32 Inter-Governmental Relations & Promotion of Grassroot Democracy... B.A.:.Amujiri

INTER-GOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS AND PROMOTION OF GRASSROOT DEMOCRACY IN : MYTH OR REALITY?

B. A. AMUJIRI Dept. of Public Administration & Local Government, University of Nigeria, Nsukka

Abstract The task of this paper is a critical examination of how pattern of IGR has hindered or promoted the role of local government in democratization of the grassroot in Nigeria. This is to test the validity of the general preposition which posits that the ability of the local government to effectively pursue the goals of grassroot democracy in Nigeria is function of the established pattern of IGR. In carrying out that, the paper examined; the meaning, scope and objectives of IGR; the determinants of IGR in promotion of grassroot democracy; analyzed the major challenges facing IGR in democratization process and discussed the prospects of grassroot democracy. The conceptual framework of analysis used was intergovernmental approach. The paper discovered that even though local governments, have substantial degree of Autonomy as assigned to them by the 1979 constitution, the regulatory powers from the state and Federal Governments have completely eroded local government autonomy thereby making it impossible for meaningful grassroot democratization effort. The paper concluded by arguing that since the arduous task of effecting grassroot democracy in Nigeria lies with the local government, there is need for harmonious IGR between local government and other tiers of government.

Key Words: intergovernmental, grassroot, democratization and local government.

Introduction One seemingly intractable problem that has engaged the attention of the Nigerian leadership and people, since the attainment of political independence in 1960 is that of state building as well as nation building. As Nwosu (1980) noted, Nigeria's efforts toward achieving real national development had been hindered by the existence of several large and small ethnic groups who are at varying stages of social mobilization. In a sustained attempt to manage complex mass of inter-winning relationship emanating from its heterogeneous environment, Nigeria adopted federalism as a strategy of attaining unity in diversity.

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Invariably, and as noted by Ayoade (1980), Elaigwu (1979), Dare (1987), Nwosu (1980) among others, federalism no matter whatever form it takes, involves more than one layer of government. Nigerian federalism therefore, involves three layers of government. The existence of three levels of government implies the existence of complex pattern of overlapping and sometimes conflicting relationships that require close understanding and management. In a federal arrangement, promotion of meaningful democratic process for the purpose of real nation building demands sound inter-governmental relations. This is because as Umezurike (1990) noted, the future of intergovernmental relations would as much as possible determine the level to which government commitment to promotion of democratic process would be pursued. Since the task of effecting grassroot democracy in Nigeria lies with the local government which is the third tier of government, there is need to examine the way it relates with other tiers of government. The task of the paper is to examine intergovernmental relation in the promotion of grassroot democratic process in Nigeria. In doing this, the paper tend to raise the following questions: 1. What is IntergovernmentalRelations, its scope and objectives? 2. What are the institutional arrangements for the management of Intergovernmental Relations? ~ 3. What are the determinants of Intergovernmental Relations in the I promotion of grassroot democratic process? 4. What are the challenges of intergovernmental relations in promotion of ~ grassroot democracy in Nigeria? 5. What are the prospects of inter-governmental relations in the promotion of f democratic process?

r Intergovernmental Relations - A Theoretical Discourse r Inter-governmental relations, refer to the complex patterns of interactions, co-operations and inter-dependence between two or more levels. As noted by r Dearlowe (1979), Ogunna (1997), Olugbemi (1980) Igwe (2003) among others, it r is a plethora of formal and informal relationships and transactions that develop among levels of government within a nation state. These relationships according r to Nwosu (1980) can be vertical and horizontal. r In the words of Gboyega (2003), it is a term that was originated in the r United States of America to describe the various dimensions of governance not captured by the concept of federalism. According to Marando and Florestano r (1990), the concept implies four main issues namely, r r Nigerian Journal of Social Sciences (NJSS) Vol. 7, No.2 Aug. 2011 ,.r 34 Inter-Governmental Relations & Promotion of Grassroot Democracy... B.A. Amujiri

(1) Multi - jurisdictional decision - making context. (2) The various mixes between central and constituent authorities. (3) Inter - personal and organizational networking and (4) The reliance of governmental and non- governmental approaches to problem resolution. Onuoha (2003) defines it as interactions that take place among the different levels of government within a state. Usually, the concept is associated with states having a federal administrative system where the relationships between the federal, central or national government and the major sub-national unit (province, region, or state) are formally spelt out in the constitution. As Ademolekun (1983) noted, the jurisdictional powers of each level of government are spelt out in the constitution and any re-arrangement must be through a constitutional amendment involving both levels of government. Although an intergovernmental relation is widely associated and most 1, popular with nations that have opted for federal arrangement, it is not exclusive to ... federal systems. It equally apply to both federal and unitary governments but it is 1 more pronounced in the former than in the latter. 1 Analysing the scope of the concept, Nwosu (1980) argued that the scope I ~ of intergovernmental relations depends on the type of constitutional arrangement 1 in operation. In modem unitary system, there are patterns of interactions and ~ inter-dependence between the central and local governments. Similarly, in a ~ federal state such as Nigeria with three tiers of government, Intergovernmental , Relation can take the following format. 1 1. Federal - State 1 ii. Federal - State - Local 1 lll. Federal- Local , 1..·/. State - Local •• 1 v. State - State ~ vi. Local - Local 1 It is however important to state that the more programmes and activities the different tiers of government in Nigeria embark upon within a state, the more . complex the nature and scope of intergovernmental relations will be and these j require an orderly and efficient co-ordination and management. Undoubtedly, the I volume and scope of activities embarked upon by different levels of government ••• in Nigeria have substantially increased with each succeeding regimes. .4 Consequently, the objectives of intergovernmental relations in Nigeria 1. include the following: (i) to promote peace and harmony among the three levels of government. 1 1 i NigerianJournal of Social Sciences (NJSS) Vol. 7, No.2 Aug. 2011 .. 35 Inter-Governmental Relations & Pro,motion of Grassroot Democracy... B.A. Amujiri

(ii) to enhance the emergence of cooperative rather than competitive federalism; (iii) to ensure effective and efficient utilization of available human and material resources among the various levels of government; (iv) to accelerate the achievement of self reliant economy; (v) to minimize inter-jurisdictional conflicts among the various levels of government; (vi) to solve the problem of rural and urban poverty, ignorance and suffering of the people; and (vii) to foster greater national integration through the activities of the three levels of governm~nt.

.Institutional Arrangements for the Management of Intergovernmental

A number of institutional arrangements have been established by successive administrations to manage intergovernmental relations in Nigeria. They are as follows. 1. The National Council of State. 2. The National Economic Council. 3. The Central Bank of Nigeria which is at present co-ordinating the fiscal and monetary policies of all levels of government. 4. The regional meetings of State Governors to coordinate jointly owned Economic and Social Institutions like cocoa House, Nigercem, NNDC, New Nigeria Newspaper etc 5. The committee for National Youth Service Corps matters. 6. The monthly Federal Allocation Committee. 7. The Nigerian Governors Forum. 8. The periodic meeting of Federal and State Public Service Commission which is aimed at ensuring free movement of high level manpower. 9. The joint State - local government Account Committee 10. The meetings of Governors and Chairmen of local government of which is referred to, in some States as Council of local Government. 11. The meeting and Conference-s of Federal Ministers and Commissioners. , 12. The Local Government Service Commission, which is a State Agency that coordinates personnel matters for all the local Governments within the State. r 13. The Director of local Government Audit and Local Government Alarm Committee in every state Of the federation that help to facilitate greater

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accountability in the activities of all key functionaries of Local Government services in the country. 14. The Local Government Unit in the office of Vice-President that are coordinating the activities of local Governments nation-wide. 15. The Fiscal Policy and Revenue Mobilization Commission. 16. The Association of local Government in Nigeria (ALGON). 17. The Federal Character Commission. 18. The Federal Council of Establishment that determines the condition of service, salaries and wages throughout the Public Service of the federation etc.

Determinants of Intergovernmental Relations in the Promotion of Grassroot Democracy The attainment of the above objectives of Intergovernmental Relations as well as promotion of democratic process depends on the nature and processes of IGR in operation. This, in turn, is dependent on several factors: (I) Political Setting Nigeria in 1954 opted for a federal arrangement of three regions. From 1954 - 1966, the regions, were very powerful as they controlled substantial portions of the natural wealth and experienced Civil Servants. Within this period the relationships between the local and the regional governments resembled that of the partnership of the horse and the rider. The regional government created, controlled and abolished local governments as they deemed fit. The reason was that from 1954 until the military coup of 1966, Local Government was constitutionally a subject on the residual legislative list which was the domain of the regions. The federal government had little or no dealings with the local governments. However, Nigerian Federation is dynamic. The emergence of the military in 1966 and the subsequent creation of states in 1967; 1976; 1986; 1991; 1996 led to the emergence of 'new Federalism' . The 'new Federalism' is marked by a number of factors which included increased centripetal forces, greater concentration of national wealth at the national centre, greater leadership initiatives by the Federal government; and more dependency of the other tiers of government on the federal government. Intergovernmental Relations under the political setting assumed a master-servant relation in favour of the Federal Government. 1, , 1 Nigerian Journal of Social Sciences (NJSS) Vol. 7, No.2 Aug. 2011 37 Inter-Governmental Relations & Promotion of Grass root Democracy .. , B.A. Amujiri

(II) Constitution The Nigerian political environment is also marked by frequent constitutional changes including those of 1960; 1963; 1979; 1989; and 1999 and that of 2007. The frequent constitutional changes involve among other things frequent changes in the functions and jurisdictions of the three levels of government. In the 1960 and 1963 constitutions, regional (state) governments had absolute powers in the creation of Local Government; in the 1979 constitution, even though State Governments retained their powers to create local governments, they had no longer absolute powers on this issue, as their laws were subject to the provisions of the constitution. The 1989 constitution and the Local Government Basic Constitutional and Transitional Provisions Decree of 1989 completely constitutionalised Local Government. This means that the constitution established Local Government just as State and Federal. Governments thereby accomplishing the most essential requirements of the third-tier Government. To -v this end, the Federal Government declared: The introduction of the presidential system in Local Government has introduced far-reaching innovations aimed at giving greater autonomy to Local Governments. Local Governments are no longer the creatures of the State Governments as envisaged by the 1976 Local Government Reform. Like the Federal and State Government, the 1989 constitution has enabled Local Governments in Nigeria to derive their existence from the constitution.

Thai. constitution Iurther provides thai any amendment ill the Area, Functions, Finance and others aspects of Local Government requires the Legislative action of State and National Assemblies. Neither the Federal nor the State Government •, alone can abolish a Local Government or amend its law except as provided by the constitution. Unfortunately, the .1999 Constitution made a mess of Local Government by restoring to the States the power to create Local Governments. It injured Local Governments further by removing the much cherished Presidential I '" System at that tier of government. Consequently, intergovernmental relations were again skewed in favour of Federal and State Governments respectively. This affects development of meaningful democratic process adversely. For without sound IGR, grassroot democracy can hardly be developed. r

(III) State of the Economy Undoubtedly, the wealth of a nation affects the pattern of its material relations as well as its commitment to promotion of democratic process. The more

Nigerian Journal of Social Sciences (NJSS) Vol. 7, No.2 Aug. 2011 38 Inter-Governmental Relations & Promotion of Grassroot Democracy... B.A. Amujiri wealth a nation commands the more likely the volume and scope of its transactions within and outside. As Nwosu (1980) noted, Nigeria has had varied experience with lts.national wealth. During the first republic when Nigeria's sources of wealth were mainly groundnut, palm produce, cotton and cocoa, the basis of the relationsbetween the Federal Government and the regions was on this derivation. That made the regions more powerful. With the conclusion of the civil war in 1970 and given the Federal Government greater control of the oil industry and also, given the oil boom that lasted between 1971 and 1980, the pattern of _ •..••.•..•.--: •..•1 _ ...•.1 .••.•.!__ ~_...l •..,:•..•.•..•.•.•..•.....••.;,,_ .•.•., L ....••..•••...•.....•_ •.1...... •. c...... I.t"O .•••••..•.l .••...•.••A _ •.1...•..•.•.••. .: •..•_ •...... • + .ll.h.U."-'li(.U 1 ""1.aL.i.VU. "'llU. u.U.1.l.::".•.",L.1VU.,) U""'f.,y·•. ....,"'u UH.... .l\...rU\..tlu..1 uHU VLil\,....l Ll,",l~ Vi government, shifted in favour of the Federal Government. Within this period, the scope and intensity of the transactions among the various levels of government increased dramatically, as the resources available for distribution were quite substantial. This gave rise to CivilService Reforms at all levels of government to enable the public personnel administration to manage effectively and efficiently the national wealth and increased volume of activities. This equally led to development of the democratic process.

(IV) Personality Trait Experience has shown that the pattern of intergovernmental relation is a function of the nature of national leader. That is, the personality trait of the key, occupants of government. This explains why efforts made at strengthening the Local Government have often met with frustration when a particular leadership takes over control of national affairs. For instance, Gowon administration (informally) allowed a lot of powers to the State Governors. His era was ,j j characterized by relatively loose Federal/State relations and lack of commitment I to democratic process. Murtala/Obasanjo administration paid great attention to strenztheninc T.ocal ••••••• •••••• of Government and develonment.L of democratic nrocesses.j. This culminated in the famous Local Government Reform of 1976. Unfortunately, the reform was haphazardly implemented by Shagari administration as social mobilization for greassroot democracy was hardly addressed by Shagari administration. Again, in 1978, a major decision was taken by Obasanjo administration that national revenues should be shared among the three tiers of government. Shagari Administration again, attempted to disregard such arrangement. Babangida, even though demonstrated some degree of commitment towards d, development of democratic process, was noted for tinkering with operations of Local Governments more than any leader in Nigeria. ..,

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But Abacha even took the most unconstitutional decision in the history of fiscal relations among the three tiers of government. He single - handedly took the unconstitutional as well as the illegal decision that all Local Government Councils should set aside 5% of their statutory allocations from the Federation Account for the upkeep of traditional rulers. He equally appointed Chairmen and members of caretaker Committee for Local Governments. He did not advance democratization process at all. In fact, experience has shown that in most cases the institutional arrangement made by a given pattern of intergovernmental relation may not matter as they are sometimes violated to suit such Leader.

(V) The Regime in Power During Colonial era (1966 - 1975), intergovernmental relation was in line with the administrative structure of the colonial government. The central pattern of colonial administrative structure accounted for the ability of the British Colonial Masters to effectively manage the conflict that ought to characterize intergovernmental relation. The colonial government as a whole and the Local Government it introduced were alienatory and therefore could not have encouraged promotion of democratic process. Their major concern was to collect taxes and maintain law and order. The first civilian Era 1960 - 1966, witnessed ethnic oriented politics. The effect was that the centre was weakened to the advantage of the regions. Hence, there was no sustained effort to manage intergovernmental relation at this period. ~ This led to one crisis after the other: 1962/63 census crisis; 1964 Federal election I crisis, 1965 West Regional crisis; the iron and steel industry location tussle the crisis over revenue allocation (especially after the Bin's commission report of 1964) and the Nigerian civil war among others. The regime in power by then had the staggering problem of mobilizing all Nigerians in order to accomplish real It- f development. There was no commitment to promotion of democratic process. The first military era, 1966-1979 which covered the regimes of Ironsi, r, r""-. ••..__ ,:,,~..l ~6 .••••.•.nol•..•/AL."',.."\_!_ ••• itncsscd -: ...1 T~n T"\.•';I-! __ T •..•!' ....•....._".•_ _ UU.~Uii u.tu .U..i..U1U;U ...uVU"~uu.JV ",ViLt ""..;~"'u Wul.l\.,.U J.UJ., • .L'Ul.H.l6 J.IUHL)t L) l\.,.UUJ,\.f, au r attempt was made to introduce a unitary system of government (unification Decree No.34 of 1966). The regime made no serious efforts towards sound r management of IGR and promotion of democratic process. Gowon's era was marked by a more unified and cooperative/coordinative IGR between the Federal and the State Governments except of course, those of the East. However, there ~ was no meaningful provision for the promotion of democratic process. As r r Nigerian Journal of Social Sciences (NJSS) Vol. 7, No.2 Aug. 2011 r 40 Inter-Governmental Relations & Promotion of Grassroot Democracy... B.A. Amujiri

Gboyega (1998) noted, Gowon administration relied on its policy coordinating role rather than formal amendment to the constitutional or Legal Order to ensure that its preferred Local reform policies were carried out. This was the reason why the Udoji commission which was set up in 1974 did not impose a common system of local Government in the country but instead, acknowledged and recommended a dual systein. MurtalalObasanjo regime witnessed a greater attempt to strengthen the powers of the centre vis-a-vis the state. But of more importance is the attention paid to the third tier by the administration through the famous 1976 Local Government Reform. The regime made sound efforts in promotion of democratic process even though it could not put into practice most of the provisions of the 1976 Reform before disengaging thus, making the achievement of a substantial degree of grassroot democracy a mirage. The Second Civilian Regime Era 1979-83 introduced presidential system of Government. The heads of the various tiers of Government were constitutionally permitted to exercise executive functions. In keeping with this tenet, the chief executives at the Federal and State Levels tended to flex muscles in an attempt to assert each other's constitutional powers. A lot of public funds and time were wasted without even achieving a reasonable degree of crisis management that was urgently required. No serious attention was paid to the promotion of democratic process. Even the 1976 reform was haphazardly •• implemented as social mobilization for grassroot democracy was hardly addressed ,I by that administration. For example, Local Government elections could not be ~, conducted throughout the duration of the Second Republic. Rather, management , committees appointed by the State Governors piloted the affairs of the Council. ~ 1 While chaos and use of unconstitutional measures to solve intergovernmental ••I relation was practiced by the regime as seen in the attempt by the Federal I 4 Government under National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in 1980 to repatriate Alhaji l I Shugaba and use of Presidential Liaison officers by Shagari administration in ..j 1981 to Spy State Governors characterized the Federal/State relations, the Local Government was completely submerged. State Governors mainly used Local ••I Government to achieve political (selfish) ends. The characteristic pattern of intergovernmental relation under the second military regime Era 1984-1999, has been similar to that under the previous militarily era. There was serious attempt to strengthen the Local Government. This was demonstrated through the setting up of Dasuki Committee, the complete constitutionalisation of Local Government by both 1989 constitution and the ••, Local Government (Basic Constitution and Transitional Provisions) Decree 1989 , that gave rise to the introduction of the presidential system in Local Government , etc.

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Challenges Confronting Intergovernmental Relations in Promotion of Grassroot Democracy (1) Use of Adhoc and Unconstitutional Measures Scholars like Umezurike (1991), Gboyega (1998) Ogunna (1997) among others have argued that the adoption of Adhoc and most often, unconstitutional measures to solve intergovernmental conflicts is one of the greatest challenges confronting intergovernmental relations in promotion of Grassroot democracy. A good case in point was the attempt by the Federal Government under the control of National Party of Nigeria (NPN) to repatriate Alhaji Shugaba (a member of GNPP in Bornu State House of Assembly) in 1980 on allegation of non- citizenship. Another instance was the appointment of Presidential Liaison Officers by the NPN-controlled Federal Government in 1981 ostensibly to oversee federal government projects in the states. The presidential liaison officers were seen as imposed governors from Lagos then and they caused a lot of confusion. Another good example of use of unconstitutional measure to solve intergovernmental conflicts is the way Obasanjo administration withheld allocation for two years (2000-2002) on the ground that they created local Government. Other measures include the creation of Development centers by Ex-governors and Sam Egwu in 2002' in Enugu and Ebonyi States respectively; the tampering of local government allocations by most state governors in Nigeria from 1999 to present, etc.

(2) Constitutional Contradictions ~ Nigeria has witnessed frequent constitutional changes from 1922 till date. , ; Scholar like Greves (1974), Deavlove (1979) Nwosu (1980) and Ayoade (1980) among others argued that the frequent constitutional changes involves among other things frequent changes in the functions and jurisdictions of the three levels ,r of government. For instance, in 1979 the existence of local Government was entrenched in the Nigerian constitution. As Ogunna (1997) noted, within these frequent constitutional changes, a lot of contradictions that have affected adversely intergovernmental relation has been noticed. In fact, since 1979 till date, the number of Local Government; who has authority to create new ones as well as who should control or dissolve local Governments has been a subject of argument despite constitutional provisions not been clearly settled by our constitution. For instance, in his judgment delivered on July 31, 1980, justice, A.L.A Balogun decided that although the states had constitutional power to create new local Government, it was the prerogative of the state House of Assembly rather than the Governor. While both 1989 constitution and Decree

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1989 (Basic constitution and Transitional Provisions) completely constitutionalized Local Government, the 1989 constitution made a u-turn to that arrangement. I

(3) The Attitude of Civilian Regimes Experience has shown that the civilian regimes have not shown enough commitment to the advancement of democratic process. For instance, the famous 1976 local Government was haphazardly implemented as social mobilization for effective development of democratic process was hardly addressed by the civilian administration between 1979-83. Again, no local government election was held during that period. In agreement with the above, Ekwedike (2008) noted that no single local. Government elections have taken place in since 1999 till date. In most states of the Federation, State Governors use to appoint their surrogates as Chairmen and councilors of local government. Even the creation of Development Centers and appointment of Administrator is another civilian regime behaviour that has affected intergovernmental relation in promotion of democratic process. In fact, from 1979 till date, civilian regime's has been incapable of managing intergovernmental relation effectively.

(4) The Use of Military Federalism Scholars like Adewale (1995) Bello-Imam (1996) Ogunna (1997) among .. others were of the opinion that the use of new "military federalism" to cope with ,I emergency task of national integration has made other tiers of government merely appendage of the centre and SUbjected them to the whims and caprices of the central Government. Nwosu (1980) had earlier observed that with the creation of states in 1967, 1976 and 1987, a new federalism emerged. The 'new federalism' is marked by a number of factors which include increased centripetal forces, greater concentration of national wealth at national centre, greater leadership initiative by the federal Govemment. (Examples, local government and Civil retorms) and more dependency of the states on the federal government etc. All these pose big threat to efforts of intergovernmental relation in promotion of grassroot democracy.

... (5) Resource Control Agitation . I Federal Government's exclusive control of most lucrative sources of 1 1 revenue such as Custom and Excise, Taxes on oil, Mining Royalties and lion -4

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share in revenue allocation, have made other tiers of government to depend solely on federal government for their survival. All these, in the words of Urama (2006) have made intergovernmental relation a servant-master relationship in Nigeria. It has equally increased agitation for resource control. Some governors instead of strengthening the grassroot democratic consolidation spend more time on resource control agitation.

(6) Temptation to Encroach on Local Government Functions Both Federal and State Governments have not been able to resist the temptation to encroach on the functions constitutionally assigned to local governments. For instance, in 1994, during Abacha Regime, the screening and appointment of the Chairmen and members of the Local Government Caretaker Committee throughout the federation were made by the presidency thereby according to Ogunna (1996) introducing elements of abnormality in intergovernmental relation in a federal system of government. Again, it has been established beyond doubt that many state Governors have been interfering with local Government funds of their various states. Some governors have been engaged in a running battle with their council chairman over the control of markets and major parks. Some State Governors even abolished or take over completely certain local Government sources of revenue.

(7) Distortion of PresidentialSystem Nigerian politicians are new to the presidential system of government. There is distortion of the system as political parties become very powerful and in most cases more powerful than the elected chief executives. This is rather a characteristic of the parliamentary system. Thus, the political parties were able to manipulate both the federal and state chief Executives in various forms through alliances and counter alliances especially in the first and second Republics.

(8) The Logic of Presidential System of Government The conflictualpattern of intergovernmental relation prevalent in Nigeria arose essentially from the logic of the presidential system. Within this type of government, the heads of the various tiers of government were constitutionally permitted to exercise executive functions. In keeping with this tenet, the chief executives of the various tiers of government in Nigeria have been flexing muscles in an attempt to assert each other's constitutional powers. A good

Nigerian Journal of Social Sciences (NJSS) Vol. 7, No.2 Aug. 2011 .. I 44 Inter-Governmental Relations & Promotion of Grassroot Democracy... B.A. Amujiri example is the confrontation between Governor Tinubu of Lagos state and the Obasanjo administration over creation of new local Governments in Lagos State in 2002.

(9) Petty Bourgeois Politics Political instability and chaos that is the characteristics of petty bourgeois politics constitute a serious hindrance to intergovernmental relation efforts towards promotion of grassroot democracy. A good example is the dissolution of constitutionally elected local Government councils in by Aregbeso administration on the latter's assumption of office in 2010.

Prospects ofInter-Government Relations in the Promotion of Democratic Process Granted that the task of achieving grassroots democracy, although a specific task of the local government, still demands sound intergovernmental 1, relation, it is to be expected that the future of intergovernmental relation would as , much as possible determine the level to which government commitment to the promotion of democratic process would be pursued. For instance, if the , Leadership of the nation shows apparent commitment to promotion of democratic • process, the commitment hardly succeeds if the higher governments do not relate with the local government in such a way that the latter can have adequate powers I and finance for achieving it. Hence, we are inclined to agree with the general 1 I proposition which posits that the ability of the local government to effectively

  • Nigerian Journal ofS~cialSciences (NJSS) Vol. 7, No.2 Aug. 2011

    I .; I I ; 45 Inter-Governmental Relations & PrOmotion of Grassroot Democracy... B.A. Amujiri ... mobilization for social justices and economic recovery (MAMSER), Option A4, War Against Indiscipline (WAI), War Against Indiscipline and Corruption (WAIC), Centre for Democratic Studies etc. In spite of the above, the prospects for intergovernmental relation in the promotion of democratic process has started with the review of 1999 constitution. The review re-introduced presidential system of government at local government; introduced far-reaching innovations aimed at giving greater autonomy and make local government a real third tier of government. After the review, it is expected that, like the Federal and State Government, the Local Governments in Nigeria would derive their existence from the constitution and remove completely, elements of abnormality in intergovernmental relation in Nigeria thereby preparing them adequately for grassroot democracy. It should also introduce judicial arm of government at the local government level.

    Conclusion In this work, we have discovered that as the activities and programmes of the Federal, State and Local Governments increase in scope and complexity, the scope and volume of intergovernmental relations equally increases. This will require greater dexterity in management and more institutional arrangements involving all levels of government. Experience has shown that civilian regimes in Nigeria have not shown enough commitment to the advancement of democratic process. Although federal governmental has demonstrated a lot of commitment to strengthening of local governmental through primary education, control of environmental pollution and increased funding generally, this has however, created problems of control and jurisdictions. There is therefore, greater need for more institutional arrangements involving all levels of government for effective coordination and management of federally funded projects at the grassroots throughout the country. The three levels of governmental and their officials should see themselves as cooperative partners in service of the nation rather than as competitors quarrelling over jurisdictions and control of resources. The master- servant pattern of relationship existing between local governments and other tiers of government in Nigerian has affected adversely, the etforts of intergovernmental relations towards effective promotion of democratic process in Nigeria.

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    Federal Republic of Nigeria, Report of the Study Team on the Management of ~1 Inter- government~tions in Federal Administration Systems, Lagos Federal GovernmentPress, ·1983. II Graves, T.J. (1974), "IGR and the executive Branch in the New Federalism". The Annuals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Nov. 1974. Gboyega, A. (1998), Inter- Governmental Relations under the New Democratic Dispensation unpublished Seminar Paper. .. ,

    Nigerian Journal of Social Sciences (NJSS) Vol. 7, No.2 Aug. 2011 47 Inter-Governmental Relations & Promotion of Grassroot Democracy... B.A. Amujiri Nwosu, H.N. (1980), "IGR in Nigeria: The Increasing Dependency of the State Governments on the Federal Government". The Quarterly Journal of Administration, Vol. XIV, No.2. Ogunna, A.E.C. (1997), A Handbook on Local Government in Nigeria, Owerri, Versatile Publishers. Olugbemi S.O. (1980), "A System Approach to IGR". The Quarterly Journal of A A._.: ••;~._~.:~ •• "~1 VT" l'I.T" ,., .LJ.u"II""'''''o.l'''Ui-t.VIt., ,.. V.i • .L'liI...J.. ¥. J,."v.~. Special Issue on Inter-governmental Relations in Nigeria, The Quarterly Journal of Administration, Vol. XIV. No.2, January, 1980. Umezurike, C. A. C. (1991), FederallStatelLocal Government Relations: Their Impact on Grassroot Democracy in Nigeria, An Unpublished Seminar Paper. Wright, D.J. (1974), "Inter-governmental Relations". An Analytical Overview, Annuals, Vol. 416, No.1.

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