THE ROLE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT ISSUES
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The central aim or focus of this paper is to highlight the role of local
government (being the closest tier of government to the grassroots) in rural
development. The paper posits that the Nigerian political arrangement
negates the essence of federalism (which is decentralization) by being
highly centralized. The fiscal practices grossly skewed in favour of the
central government couple with lack of accountability among the governing
elites conjoin to thwart efforts at meaningful development in the third tier of
governance. The paper is made up of Abstract; Introduction; Conceptual
Clarification; Self-help as an issue in rural development; Nexus between
local government and Rural Development; Approaches to Rural
Development, Conclusion and Recommendations. It concluded that local
governments have not been able to play their constitutional roles, let alone
making attempts at rural development due in the main to the fact that they
have been emasculated by other tiers of government. It suggested the
Integrated Rural Development (IRD) approach in view of its
comprehensiveness for sustainable rural development. The paper strongly
recommended autonomy for local governments. It further canvassed fiscal
and political reforms as avenues for strengthening governance in the
Nigerian local government system.
Keywords
JA Political science (General), JZ International relations