Recently in Nigeria's northeastern state of Yobe, a man walked to the headquarters of Jakusko Local Government Area and with his sharp matchete, hacked seven people to death. A staff of the LGA, the man was said to have been owed "several months'" salary by the local government authorities, according to the report by The Punch, Nigeria's most popular daily.
The frustration that drove the man into this dastardly act represents the angst pervading in Nigeria's rural communities as a result of the failure of the country's local councils to meet the basic needs of the citizens, even in the face of overflowing revenues from the central government.
Yobe's 17 Local Government Areas received a total of ₦72.3 billion in eight years, from 1999 to 2007, according to figures from the office of the Accountant General of the Federation.
Nigeria's 774 local government councils were created as a means of bringing development closer to the citizens, but ironically they have become centres of looting and blatant thievery, as officials embark on self enrichment.
Thus, instead of fostering development in rural Nigeria, the local government system has invidiously created an oligarchy now hoisted on the country as an albatross retarding its progress where it matters most.
In the eight years up to 2007, Nigeria's 774 local government areas received ₦3.3 trillion in allocations from the federation account, according to figures from the office of the Accountant General of the Federation. But, says Farida Waziri, chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the councils have nothing to show for this figure.
"We have local government councils only in name, with buildings at the headquarters, but that's all," says Vitus Akudinobi, a business executive and indigene of Anambra state in the southeast.
This captures the mindless exploitation being visited on rural dwellers, as funds meant for a local government area are shared by a few people, sometimes in a hotel room in far-away Abuja, the federal capital, or nearer home, at the state capital in the governor's house.
Akudinobi blames the failure of local government administration partly on an uncanny symbiotic relationship between state governments and the local administration.
"Most of the officials are not elected, and even those who are elected act as the representatives of the state governors who put them in office," he points out.
There have been allegations of state governors installing council officials and subsequently getting such officials to swear on oaths to make regular returns to them from allocations from the federation account.
If there had been real autonomy for the councils, perhaps this would have been difficult to enforce, but with the states and councils operating joint bank accounts, the coast is always clear for the governors to have their pond of flesh.
Allocation of funds is in proportion to the number of local government numbers in each state. Thus, Kano state, with the highest number of 44, received the highest amount of ₦191.5 billion in the eight years. Lagos state with 20 councils follows closely with ₦149.4 billon naira, while Katsina state, with 34 councils, earned ₦139.8b.
A look at the figures shows the steep growth in the allocations within the eight years. For instance, the allocations to Kano state councils rose from just ₦2.6b a year in 1999, to over ₦17.5 billion in 2007, an increase of more than 587%. This is the same pattern for the entire allocations to the councils yearly, which themselves grew on the whole from just ₦42 billion in 1999, to over ₦310 billion in 2007 alone, a growth rate of 638% over the period.
This correlation between the number of local councils in a state and the amount it's able to attract from the federal coffers has spurred more demands for the creation of additional local government areas. Even some states had gone ahead on their own to create more local government areas, such as Lagos and Abia states.
From just 20, Lagos state enlarged its local government councils to 57, a move that drew the ire of the Federal government then under Obasanjo. The federal government wielded the big hammer, insisting that only 774 local government areas are recognized by the country's 1999 constitution. Although the states eventually reverted to their pervious council areas, the demand is still very much alive.
In addition to the above allocations, each of Nigeria's nine oil-producing states – Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Rivers, Imo, Ondo- receives a 13% derivation, which is based on the value of crude oil and gas produced in a given locality. Delta, Bayelsa and Rivers are the leading states in oil production. But in this region, cries of neglect of rural communities are rising.
With Yobe's ₦72.3 billion received in eight years, George Uforo, an engineer, says the local governments in that state should be able to pay all relevant salaries and "address infrastructural issues, including roads."
On a normal terrain, he say, the councils could convert an untared kilometer of road to a fully tarred road, with street signs and a good drainage system, at the cost of just ₦10m. In the Niger Delta marked by swampy mangrove forests, he said, costs of building roads there will be about five times the value on normal terrains.
"We did Malu road (a half-km road in Apapa Local Government area of Lagos state) in 1995 with ₦49 million and it's world-class," said Uforo, who served as the supervising engineer on that road project. With this kind of cost structure, he says, a local government council should able to construct or rehabilitate a reasonable number of years in a year.
"And if you do it for eight years, the impact will be visible in the area," said Uforo.
But it seems that class of public-spirited local officials has faded away in Nigeria. Between 1992 and 1993, says Akudinobi, the then chairman of Nnewi South Local Government in Anambra state, where he hails from, constructed 35kms of road. He explains why that was possible then: "The chairman was duly elected so he felt he was accountable to the people, but the people we have there now have not done 2kms."
But the local government system took a lot of bashing during the eight years of the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Elections into the councils became highly politicized as different states fixed their own election dates and even the number of years for which officials were to hold office.
In the melee, many states charted their own paths, as the governors, who serve as the leaders of the ruling party at the state level, simply appointed (some say "anointed") their candidates for such officials. Consequently, the local councils are usually composed of members of the ruling party in a given state. With such a one-party local council, it is a lot easier for the state governor to effectively control affairs of the council.
This contrasts with the situation in Norway for instance, where council committees usually comprise a representative selection of all the party groups, and a mayor.
Even in some cases, such as Oslo and Bergen, the council is run on a parliamentary government, which ensures the council has a party-based government, according to available information.
In other countries, local government councils serve as agents of development at the rural level. In Ghana, Nigeria's fellow English-speaking country in West Africa, for instance, local government "makes the people the centre of development and, local government institutions have become vital focal points for the attainment of national development objectives and the realization of the aspirations of the people," Kwamena Bartels, one-time Minister of Housing and Environment in Ghana, said in a 2001 speech.
Ghana is made up of 10 Regions (equivalent of Nigeria's states), and each has Districts (the equivalent of Nigeria's Local Government). The major towns, such as Accra and Kumasi, are municipalities.
Ghana's constitution provides for the central government releasing at least 5% of the total revenue of the country to the various Districts to assist them with their developmental projects.
In its efforts to provide shelter for ordinary Ghanaians, the government directed the District Assemblies to use 20% of this District Assemblies Common Fund to provide low cost housing to the poor.
Nigeria's 774 local governments take 35% of the value of the Value Added Tax (VAT) Pool. This is in addition to 20.6% of the Federation Account that goes to them as well.
In Norway, the presence of the central government is felt at the rural areas through the country's 19 counties and 434 municipalities. The latter represents the most important and visible aspect of local government in that country.
Their responsibilities include primary and lower secondary education, social services, municipal roads, and water. The municipalities have wide powers over the local economy, with the state exercising strict supervision.
Their counterparts in Nigeria have similar powers and some even over use or abuse such powers. Local governments impose taxes on some economic activities and also property tax, for instance, tenement rates. They impose taxes on traders and shops, stalls, etc, but in many cases, the receipts issued to the tax payers are private receipts, often belonging to the chairman or other officials.