One of the most inefficient and ineffective areas in the back pocket of some state governors is the local government councils.
The so-called paper-only, money-sharing third tier of government. Even though there is a Supreme Court ruling granting it total autonomy, the process of its implementation is practically impossible.
Local governments take their legislation from the state assemblies, and you know what that means. Autonomy or not, the LGs are still ATMs of some state governors. In reality, no country on earth has a third tier of government except Nigeria.
Since it proved to be non-workable, why not scrap it? Instead of struggling to get constitutional authority to our traditional rulers, they should be handed over the local government councils and let them run it according to the local culture and tradition of the people within their domain.
All entitlements due to LGs should be channelled to the leadership of the traditional rulers of such areas. A form of pre-colonial Native Authority we used to have, and it was very, very effective.
Most traditional rulers have structures from their offices down to local streets within their domain. With the right resources, they can handle local security, local markets and local basic amenities. And the people have a hold on them and could easily hold them accountable.
Their constitutional mandate should give them some form of immunity to prevent governors’ hangover upon them. And the mandate must ensure that they never venture actively into any partisan politics at the local level.
If this is done, it’ll make the government reach the grassroots while ensuring first and second-level support for the people within the domain, under their traditional rulers.
As Nigerians, we must strive to evolve our unique system that can work for our specific situations, needs and conditions. This should be our way forward.
The democratic system, as currently constituted, is expensive and inefficient for our current realities. We must design a system that will guarantee total inclusion at all levels, at all costs.
