University of Bath PHD Comparative public administration: The dynamics of local administrative reform in Britain and Nigeria. Owojaiye, Gbenga S. Award date: 1981 Awarding institution: University of Bath Link to publication Alternative formats If you require this document in an alternative format, please contact: [email protected] General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 10. Oct. 2021 COMPARATIVE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION; THE DYNAMICS OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM IN BRITAIN AND NIGERIA. submitted by GBENGA S. OWOJAIYE^B.A.(Hons),(A.B.U. Zaria), M.A. (Sheffield) for the degree of Ph.D. of the University of Bath 1981 COPYRIGHT Attention is drawn to the fact that copyright of this thesis rests with its author. This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognize that its copyright rests with its author and that no quotation from the thesis and no information derived from it may be published without the prior written consent of the author. This thesis may be made available for consultation within the University Library and may be photocopied or lent, to other libraries for the purposes of consultation. Signed by G.S. drTÔJAIYE ProQuest Number: U319225 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest. ProQuest U319225 Published by ProQuest LLC(2015). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Since I started this research the number of people to whom I have become indebted for help in completion of this thesis has increased exponentially. The scope of the study and the alternating locus of research required that I enlist help from a number of people. As a consequence I find the main difficulty in setting out these acknowledgements lies in applying the selectivity imposed by space limitations while assuring appropriate credit is attributed to those whose contributions have been so important. I owe a particular debt of gratitude to Dr.B.C.Smith, Reader in Public Administration, who, as my doctoral supervisor was generous with hils;-time and gave thoughtful criticism, advice and intellectual stimulation during a long period of gestation. This thesis owes a great deal to his guidance when I was losing my way, to his criticism when I was losing clarity and to his encouragement when I was losing heart. Among the many people who gave valuable assistance and advice I am particularly indebted to Professor Breunese and Dr Asmerom of the Free University, Amsterdam, Jeffrey Stanyer of Exeter University, and Dr Daudu of Ahmadu Belle University, Zaria. All of these people and many others contributed greatly to operationalising the study and effecting introductions to new contacts. I am also indebted to the various ministries of local government in Nigeria. Of the libraries I worked in, I should particularly like to thank the staff of the following; University of Ibadan, A.B.U., Zaria, University of Ife, Bristol University, Institute of Development Studies and the University of Sussex, Brighton, Aston University and the University of Birmingham, London School of Economics and Political Science, School of Oriental and African Studies and the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, London. Particular mention must be made of Tony Holbrook, a librarian at the University of Bath, The research would not have been possible without the financial sponsorship I received from the Federal Government of Nigeria, I also thank all members of my faunily, especially Chief Owojaiye, for their financial and moral support. My thahks and love are due to my aging mother who simply told me; 'Go to the UK and gain knowledge'. Finally, my thanks and apologies are also due to my wife and daughter, Abiodun and Olubodun; thanks for not only suffering without complaint, the privations attendant on a research as this, but for being a constant source of encouragement and for providing an atmosphere of emotional stability without which this thesis might not have been completed; apologies for divided loyalty between them and this project. To all those named above I wish to express my profound gratitude; that gratitude is directed as well to those many others who are not specifically identified. Responsibility for the contents of this thesis, needless to say, is mine alone. CONTENTS Contents Page SUMMARY i INTRODUCTION 1 Chapter 1 COMPARATIVE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND THE THEORY OF ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM 14 INTRODUCTION 14 SIGNIFICANCE OF COMPARATIVE STUDIES 15 THE THEORY OF ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM 17 Introduction 17 What is Administrative Reform 22 Administrative Reform as a Process 27 AWARENESS OF THE NEED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM 31 FORMULATION OF OBJECTIVES AND STRATEGIES OF ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM 34 Strategy 37 IMPLEMENTATION 40 EVALUATION 46 CONCLUSION 49 Chapter 2 A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ; NIGERIA AND BRITAIN 54 INTRODUCTION 54 NIGERIA 54 PRINCIPLES AND APPLICATION OF INDIRECT RULE 56 The Northern Region and Indirect Rule 58 Southern Nigeria and Indirect Rule 61 Amalgamation and the Extension of Indirect Rule to the Western and Eastern Provinces 64 Decline cf Indirect Rule and the Need for Reform 67 BRITAIN 73 Mediaeval and Tudor Period 73 The Eighteenth Century 75 The Nineteenth Century 77 Nineteenth Century Socio-Economic Change 80 Structural Reforms ; 1880-1944 85 Chapter 3 DIAGNOSIS ; SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS AFFECTING THE NEED FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT REFORM 93 INTRODUCTION 93 SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHANGE 100 Increase in Population 102 Advances in Medicine 106 Expansion of Educational Facilities 108 Increased Local Government Functions 110 The Growth of Communications 121 Seme Implications of Socio-Economic Changes for Local Government 126 Chapter 4 DIAGNOSIS ; POLITICAL CHANGES AND THE CHANGING SYSTEM OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT 132 INTRODUCTION 132 POLITICAL CHANGE 134 THE FRANCHISE 137 NATIONALISM AND THE SECOND WORLD WAR 142 CENTRALIZATION 146 PARTY POLITICS IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT 155 PROFESSIONALISM 165 CONCLUSION 167 /' Chapter 5 DIAGNOSIS ; THE DEFECTS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT 168 INTRODUCTION 168 CRITIQUE 172 LOCAL GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE 177 The Pre-Reform Structure 179 TOWN AND COUNTRY CRISIS 194 The Conurbations and the Regions 196 The Race for County Borough Status 203 LOCAL COUNCILS, COUNCILLOR CALIBRE AND THE ELECTORATE 207 Local Authorities and the Public 213 CENTRAL-LOCAL GOVERNMENT RELATIONS 216 Chapter 6 REFORM OBJECTIVES AND STRATEGIES 223 INTRODUCTION 223 FUNCTIONS AND SIZE 229 DEMOCRACY 232 EFFICIENCY 236 Manpower Management 237 Co-ordination of Policy and Administration 241 Management Techniques 245 NATIONAL STABILITY AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 246 .^National Unity and Stability 246 Socio-Econcmic Development 248 STRATEGIES 252 Evidence and Consultations 258 *4^ Research 260 Royal Ccamnission's Reccinmendatiens 263 Reaction to commission's Report 266 Local Government Reform Principles in Nigeria 268 Chapter 7 IMPLEMENTATION 271 -j, INTRODUCTION 271 THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS 1971-2 276 The White Paper 276 The Bill 279 Local Government Act 1972 282 -jv Implementation in Nigeria 286 THE REFORMED LOCAL GOVERNMENT SYSTEM 289 Structure 289 Urban Areas 294 FUNCTIONS OF NEW LOCAL AUTHORITIES 295 FINANCE 297 THE REFORM AND TRADITIONAL RULERS 302 MEMBERSHIP OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT COUNCILS 306 COMMITTEES 308 THE ROLE OF 'HOMO POLITICOS' 311 CONCLUSION 314 Chapter 8 EVALUATION 316 INTRODUCTION 316 THE PURPOSE OF EVALUATION 316 FUNCTION AND SIZE 325 DEMOCRACY 336 Representation .336 Political Parties and Democracy 342 Participation 344 Central-Local Government Relations 348 Policy Control 352 Budgetary Control 358 Control over Internal Organization 360 Centralization of Functions 363 Suspension and Dissolution 365 Conclusion 369 EFFICIENCY 373 SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND NATIONAL STABILITY 381 Chapter 9 RECOMMENDATIONS 386 ^ INTRODUCTION 386 Y LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT 394 ^ The Objectives cf Ccmmunity Development 395 Britain 397 V Nigeria 402 ^ THE AGE-SET SYSTEM - 407 ^ GROWTH POLE STRATEGY : A SUGGESTED COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT APPROACH FOR NIGERIA 416 Growth Poles as Instruments of Integration 418 CONCLUSION 429 rChapter lO CONCLUSION 434 APPENDICES Appendix I LOCAL GOVERNMENT FUNCTIONS IN NIGERIA AND BRITAIN 442 Appendix II POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF SECRETARIES OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN NIGERIA 448 Appendix III ROYAL COMMISSION ON LOCAL