CHAPTER ONE 1.1 Introduction

Many African countries have adopted decentralization as the main instrument for transforming the rural areas. The forms adopted range from a high degree of central control to extensive devolution of powers to local government.

In Nigeria, Local Government has long been recognized as a veritable agent of local service delivery, mobilization of community based human and material resources, and organization of local initiative in responding to a wide variety of local needs and aspirations.As the tier of government closest to the grass roots local government is in a better position to create wealth for the rural poor through the initiation of various programmes that will increase local incomes and thereby expand local revenue base. For the local government system to continue to be relevant in the scheme of thing in Nigeria, they must evolve strategies for generating revenue base.

Local Governments in Nigeria in their present form started in 1976 “the guidelines for the 1976 local government reforms in Nigeria (1976) is comprehensive and aptly captures the essential features of local governments. According to the guideline.

“Local government is government at the local level exercised through representative council established by law to exercise specific power within defined areas. Those powers should give the council substantial control over

local affairs as well as the staff and institutional and financial power to initiate and direct the provision of services and to determine and implement projects so as to compliment the activities of the state and federal government in their areas, and to ensure through active participation of the people and their traditional institutions that local initiatives and response to local needs are maximized”.

Part of the explanation for the reform are the problems of inadequate funding to local government, lack of appropriate structure, operational deficiency, insufficient manpower owing to poor salaries and unattractive condition of service, corruption, nepotism and politicization of the whole local government system.

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