ade Oladosu in his book Kaduna Essavs in local novernment".argue that, there ate no other institutions in this country which are more capable of bringing about all round development coupled with physical infrastructural facilities than those of the local government. According to Oladosu, neither the f'ederal government nor the state government can achieve any reasonable degree of success in their objectives without the ' full assistance of the local government. He therefore candidly felt that, the failure isherent in the 1976 reform shou!; bt: eiiminated and mcessary facilities provided to 'local governments, hence, they would become more purposeful in their discharge of functions. This research investigates the Rural Development activities of programmes of Southern ljaw local Government, which was crealed in 1991 in accordance with the 1976 local government reforms. A flashback on the words ol'L,eon Festinger and Daniel Katz, " No method is better than theory by which it is tested" To undertake this onerous task, the framework adopted is the David Easton's commonly used systems approach. 'That is, the system analysis under this perspective will enable us understand the various development activities'and hnctionality of Southern ljaw local government as a system; 'This will also enable us to be acquainted with the various influences tiom the entire environment-both internal and external that affect the et'fective performance of' the local government, . .particularly, with southern ljaw local gouernment. For more understanding, a system has been severally defined as " a set of elements standing in inter-action" "a set of objects together with relationships between .I' the objects', and between their features": and "a whole which is compounded of many parts- an essenlble of attributes" These various definitions of a system involves the idea oi'a group of objects or elements standing in some characteristic structural relationship to one ariother and interacting on the basis of certain features processes. The main parts of David Easton's model are: inputs, outputs and the feedback, and can be represenied.diagran~maticallyas in fig. I Fig I, David Erst011Syste~p Model -1 I INPUTDEMAND CONVERSION OUTPUT 1. Goods and services 1 -7 2. participation in Politica 1. llecisionu processes 2. Rural Develop menial activil ies SUPPORT I-- 1. Payment of tax rate 2.. Obedience to law 3. Self help projects 4. Manifestation of deference From the above figure, we can now notke that, the southern Ijaw local (-?ouetnn~ent activities are influenced by the Environment-both internal and external. The internal environment consists qf the chairman, counselors, supervisory ccx~nt~ill~,rs,soclirl clubs. tridcrs unions, religious bodies, the co~~nciloS cl~icfs,the ciurlomic resuurccs witlii~~the lucid govemllwt. All tl~esc nukc-up tl~cI'o~cs t11at in~crplayand i~rtlucncc the functioning and adcqu;~tepcrt'orn~a~w of southern ljaw local govcrrmcnt. While, the External eaviru~~rnentcomprises thc state and federal governnicnt. Both Somulate rules and regulations, ~cl~ichguide the operation or fbnctioning, of the lucal governmcnt authority. 'I'hc cxtcrn;~l inclination influences, which afl'ect the operation southern ljaw local govcrn~rlentalso, involve the federal and state governnlcnt budgetary and financial statutory allocations and control. Southern ljaw local government as a system receives in1)uts fron~both internal and external environme~~tsin the form ordemands and assistance. A dc111a11c1according to I:aslon is an cxprcssio~~ol' opi~liontI1i11 irn a~~tl~orilativci11Ioci1ti011 will1 ~c~a~tllo iI particular subject mattcr should or should not bc made by 11me rcsporisiblc for tloi~~gso 'The various corn~uu~~itiesthat are Sound within the local government normally dcmand tl~cprovision ol'amcni~~essuch as t lcdth services, schools, roads, water a~dothcr things rron) the local government authorities. They also denland participation in handling the alYails of local govcrm~ent.The local government also recicves support in the lbrm ol' pyn~edot' taxes ri~,Jratcs, obcdicnce to its bye-laws, self-l~elpprojects tiom ll~c reside~~tsand indigence ol'thc local guvernmcnt. It sllould be noted that, the Executive chairman a11d other top otlicial oSSoutl~crn ljaw Local Government Stall'of ljaw local government process the various inputs into output. The output of soutlwn ljiiw local government relkrs tu the decisions and actions of the authorities This can be assesscd by evaluating its rural developnlent potentials, which is the concern,of this inquiry. "Output" as Easton has already made clear not only help to influence events in the broader society of which the system is a part. but, in doing so, they help to determine each succeeding round of input that tinds or locate its way into the political system . Hence, the above process is described as a feedback loop and is dn important method of response to support stress in a political system. The feedback, Thus .is a dynamic process through which information system is communicated back to it in such a way as to affect the subsequent behavour of the system . Infact, through this feedback process, people' feelings and reactions to 1ht: pperations, actions and performance of Southern ljaw local government arc communicated or channelled back to the authosities or the management staff of the local government. ln fact, the major task of this research is to systernatically find out the role of southern ljaw local government in relation to I-ural devcluprnent. 'l'hcrl, after that, we discuss the fact that, !he ultimate measure of the eflkctiveness of any government, be it local, state or national, is its ability to improve the lot of the elltire people to whom it is responsible. fIavins structu;ed out our theo:.etical framework to guide our irwestigation, we therefore formulate the following hypothesis: I. A short supply of fimd limits the capacity of southerr! ljaw !ocai government to meet its objectives in rural development. 2. . Unskilled manpower in southern ljaw local government adversely afiects its all round achievement. 3. The performance of southern Ijaw local government in the Geld of rural development does not measure up with of its constitutional rcsponsibilities. That is, for the purpose of this work, constitutional responsibilities includes; the advancement of education, water supply, promotion of agriculture, provision of Health and social welfare services, and also development of road and market. 4. Low morale among the star of Souther;l ljaw Local Government militates against the realization of its rural development responsibilities. In the course of the clarification of key concepts or operational definition as thc name implies; According to Clair Selltiz et al, "Definition ought lo: 1. Assign empirical and logical meaning to concepts in an explicit and mure precise way 2. . Assign meaning to concepts, so that indicators of the concepts relate to indicators of . - olher concepts in ways that are predicted by theory" That is, in a simplest meaning, the concept of dcfini~iunvought to bt: unambiguous and clear 1 what they refer to, and definitions ought to be constructed so that the concepts fit into theories. LO'C'AL GOVERNWT The concept of local government has been variously defined. The National "Guidelines For A Reform of Local Government" defined it as government at 1oc;allsvelexercised through representative councils established by the law to exercise definite powers within deiined areas. These powers should give the council substantial control over local activities as well as the workers and institutional and 5nancial powers to bring up and direct the pi-ovision of services and to determine and execute projects so as to aid the entire activities of both the state and fcdcral governments in their areas, and in order to ensure, through devolution of functions to these councils , However, according to G.O. Odenigwe's definition of local government "a system of local administration under which local communities and villages are organised tu maintain law and order. It idso provides some limited range of social services, public arncnities, encourage the co-operation and participation oT the dwellers in mutual eflort. to stress on the improvement of their standard of living. It makes provisions for community with a formal institutional framework which enables them to pilot their afTairs adequrttely .and monitor the actions of their numbers lix the general public good" . . WUIUL DEVELOPMENT The concept of rural development is a complex process that defines simple definition, its coinplexity and complicated nature contimeti to by tlli multiplicity of forms that, the rural development programmes have in many parts of the world; such as "mass educri'ricr~i", "popular action", "community Development", and "agricultural extension". Rural development is also frequently confused with agricultural or with the mechanization of the countryside, ht,for a more meaningful and understanding perspective, we shall accept the concept of rural development as defined by the Regional Conference OQ tlx "lntegrated Approach to Rural Wevelopmeut" held in Moshi; Tanzania. This conference defined Rural Development as "the outcome of a series of quantitative innovations occuring among a given population and whose covering effects indicate, in time, a rise in the standard of living and favoiable changes in the way of life of the people concerned". That is, the above definition does not mean isolated programmes of "communities development", "ugricultural extension", or any &the other te'nns'applied to sectional programmes which are carried out in the rural areas or within the rural community. It means a comprehensive development of the rural area. END-NOTE: Zambia: Second National Development Plan 1972- 1979, Robert Chambers, Managin& Rural Development: Idea an-perience from East Africg (Uppsala: Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, 1974)p. 11. M. John: Cohen et al, "Rural Development Participation", Rural Dcvelo~me@ Mono&, No 2, Published by the Rural Developmerit Committee, Centre for International Studies, Cornell University. Quoted in A.G. Odenigwe, A New System of Local Governrne_nt bv the Communitv iri the East Central State of Nigeria, (Enugu: Nwamit'a Publishers Ltd., 1977) C. Emezi, "Nigeria Local Government in Historical Perspective", Nigeria Journal of Public Administration and Local Government, Vol. 2, No 2 (Published by the Sub-Department of Public 'Adiministration and Local Govenmunt, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, 1984) p. 53. Guidelines for Local Government Reform, (Kaduna Government Printers, (1976) p. 1. Ibid. D. Ohtunbosun, meria's Ne&cted Rural Majority (lbadan : Oxfbrd University I'ress, 1975) P. 160. Williams, "Rural Poverty to llural Prosperity: A Strategy for development ir! Nigeria", cm . iuaugurul lecture delivered at the University of Ife, 19'73, P.6. M.O. Ijere, Leading Issues in Nigeria Rural ~evelo~ment(unpblished Book). A. D. Yahaya, "Local Governmerit As Agent of Rural Development: An Evaluation", Nigerian Journai of Political Science, Vol. 1, No 1, 1'979, pp. 21-23. Z-I. E Okereke, "The Role of Agriculture in Rural Developmerit in Nigeria", Journal for , Comrnuriity Devebpmcni 1979). Pp. 13- 17. ). E. M. .Kulp, Rural Development Planning: A Systems Analysis and working methods, (New York: Praeger, 1970) . G. A. Odenigwe, "Mobilizing the citizen for Communual Development under the new system of Local Government" in L.Adarnolekun and .L. Rowlanc! (eds) 'The New Local Gove,mment in Niw(Ibadan: Heineman, Ltd., 1979) pp. 1 1 5- 120 . L. Adamolekun, "The ldea of Local Government As Third Level of Government: In L. Adamolekun and L. liowland (ed), =New Local Govern~nentSystem in Niyeria (Ibadan: Heineman, Ltd,. 1979) pp. 3- 13 J. I. Obiukwu, "Leadership Prospects in the New Local Government" Paper Presented at the National Conference on the new Local Government System in Nigeria, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, 1980, p. 580. U, n. Uba, "Local Government As A Third Tier of Government: As Assessment", Nigeria Journal of Public Administration And Local Government, vol. 2, No 2, Published by the Sub-Department of Public Administration,and Local Government, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, 1984) pp. 69. 75. S. Ade Oladosu, Kaduna Essavs in local Goyernment, (Kaduna: Oyeleye Jetage Printers Ltd., 1981. I;. Festinger, et al, Research methods in the Rehavioural Science, (New York: The DrydenPress, 1953) p. 8. L.V. Bertallenfy, "General Systenl theory", General System, vol. 1, 1956, p.3. A. Hall, et al, "Definition of A System", General Svstgp, vol. 1 1956, p. 18. C. Cherry, On tluman~ornmunication(New York: John Wiley 1961) p. 307. C. Selltiz, et al, Research Methods in Social Relations (Copywri&t by Halt, Rine-hart and Winston, U.S.A. (1976) p. 40. G. A. Odenigwe, OP. Cit. P. I. Integrated Ao~roachTo Rural Development (New Yourk: Social Development section of . the Economic Commission for Afi ica, 1971) P.I. CIIAI'TEII TWO 2:l HLS'TORICAL BACKGROUND OF SOU'I'IIEKN LJAW LOCAL COVEIINMEN'I' AlIEA Southern Ijaw Local Government was created in 1991 in accordmcc with the 1976 Local Government Reform that was ol'licially established in the nation; 'l'he Southern ljaw Local Govcrnmcnt was created tionl Yenagoa Local Governnlent in former Rivers State. The then Yenagoa Local Government is east -- wcst 01' Ih-I I-larcourt the then state capitid In the I'ormer Rivers State, prior to this period, a I'orunl cilllcd "llayclsi~I;UIUIII" was lormed. The niain objective of lhis l'on~nlwas to creak a slak lllnl will hc called Dayelsa Stale. Dut, unlbrlunately, the aim oi'the forum was not achieved; 'l'h~s,Ihe slate was not created, hence, there were three additional local governrncnt Ilia1 wcrc created; out of the three newly created local governments, southern ljaw local governnient area SlLGA was one 01' lhem wilh' headquarlers at Oporonia. 'l'hen. , later during the regime of General Sani Abacha, Bayelsa State was created in 1996. LOCATION Southern ljaw Local Governmenl Area is in Bayelsa State. It has conmio~l boundaries with Brass Local government area to the East, then, Yenagoa local government area to North, while to the South is the Atlantic Ocean and to tlw west is Sagbama and Keremo Local Government Area respeclivcly. The Southcrn Ijaw Local Government is colnpletely a "riverrine" local government area with no motor road link lo any other part of the state. That is, the local government area is made up of six clans namely: Apoi/Rassan clan,Bomo clan, Koluama clan, Ogboin clan, Olodiamn clan and Tarakiri clan with fitly-lbur (54) comnlunities and satellite villages and camps. POPULATION; 'The population of southern ljaw local government arca is well over 150,000 following the 1976 and 1988 Local govc~mne~itrcl'oms which reco~iicndsil population of a local government that is not less than 150,000 people. With the National population census figures of 1991, the population figure is over 250,000. THE PEOPLE: The entire people are completely Ljiiw speaking people. In terms ol' . . reGgious belief, the people were polytheistic worshippers who had various divinities and deities including ancestral cults, and not onc of thcrn cvcr rosc above tllc other to ruducc monotheism. 'Tlw religion ol' (Ihristir;ility was introduced during thc colonial era, Christianity is now practised side by side with the traditional religion. . Among the pcople of Southern ljaw Local Govcrnnwnt; In this political sphere southern ijaw local government area has clans which are headed and ruled by traditional rulers called chicfs and kings, cg 'The "lbenanawei" King ol' l3o1no chi, Ibcnilnawci ol' Olodiama clan while at the community/village level is the "Amananawci" (owner of' town) has his council known as "Amananawei-lkasi" (council of' elders) which scttlcs customary matters at the various community/village whcre the lbenanawei is not on seat. It should be noted that. l'he council of clders is the highest policy making body at the communiiy/village Icvcl. Below the council of elders is the "lkasitebcwei" (cllairrnarl, cu~~~~nunily Development committee-C.D.C council). Formation of the councij is that; At t hc end of each twenth month calender year, a new chairman of the community Devclopmc~it committee is generally elected, while each quarter (compound) of a village elect or nominates a number of representatives to form the chairman's council. Note that, the number of representatives to the council varies from conmunity to conmunity. It is a matter of fact that, the chairman's council at the cornrnunity level pertbrms both political and administrative duties at the community, local and state government levels.. MAJOR AUTONOMOUS COMMUNITIES IN SOUTHERN IJAW I.,OCAL GOVEHhlMENT Southern ljaw local government has thirty-four (34) autonomous communities, nsnlely: I. Oporoma 8, lkebiri 9. Utnubugbene 19. Ukubie 20. Foropa 2 1. Koluatna 1 22. Koluanla l l 23. Tikpama 24. Amatolu 25 Anlassoma 26. O~uari 27. Opuama 28. Ekowe 20. Atiyantwa 30. Igbomaturu 3 1. Diobu 32. I'crc~nabirl 33. Oweikurogha 34. Eniwari OCCUPATION the people are predominantly farmers and tishermen, other eco~iomic . activities that the people engage themselves which includc oil palm production, canoc- carving, palm-wine tapping, hunting, trading etc. with a lkw number as civil servants, SOURCES 01: KEVEN U E TO Ttl E LOCAL GOVEIIN M EN'I': Southern Ijaw I .ocal Government like others in the country receive their "statutory Allocation" from the federal and state government. The Revenue Allocation Act provides a share for local government out of both the federation account and the state government revenue per . month each year. For instance, under the Revenue Allocation Act of 198 1, Southcni ljaw Local Government have a 10% share of the fcdcraliu~~Aixounts and in uidition along with otllers. The local government also generates revenue internally through property ruling and fees imposed on individuals who are not in the l'i~y-As-You-Earn tax nct. I-or instance, propcrty rating to be dependable sources ol'rcvcnuc, the local govcrliliient nccds to possess the valuable capacity to asscss propcrty nloveablc and i~n~i~ovablcin its ulcilol' jurisdiction, besides cost of collection be reasonably less than the anticipated revenue. 'I'he extents to which tllcse conditions are met tend to tlcteminc their viability as soi~rccs .of internal revenue for local government. Another source of internally generated revenue is by loan. In course ol' ~wciving loans, state government established a loan fund or expand previously o~lcsto ~11ihlcloci~l governments borrow cheaply for their capital development; while other source of rcvcnuc is by donations. That is, there are oil exploring companies such as shell-BP, Agip, 'I'exaco operating the local government which occasionally give grants or donations or eve11 taking it as a responsibility to embarking on some major projects, such as const~uctingof minibridges in the various communities. Again, such companies also engage thcmsclvcs in ihe construction ol'classroorn blocks for various schools in the local Governnlcnt Area; all the above contributions from the oil companies are geared towards the develop~nwt01' the local government. COMMUNICATION: Southern !jaw local government area is blessed with I'air'ly good .neiwork of footpath roads. Although, at the moment, ~n;Gorcon~~nu~~icatio~i/tra~is~~o~iation system is by river. Internally, thcre iue roads (iootpa~l~)that link the various autonomous conlmunities in the area. That is, most of this internal nctwork of roads (hotpath) are untarred, if graded by the local government, they would be passable lbr most parts of the year. Unlbr~u~iately, most of these footpaths are even neglected, consequently, tliey are in a doierioraiing condition for most parts of the year, only I'cw of the I'ootpa~hthat attracts tlic a~~cntior~01' the local government of wl~iclilkw stall' arc becn dcploycd to take care ol' such ~mds (footpath). SOCLAL AMEN 1'1'1 ES With a total of one-hundred zlnd seventy-four (1 74) primary schools, thirty-three secondary schools, onc technical college, fourty-one health centres, Nine comprclwnsive health centres and pipe borne water in some 01' the co~nmunities.In essence. ;he local . . government area cannot bt: said to be acutely poor in the distribution ol'social an~cnities. Although, most of the pipe-borne water projkts was being constructed by thc oil cornpanics to their host conmunities. TRADITIONS AND VA.LUES According to Rolland. L. Warrain "traditions are the customs, practices, bits of legend and folklore, and other material from your. Community's past, which was passed on by word-of-mouth and persist to affect social behavour in your conlmunity today. There are long established ways of dbing things and ways of looking at things in any com~~i~~nity". I. lnfact, this is true, in Southern ljaw LJocal Government Area, married women are ' more caring for the well being af the family than the men. Hence, womeri are more industrious than the men in most of their various homes. .2:2 QNGANISATIONAL S'I'WUCrIURE OF SOUTIIEHN IJAW LOCAL GOVERNMENT SOU'THERN ljaw Local Government was created in 1991, by the Dabangida administration. In 199 1, local govemnenl elections 011 parly bitsis were Iicld, As n scsull of the election result, chairman and seventeen councillors were elected and were suppobe , to be in office for three years, under this syslem, the chairman appoints his poliiical secretary, therefore Mr.Eziron Birigidi, was appointed as the secretary to the council. Tht chairman is the chief executive of the council, while olher elected members form the legislative Arm of the council. The seventeen councillors represented the seven tee^! wards in the local government with Olodiama clan-two wards, Ogboin clan-5ward, Bomo clan-5, Oporoma clan-2, Appori- I, Bassan clan-2 wards. There were also supervisoly comcillors appointed who were responsible l'or the policy matters of the council. Hence, ttle supervisory councillars formed the executive cabinet of the cwncil; the stage was therefore set for the administration to set the ba!l :oiling. This elected council lasted for ahout three years, 1991-94, while in 1994, the federal military Government dissolved the elected council, and replaced them with caretaker committee. In the wake of this new developnlcnt, colonel voi-11Yukwc (1.1)wab appointed as the chairman, with four other supervisory cou~lcillors,to move thc nll;iirs ot' the council. Ln essencc, the local governrnents have conic to have similar st~~ucturcad perform similar functions in accordance with the 1976 Relbi~iiis.'I'liis is becnusc lhe reforms emphasized uniformity and standardisation. S'I'R U C'rU RE 'She 1976 structure, which lasted up to carly 1991 (with little changcs) can be divided into two rriajor structures, such as thc political and ad~ilinisti.ativcst~uc~urc. At thc hglms of affairs is the political structure consisting ol'tllc local govcrnrncnl cliairnlan ol' the sccrctary to the local governmen1 and various departnicnts Nor~iially,tlic v;i~.ioi~s depalzn~entsoperatcd in sections and units, but ill 1088, tlicre was a I~A'OI.~lliiil brol\c them down into divisions, branches rand sections. 111 1991, howcvcr, with the operation of t11c presidential syslem ill local government (with its attendant principles of separation of powers) there was a plurality in tlx political structure imd even the oilice ol'tlle secrctsry becainc political. So, tllcre has the executive council, thc legislative council, ollice 01.' the chai~mm,oflicc of t!w secretary, departments (with the personnel department exalted among the otlicr IZCC~LISC of increasing responsibilities) A diagrammatic representation of the organisational structure ofthe southern ljaw . local government is shown below. Fig 1 1 ADMLNISTRA'I'IVE S'I'HUC'l'lI RE OF SOUri'l:EflN IJAW LOCAL, GOVERNMENT AS PROVIDED ISY TJIE 1976 f&,I(:l;OliM: Chairman of Local Government Council information & Public Social Wellhrc Enlightenment Depart nwnt TILE LOCAL GOVERNMENT COUNCIL Southern ljaw Local Government had a council which was co~rlposcdof not less thsn five and not more than twenty-two elac~eda11d appointed members. As applicublc Icr other local govcrnmcnts in the federation; although, the [lumber of the elected and appointed members, depend on the population of the particular local government area. In Southern ljaw local govern~ncnLma, both the elected and appointed sum up to I\ir'rlly- two councillors. 'rhe council laid down general policy guidelines and made byelaws, which wc~xcarried out by the various heads of departments, who were in tlie mtri~rprokssionals. II was part of the responsibility of tlie chairman and thc supervisory councillors to ensure that policies laid down by the council were carried out. TllE CliAlliMAN OF TllE COUNCIL The chairman in the local government system is the overall boss in thc local government. That is, tlie chairman presided over council meetings and public occasions. He is the symbol of authority at the local government level, he sees that, decisions taker1 are fully implemented, the bye-laws passed by the local govcninlent arc. subject to his , approval. I lc co~rtrols both thc adniinistrative and linancinl matters ol' tlic Iwnl govern rrlent both the portfolio and lion portfolio co~~ncillors.The portl'olio councillors arc ~lsually assigned specific otKces/departmcnts to organise and control. Ilowever, tl~ccllirirnlan so fiir as he does not abuse his position; He will remain in ofice till the expiration ol'tlie lilk of the council. He also initiates policies on behalf of the entire council where there wils time constraint, but later informed the cou~icil. SECRE'I'AHY'1'0 'I'll E LOCAL COVEHN M EN'I' COUNCIL 'I'lie secretary to the local governnient council is the overall boss 01' tile administrative department and monitors the perSorrnance oS work in thc various depanments of the council. I-le ensured tliat, the council's decisions were not at variance wiih government policies. THE SUPERVISORY COUNCILLORS Theseare appointed directly by the chairman of the council, for those who provcd to be party or chairman's loyalists; Hence, they are referred to as supervisory councillors to hcad various dcpartn~ents of the council. "l'hese dcpartn~cnts arc works, I lcidtl~, Agriculture and Education. Supervisory couricillors undertake political responsibilities for the day to day functions of the department and gave orders to the executive heads of these local government departments on policy issues only. but not on thcir internal management. . , TUE COMMITTEE SYSTEM IN THE COUNCIL: lnfitct, it is a matter of fact that, it was made mandatory under the 1976 rcforrr~s for each local government authority to at least four standing commillecs nalncly: i. Financial and General purpose committee ii. Education committee iii. Works coninittee iv. Health committee. The committee system was necessary tbr the smooth functioning of thc local government council. It was primarily a device to ensure that, the work of thc cntire council was absolutely decentralised. It is obvious that, such decentralizations enabled the councils to consider crucial matters thoroughly and to reach !nature judgenient on the implementation of policies. That is, the committees served as useful forum for preparing detailed measures of policy for considerat ion by the entire counci I. Secondly, t hc int inlaic connection between the committees and the relevant departments of the council gave the . Y committees an insight into the working of the dcpa~tmerltsand enablcd then1 to cxercise supervision over the departments on behalf of the council. It should be noted that, in thc 1988 civil service Reforms, administralio~lcl~angcd to .Dipartment of personnel management while treasury changed to depa~.tmcntol' finance, supplies, planning, Kcsearch adsta:is:ics. Also. "sections" chi~~lgedto divisions under which, there are branches and the11 sections; presently, the personnel nlanagclnent has changed to administration again. Also under the political structure, presently . thc executive is separate fiom the Icgislative. 2:3 FUNC'I'lONS OF '1'IIE WORKS IlEI'AII'SkIEN'S IN SOU'I'tIICHN 1JA.W LOCAL GOVERNMENT In Southern ljaw local government, there are six major departments, which include: Accounts dcpartment, Health departme~~~.l~duci~lion clcpi111rnc111. Agric~rllult department, personnel department and Works and 'l'ransport tlcpart~ncnr.I lowcvcr, 1111dcr this study, we are more concel-ned with the works department. In essence, as a rcsulr 01' the various functions the works departrncnt performs at the local governnlent, the .department is considered very important in the system. l.lcnce, the works department is made up of three basic units, of which each unit under takes or perl'ornls a particular function, such units are; Project unit, Estate unit and urban Regional planning unit. PROJECT UNIT: project unit within the works department at the local government level is responsible for carrying out feasibility reports on projects they intend to enlbark upon by the local government and also designs rhe particular project that is to be executed. The project unit also gives necessary advice of iirlancial matters about projects. Secondly, the project unit at the local governnlent level is responsible fur carrying out supervision work on on-going projects and to ensure solid in~plementi~tio~~01' work(project) within the local government. 38 Thirdly, this very unit monitor and evaluate projccts as well, and carry's out , . renovation works within the Local Government Area. KSTA'J'E UNIT: This unit is responsible for carrying out land mattcrs, that is, to ensure judicious use of any piece of land acquired by the local government for any project. Hence, the major function of this unit is to map out arcas that are appropriate Ibr a particular projcct within ttic 1.ocal (;ovcrn~nent Area. IJRBAN AND WECIONAI, PLANNING UNIT: '('his unit is also responsible I'or carrying out proper planning ad cxecution ol' cs~;~tcs within the local governmelit, and also approves project designs ilt the local governnient level to 6nsure smooth inlplcnwntation of projects at tlic grirssroot Icvcl. I lowcvcr, in a nuislicll, the inipa~ltlic works dcpa~t~iie~ithas c~wtcdill thc Ilxal gaverm~nent syslern, particularly, in southern Ijaw local goveramcnt can no1 bc over mphasised. As a result of this, several Local Government 1 lead quarters have been given a face liit in terms of buildings for eithcr quarters or otticcs, a~idalso good roads ~iow graded by the works department at the local govcrrinient. Agai~i,clectritication ot' various communities at the rural level and the lnainter~ariceof such electricity arc cnsurcd by the local government through the works department. More so quality control of dcsigned jobs are ensured through proper supervisio~iand monitoring by the works depanment of the local government, and as well planned layout of Ileadquaners, markets in conformity with urban status. It should be noted that, in tllc 1988 civil service Reforms, administration cllangcd to'.Dipartment of personnel management while treasury changed lo departnlwt of under which, there are branches and then sections; presently, the personnel nlallsgcrlwnt has changed to administration again. Also under the political structure, presently, the executive is separate from the Icgislat ive. 2:3 IWNCTIONS OF '1'11E WORKS L)EI'AIKI'MEN'I' IN SOU'l'tllCltN IJAW LOCAL COVERNMKNT . In Southern ljaw local government, there are six major departments, which department, personnel department and Woi-ks mcl 'I'ransport tlcpart~ncnt.I towcvcr, u~~tlcr this study, we are rnore concerned with the works dcpai-tnlent. In essence, as a result ol' the various funcrions the works department performs at rile local government, the .department is considered very important in the systern. I-lcnce, thc works clcpa~lmentis made up of three basic units, of which each unit under takes or perfornls a particuiai function, such units are; Project unit, Estate unit and urban Kegio~liilplanning unit. PROJECT UNIT: project unit within the works department at the local government level is responsible for carrying out feasibility reporls on projects they intend to cmbark upon by the local govcrninent and also designs the particular project that is to be executed. The project unit also gives necessary advice of tinancial matters about projects. Secondly, the project unit at the local governnlent level is responsible for carrying out supervision work on on-going projects and to cnsure solid inlplemen~iitio 01' work(project) within the local government. 2:4 El'IMXl. DEMAND FOR LOCAL CO\.'KRNMISN'I' AND lilIRAIA The term, ethics, has to do, with the moral build-up ol'an i~rdividualor a sclcctcil group of persons as the case may be. 111 essence, t11e conccpt of nwaiity in this our society is simply concerned with the regulation ol'individual bchavour. That is conce~mxi with how one percieves his personal action as acccp!ablc or unacceptable lo the society. I-knce, local government legislators, on the other hand, simply refer to the clcctcd councillors From the various wards throughout the Local Governnicnt Area. Theret'ore, ethical dcniands for local government legislators simply refers to the nioriil expectations by the society from thos~in tlx service of the local government councils in terms ot'r~rr:rI development. 'That is, it is generally assumed thi~t, tliosc who work in thc. government councils ol' tlic t'cdcratioa llave cxpccted rnorol standaids to uplwld 111 essence, in course of discussing the primary t'unctions 'of the local govcrnnicnt lawmakers, this serves as a reminder that, the local government lawn~akcrsarc not islands on themselves. They functioned aniong people who are corlcer~iedwilh their ovcrall performance including their moral behavour. The local government t'ullclionaries cannot . therefore do-whatever they like, They are duty-buund to consider the l'celings or those thcy sewed. On the other hand, this discourse will atl'ord the local goverlinlerit functionaries the forum to deliberate on meaningful projects at the rural level. Available evidence indicates that, the Southern ljaw local Govc~-nmen~ lawnrakers'.ethical expectations are deeply rooted in the tradition oftlie people. Anlong the Yoruba people, for instance, it is the general belief that, a gentle character eniib!cs "the rope of life to stay unbroken in one's hands". In another development, the Yoruba people cherish and maintain the virtue of hospitality in high esteem. The lgbo culture also . emphasizes "clean hand" in their interpersonal relationships. Here, in Southern Ijaw local government, lawmakers are expected to exhibii kindness, honesty and justice in the course of thier deliberations in rural development. DEMANDS ARlSlNG FROM CONSTITUTIONAL REQUIKEMEN'I'S: The Nigerian constitutions have over the years provided ior ethical requirements and the 1999 constitution of the federal Republic of Nigeria is not an exception. Such provisions are clearly set down in the second chapter and the BRh schedule oi the constitution. Section 23 of the 1999 constitution is clearly captioned. National Ethics. ~ckordin~to the section under ~xference: f I The national ethics shall be discipline, integrity, dignity of labour, social justice, religiocls tolerance, self-reliance and patriotism. I. The implication of this provision is that, at the National level, evely Nigerian including the elected members of the National Assembly nus st uphold the ethical principles indicated above. The local govcrnnlent functionaries must uphold or maintain the ethical principles as well indicated above. One other area where morality is of substanti;tl utility to local government legislators is that of the ~nactrnentof local government bye-laws for the rural dwellers. This . is .because. everj iaw has a .moral base since the main purpose is to rcgulate the . . behavour of the inhabitants. Hence, this explains why the law does not exist in s vaccurn. , 'For the local govern~ncntfi~nctionaries, tlx tradiiional ethical expecialions are ol' great value to them illeir byelaw t'ormulation and projcct inll)lcnle~ltiitiorrat tllc 1.111.iil . . in ICVCI. . Such policy can only be rrleanirlgfirl in the context of thc moral needs of hc rural peol)lc, The point being nude here is that, the policies in a local government set up nlust co~rsitler ' the need of the rural people in terms of developl~rent. TUE DEMAND OF PKOUITY, ACCUUNVTAL)ILI1'YAND KAt'I'OItT IIV LOCAL GOVERNMENT . .... The local government functionaries need to bc g,uidcd ethically by the tlc~rrandolr ' . them of probity, accountability and rapport, giving'llecd to this guide is firrrdme~rlalto the successful implenumtation ol' local government projects at the grass roots. Tlrc Ibr~irulationof viable social and cco~wnricpolicics ol' tlrc local govcr~r~ilc~~~largely Irirrgcs on these three imponant concepts. PHOUI'TY: Probity has to do wi~huprightness orclraracler or integrity. So wlrw we calk of probity, the idea of honesty, trustwonhincss, fairness and incorruptibility are brought tu mind. Where there is probi~y, !he proble~ns of corruption, 111al-adnriaisl~~ation, indolence, indiscipline and misappropriation of projects, which liavc been associated with . government. The practice of probity will bring an end to the viccs of "lctllargy; uncaring . attitude, godfathcrism, grass erosion of morality, con-uplion, impropriety and loss of integrity" which once greeted the Nigerian civil service. I.lc~lcc, local govcmncnt functionariks must do evurytlling possible to resist the tcnlptation of beconring bia~rdedas . such. tlowevcr, in course of siting projects in the IAocalGovcrnnicnt Area, every nooks and crannies should be considcred. ACCOU N'I'AUI LI'I'Y Accountability, in siniple terms, means being put in position to give accourlt 01' one's . stewardship. This is to say that, local government functionaries must bc conscious tlrat all public resources entrusted to the council shall be judiciously i~tilisedt'or LIK berwfit or developrnenl of the rural people concerned. That is, thc local governnlcnl should see to it that, funds made available for specitic projects are spent as such. It st~ouldprevent the conversi& of public fund into private use. R A 1'1'0 R'I': This also is irnpoi-lant. Ily this concept, wc thc closc relationship which cxisls among thc vilrious lir~lctio~laricsand spl~ercsot' tlrc local govcrlllnolt sysre~l~.I:or instance, the legisla'tors will need to work in closc ielationship will1 he executive am as made possible by the chairnlan of the council. 'Thcrc sl~ouldbc no rivi~lryirlllollg tllcnl All the same, none should bc seen as subor.~li~rilteto the othcr in order to ensurx smooth irnplementation of project oriented policies at tllc grassroots levcl. In a nutshell, if local government lirnctionaries, particularly, Soutl~ernIjilw L.ocal government will pay attention to the ethical dc~r~andsin their respectivc placcs of work, there will be justice and fair play. Social justice is a necessary ingrcdicnt for maximum output. A situalion where no one is cheated will pronlotcd hard work among thc workers, especially'with the management star. END-NOTE C . M. Sorgwe, "Ethical Demand forbcal Govenunent Law-Makers": V&-ksho?on I,egislative competsm of Local G~vcrnmcntLenislativc Assgemblics in . Nineria. . The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; 1999, Section 23, National Ethics. Abuja, Department of Information, Printing Division. Itural development is an integral aspect of dcvelopnlent. In Soutllcrrl Ijaw local government area, the local governnlent has made some glaring elTom trying lo bring the developnlcnt to limelight. I.lcnce, this very chapter will clocunwnt the con11-ibuiionsof the local government to the overall development of her communities, some of' the projects covered in this tield work includc health scrviccs, walcr supply awi sociirl attention to heal~h by providing adcquitte tit~lds to his scctor. Ilerlcc, ~llclocd play verJ inlportant roles in achieving the health objcctiv&of'tlie nation. governrrlent emphasis on primary Ilealtl~case as the nlairi strategy tor- tl~eobjjcclivcs ol' health for all by the year 2000, the local gover-nment Ilas tkirly bccornc involved ill ~lle provisiorl of certain basic services. Sincc the creation of this local govcrnlnent ill 190 I, il total of 45 health centrc/dispensarics have been contracted. Some havc been con~plctccl, while work on others arc still on. The local government has since then provided . l,-~chclr~lelto.nwu them. Such other blth functions of !om\ governtncnts as staed in the 1974.constitution of Nigeria include: (a) Establishment and maintenance of cemeteries, burial grounds and homes for the destitutes or infirm. (b) Provision and maintenance of public conveniences and refuse disposal. (c) The provision and maintenance of health centres. , . Also in the fourth National Development plan 1980-85, it was stated that; "The projects to be embarked upon by the local government area, may be identical in form but, they vary in scope and are based mainly on laying the regained infrastructure for the execution of the basic health service scheme. The specific projects include construction of basic health clinics, maternity centres, ambulances, genelators, and other supporting medical equipment. The main objective of the project to be executed by local governments is the wider coverage of the population through basic health services and the increqsed accessibility and afTordability of health services." An assessment of the pehrmance of southern Ijaw local -governmen1 in the provision of adequate health services for the people shows that, it has made only little impact. Most of the people especially, people living in the rural areas are yet to feel the impact of the local government health seclor. lnfiict, in answer to the question: "what has your deputmeni done to ensure the provision of adequate services for the people? " the principal health superintendent of the local government said that the council through its health department carries out a range of activities. Under the health services the local government engages in environmental sanitation. Were, the workers of health department go to the villages or communities to clear refuse and other things that wily bring health problenls. The sanitary oficers also inspect building envil:onn~entsto make sure they are clean. The southern ljaw local , government also supplies drugs and dressings (for curative and preventive purposes) to L the health centres. For instance, it spent "# 9,000,0000 # 9,500,000, # 1,000,000. And #I, '500,000 for the 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1998 financial years respectively for the sup~lyof - drugs and dressings tc the health centre. The health centres undertake immunisation against infectious diseases like chicken pox, polio, measles, ard whooping cough. . Apart from the above activities of souihcrn ijaw local gover-nme:lt, it also involves herself in the maintenance and repairs of some health centres within its area of operation. ?. Southern Ijaw local government therefore should not make one to conclude that, it has pcrf'ormed very well in thc area of health. 'I'he ultimate judgenxnt of given rural developnlent programme is how far the n~rrtl dwellers certainly benefit from 11ie programme. "One of the principal objectives of having local governments is to provide a . . . channel of providing services which are tailored, or geared towards particular needs of I particular areas, and which can be given attention because a local council or a local administration has the linowledge and time to concern itself with just this sort of detail". This is not so ,with the health services in southern ijaw local government. As 1 have ' explained earlier, most people in the rural corn~nunitieswithin the local government are yet to feel the impact of the health services department in the local government. As an example, some cornrnunities like Okpotuwari and lkebiri 11 have no health centre, r~ordo they have any stmdardised pharmaceutical stores in their various villeges. In view of ti:- i~npo~tanceof having at least a health centre in a town, "the Okpotuwari community has so far spent more than #70,000 to set a health centre without any form of aid fiom the local government. There is no solution to that effect" Infact, under such condition, and in a local government where there exists efTeclive or adequate health services, primary health educators should go to the villages to educate the people on the importance of maintaining a healthy environment and also, how to protect themselves against diseases. In essence, the health department has' not been able to perform satisfactorily. In answer to the question; "Have the health officers fiom the local government visited your community to teach the people how to prevent, and protect themselves against diseases?" Infact; some community leaders were iqterviewed on how many times the local government health clepart~ne~ithas visited their com~nunitiesto teach the people how to take care against health problems in their various homes. 'They were amazed by the qrresticn pilt to thcm. They responded by *saying that, they have never heard that health oflicers of southern ljaw local government visits ., communities, how much more teaching them prevention of diseases, W~ct,one major problem hcinlr, health centres in Southern ljaw Local Government is shortage of drugs, dressing materials and medical equipment. Most uC the patients in one of the health centres visikd complained bitterly about the shortage of drugs in the health centres. Like one of the health oficers interviewed confirmed the problems of shortage of drugs, dressing materials and vaccincs. He hrtller explained thzt, the drugs supplied by the local government are inadequate. Even the State Government has not been able to so!ve these problems. The Local Governinent even spent some reasonable amount of money on the purchase of drugs but this does not earn her pass marl;. in the performance of'health services. The prevailing poor stale of refuse disposal I fiicilities and services in Southern ljaw Local Government Area generally tend to perpetuate the unsatisfactory condition of the environnlent and it is risky to the health of the inhabitants. Most of the communities in Southern ljaw Local Government are not properly taking care of, hence, they are littered with refuse dumps. Infact, thc,principal health officer admitted during an interview that the services of the local government with respect to environmental sanitation are poor. He also blames this on that, lack of facilities, shortage of field staiT and finally, inadequate nuniber of rehse disposal facilities in the various communities. Then, lack of staff is anojher major set back of the local government in the provision of services for conlnlunity development functions. As stated, a view on local government, LRowland said: It has become increasing evident that, if progress is to be sustained and the local governnlents are to emerge as forward-looking, development oriented and cost-conscious entities, very trluch greater attention wed to be given the issue. ~owev&-,it is important to acknoivledp that, since the inception of Southern ljaw Local Gmernment, it has not built a singie hea!th centre ol' its own despite the fact that, the maintenance, salaries and allowances are being foot by the local government council. There are at' present fifteen health's cenircs being inanaged by the local gaverrrment council and all were built by the state government before the local government reforms which gave the inheritance to the councils. I-lence, the health centres are listed below in table 3.1. GOVERNMENT kI EAI,TH CENTINS IN SOUTH ERN IJAW LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA AND OWNERSIIIP. I 1 I..! !cir!!!!-c.c'i!t~c'~--_ -- f leait- h --.--- Cenire I?-- -i I-lcalth-.------..------Centre 1------lealth -Ceritre -.------tI-lcalth Centre 8 I-lciillh Centre -----A. ------9 tleolth--- Centre-.----- t 0 , . I-lealth Centre .- .--- - , ------.- I I Health------Centre 12 Health Centre ---.. -+ ------, 13 i4ealth-.----.-- Centre 14-- .-. -tlealt- .- ..- - . tl- ... Centre-- - ...... -. , - .. - Ll S .I-.. 1.lealth..------.-- Centre !%kc: 1:ield Obscrvat ion From the above information, it is very clcor that, out 01' the lilic'e~iI l~rlllllC'CI~II~C'S, Southern ljaw Local Government has none; altl~oi~gh,tlw liliti~lciiilburcleri i1l.c or1 thc local governments. As earlier noted that, onc of the niajor proble~nsfacing govcrnulcn~is lack of both skillcd and clualilicd workers, slionagc ol'tlrirgs, dr cssing n~ate~.iiilsi~ritl o~llc~: medical cquipmcrlt 3:3 WATER SUPPLY Lack of safe drinking water is an importarit thctor which promote:; the sprcad of infectious diseases such as cholera, diahorria, and typhoid These can easily cause death among infants in the communily or village. I lowever, an evaluii~ionol'ruri\l dcvelopnlcnt . . p&'&mances of Southern ljaw Local Governme~itis inconiplcte without LIII assessnlenl of how filr it'has been able to provide ~dcijiiiiicxatcr lbr the Inasses, especially thc ~ural communities. Adequate supply of' good portable water is a vital source ill the deternlination of good health and high productivity of the entire population. Intilct, hater supply is highly needed not only for drinking, but t'or pcrsonal food hygiene and ~utritionalpurposes. But.adequate water supply can also be needed fbr environmental sanitation, especially for disposal of &age and other types of waste products. According to the Soui-th Natiorul Development plan: "Local Government will be expected to make modest but usehl contribution to water supply in the various communities. The projects that the local government will embark upon should mainly consist of boreholes drilling in the various comn~unitiesthat are located far away from . 1' , the main pipelines. Since the local government is rlearer to the people, it is expected to play a vesy important role in the provision of adequate and put waier for the entire people at the grassroots. But, it is so unfoi-tunate that, water supply as a function in the services of Southern ijaw Local Government has been very poor. The little effort that was made to provide water for the people seem to be confined to only the licadcluarters and the surrounding communities. According to reliable sources among members of the staf'f of tk council, the installation uf the public taps was credited to oil companies operating in the area, such as the Agip Oil Company and therShell RP oil company. I-lence, it is a Fkt that, majority of the people obtains their water from the public taps. With the above situation; even some development oriented comrnui~itieswho had embarked on some self-help projects later hiled as a result of not having enough fund to complete the projects, as they get only very little financial support fiom the local governments. Most of the community leaders inter;iewed corriplained bitterly about lack of wate; supply in their communities. They said that, they have scverally sought without success, the loc,al governments assistance to enable them, successfully execute their water projects, TABLE 3.2 _P-.~nject ()@in b i ri { orb ()a i i --1.4r11 IibC;-----L------.1 3 0111 Source: Doutua, G.(2001 ) "Southern ljaw Local Cover.~iinentArm" 1111 ei.~rilt. the rural communities in Sou~hernijuw Locai Governrnen~Area, si~lccriic ~lu~ll'ueroi' . I aueriipid water prujccis by ihe local govesninc~iicluiic ~ninilnai.Pci'hi~p~, ilie iriability oi' rho locai government ro compicre such prujccrs nligiil be arrribured to rhe cosi ~ilararc regular flow of the statutory federal allocation into the col:~xil, 3; 4 SOCIAL WELFARE The social welfare department of any local government caters for the welfare of every person in the local government, hence, a critical analysis of the performance of Southern ljaw Local Government on rural development must not exclude its perforinance on social welfare as a iunction of the local gove~mmertlnfact, the major hnction of the social welfare department is to assist the people in order to help themselves in their social obligation within the local government and the nation at large. That is, the social welfare department is chiuged with a number of duties, which iriclutle care for the physically handicapped, child and adult welfare problems, reconciliation of matrimonial disputes, organization and registration of social clubs- arid other socially relatcd problems. During the period of our interview with the chief social welfare ot't'icer of Southern ljaw Local Governnlent, he was asked, "what has your department done Lo ensure adequate provision of social welfare services to the people". Tie said, "one of the functions which the social welfare department perform is child welfare services. In addition, abandoned babies and mothel-less babies are picked and taken to adopted mother or motherless babies home where the children stay for about eighteen months and ' if finally, the parents of the children are not traccd, the children are given to any persoi~(s) who wants lo foster them" Secondly, the social welfare department also supervises the rehabilitation centre called the conlplex social centre. This was established immediately after the Nigerii~!l civil war and was meant for the rehabilitation of the war vic~ims.Presently, such centres use to admit people from poor hmilies alld also maids. Thirdly, the Southern ljaw Local Government through its social welfare scheme also carries out family maintenance and planning. Under the sphere of family maintenance, the social welfare department tackles problems that emerges fiom Pdmily conllicts, such as desertion of the family by either of the parents, as a result of maltreatment, sexual incomputibility, infidelity or any other . type of problem. It pert'ornls these iunctions by either settling the conflict or giving , advice to the parties involved. In addition, the department also handles matters like cases of infidelity and sexual incompatibility. For instance, according to the chief social wclfare oficer, "the department has many methods of family planning, but the most .conimon is the Billing Method of Natural family planning. The aim of which is to control the number of children and also to select sex "partners". Fourthly, the social welfare department in Southern Ijaw Local Government also, takes care of destitutes by sending them for training. It nor~nally sends interested candidates (destitute) who applied to the ministry of information, social development, youths, sports and culture to Yenagoa, !he state capital of Bayelsa State for confir~nation and training, IJnder this programme, twelve (12) dcsiitutes i'roin thc above local government who were sent on training absorbcd some of the dest iti~teat the end of their programmes. For instance, the personnel department employed three graduates Srorh such institutions, also a typist was employed to work with the accounts department. Despite the social welfare activities of the local government, provision oS adequate social welfare services is one of the rural development fimctions and objectives of local governn~entsof which Southel-n ljaw Local Government has not fully made , much impact on. lnfact, with regards to the constitutional functions of thc department, the local government has made rio form of assistance whatsoever within the period of this study, In addition, according to thc chief social welfare ot'ficer he only external sutivention to the.home csme fi-om the ministry of ishrmation, social development, Youth Sports and Culture and from charitable organisations and welfare clubs in the various communities". An adequate evaluation of the family maintenance and planning functior~s expected by the local government exhibits that, its impact be yet to be felt by Lhe people at the rural areas. Today, the people that are benefiting from such services arc the few opportune ones within the local government. The Cgmily maintenance programme for instance, is usually carried out in the social welfare department of Southern Ijaw Local Government, and presently, no positive attenlyt is being made to extend this service to the rural communities, the same thing is applicable to the fidn~ilyplanning programme. Infact, .all these loopholes, according to thc chief social welfkre office!- are attributed to lack of professional welfare ot'ficers, and short supply of equipment for easy movement. In an ideal situation , any social welfare oficer is expected to handle only one aspect of L the social work. For instance, in any give11 social welfare oftice, there should be a social ' welfare oficer, there should be social workers, probation workers, juvenile court ofticers and also, visiting ot'ficers who normally or frequently visit homes and reports to the social welfare ot'ticer. The result is that, of lack of professional of'ticers in the various ofice, one cannot be surprised that,one oflicer is seen performing several functions in the socia1:welfare department of the local government. in the field of Rural Development does not mcasirrc up to its consli~utionalresponsibilities" However, very Sew and fortunate con~muniticsarc hclped wi~hlllc constrirclion of town halls in their various homes, tllese were initidly sell'-help p~ujccts,though they indirectly contribute to the ~lcvelop~nc~rtol'such conl~llurlili-,, I)y ac~ingas a I'u~.unlw1ic1.c developmental issues can be discussed gc~wdly,and iis well social gatherings i~~ltlol'hcr recrear ional activities will be. liking placc Ilcre. Since eiwly l O'.O's, l'cw conl~nimitics had embarked on the construction of their town halls tu achieve ~licirintended objcctivcs. AS earlier nlentioned, the local governments assistance in this very dil-ection is considered Table, showing the various town lrillls tlm wcre initi;~t,:diind complctcd as wcll ,IS . . these undcr construction during the period undcr study by 11lc various coniniuni~icsiirc on table 3.3 below: own tlall pnForxa- .-- 1 Town-- Hall- - . - - 1 I (renovation) ~~orotn" Town Hall I ------. -, - - - Source: lntcrview with the various con~~iwnity1cudc1.s ol' rhc various co~niniluities mentioned above. Roads are probably tlrc most i~uportiintand wsicst coiil~liu~iit.i~~i(,~~:,~SICIII1l1i11 ,links the various communities to the hcadqi~arters.Tl~erel'ow, tllc 11iitj01.li~llction ol'tllc local Sovernrnent is the provision of roads at~dil' possiblc bridges to tlrc rural . s communities. To buttrcss this fact, the 1079 co~~~jtitutionof Niga-in assigns 10 local governments the function of' construction and maintenance of roads, st~wtsand p110lic ,high ways.. . it is difkult to dcvelop the rural coni~nunitieswitliout first e~isuring~'cgular movement and easy transportation of goods alal sc~.viccs,Without god it)i\ds beins maintained, agriculture duvclop~ncntis nlea~li~lglcssI:or i~lsta~icc,accor-tli~rs tv I'~.oii.sso~. M.O. Ijere, the absence of rural roads and the inaccessibility of existing oncs, as a result of' lack of maintenance, contribute in a large measure to the escalating food p~.iccl;ad food shortage. The above statement undermines the agricultural development. Although, some road networks within the local governnient are maintainec! by the council, but still, most of he roads in the rural conlmunities are in bad condition due to lack ol' adequa~en~ain~enance. I~lhct, he S~il~l~crnIjaw l2ocal (;overntnenl ~icglcc~cd maintenance of most rural comn~unityroads, as a result, most cornn~unityleadcss were not happy over the poor condition of the roads in their various comnwnitics. At tinlcs, when communities wanted to construct the roads themselves, they experience great difl'iculty since continuos maintenance of such roi~dswithin the local govcrclmcnt a& is not an easy task. However, around mid 199O's, the Southem ljaw Local Government started the execution of new road nctworks. 'I'llis involves soad grading, collstri~ctio~l. reconstruction and maintcnknce by attaching labour to the various roads wit hit1 I llc local ' government area. Hcnce, table 3.4 shows ~hcvarious roads reconstructed wi~liin 11ie period. GOVEHNMEN'I' BETWEEN 1995-2000. Korokorosei- Grading Okpotuwari Korokorosei- Grading Source: Southern ljaw Local Government otlice, lilc No. SILGA/AI)M/wk/93 (ii) Field Observation. 3:6 MARKET: The concept 01' market simply refers to a place where both rural and urban people sell and buy goods and agricultural products in the various places. Llcnce, it rates very high in the economic life of the individuals in the society. 'I'he local governments generate its revenue from the market; with this, there is the necd Tor ally local government to develop markets for their various communities, since, these nwkcts are not only beneficial to tllt: communities, but also to the local governnlent at large. For instance, the 1979 tkdcral constitution of Nigeria itssig~lscertain li~nctionsto the local governments ot' which sorne of these functions include the maintenance 01' nlarhcts, construction of public conveniences and motor parks. InFdct, it can ody be concluded . that, the Southern ljaw 1-ocal Government is not pcrl'or~ningas it is expecte~l11, ,ihc construction and maintenance of market stalls in the various comnlunities to boos1 the economy of tlx entire local government arca. Although, t11c1.carc fkw nlarkers opwi~~ing within the local governnlent with little assistance from' the council, they ensure that law . and. order arc nlaintaincd within thc period of market days tl~roi~gllthe council IIIRI~CL oflidcrs. Although the construction of few blocks werc i~ndertaken by thc local government in the recent times but this benetited few conmunities; that is, a look a! the few market projects it has embarked upon shows that it was only concentrated on co~t~munitiesthat werc opportuned to be in government at the time. Some oT the projecls it undertook are hereby presented in the table 3.5 below. MARKET I'liOJECTS 1JN DEIWAKEN IIY SOUTII ICRN IJAW I XXAI, ------...... I..OC1A'I'ION ...... '1'Y QE 01; I'lWJ CX :'I' -1Korokorosei Construction ol' 4 blocks ol' -- --- ...... 40 stalls ...... tOlilgbobiri 1C:c~nstructio~~ 01' 4 I>locks 01' 1 .... 40 stalls .-,- . I- 3 Constructio~~of 4 blocks of' 1 40 stalls -.- ...... - ...... -. , ...... ti Gbarau n 1Construcrion ol' 4 bloiks 01' Source: Southern ljaw Local Government oflice, file No. SILC;A/AUM/WK/OS. '(ii) Field observation. Apart from the above effort, the local government rwer cmbarkcd on any nlarkct dcvclopment in other rural communities. This assertion can be supported by the titct that, there is no development project whatsoever on market in the agricultural conlnwnities, like Percrnabiri. This very com~nunityis mainly an agricul~~~ralcimrnunity and rcquircs ii ' very large rice fhrm where rice cultivation is obtainable at interval; but it is unt'wtunate that, thc community does not haw nlarkct tbr its agricultural products. 3:7 AGHICIJL'l'U HE Infact, Agriculture is the major profession of'a larger pcrcentagc of' Nigerian people Hence, the major economy of thc Nigerian socicty was based on agricirlt~~riil produc9s such as cocoa, groundnut, pidm oil, palm kernel and cotton. That is, since the exploration of petroleum in Nigeria, ag~iculturebeca~ne a thing 01' the past. At 'the emergence of the military government in 1966, the wed tbr quick inconle to fi~iance the Nigerian civil war led to heavy reliance on pctroleunl; which evcntuiilly Icd IO lotiil neglect of the agricultural sector. Sinccrtly spciiki~ig,Southcm Ijiiw L-ociil (;ovc~m~ncn~'s perforrn,ance in agriculture is below expectation; 'I'hat is, looking i~tt llc local governmcnt on the basis of' her agricultural pcrtbr~niinccshows tl~ittslic is yet to tnahc signiticant impact. I~urthern~orc,it is sad to 11ote that, tllc local govcrnnierlt docs not cvcn provide credit loan Lo fhrmers. Int'act, one would have expected that tlic IixA government should providc loans to small-scale tirnlers, since, the govcrnmellt sllould promote agriculture in their various conlmunitics. Sincc such loans were ccrtiiinly to assist l'armers in the rural areas. I In addition, the superintcndcnt of agriculture told Inc during iln intcrvicw ill his oflicc that, the local government docs not provide loans to the Farmers. I agriculturc department encourages farmers to writc application for loans a1111 tllc , applicatiuns were collected by thc dcpa~~n~cntad sent to the 11ciidquiirtc1.s(Ilciid olfice) at Yenangoa for consideralion. Ahllough, the dcpart~ncnt occasiorlally ill conj~r~lctim with the local government sell fertilizers to [he public, the arnount sold is always on short supply. In addition to the above, the deparmcnt also involvc hersell' in ,several agricultural activities in the recent years. Such activities include establishment ot'somc demonstration farms, thereby engaging departments ill raising and distribution of various agricultural products seedlings, and also creating a forum in educating the rural L'a~mers by sending agricultural extension workers to I*arrns interval. 1-lowaver, tabla 3.6 showing the few agricultural projects undertaken by the local government for [he past recent years at different location within the local government area. TABLE 3.6 ACIUCULTURAL YKOJEC'l'S EMBARKED lJl'ON BY SOUTHERN tJAW LOCAL COVENNM1f:N'I' UIZ'I'WEEN 1994-1999 Source: Records at the Department of Agriculture in Southern ljaw Local Gove~mnelit (ii) Field Observation. It should be noted that, all these demonstration farms serve very uscli~lpurpose apart liom boosting tllc econonly ol' the urca. 111 many occasions, the villagers, (i~blc bodies) are employed or hired on daily basis to work on the fimns, ~llerebycrutting job opportunities for thc jobless within the various rural conlmunitics. 3.11 EL)1JCArI'ION It is a glaring Fict that, education has played a very unique role in the economy of' our nation. Any country without education is in acutc darkness and tllcrc will be iw progress for that pa~zicul~rsociety. In essence, educatio~ris the light of any do11 I.'ur instance, during the first national devcloplnent plan which covered a period lium 1963,- 1068, Education came 5'" in terms of financial resource allocation. The objectives of national policy on education are as I'ollows; I The survival ol'thc individual and tlre Nip,crian society . . I I In thc t~ai~iingul't trc wi~rdli)r tlic u~idcrstir~~di~rg01'iIrc wo~ld;II.OUI~~~ . . . 111 'I'he acquisition ol' appropriate skill, abilities and cu~iipctc~lccboth ~i~cntiiliuid physical as equipment ol'its socieiy. The achievement of the stated objectives requircs adequate conlribut ion 01' I lic three tiers 01' govcrnlncnts: the Fcde~d,State and Local Governn~ent.As earlier notcd, the iniporlarice of education would be seen from the necessity accorded it the strirctu~-eol' resource a1 locat ion by successive g~~&~.~~~nents. During the period of colonial era, scllools were ~nainly in the hands ol' the missionaries. At the end of the era government took over both establishnient and li~ndirrg of schools in our country. In attempt to promote the course of education ill the local government, tkeducation authorities have since the creation of the local governnlcnt in ' 1991 to date (200I),built a total of 34 primary schools added to the oncs ihcy inherited from the state government summing up to a total number of 80 prim~ryscl~ocds wittri~~ the local govemncnt awa. 'l'lll.ec adult education centres and li)iir governIncnt recognised nursery-primary schools; It will be noted that the establishmerlt of public libraries was, amon2 tIw local government educational irchievcnlcnts. The local government edict No 9 of 1976 sectiou 56 authoriscd all the local governments in all states to exercise powers within the statc governnicnt over tlic 1i)llowing: I Primary, Adult Education and nursery school, . . 11 Provision ol'scholi~rshipsant1 Bursaries; .. . III Information and public cnlighienrncnt; and iv I'rovision of public libraries and reading roonis. However, presently; information and public edigliten~l~cnthas been LI~~CI~over by the ministry ol' i~~limnation,whilc the state library bo;rid has tilkc~iover the provision ol' public libraries and reading rooms. Also nursery educatio~lwent to private hands N;)W obviously, ody primary and adult education has bccn leli in the Ila~lds 01' loc:~l govcrnnients. Besides, provision of scholill.~liip and bursill-y dlowa~lccsoccasiorlirlly awarded to studenrs in tertiary institutions iis a supplclnc~lt. In order to achieve the said cdi~catio~lalobjectives in Southc~~~Ijew I-ocal ' Govcrnrnen1, the Local Government plans to spend about N50 Million iir tlle building ol' more primary scllools ant1 staff quarters in the existing schools. Lhpitc this planned cxpcnditure, it is a rnattcr of iict that southern Ijaw I.ocal Governnwnt did not embark OH any of its prograrnlnes and therel'ore made no tangible progress in its educatio~l programmes. Despite this, education has advanced rapidly in the local government since. its creation; but most times, the efl'orts and progress recorded in education would always be attributed to tlie efl'm-ts of' t he various communities within the local governliient From 1992-95 the priniary school statistics ill Suuthcrn ljaw 1.ocal guvcrnriiclit were as fullows: Total number of primarys~]~ools ---- - ...... 34 Total nunlbcr ~f~ri~~~~~~~tcacllcrs ------350 Total number ofpupils ...... 7,654 By the 1997198 academic year, the ligure Iias increased lo the following 11i11nbc1:s. 'I'otal number of primaryschools - ...... 65 'I'otal number of'pl.ir~larytcacllcrs ------500 Uy the 1000/2000 aciidemic ycar, tlic ligurc Iias i~icr.citscdLO rlle I\,llowi~ig numbyrs: Tola] number of'prinIarysc]lools ----- ...... 80 Tola] Ilumberof primiiry teacliers ------800 , . . Tolid ~iunibcrof pupils ------20,087 Studying lie above ligurcs, one would bet. convinced ~liat.tiwc was rapid increase in both thc ~iu~ribcr01'prinlary scliools, and the numbcr 01' pupils c111~oI1cdin these scliools arid tlic nunibcr- of' teachers cnlployed to teach in these scl\ools ill Soutlicr~i ljaw Local Governmcn~ Areas. l'he Education secretary of Southern Ijaw 1,ocal Government also rzvcals that, the education department had put every elfirts to promote . and advance education within the loca! govern~nentarca in several ways, such as; 1. Conducting courses like seminars and wol-kshops for teachers during lhc Iiolidi~y~. ii. 130th the Ileadmasters and I-leadmistresscs of thc local government held ~iicctin~s once 011 cpa~~erlybasis to discuss nial~cr-sall'ccting primary schools. .. . 111. The Education Dzparmerit recruits tutorials and non-tutorial statl'within thcir depart ment . iv. The local government repairod and exparid building Sor prinlary schools wi~hin the local governnicnt area. Apart liorn the above activities, the Southern ljaw Local Governnwnt has riladc an attempt to promote and advance education through the provision of scliolarships and bursaries. to the students from the local government. tlowcver, Southcrn Ijaw Local, Government has a lot of room I'or the advancement in its educational progranmc. Inlhcl. Suutkcrri ljaw in particular 1x1s a lot to do ill tlw i~nl)rovcnicntand pro~no~io~i.ot' ctlucation in their area. They 1amen:ed iiia~ the iocal ~ovcrnlrlclit Ilas shilicd tlic responsibilities of the schools to the ccm~nu~iitics,such rcspo~isibiliticsii~cli~ilcd ~lic building and maintenance o t'schools. tlowevcr, table 3.7 prcsecwd below shows sonic of the priniary schools built a~d constructed by the various co~nnlunitiesin Soutllcrn ljaw Local Gover-nmcnt. 'I'A ULk: 4.7 SOME PRIMARY SCllOOLS AND LOCAL GOVERNNIEN'I' GIWN'I'S '1'0 IJliOJ EC'I' 1'YPE 0I: COMMUNITY PROJECT Koroko~~osei Construc~ion of 6 0.G.SKorokorosei class room block ------C.I'.S ky imii- I - - ..--a -- -- C.P.S korokorsei Itenovation of 6 ('on~pletion class room block dclayctl tl~w to lack 01' ------.- -tu - -- nd - -- Orrdewari Renovation of class ~licon~~~~c~cd St. Clemenls room block primary school .------Flooring iind ('uriipletcd plaslering of 3 clilss room block ------Olugboboro ~onstructi& of 3 Complctcs ' St. Lukcs Primary class room block School - - - - - 'Tebedaba Construction of6 WOIk (..P.S Tebedaba class room block delayed duc to ladk ot' li~nd ------.- --. - - - - Roofing of 6 class Work Si. marys l'rimary room block dclaycd tlw Scllool ii. liead otlicc to lack 01' lirllcl -.. --.- - Foropa ('o~llplcred ---C, 1'. S Foropa Studying the table above, the various co~i~munitiesactually spent hcnvily on primary education ill Southern ljaw Local Governn~c~il.Hut, it happened tliat, the local government only contributed in most cases by tloiliiting few bags ol'cc~ilcnt to tlic a communities who undcrtakc the various projects, ii~ld;it ti~ncs,nothi~~g is bci~ls ~ivc~i out as grant, where by such communities no~millyfoot the cost of the pujects alone I IL'IICLL, various co~n~nunityleaders complain birterly that the local govei-nnicnt has not tlo~iewcll to improve the educational advancement within the local gnw~rnlcntarea 1;ur i~~st:i~iw, irriagine a situation w1~c1.ca whole IUC~II governIIient callnot eve11 provide chairs, tablcs and desks for the various primary schools. That is, some ol'tl~primary schools have no tablcs and chairs for the teachers and pupils, just because thc various cc~r~l~liunitics conccrncd wcrc unable to buy thc~n.!:or exainplc, ill1 old pri~ilaryschool, Olodiiirna Group School Korokorosei, pupils go to school cvcry ~norriin&with their OL~IIscats because chairs and desks are not provided. In a nut sllcll, Soutllcnl ljaw I .ocol Govcrnmcnt has perlbr~tledbelow cxpcctiitio~isin tllc licld ol' p~uiiotingcci~~catio~l in their own area. I lowever, tllcrc should also be i\ look at post primary school systcni in So111hc11l ljaw Local Government Area. Although, it is not the primary l'unction ol' tllc local government to cater for the maintenance a11d wetlilre of their staft: 13~1,one sliould cspcct Southern ljaw Local Governrnent to ofl'er some financial assistance to communities tllat embark on self help projects. But, this is not so, because, many communitics in Southe111 ljaw Local Government Area underlake sell' help projects ainzed at boostiny and advancing post primary education in the local govcriimcnt. Sirch ct'forts i~lclutle construction of seconda~yschool class room blocks, construction ol' dormitories and teachers quarters. Some ol' tliese comniunities that lii~vt.tried to assist p)st 1)ritiliiry schools ill the local government area are Korokorosei, Azuzualnn, Olugbobiri, Ikcbiri I, Koluama I, Koluama I I, Foropa, Otuan, Eniwari, Ondewari, Oluyboboro and Ogboinbiri. Int'act, some of thcse secmdnry sol;c;o!s have been conlplctcd wllilc orlws . have not because of lack of fund to ensure its cornplclion. I-lowever, the breakdown of such projects by the various communities is shown in tablc 3.8 below. I'AULE 3.8 LOCAL COVEHNM KN'I' CHANTS '1'0 COMMCIN I'I'IICS IN SOU'I'HEItN IJAW LOCAL GOVEHNM EN'I' AKEA FOR POS'I' I'lil MA R'I' SC11001, I'ROJlrCfS Korokorosei i. Constn~crion C'urrllr~.Scc. Sch of' 4 class rooin block ii. Laboratory science block ... II I. Itenovat io11 of 4 class room block -- Azuzum~sl i .'l'ec11110logy Comprehcnsivc Workshop 1.-lig11Scc. School. ii.Onc du~~niiory .. . 111.School'I'oilet -.------Olugbobiri i. Constrirctio~l Com~n.Sec. Sch. of 4 class room block . . I I. Laboratory ----. ----. science block i.Construclion ot 3 class room block -,-- -.--A- --.-- Nil Purchased block . . I I. I'urchased ------water tank----- i. Construction Cornm. School. block - Eniw;rri ---Ii. Equipment for musical society -- 0ndcw;lri i. Const~uction 01' I'rir~cipal's School quarlcrs 11' Olugboboro- i. (h~lstrucliw Con~~n. Sec, of 6-class room School. block. .- - -...... -, , -. . -----.---- -..-- '-/r*.rinbiriConm . ~ec,oficei. Principal's School. LI---l.:k!!!!- -- Source: i. Soulllclm ljaw Local Government , No. SII.,(% ii. I nformat ion provided by conitnunity leaders. More so, bursaries and scholarsllips awarded lo s~udentsin higher I~i\~.~li~lglium I$C'local government need to be acknowledged. 'l'he bursaries and scllolarships rlw local governrnerlt give, to stude~ltsare very rnininlal. In 1003, 1000, i111d 2000, ~llclocirl government did well by providing bursat-y for hc above rnerllio~lcdyears, al~l~oic~llit wils millimal. Again, in 1997 and 1998, the local has tried tu award schularship to abou~six pcrsons. 'Taken the above cll;)rts of thc local ~over~m~cntinto cog~lisarrcc,il cawlol still be said that, the local government did well ill IIIC areit 01' prolnoting and advancillg the educational standard 01' Southern Ijaw Local Governnient Area A UlJ L'I' ED1JCA'I'IC)IN The conccpt of aduil education is anothcr area 01' in~ercstthat, the Scwtliern Iji\\~ Local .Government perform very poorly. Nation-wide, adult education has perli~iiiiecl brilliantly. For example, in I'ourth national development plan it was unrlerstood [hill, t11c total allocation !'or adult education was # I9m . 'l'his very sum of'money would have been judiciously used in terms of establishing a national centre for adult education which would have serve as a national resource ccntre I'ur the collecticm of stntistics, dim and planning. It was also noted that the federal government launched a nation mass literacy campaign in 1982. Inl'act, the aim of' the 1982 literacy can~paigri was to e~xlica~e illiteracy to about 7 million illiterates, it was in record again [hiit aboi~tIt 14 -11 151nwas ti1 be spent on the project. I lence, local govern~nentbeing the grass root govern~ljcntthat is nearest to tlie people, it is expectcd to play more powerful role in the adult education programnw of'thc federal government. But, a look at the adult education programme in Southern Ijaw Local Government prove that the performance ot' Southern ljaw Local Govcrnnient is below cxpcciations and has not made any impact whatsoever; During the period of this work, the Adult Education OSLicerj: were inlerviewed. 'I'l~eyreported that the cou~~cilis yet to makc reasonable cflorts in the promotion of adult education tl~sougltorgiinised mass literacy campaigns; they further explained that, during such ca~i~paignsthat, lhc various communities should be told what the programme is all about. However, during the time. . of this work, i: was on record that, there are only livc adult education ccnt1.c.s . within the local government area; ilence, table 3.9 presented below shows thc names oF 1he adult education centres and tlteir various locations. TABLE 3.9ADU1,'l' EDUCATION CEN'I'lUS, AND 'I'1Ik:IH L.,OCAl'IONS IN SOU'I'I-IERN IJAW LOCAL COVICltNM EN'17 ARE:A. NAMES OF CENTRE PLACE OF LOCATION ------.------.. .. - - -. .. . . - . . - -. .- -. .- Universal I'rimi~ry lIducation School . Oporoma Community Primary School Korokorosci Community Primary School Utuan Comnluni ty I'ri rnary School Amassoma ~~on~mu~iit~_ _ Primary_. ._.L.______-_ School ______._. 7] .._Ekowc ___I . Source: Soullwn ljaw Idocul Government File No. SII,C~/ADM/El~/OS/VOL..1. From the table above, it can be seen that Southern ljaw Local Governnient is 1101 making much impact in the area of Adult EducationTlle Adult Education Olticcr reported that, the five Adirlt Education centres are not cvcrl tl~orouglilyecpippcd. 'I'hat is, if' at all, the Southel-11 ljaw Local Govc~mnlcnt really desires to i~nprovc on itdult supervise the various ccritrcs. Infact, with the above, cornrnunity leaders expressed their dissatisfaction to tl~c tkct that, thc local government has not shown any iniprovement in the arca of education. Hence, it can be summarily concluded that, the Soutlwn Jjaw Local Governnient has not made significant impact in the pronlotion and advanccnmlt of' education in Lhc IOcitl 3:9 FACTORS M ILITA'TING AGAINST RURAL, DEVELOlbMEN'I' YKOGRnMMES AND PROJECTS IN SOU'1'11 b:KN IJAW l.OC'A1, GOVERNMENT. The result 01' our study of' the over all pcrfor~nanceof' Sou~l~crnIjaw L.ocid Government since i~screation in 1991 to date (2001) shows lllat, it has not n~acle significant impact towards the advancement 01' tlie vasious areas, rhcy include; Education, I Iealth services, Agriculture, Water and good Roads, and dcvelop~ricritof markets, especial l y in the 1~urii1comnluni~ ics. I lcnce, the inability of tlic Sou11ic1.n ljaw Local Covernnlcnt to acconiplish its rural dcvclopnicnt goals is as a rcsulr ol' some unavoidable Ppctors, which are enumerated below: I. I'ersonncl I'roblcnls ... 111. Ernbezzlenwn~ol'lirnd iv. Sites t'or I'rojccts V. CLI~ILI~~I~t'iict01.~ vi. Illi~cracy vii. I'ro~norio~l . ... vw. I'oor wurking cu~diriun ix. Delay in tlie payment ol'workcr snl:rrics and allowances I'EHSONNEL PROI3I.EMS 'I'he parqnlount aim ol' ii ~rlodcllocal govcmnlcnt systcnl mnong third world count~.icsis basically to develop rural conmunit ies. Int'act, lhis unique objective cilnnot be completely achieved without the availability 01' competent nianpower resources. L.. Itowland stated that It has become incrcasinyl y evident that, if progress is to be sustained and the local government is to emerge as forward looking, development oriented and cost conscious entities, very much attention will need to tw given.to statling , . the organizatior~than as so t'itr been the case. Infact, lack of human resources is one of the major problems that prevens the Southenl ljaw Local Government from achieving its stated objectives in course of rural development. This personnel problem can emanate from any source, that is$ could be as result of poor working condi~ions,for instance, some departments do not have enough rooms as ofice accommodation. In the agriculture depanment, there is only one office, that is the senior agricultural otXcer and other stat'f of the department sharing the same oflice. This is applicable to thc works depii~trncnt.That is, both he engir~eerand other workers of the department shqring one ol'iice space. Then, one wonders how a worker . could give his bcst when he has no ofice accommodation. Worst of all, since Southern Ijaw Local Government 1s iocated at the "riverir~e"mea, liofi 01' the departments have official speed boat for use by her workers in the course of their performance of oi'ficial dirties within the local government area. These problems hinder the Sou~lmnljaw Local Goverrrment from achieving its objectives of developing the communities. FINANCIAL PROBLEMS the survival and eKectiveness of any organisation solely depend on her linancial viability. According to Adebayo Adedeji: In the final analysis, the success oi- failure and the eft'ectiveness or inek'fectiveness of bcal Governments depend on the financial resources available to the indivitiual local authorities and the way thcse resources arc utilized. In essence inadequate finance is one of' the major problems prcvcnting local govcrnmcnts liom making much impact on conmunity developn~en~.Again, it is li)r [his very reason that, Rowland said. 111 most developing countries, the provisim of'adecluate funds to local authorities to enable them finance development project is a major problem. Nigeriit is no exception in this regard the major problcm of local governments in Nigeria today and has been so !'or som years past. I-lowevcr, the local govern~nentnomally receive [heir grants fi-on1 both lktlcral and state governments, but, at tims the state government tiil or delay to iillocii~cg~mts to the local govcrnmenl; One rnajor interrial sources ol' rcvenuc gc~lcriitionli)r 111c Io~i~l government is rates. This include properly rate, com~nurrityrate ad dcvclopment rille, but still revenue being collected tiom source has not been encouraging. For i~lstancc, . . accotding to the chairn~anof thc revenuc collectiorl committee, the Southc~mljaw I.ocal Governnlent encounters great problems in collecting propc~lyrates. The chair~nanol'rllc committee also mentioned that, the state governnlent by law do the assessment, while the local government does the collection. The law also statcd that, no rate sho~~ldbe paid oa any property until, the assessment paper is rxleuscd. It is also added that, most cases, 1l1c assessment paper is delayed and it beco~ncvery ditlicul~to collect rates lie~lccrevenue . being collected inten~ally is inadequate to enable it embark on any ~neimi~lglill comniunity development projccts. EMBEZZLEMENT OF FUND. InPict, the concept of mismariagemcnt always all'cct the intcrcsl 01' iuny organisation, Ilence, local governmerit rnis~nan;tgment or fund greatly al'kc~ lhe interest of the people in the local govcrnrncnt area. 11 i~lsoalTcc~s tlw ~~l()~.iil01' tl~c workers in the system. 'l'hat is, no Sod would continue to bc con~ribu~ingwllcrl rlo o~lc.is accounting for his or her stewardship, this Icads to ~hcsuspcrlsion of nlany prc4ccls iri the local government areas. SITE FOR PROJECTS. Improper siting of projects fornient acute misunderstanding. 'fllis normally ci~llcrdelays or at times stop the projccts entirely. 111 most cases the two parties hat are concenwd will stan quiirrelling and the project will be certainly diverted, this is a result of the inability of the two fractions to agree on the appropriate placc to site a pa~ticularproject. Infiic~, this type of rnisundcrstanding has impeded many community development ellbrts. CULTUML FACTORS Under the cultural factor, most society still own up there traditional belief system. Most rural dwellers resist modernization as a result of tlleir serious inclination to tradilional values, such transformation to them means dissociating with their fore Fithers. 111 addition, most rural fmners bluntly refirst: to use fc~~ilizerfor crops during planting season. :This is because, their fore fathers were not used to adding fertilizer to their crops, which invariably goes a very long way in explaining the factors militating against rural development, especially in Southern Ijaw Local Govcrnrnent Area. ' ILLITERACY Majority 01' the rural dwellers are illiterates. it creates room for inadequate , planning of development projects. In most cases, many of our rich businessmen are illiterates. Hence, with the influence of money they normally become the God Father of the local governments thereby i~llluencingnegatively most of the council decisions. This militates against development 'in the rural areas. ,l'ROMOTION In the tirst place, promotion in the words of L.D. White means "an appointnlent . from a given position to a more ditXcult type of work , and greater responsibility I accompanyed by a change of title and an increase in pdy". Ano~herwriter, F..M Max sces promotion as "a means of developing a carecr service,, attracting and retaining the able and rewarding those who produce and are interested in self development". Constant promotion of staff is one of the methods of :r,c;tivaiifig nud spurring ~hcrninto action so that, the workers will certainly contribute their best towards achieving the stated ol?jectives of the organisation. It is true that delay in promotion lower the moral of workers with the consequent loss of their cordial relationship with the management, For , . 76 instarm during our interview with head of personnel management of the local government; He was asked: " do you think that the workers in the local government are promoted at the appropriate time?". Accordir~gto him delay in promotion is one ofthe problems presently facing the workers in the local government. Since 1995 no promoti00 has been made". In fact, denial of promotion or any delay of promotion makes the workers fill that all their el'fol-ts were not appreciated. This nor~nallyleads to low dedication and con~rnitrnenton the pan of the workers. Infact, all the heads of department who were interviewed on this very issue confirmed that, for somc time now, prornotio~l has riot been regular. Most of the workers that were interviewed also confirmed the above ' . assertion by the heads of depar-ttnent. D~LAY 1N THE PAYMENT 0UWOMEHS SAIJARIES AND AL1,OWANC:ES Workers in Southern ljaw Local Government norinally expressed their- bitterness against delay in the payment of their monthly salaries and allowances. During an interview with the head of personnel management in the local government, he was asked that; "do you think tllai, the worlcers salaries and allowances are promptly paid?". 111 his .reply, he said that, the problem of delay in their salaries and allowances has bccorne ~reciitionalin the era of !;lbc civilian rcgin~ewhcn payment of salaries and allowances were delayed unnecessarily by politicians; Hcnce, "he concluded that, the tradition of delaying staff salaries and allowances was inherited from the past civilian government in the society. However, the afticer promised that such delily are being taken care of by the incumbent administration". In addition, some of the workers who were also interviewed confirmed the above statement. Though, they accepted that, there has been great improvenlent in the payment of their salaries and allowances than before; they however corroborated the ktthat the occasio~\aldelay ill the paynicnt of tlicir salaries ad~crscly alli'ct thcir attitude towards work generally, For instancu, in nlost working tfi~ys,stmc workers cc~laidygo on break and never return tbr the day. In csscncc, "liyc service" is tl~corder ot'the day, llrldcr the above situation, it is very difficul~Ibc a lociil ~OV~~IIIIICIII to achieve its staled objcctivcs particularly with llic case ot' Soutlrer~l Ijnw 1-ocal Government of providing service to the rural com~nimitics. POOR WORlilNC CONDI'I'IONS InFict, poor working condition in Sout hern ljaw I scat C;ovcrlr~nenl ellcotrragcs ill ' pcrtormance ol'workcrs in the local governnlc~rt. Such poor conditions include lack 01' quarters for members uf siaff, poor oflice iiccwrnlotiation, iniidcquatc clllice Ii~r~itu~.c, equipment and other iisclirl ~natcrialsliw work. wonders how a worker could put ill his bust wlicn hc Irics no ollice . I~il'i~t,ill1 tlic I~cads of dcpart~ncntthat were interviewed on this probleni c?cpl.csscd their bi~terncss,tlicy also disclosed that, most of the workers especially the junior workers, hardly tind a place IU perform thcir function as cxpcctcd. I-lence, workers usc this, opportunity as an cxcusc lbr their non-performance in their work at the local government. Another ~najorproblc~n is lack of spccd - boat (~.ivcrVCSSCI). 'rhis IIM~CSit ditticult Ibr ticld workers like Iicalth educators, social ~~ll'iii.~workers illid cxtc~~sio~l workers to adequately per tbrnl tllcir duties. EN D-NOTE -Fourth National Developmint Plan, 1981-85, p. 282. Southern Ijaw Local Government, Revenue And Expenditure Book 1992-200 1, Treasury Department, Oporoma. G. 0; Orewa, et a1 , Local Government in Nineria: The changing Scene, (Benin: Ethiope Publishing ~ora~oration,l983), p. 259. information by the Community Leader of Okpotuwari, Chief Gbeleguru Korol-ifa, during an interview in his community, 1" May, 2001. L. Rowland, "The Challenge of Staffing the New Local Government" in L. Adamolekun rind L. Rowland (ed.), The New Local Government&stern.in Nigeria: problenx and Prospects for implementation (lbadan: IIeinernan Educational Books, 1979) p.85. Fourth National Develqpme.nt Plan, 198 1-85 (Lagos: Federal Ministry of National Planning, 198 1) p. 272 . lntewiew with the ChieF Social welfare Oficer of Southern ljaw Local Government in his Office, 15" May, 2001. Ibid. Ibid. L. Rowland, "The Chal!ei~geof StaRing the new Local Government" in L. Adamolekun and L. Rowland (ed.), The New Local Government System in Nigeria: Problems and Prospects for implementc tion (1bz!:r., 1Xiiciiiiiii Educational nooks. 1979. I... D. ,White, Introduction To The Study of Public Adminstration (New York: Macmillan, 1955) p. 380. F. M. Mam, Element of Public Administration, (fkw L)clhl: Prenticc-EM1 Ltd; 1968) p. , 508. lnterview with the Treasurer of Southem ljaw Local Governmeilt in his oace, Opororna, . 16" May, 200 1. Interview with the H.P.M. of Southern ljaw Local Government in his oftice, Oporoma. 16" May, 200 1 . 4: 1 MErI'IIOI)OL.OCY AND I'Hl In course of' this research work, intbrmation was stssc~iiblcdand analysed by LIS~I~~~. i. DOCUM EN'I'S: ollicial cloc~~mentswere uwtl in the process of this resciircli, I hat is, otlicial -records like governn~ent annual publicnlion, ann~lal reporis ol' the various dcpartnicn~ot' the Soutliesn ljaw L,ocd Governrnenl. Othcr published marcrials SLICII ilS relevant text books, niagazines and journals. All these ~lia~erialsare known iis librasy d&Aopmcnt since the creation ot' Southcrn Ijnw L.ocal Government- I90 I to date (200 1). ii. QUES'I'IONNAIltIC: Also qucstionnairc was also used to gatlier inlbrnlalio~l1i.ol11 both council stalt'and o~liernicmbers, the various communily Icadcrs, cheirmarl 01' Ioci~l government and heads ol' depart~nent to provide the ~lccded inli)snla~ion o~i~ural development in the arca. Wc also took a look at gencrdl constraint that has bcen the problem in thc wheel of' progress as I:dr as rural development efl'orts ot' the local governmml were conccrncd. iii. INTERVIEW: This method of datit collection is also considered necessary ill this work bccause, it enabled tlic researcher to interview government officials who were . involved in rural development activities, comn~unityleaders and othcr opinion ~nouldcss to clarify, and supplement t hc information obtained tlirougli the que~tionn~iirc~. The necessity 01' this niethods Sor gathering irllbrmation as contained in our research questions is to cnablc the discovery and co~nplctionol'llic neccssary i~lli)r'~~~i~~io~l required to citlicr conlirln ur to rcstiltc the stated Ilypo~hcscs iv. E'l lt:I..D OIISEHVAI'ION: The .researcher also enharked on solnc visils to so~nc co~n~nunitiesand project sites to see for himscl S the various inli.as~~.ucturallsxi l it ics clai~ncdlo have been provided by tlic local govcrnlnent aulhorities. 'I%s also provided an ample opportunity to meet Ihcc to thce with colilniunity leaders to obtiiin o~licr necessary information as to the general problc~ns01' 1u1-ii1dcvclopmcnt. This very nwtliod therelbre created an avenue Ibr oblai~~ingfacts and putling t hem down accordingly . v. DATA ANALYSIS: basic statistical mctlmds wcrc ~lscdto I)I-csentda~a obtained l'roni ti~bularrepresentation ol'clata where necessary. 4.3 I'IIESEN'I'A'I'ION 01; 1)A'I'A AN I) ANALI'SIS 'T'llc aim of this chirpier is to prcscnt and nnnlyse llic data collectctl lium lhc relevant sources, namely individuals, groups and organizations in Southern ljaw Local Government Area. This is to conlir~nor otherwise our stated hypotheses. OUI of' the 200 copies 01' the questionnaire distributed using the purposive . sampling technique, 190 or 97. 1% were tillud and returned 'I'11i11 is, 10 respondents did not return their questionnaire I Ience the 97 1% rate of' rc~urncan best be used Sor either he conlir~natiooor rcl'utation ol'our liypolllcscs. Iiowevcr, Southern ljaw Local Governmcnt has perforrncd below expcctatiw in . the, course of' expansion and modernization of exist ing health ccntrcs. Analysis 01' I he responses of'com~nunity1ciidc1.s weal that, they were dissatidicd wih tllc scrviccs trl' Southern ljaw I..ocal Governmcnl in the provision of h&l~ll services l'or ~hcirvnrious communities. Table 4.1 shows the opinion of some co~r~nwnityleaders on the above subject matter, which asked whether they were satislied with'the provision of health, services in their communities. No 19- Total 19 100 Out of I9 respondents, all of them or 100% of'thern said they were not satislied with the provision of health sewices for their various con~~nunities. . Another tield work was carried out among the members of stall'of Southern Ijaw 'There response is shown bclow in table 4.2 100 L~otal--- 11,---00 -- 1------1 'I'he respanse ol'the stall'its appeared in table 4.2 shows tllal, a good nunlbcr o1'1hc slal!' response pcoved negative, hence, not happy will) lhc pcr.l'or~nance01' Ihe Soullic~~Ijiiw Local Government in the provision of hcalth serviccs to the people. I-towever. onc ci\tl now conc~udethat the Southcrn Ijaw Local Government has not nladc any signilicilnl impact in he area of provisioll or health services to his people as a step towards rural 'J'AULE 4.3: The outcorne ol' the arialysis fi-om the questio~miredistributed to conm~uni~y leaders show that they were not satistied with theservices of the local government in the provision of adequate' water supply for the people, especially those dwelling in the 1.~11.itl villages. 'I'A IILE 4.3 "tlas the local government undertake any , . l able 4 3 shows that 2 01- ID pel-cent out ol'tlw rcspondcnts said tlii~t11ic co111icil has successfully uridcrtakcn a water project in their conimunitics. Also 13 or $5 pcrccnt said that the council has not undc~~akenany watcr psojcct in their conin~unitics. "I-low would you grade the perforrnitnce of Southcrn ljaw Local Government in the provision of' adequate water for your cornrnunity?" 'I'able 4.4 sows that I or 6 perccnt 01' the respondents rated the scrviccs ol' Also. 7 or 47 pcrcenl of'the respondents rated the council "poor" While anotlier yiwp 7 or 47 percent ol' the respondenis rated the local govesnulent " vcry poor", Wt: call now swil\ly conclude l'ro~nthe table that almost a11 thc co~lr~~rirnityIcadcrs were not sirtislicd with the pcrbrmance of tllc Soutlv.xn ljaw Local Govcrn~rlent in the psovision 01' adequate water for thcir coniniunities. In additio~i to the questionnaires distributed to the community lcaders fhc perception of sorne members ol' stall'of Southern ljaw Local Governme~ltindicates tlltrt they were equally not salislied with the serviccs of the local govcr1111~11~in the provision of water for the people. "How would you grade thc perl'ormance ol' Southern ljaw L.ocnl Ciove~mrent ill ~hc provision ol'watcr Ibr tllc v;rrious co~nlnunitics'!". 'Sable 4.5 shows that 5 or 9 pcrccnt out of thc 85 respondents felt that, the scrvicc ol' Southern ljaw Local Governnlent in the provision tbr thi various conlmunities has bccn "very good, while 25 or 29 percent of the rcsporldents graded it "good". Also 4.5 or. 5; percent of the respondents found it: poor", while 10 or 12 percent graded it "vesy poo~." We can now as well conclude that from the above table, 55 or 65 percent ot' responde~lts were not satislied with the performance of the local government in thc provision ol' adequate water for the people. In a nutshell our finding reveals that, the Soulhem ljaw L,ocal Government, has not been able to provide adequate water for its people, especially people living in the rural areas. 11'1 atlcmpt lo intcrvicwing the head ol'works depiirrlncnt and rhc wovks c~lginccr. qucstionnnires were also dislributed to the C~IIIIIILIII~IYIC~~CICI'S in Ole Sou1l1c1.11Ijiiw I .uc;iI Government Arca on thc construction of good roads and if possible brid~csin order lo link up the various communities. The resull ohaincd liom the qiwslio~lnair-ciincl inlcrviews arc presented in table 4.6. It would be seen that, most of the rcspondenls wcrc . . 1101 satisljcd with the perli)rnlance ot' Soul licrn ijaw 1 .ociil ( ;OVCI.IIIIICIIIi 11 I 111' Response obtnincct on the performance ot'111c local government in the provision of good roads for your coni~nunity. The !able above exhibits that OUI of the 15 responden~s,only 13 percent lklt that, the local governmeni has pe:formed very well in the provision of good roads ti~rtheir communities. While 87 percent felt that, the lociil government has not per-lbr~ncdwcll in the provision of good roads hr their co~nmuniticsin thc local goverrlnlerlt area. In addition to the above category of persons, questionnaire werc also rtistriburctl to the local govcrnnlcnt stait'with the aim of seeking their opinion about the pcribrnlance of Southern ljaw Local Government in the provision 01' good roads to the various comnurlitics. 'I'llc opinion ol' thc sample of' the nlenlbers ot' stall' o t' the local govc~mwt also sliows that, they wcw disatisficd with the pcri'orniance oi'the local govcrnlncnt in the provisiorl ol'good roads. 'I'ABLE 4.7: liesponsc ol'local government stalt'o~l~hc per-hr~nanceol'the local goverrmcnt in providing good roads to thc conwiunities. 'The table shows that out ol' 15 respondents, only 33 percent fklr that, tlicy wow satistied with the pcrl'ormancc of Southern Ijaw 1,ocal Govcrn~nentin tile provision of good roads for thc various cornmur~itics While 67 pcrccnt l'elt that. they were not satisfied with tllc perfbrnlance ol'rhe local ~ovcrnnlcntin rllc pruvisio~lol'good ~odslib1 tho various co~n~nunilics Based on the over all analysis or thc rilajority ol' the respondents 1211 Ihat, the Southern ljaw Local Cioverrl~rlenthas not performed very well in the provision 01' good roads for the various coni~nu~litiesa1 the turd level. 'I'ABLK 4.8 In order to asccr~ainft~rtlw, tllc pcrtbrlnancc of' Southern Ijaw local govcrnnicnr in the area ol'sarkd devclopnlent, questionnaires were disthbuted to co~nmuiiityleaders, They were asked to grade thc performa~iceof !!~elocal govern~iien~in the dcvcloprlwn~ of markets 'Table.4.8 shows the actud breakdown ol'their responws. Petiorrnancc 01' Southern ljaw local govcrnri~cntill rnarket development as graded by conln~unityleaders. -.-.--- . Poor 'f olal IS 1 00 I-.- -1. . ..-.. - - . I 'I'he table (4 8) sllows thirt, most of the com~nunityIcatlcrs wcrc diss;rtislicd with IIIC over all perlbrmance of the local pmnlnent in thc area ot' II~~II~CIdcvclop~ncn~ Tht is, out ol' the IS rcsl)or~tle~~~s,20 percent gs;~tlcd thc loci11 govcr~~rlicnl"good" ill rlw devclopncn1 o1'1iiarkct. I lowcvcr, 67 percent ad I3 pe~ccnt21 i~d~tl the local govc~IIIII~IIL . . "puor" and "very poor" rcspcctivcly. Inl'act, [he above I.CSLIII is CV~~CIIC~011 the level 01' pcrfurlriance by the local government in develop~nent of market wi~liin llie ~wal comnwnities of thc local govctrlment area. 'I.A~IAI~:4.9 Infact, most ol'thc rural t*ii~.nlcrsi~ltcrvicwed complained bitterly abou~li11~ supply of knilizcr. For eximple, the sti~dyof 11ie responses uf some ~onlniunityleadcrs to the qucstionnaircs dis~ributcdto them show that, no st ot' thc~iiwcrc nor sarislictl with illc perlbrmance of Soutl~csnljaw Local Gover~imen~in the area of agricul~uraldcvclop~lie~~t. This is shown in the table 4.9 below: Table 4.9 Response to whether farmers in the communities are assisted by Southern ljaw Local Government The above table shows that, out of a total of 15 respondents, only 33 percent felt that, farmers in the communities were assisted by the local government, while 67 percent telt that, the fermers were not assisted by the local government. It may be concluded on the , basis of this study that, farmers were not satisfied with the performance of Southern ljaw ~ocalGovernment in the area of ayricul tural development. TABLE 4.10 Although, analysis of the responses of community leaders revealed that. they were not satisfied with the perfonnance of Southern ljaw Local Government in the pwnwtion of education in the area. Table 4.10 shows the opinion of some community leaders on the above subject matter when asked whether they were satisfied or not. TABLE 4.10: Hesponse on the promotion end---- Advancemeni.of Education. -Response Nurnbcr.- Percent as----- Yes . - The above table indicates that 98.5 percent of the respondents were ol'the opinion that the local government did not perform very well in the area ol' education, while 1.5 percent responded that, they did not know at all . Ilowever, the rescarclrer still wen1 lbsllrcr to i~sk the respondents to state the reasons for this poor peribrmance in the area or cdi~carionin table 4.1 I. TAULE 4.1 1 ftespoose on tlre f%easoasfor Nor-performance 111 LhJucali P 11. , INunrber Ii;;;;entage by the local 150 I Government I I I I Inadequate 1 75 1 22.1 I bursa~scholarsh~award-- t- t- ofzmdstag .-115 33.8--- I Total 1 1.40 1 00 --- -- The above ebk also indicated that 44.1 pescenl 01' the- respondents opined that, little assislance by ttre government was rcsponsible i'or his low pcrformancc. Whilc 22.1 percent said that, the problem was with the inadequacy of bursary, and scholarship award, ' while 33.8percent said that, the problem was due to lack of qualified staff It can be seen that responses 1 and 3 are the prime reasons for the non-performance of govesnmcnt in the area of education. TAULE 4.12 Again, the opinion of a sample of members of staft' of Southern ljaw Local Governmynt. were canvassed on the issue. The analysis of data collected as in table 4. I2 by the , . quevtionrraire is a clear Fict that, the local government internal generated revenue. is f.dr inadequate to cnable it embark on any meaningful rural development projects, Response orr whclher thc local Government generate Enoiigh Revenue Internally: From the table above our lindings show thac, 100 percent of tl~crespondence, id1 were of the opinion that, thc local governnlent does not Generate enough revenue internally Under this perspective, both the staff and some of the corurnunity leaders share the sa l'le view on this issue. TABLE .4.13 More so, the analysis of data collected through the questionnaires distributed I 9 a sample of nlembcrs of st aft' of Southern ljaw L..ocal Government supl)c>ri I lrc irlxwc infornution, hence, the response of the stan' is shown in tablc 4.13 liesponse on whether staff promotion is given priority Aitentiori by the local Gover~imqnt. Yes --- 30 -- -.------No 5 5 The table above shows that, out of85 respondents, 30 or 35 percent said that, tip have been promoted since they became members of start'o'f the local government, while 55 or 65 percernt said that, they have mt been promoted since they became members of' st 4 n' of Southern Ijaw Local governnxnt. liesponse on whether staff werc satisfied or not with the rate of pru~rlotionby the loE' dl Government: I Total 3 0 -100 1 The above table shawls that, ourof the 30 respondents who said, they have hqcn promoted since they became members of stan'of the local government, S or 27 percent said that, they were satisfied with the mate of their promotion, while 22 o 7Dpercent clai 7ed that, they were not satisfied ~viththe rate or their pronlotion by the local <>uvernmc~lt Also the table abovc shows that, out of 70 respondents, 47 or 67 percent claimed ttp dissatisfaction with the rate of their promotion adversely afl'ects their nora ale and thcir ability to put in their best, while 23 or 33 percent clairnctl that, dissatisfaction with thc n1 te of their promotions as no effect on tlieir morale and does not make them not to put in their best towards achieving the objectives of the local governnxnt. Hence, the abovc lindiys therefore support our fourth hypothesis that: "Low morale among the staff of Southern ljaw local governnlent Militates against the realisation of its rural clevcloo~nentrcponsi bilities". TABLE 4. 16: However, the analysis of the questionnaires dislributed to them shows [hat, 11)e ir salaries and allowances were not promptly paid and this afTccts adversely tlwis work, and it is Shown in table 4.) 6. TAULE 4.16: Response on whether staWsalaries adallowances were promptly paid by thc Iqcal ' (;ovcmlnent: The above table 4.16 claimed that, out ol'the 85 respondents, 28 Or 33 percent said that, their salaries and allowances were promptly paid, while 57 or 67 percent said that, their salaries were not promptly paid. We can there fore see that, most responsdents said tt1 at, their salaries and allowances were not promptly paid. With several interviews conducted with some staffotficials the results ol'the aualypis of the data generated by the questionnaires distributed to a sample ol' local govermncnt staff show that, greater number ofthe staff were not satisfied with their working conditips and that, this adversely affects their attitude to work. This is shown in table 4 17. TABLE 4.17. Response on how workers (stitff) grade thcir working condition in the local govcrnmcnl: L~e~onse- [ Number I hrcentilge -..-*J ~!ZLI-+--+~ITotal Table 4.17 shows that, 30 Or 35 percent of the respondents were satisfied with tvir working conditions and therefore, gave good grade to it, while 55 or 65 percent of thc repondents were not satisfied with their working conditions and, hence, graded it poo s ly. Hence, the above findings also support our hurth hypothesis, rhus: "Low rnorde among the stall'ol'Southern ljaw local governlllent , militales against the realisatio~lol'its ~.uraldcveloprilcnt r.esponsibitiesn. END - NOTE Called from Questionaire In The Topic Local Government As An Instrument For Rural Development : A Case Study, Southern ljaw Local Government Area, Bayelsa State. The researcher embarked on both interview and field observation to some communities and project site to see for himself the various facilities claimed to have been. provided by the Local Government authorities. This also granted the opportunity to meet face to face with communities leaders and officials in the Local Government council to obtain other necessary information as to the general problems of rural development. . , However, as rarlier mentioned, Southern Ijaw Local Government has Performed below expectation in the course of expansion and modernization of existing health centres. Analysis of the responses of a community leader, chief Ebeleguru Kokorifa at Okpotuwari community reveal that, "the Okpotuwari community has so far spent more the #70,000.00 to set a health centre without any form of aid fiom the Local Government". Another interview was also conducted with the chief social welfare officer in his office dated 15" May, 2001 also reveal the poor attention given by the !,ocal Gwernment to the social welfare Department . Moreso,interviaw with members of staff of Southern ]jaw Local Govenment also reveal the poor performarrce of the Local Government interms of the, rate of promotion which support our fourth hypothesis that: " low morale among the staff of Southern Ijaw local government militates against the realisation of its rural development responsibilities". Hence, in a Nutshell, with several interview conducted with both co~nmunity leaders and some staff officials, the results of the analysis of data gethered by the questionaires distributed show that, greater nu~nterof the respondents were not satisfied with the local government in course of undertaking its constitutional responsibities in its area of operation. The general Objective of this study is to ascertain the importance of Soulhcrn ljaw 1,ocal Government rural devclopmcnt. This work so far has asscssed the pcrf'ormancc of' ~bulhcrn ljaw Local Covernn~entin rural development.and found it wanting. 'l'his was lone by assessing how successful it has becn in the provision of services such as I~ealtll services, provision of good roads, advancernent of edudation, and finally the developn~eut ol'snlrtll scdc ~rlarketand industries. In a nutshell, our findings chim that ,the local government has not made qny signiticant impact in the provision of health services to the people in the rural areas. For instance, the health centres norlnally experience acutc shortage of' drugs. Ihe lo lack of competent staff and transporti~tior!dii'ficulty , the local government finds it very dilricult to undertake its constitutional function of sendi~ighealth educators to the villages. Thc local governlnenls performance in the provision of good roads has nol beeti very successl'ul; Although, the local government has tried in the constmc~ionof' lLec1c.r roads within the various cornmunities in order to li~~kthe local government headquarte;.~. However, the poor pzrtormance of the Southern ljaw Local Government in the provision of' good roads has bee11 as a rcsult of the failure or the principal technical officer of' tlic local government to provide road constructi~r~equipment coupled with llle poor conditio~lol' the existing areas; More so,some communities that wanted to construct roads by thcm sclvcs sometimes found it impossible to hire road construction equipment, hence, in most cascs, manual labour is ernployed for the construction In the area of Agriculture, Southern ljaw L.ocal Governments performance has a I so not been very favuurable.'l'he local government due to clcarth of' colnpctent tcclinical s~all' and inadequate shining of extension services to tl~crund famers, the condition 01' agriculture in the local government has not been encouraging. 111 addition, loans and fertilizer are hardly made available to the small scale fhrnwrs at the rural al.cils Also, t1.w local governnlent has not niade any attempt in the area of' public enliglitenent campaign to allow the rural fhrnlers know when such farming Iiciliii~sare available and how they ljan beobtained one major problem is that, even when they are supplied, thcy are us~~ally supplied late to the fiirrners. And the local government agriculture supcrintcndeits\ complain is that, the dclay is as a result of lack of rransportation and in adcqwatc rnainterlacc of the feeder roi \ ds In the field of market development, the southcrn ljaw local government has lot perfbrrnemd as expected. It should be noted that , the concept of market as il very vital fbrum (place)where goods arc bought and sold. 'I'llis also provides the ~ppwti~~~it)iIi)r I he farmers to understand what lo pr-oduce at a particular period of' the ycar. Yct, the Southern ljaw Local Government has not taken thepain to develop rural markets wtlithin thc loyal government. Moreso, the southern ljaw local government has also performed below cxpcctation in the area of social welfare, There are no well-constructed motherless babies homc cxccpt those on improvised standards. The southern ljaw local government has also performed below expectations in provision of adequate water supply for the rural people.Apart from those at some oil producing communities which were provided for thern.by the operating oil companies . 111 essence, the local government itself has not embarked on a 'single water project since its . creatipn. Furthermore, information also shows that, the soutl~crnij;~w local yovernrnenl has pot performed very well in these areas as a result of personnel and financial problenls The personnel problems of Southern ljaw Local Coverr~mentis faced with an ucrtr: problem of lack of qualified stafl'to dispense the various hnctions in the local govcrnnlent. Frankly Speaking, the Southern ljaw Local Governrnwt is inadequate interms oi' st~tl'1 motivation, this is. as a result of the delay in the payment of workers sdarics and allywances. In addition, undue delay of starpromotion is also a iictor Apart from the above ycrsonnel problems provailent in thc council, it was'also noticed that the local government suffers from acute financial problem. That is, the fkdgral and state pants to the local government are not enouih while the Southern ljaw Local Government has been unable to generate enough revenue internally 5:2 KECOMM ENDATION; With the above analytical information gathered in this thesis, the followjng recommendatio~ls are carefully put forward in order to help the Southern ljaw Local Government to advance or improve in its development. Ln essence, the kccn recomrner~dtitionput forward here is that both the Federal and State Governments should increase their allocations to the Local Governments in ordq to make the development of thir communities possible. L-Iowever, since the Soutlwn Ijawl,ocal Government has very poor revenue generated from interniil soureces, thew should be an adequate increase in the percentage of externcal grants, since,local government mostly depe~ida lot on these grants for their operatioos. It should also be noted that, it will serve well, if' the Federal Government allocalion be sent:directly to thc local government, this is cerlain, because, it will elin~inntethe several bottleneck by the state governments in making the grants available. Again, Southern ljaw Local Government should review its expenditure patiern with a view to allocating fund for capital projects. The present environment whereby the southern Ijaw local government spends most of its rcvenuo on recurrent items is very diqeo Furthermore, in course of recruiting revenue collectors, only people of proven integrity should bc recrucitcd for the exercise it1 order to ensure proper keeping ol'~~cco~~ds; incentive in order to make then1 less prone to corruption. Whenever, the financial problem is solved in the above way, we have tllc st11 3n s belief that, the local government will be in a good condition to solve the personnel . psreblems as expected. Hence, the following recolnmcndations are made; (i) Eradication of illiteracy and half-educated. workers should be paramount and workers should be sent for training. Semincrs, courses and proper ioduetpn programmes should be organised from time to time for the stair in order to ensure effectiveness and efliciency in the local government. Also, there should be refresh courses in order to keep the workers abreast of current devclopnlc~lt and management. . practicgs . Secondly, there should be adequate inlprovcnlent and advancement in the cundit'onI of service of the employees so that, workers salaries and allowances should be paid in time; I-lcnce, it will ccrtairrly improve the standard of perhrn~anccol'thc serving work Y-'1s and also attract high calibre of people to work with he local governrnenl system I-lowever, one will strongly believe that, by solving both he Personnel ;lnd 1:inancial Problems, the cntirc Southern Ijilw Lociil Goverrrn~cntwill be ablc to assist tliz various communities that are project oriented within ~liclocal Government Area. REFERENCE Adarnolekun, (1979).The New local Government systcrn in Nigeria Heineman Educational Books Ltd, lbadar~ Adamolekun,L.(1979), "The Idea of local Government as a Third-'Tier of Government"in Adanlolekunandawlalld (ed),"l'he New local Governn~ent ystem in Niceria (Ibadan and Rural Devcloprnent in Nigeria (Ibadan : Heineman Ltd) Ajaegbu, 11,1..(1976), IJrban and Itural Dcve1~)prnenti~Nigeri;! I btdan I-leirwman Educational Books (td) Ajayi, G.M,(1980)"'l71e Role of voluntary organisations in community Development".Journal for comrn~~nitvvo : Third I= ,owerri, Novelty industrial enterprises Itd. Ilirch,A.H,(1966) "Approaches to the study ol'redcralism" AS re~lc~cd.i~r~~~,l.i&.c_;~l sli!!-iq, vol 14, I .orrhn, oxl'ord IJnivcrsily p~.css. Cohen, M.J et. a1 (1 977). "Rural I)evelopnwni I'ar-tici~)atior~",1?!!!:d.l>.c.v.c!ic2p111.c!!! rnonograph.No 2 published by the Kurd Development committee, cenrrcJoc international studies, cornell University. Collins ,P.(1980) "Introducing the scction on local Governnlent Administration" iq 1'. Collins (ed). &iministr;!tion for Developn~enr,(12u~o.sj Duddley Billy, (19112) An introduction to Nigeria Government And Politics. Londqn.: Macrnillan press Ltd, Egonnwan,JA.(1984) Principles And practice of local Gpvcrnrnent In Niaeria:Beqin, Aka and L3r4m-s press. Eniezi, C.G(I984) "Nigerian Local Government in tlistorici~lperspcctivc",N&cc~~ -Journal of public administration. vol.2.N&(Published by the Sub-Department of public Administration and local Governnynt, University of Nigeria ,Nsukka. . Gana,.J.(1986). "A strategy for integrated Rural Developnlenl in Nigcria".Rpape_~ Presented at a seminar oraanised bv thej]-irectowte for fyd3 -Koad&ural lnfiastruct ure. GrafT,. W.(1986).Nigerian 'Grassroots' I'olitics": Locill Govcrnmcnt,'l'raditiorlal l+Ic and class D~rninationin l'heJounqi1 of C~IT~IIIC'IIW~~I~~~And co~npar{!ti-vg ~ofitics.vol.xxxiv No2 Julx lbe ,U. B( 1986) "Local Government and Rural Develop~ncntin Nigeria' ' inIrIT . . -Niaerian - Jounrnal of Local Chverrlment Studies. vol.N@ Kulp, E.M (1970) Rural Deveopment nlanning; A systems analysis and woj:hrk-g methods (ww york: praeger) Marx Fitz, M,(1968).Element of r>ublicAdministraI_;i,New Delhi: Prentice- I-lall Ltd, 1968. Odenigwe, G.A. (1977). A New System of local Government by the Cornmul~.i~il~ the East Cc'ntral Statc of Nigeria, Lhugu, NW;IIII~ti: publislxrs Ltd. Odenigwe, G.A. ( 1979). "Mobilising the cit izens hr cor~~~nununll)evelopn~c~~t under the New system of local Governmcnt" in Acltrt~rol~k~nrand Rowland (cd) The New Local Govmment in Nigeria Ibadan: I-leineman L,td. Odoh, A(1994). Local Govcrnn~eotAs Third -'l'ier of Government : Roles, functions and challenges" A Paper &epared for the Orientation Workd~opfci~ (3idirmcn and members of local Covernixei:~caretiiker c~.~~~~~~~.sS~~~I~~&~~y, LAyps. Ogunniy~,.O. (1992) "Manpower planning; lssues and problems in Nigeria" ill A.D. yahaya (ed), New Trends in personnel nlanye~mnt:A Hook 01'Ihc~Ii~tg~ Nigcria, ASCQN . Ojo, A.O. (1 973) Political Science And Government ol'N&ria For west Afri,can Studies Nigeria, llesannun press. Okereke, ~.~.(1979)" The Role of Agriculture in Rural Developn~entin Nigeria"Journa1 for cornmunit Develg~mcnt.vol. I.(Owerri: Mi~ristryof 'Local Government and Social Development). Okoli,F.C., (1980) "Local Government And comn~unityDevelopment " Paper Presented at the National Conference on thea~.%Local Government Systcnl in Nineria. University of Nineria..Nsukka Onah, F.O. (1995). "Manpower planning and Developnwnt in Nigeria" : Thc local Government Ex~ericnce.Sub - Department Of Public Adn~inistratlon, University Of Nigeria Nsukka. Ethiope I'ublislling Corporation. Osuala, E.C. (1982) [~~troductionTo Research Methodology, New york: Expositjon press. Rowland, .1.,.(1979) "'l'hc Challenge Of Stafing tho New 1,ocsl (;ovcrnn~enl "it) Nigeria : I'roblems And I'rospects for_I_mlernc'nti~tiot~.(Ibadan: I Icinerr~an Educatio~lalUooks 1,td.) Silla, D.L(l972) (ed) International Encvclopedia ottthc' Socical Scicncg (New yyrk) : Macmillan company and the free press. Sorpwe, C. M., (2000) "Ethical Demand fi)r Local Government Law -Maker$' : workshog on Ie~?islativecompetence of locd G~verrmwntk&!~4ti.~ -Assemblies in Niger- . Uba , U.B. ( 1.984) "Local Government As A 'I'hird -'l'ier of Government: An Asscssrncnt" tlkerian Jwrnal of I'ublicAdtninistration nnd l,ocal (hvern~yc'fi! ,Val. 2. No2 (Published the Sub- Department of I'ublic Administmiion and I.ocal Govcrnment, University of Nigeria, ~sukka. Williams, S.K.T.(1978) Rural Development 1nNiu;University of Ilk press. Wraith, 11 (1964) Local Government in W~stAfrica. (London: George Allen and Urwin Ltd.) Yahaya, Ad. (1979) "Local Government As Agent ol'Rural Development!An Evaluation". Nigerian Journal of I'olitical Science. Vol.1, No1 GOVERNMENT AND OFFICAL lBUIJLICA'I'ION 5. Third Niational Dcyelopnient plan. 197&1980.Vol. 2. (Lagos: Federal Ministry of Economic Development. Fourth National Developnlent plan. 1981 -85, V'.Lagos: Federal ministry ol' National plan~ing. Guidelines For.Local Government Kel'orm. kaduna: tiovct.l~nlentprinters, 108 1. lntenratcd Approach 'To ISLural Develo~ment:( 197 1) New Yolk: Social Developmerlt . Section 0i'~heEconomic Commission for Africa. Information, Printing !,ivision. FILES AND RECORDS -~eknue And Expenditure Book 1992 -200 1 Treasury Department, Southern yaw Local Government ,Opx~n;s. File No. SII.(;A/AI)M/ 6/ / VOL 1. Works I'Jepartment, Southern ljaw L$al Government , Oporoma. -27File No SILGNADM/IOS/VoL I, Soutllern ljaw Local Government, Oporojna. File No I SlLGA/AI>M/I78/VOL. 11. Euci\tion Departnlent, Southern ljaw local Government, Oporoma. Sub-Departmeirt of plb. Acl~~~in. $Local Govcl-nnle11t University of Nigeria Nsukka. March l 5Ih , 2200 1 Dear liesporrclen t, I am a post- graduate student of tk University of Nigeria, Nsukka, currerlfhy conducting a rescarch on "Local Government As An instrunwnt fbr Rural I)evlopme~~t~A case study of southern Ijaw local Government" as part of'my master dcgree pl-ogalrrnrp: ol' public Administration $ local Government. 'I'hc objcctivc ol'the roscarch is to lid 0111 if' local govcrrlrncnts haw bcc~i~t)ld to fulfil their canstitutiotral rcspowiibilities as govcr-ru~~cl~tsi1t thc grass root levcl Il' not try to lddentify thcir loopholes and problems which had hithcrto nladc thcm urtablc to pc~dhm. There after ,make some good recommendations, which , we hope, will certainly cont~ibule to an improvement in the quality of life in your community in the nearest futurc. IIonce, this questionnaire is construced to abtain the necessary information recpirred f'or thc research. It is purely an academic exercise. All information will be treated contidentially. 1 am therefore, employing you to co-opcrate with me in achieving my desire objective by religiously answering the questions in this quesiionnaire and ensuring that,you . return this questioonnaire to me. Thank you for your candid co-operation. Yours Sincerely Osoghoyai, Clarkson. APPENDIX 11 QUESTlONNAlKE YOH COMMUNITY LEADER$ AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT STAFF. PART 1- COMMUNI'I'Y LEADERS Tick (x) against the answers of your chioce in the boxes belgw. (I) Sex: (a) malc L-7 (\I) female 1 (2) Marital status: (a) single I (b) married I- (3) occupation: (4) Do you think that farners in your Community are&sted by Soutl~ernIjiiwL~cd Ciovernrnent'? (a) yes [-1 (b) No 1-1 (5) It' your answer is "yes " what form of assistancc have they received ? (a) Sales of fertilizer to formers at subsidized or reduced price a (b) Agricultural Extension Services in Soutlarn ljaw LOC~IGov~rnment to teach farmers no how to improve their farming methods 0 0 Sdes of yam seedinlings at reduced price (d) Farmers are giverr~loans 0 (e) Any other;------,------(6) If' your answer is "No" why did you say so? (a) Fertilizer is hi~dlysold to I:drmcrs 1-1 (b) Yan~seedlings are hardly to Ibmers ~-1 (c) Loans not provided 1-1 (d) LoaoYprovided to lkmers are inadequate 1-1 (c) Any other reasons;------(7) Are you satisfied with the performance of the Local Government in ~heprovision of heal& services lor your cornrnunity? (bj No 0 (i) There is a Local Governmcnt health eentlc in my community. (a)Yss 1-1 (b)No r (ii) There is shortage of drugs in the health centre. (a) Yes r-1 (b) No (iii) Health oficers oAen visit our community and teltch people how to improve their health. (a) Yes . (b) No [low would you grade the performance of Southern ljaw Local Gavel-n~nent in the provision of adequate water for your community ? (a) Very Good [=I (b) Good 1-7 (c) Poor 0 (d) Very poor 1-1 tlas Southern ljaw Local Governrnent undertaken any water project in your community since 199 I? (a)Yes 0 (b)No 0 (10) How would you assess the performance of Southern [jaw Local Government in the promotion of rural development'? (a) Very Good 1- (b) Good 0 (c) Poor 0 (d) Very poor (I 1) 1s there any health institutions (e.g Maternity dispensary ,health centre, hospital ) built in your community by Southern ljaw Local Govc~.rlrnent? (a) Yes ,-I (b) No (12) Do you thiRt,the Locsl Ciovermncnr has performc~tvcry wcll ill [Ire p~zrvirio~hor good roads I'or your comnlunity'? (a)Yes 0 (b) No u Give reasons hr your answcr) (i) The Local Governrnent constantly mainrnirrs ahhe roads in rny co~rrmu~~ityr-J . (ii) My community most often maintainsall the roads within it 1-1 (iii) The Local Government constructed most of the roads in my community ~_1 (iv) Most of the roads in my codmunity were constructed through conrmunal ell'oct (v) All the roads in my community are always in good conditlon (vi) Not in good condition (13) Do you think that, Southern Local Governnren~has achieved a lot in the advanceruc~rl of agricultpral scrvices tor your community'? (a) Yes (b) No 0 (14) How would you grade the performance of Southern ljaw Local Govesnmcnt in the provision of market tbr your commurity'? (a) Very Cioqd 0 (b) Good .a (c) Poor ~-j (d) Very Poor 0 (IS) Are you satisfied with the performance of Southern ljaw Local Government in the promotion and advancement of education in your community? (a) Yes 0 (b) No 0 (16) It' your anwser to question 15 is "Yes " ,what are yourr reason (s)? (i)The Local government has built school (s) in my community 0 (ii) The Local Government awards scholarships and bursaries to many students in my community L--,_l (iii) Any other reason (s) ------(1 7) If your answer to question 15 is "No", what are your reason (s)'? (i) I3uilding and lr~aintclmccof'schools is Ictl entirely to my community r----- ,I:...... ~. -.-- ..I , (ii) Scholiuships and bursaricr arc not uwsrd4 lo any student liorn my co~~~rnunity -- - nnu www0-0,-