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CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION Background to the Study The work explores the evolution of the local government institution in Urhoboland from 1916 to 1999. As a study on grassroots administration in the area, it invariably covers the impact of the system, especially in terms of political and socio-economic development. Scholarly studies have demonstrated the relevance of grassroots political institutions to societal development and indicated that they started with the earliest political systems. On the other hand, local government is the modern terminology for this concept. Therefore, the study analyses the traditional grassroots institution in Urhoboland by 1916 before exploring the gradual creation of totally new grassroots structures and paradigms and their attendant dynamics which in some cases were more complex and also different in many respects from the traditional system among the Urhobo. It has been observed that local government administration is yet to live up to expectation in Nigeria1 even though it could be a key instrument of promoting national development. This has made it imperative to examine the index details in each locality in order to pinpoint the extent to which they are reflected in analysis of the general factors in the evolution of the system at the national and regional levels. For instance, the experience of the Urhobo and other ethnic groups in the former Warri District,2 shows that what is now known as the “Niger Delta Question”3 has some link with the nature of the management of grassroots administration. 1 On the one hand, the major policies of British colonial local government system in Urhoboland gradually eroded some of its basic elements of political dynamism and compounded the nature of grassroots politics and inter-group relations. Among these policies were the creation of the multi-ethnic Warri Division in 1914, implementation of the Native Authority Ordinance of 19164 and the appointment of a paramount chief for the Division in 1917. There was also the subordination of some sub-groups to the authority of others, while communities with monarchical institutions were apparently rated higher than those without a monarch. These led to the collapse of indigenous initiative in terms of political experiment and created enmity and conflicts among these sub-groups.5 In the light of the present complexities in the area (especially with regard to inter-group relations and grassroots administration), the extent of the reverberation of the problems associated with this new arrangement in subsequent decades needs thorough analysis. This structure impacted negatively on the creation of the Jekri­Sobo and Urhobo divisions in the 1930s and also lingered into the 1940s. 6 On the other, though the local government reforms of the 1950s solved some problems in Urhoboland, this was not done without creating fresh ones. In the same way, the attainment of national sovereignty in 1960, the framing of new constitutions, the 1976 local government reforms, and the creation of more local governments raised fresh hopes for the people and local government authorities in the area. But such fresh hopes met with fresh problems and challenges. First and foremost, the peculiarities of each community were hardly considered in policy- formulation and decision-making even when there was enough reason to do so. For instance, a mere problem of the relocation of a local government headquarters in a section of Warri waterside exploded into a major crisis in 1997 even when there was enough time to peacefully resolve the issue.7 Besides, the absence of compensation for the victims of the hazards of 2 petroleum exploitation became a major issue from the 1970s and this contributed to the crisis of grassroots administration.8 Yet, at the national level there are still controversies surrounding some basic issues in the local government system. Even though traditional rulers have featured prominently in the system, a study by Prof A. Jagun on the need for democratic local government system contends that they are not relevant to its operation.9 At the same time, though scholarly studies justify the existence of the local government institution,10 there are individuals and critics who believe the entire system should be scraped.11 It is partly against this background that this study examines the Urhobo experience from 1916 to 1999. Statement of the Problem The lapses or shortcomings in the Nigerian local government system constitute a fundamental challenge to both scholars and policy makers. The failure of the system to live up to expectation is partly a product of the fact that both national policies on local government and scholarly evaluations of the evolutionary trend of grassroots administration at the national, regional and sub-regional levels have not in any way captured the key variables or indices of some localities. Urhoboland belongs to this set of communities. One fact often beclouded by the concentration of all efforts on the crises of petroleum exploitation in the area is that it belongs to that part of the Western Niger Delta where local government administration has been most contentious. For this reason, the developmental indices of the local government institution in the area follow patterns that are quite distinctive in relation to those already analysed in existing studies at the national and regional levels.12 The issue is that the developmental trends of the local government system must strike a balance between local peculiarities of an area and the priorities of higher levels of government 3 because local government and higher levels of government complement one another. A negation of the priorities of one tier could be counter-productive in terms of development and therefore necessitates a return to the drawing board. This was the situation of Urhoboland up to 1999. Thus, as we shall see in the course of this study, the search for reconciliation of local peculiarities with top-down reforms was a dominant issue in the history of the groups that made up the former Jekri-Sobo and Urhobo divisions up till the Warri local government crisis of the 1990s. An antecedent of this during the colonial period could be found in the failure of the warrant chief system in Igboland as a local government institution because it failed to match local peculiarities with the character of top-down reforms.13At the national level it is also observed that: … the local government structure in Nigeria appears to have been left behind in the debate on good governance, accountability and development as most analysts and development organisations focus on the federal and state governments. The implication is that local people have also been marginalised in programmes aimed at empowering Nigerians. It is instructive to note that these people constitute over 70% of Nigerians.14 In addition, from a decentralised local government system instituted by the colonial master, Nigeria graduated to a unified system in 1976 with the aim of ensuring the rapid development of the rural areas. After about forty years of a unified system, it is debatable whether Nigeria has achieved the objectives of the reform. An analysis of the Urhobo situation provides one key index at a micro-level for a practical and empirical reassessment of these perspectives derived from national survey. 4 Overall, the study is an analytical enquiry into the history of the local government system in Urhoboland up to 1999 with particular emphasis on how much harmony existed between local peculiarities and top-down reforms. This is explored in relation to the developmental impact of grassroots administration in the area within its evolutionary framework and the structural dynamics and challenges of the entire system. Aim and Objectives of the Study The aim of the research is to explore the history of the local government institution in Urhoboland. Its primary objectives are to: 1. evaluate the legal and political framework that underpins the evolution of the local government institution in Urhoboland commencing with the reforms of the 1910s to the 1940s; 2. investigate the level of harmony between local peculiarities and top-down reforms vis-a-vis the factors responsible for the sporadic crisis and conflicts in local government administration in the area since the 1950s; 3. evaluate the significance of reform efforts of the 1950s to 1980s in Urhoboland and their relevance to the area up to 1999; 4. assess the relationship between local government administration and the pattern of inter- group relations among the groups in the former Urhobo and Jekri­Sobo Divisions; 5. analyse the role played by the operation of local councils in inter-group land disputes in the area; 6. evaluate the impact of the local government system on Urhoboland from 1916-1999. Significance of the Study Focusing on Urhoboland, the work is a major historical study of the local government institution at the micro-level in Nigeria. It thus contributes to the understanding of grassroots administration 5 and development in the country. The work is also significant because as a micro-study, it projects the local experience of the Urhobo in addition to providing a probing ground for verifying the authenticity of theories and generalised facts about local government administration in Nigeria. In addition to enhancing our analysis of grassroots politics and administration, its long- term perspective makes it path-breaking in the micro-study of local government administration in the Niger Delta. It is also expected that the research will inspire further studies in the area of grassroots administration, thereby leading to new and comparative paradigms and modelling. Scope and Delimitation of the Study The Urhobo community of the Western Niger Delta is the primary focus of this study.15 The entire Urhoboland is constituted into nine local governments –Ethiope East, Ethiope West, Okpe, Ughelli North, Ughelli South, Sapele, Udu, Uvwie and Warri South Local Government.

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