POLITICISATION OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT APPOINTMENT AND SERVICE DELIVERY IN NIGERIA. A STUDY OF ENUGU STATE: 2007-2014 BY ASOGWA, OBIAGELI IFEOMA REG. NO: PG/M.Sc/14/68392 DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA NOVEMBER, 2015 i TITLE PAGE POLITICISATION OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT APPOINTMENT AND SERVICE DELIVERY IN NIGERIA. A STUDY OF ENUGU STATE: 2007-2014 BY ASOGWA, OBIAGELI IFEOMA REG. NO: PG/M.Sc/14/68392 A PROJECT SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA, IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF MASTER OF SCIENCE (M.Sc.) DEGREE IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION SUPERVISOR: DR. B. A. AMUJIRI NOVEMBER, 2015 ii APPROVAL PAGE This work has been approved for the Department of Public Administration and Local Government, Faculty of the Social Sciences, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. BY DR. B. A. AMUJIRI ……………….. ………………. (PROJECT SUPERVISOR) Sign Date PROF. (MRS) C.N. OGUONU ……………… ……………… (HEAD OF DEPARTMENT) Sign Date PROF. I . A. MADU ……………… …………….. (DEAN, FACULTY OF THE SOC.SC ) Sign Date …………………………. ………………. …………… (EXTERNAL EXAMINER) Sign Date. iii DEDICATION The research is eternally dedicated to God Almighty and to my beloved daughter Faustina Chinecherem. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In the course of this work, I got people’s help, advice and encouragement, which all assisted me in getting it through. Without God, my Creator and Enabler, I could have done nothing. I thank Him for keeping, sustaining and giving the wisdom, life and all opportunities to carry out this work successfully. I must express my most sincere appreciation to my project supervisor, Dr. B. A.Amujiri, for his painstaking and constructive critique. I deeply appreciate the new insights that our interaction brought into the work. Thank you Sir. I wish to sincerely thank my beloved daughter, Faustinaa blessing from God, for her understanding and the support offered during this period of my hectic academic studies. God bless you so much for me. I must not forget my able lecturers who in their own ways contributed to my academic success: Prof. Fab. O. Onah, Prof. (Mrs). R. C. Onah, Prof. (Mrs).C.N, Oguonu, (HOD), Dr. B.A.Amujiri (my project supervisor), Dr.M.O. Ikeanyibe, Dr. C. U. Agalamanyi, Dr.(Mrs). M.A.O. Obi and Dr. (Mrs.) S. U. Agu. I am highly indebted to my colleagues in the office for giving me the much needed support. I say a “Big thank you” and God bless you all. Asogwa, Obiageli. I Department of Public Administration & Local Government v ABSTRACT The growing importance of administration can be traced back not only to changes in the volume, complexity and specialization of government, but to changes in the relationship between governmental organizations and their environment. The nexus between the local government and democratic governance has been keenly explored on intense academic debates. These debates have aimed at beaming attention on systems such as poor service delivery, lack of accountability, poor staffing and total politicization of local government appointments. The study investigated politicisation of local government appointment and service delivery in Nigeria. Consequently, the study was conducted in Enugu State. The framework of analysis used in this study is the bureaucratic theory as propounded by Max Weber. The idea of neutral competence, or authority of expertise, as shown by appointed officials who were recruited on the basis of competence and expert knowledge, skills and experience were valuable for conducting the business of government and could help to educate politicians and restrain their partisan inclinations. The survey design method was adopted in the study. Data for the study were gathered through primary and secondary sources. The research findings based on our empirical investigation revealed among others that the employments/appointments given to local government workers were mostly based on party connections or political influence. This meant that majority of those who gain employment or appointment into the local government were those people who had political god-fathers such as the Local Government Chairman, Party Chairman, Commissioners, and even the Executive Governor of the State. The study recommended among others that government should provide appropriate laws that should be enacted to check the excesses of political influence over matters that were purely bureaucratic in nature, especially, employment, appointment, training, posting and discipline of Staff. And the boundary of authority between the politicians and administrators should be clearly stated to enable bureaucrats control, discipline and manage their subordinates without fear of victimization. By so doing, the service delivery capacity of the Local Governments would be enhanced in terms of efficiency, effectiveness and greater productivity. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Title page - - - - - - - - - - - i Approval page - - - - - - - - - - ii Dedication - - - - - - - - - - - iii Acknowledgements - - - - - - - - - - iv Abstract - - - - - - - - - - - v Table of Contents - - - - - - - - - - vi CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the Study - - - - - - - -1 1.2 Statement of the Problem - - - - - - - - 6 1.3 Objectives of the Study - - - - - - - - - 8 1.4 Significance of the Study - - - - - - - 9 1.5 Scope and Limitations of the Study - - - - - - - 10 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW AND RESEARCH PROCEDURE 2.1 Literature Review - - - - - - - - - 11 2.1.1 The Concept of Politics - - - - - - - - 11 2.1.2 The Nature of Politics in Nigeria - - - - - - 13 2.1.3 The Concept and Level of politicization in Nigeria - - -15 2.1.4. Local Government Conceptualized - - - - - - 17 2.1 5 Reasons for the Establishment of Local Government - - - - 20 2.1.6 Foundation of Nigeria local government (Native Authority-1903-1950) - - 22 2.1.7 The Collapse of the Native Authority System (1950-1966) - - 24 2.1.8. Local Government under the Military Rule (1966-1976) - - 25 2.1.9 The 1976 local government reforms and After-Maths-1976-1983 - 26 2.1.10 Local Government since 1999 - - - - - - 27 2.1.11 Appointment in Local Government in Enugu State - - - - 28 2.1.12 Manifestation of Politicization in Enugu State Local Government System - 30 2.1.13Implications of Politicization of Local Government Appointment vii and Service Delivery in Enugu State - - - - - 32 2.2 Theoretical Framework - - - - - - - 32 2.3 Hypotheses - - - - - - - - - - 37 2.4 Operationalization of the Key Concepts - - - - - - 38 2.5 Research Procedure - - - - - - - - 40 2.5.1 Types of Study - - - - - - - - 40 2.5.2 Data Gathering Instrument - - - - - - - - 40 2.5.3 Population of Study - - - - - - - - 41 2.5.4 Sample Size - - - - - - - - - - 41 2.5.5 Sample Procedure - - - - - - - - - 42 2.5.6 Validation and Reliability of Instrument - - - - - -43 2.5.7 Method of Data Analysis - - - - - - - - 43 CHAPTER THREE: BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON ENUGU STATE 3.1 Historical Development - - - - - - - - 44 3.2 Administrative Structure - - - - - - - 45 3.3 Geography - - - - - - - - - - 46 3.4 History - - - - - - - - - - 47 3.5 Politics - - - - - - - - - - 48 3.6 Administrative Divisions - - - - - - - - 48 3.7 Economy - - - - - - - - - - 49 3.8 Energy - - - - - - - - - - 49 3.9 Education - - - - - - - - - - 50 3.10 Medical Development of Enugu State - - - - - - 52 3.11 Culture and Tradition of the People of Enugu State - - - - 52 3.12 List of Administrators and Governors of Enugu State - - - - 56 CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 4.1 Data Presentation - - - - - - - - - 57 4.2 Analysis - - - - - - - - - - - 71 4.3 Findings - - - - - - - - - - 72 viii CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION 5.1 Summary - - - - - - - - - - 75 5.2 Recommendations - - - - - - - - - 76 5.3 Conclusion - - - - - - - - - - 78 BIBLIOGRAPHY APPENDIX 1 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.3 Background to the Study The term local government administration in Nigeria has attracted serious attention both nationally and internationally since the great local government reform of 1976. Local government is the closest tier of government to the people of Nigeria, yet the resident population in it is denied the benefits of its existence. The failure of local government in the area of service delivery over the years has made the citizens to loose faith and trust in local government administration as an institution in Nigeria. From historical perspective, modern local government administration in Nigeria can be traced to the British system of local government. But it should be stated however, that local administration did not start with the advent of British Administration in Nigeria, because some forms of system of local government administration pre-dated the British rule. Local government administration is one of man’s oldest institutions. The earliest form of local governments’ administration existed in the form of clan and village meetings. In fact, democracy itself originated and developed along the lines of local governance initiative in the ancient Greek City States. It should be noted however, that in other parts of the world, local governance was developed along the people’s culture and expectations, and the system was tied to the norms and practices of the people (Aghayere 1997). From a plethora of conceptions, such as synonym for civil service to a pejorative term for inefficiency and corrupt systems, the usage that has dominated the social 2 sciences is bureaucracy as a form of organization. According to Dudley, (2003: 126) “the term