SOURCE:

Faculty: Arts
Department: History & International Studies

CONTRIBUTORS:

Ochei, C. M;
Orjiakor, Ngozi;

ABSTRACT:

Local government administration in Delta State is an embodiment of local government administration in Nigeria. Local government administration in Nigeria could be said to have evolved out the interface between the various local administrative structures, existing among the numerous ethnic communities in Nigeria and the British colonial administrative officers, before 1900. Beginning with the passage of the Native Council Ordinance, in 1901, local government administration in Nigeria evolved through different processes of reforms. Remarkable among these reforms, was the 1976 Local Government Reform. This reform is remarkable for unifying the structures and functions of local government in the country and also, made local government in Nigeria, a constitutional issue. The history of Local government administration in Delta State, began in 1991, when the state was created. Local government administration in Delta State appears to have taken off on a wrong footing, in the light of the protests that heralded the creation of Warri South local government in 1991. The creation of yet another local government in Warri, in 1996, sparked the worst inter-ethnic crisis in Warri, which is often referred to as “The Warri Crisis”. Local government administration in the state within the period under review, is grappling with certain challenges which militate against the development of the rural areas of the state. These includes agitations for the creation of additional local government areas, lack of local government autonomy, corruption and over-bloated personnel, at the various local governments in the state. The study, therefore, evaluates local government administration in Delta State, within the period under review ,against the back-drop of the objectives for the establishment of the local government system. It also examines the degree of local government service delivery in the state and the agitations for the creation of additional ones. The study adopts a thematic approach in this study. It also adopts both the qualitative and quantitative means of data collection and analysis, drawn from both primary and secondary sources. Primary sources constitute a higher percentage of the research data, which involves interviews, granted by reliable informants. Secondary sources were also used to compliment the primary sources. The study observes that, following a cue from the protests that led to the Warri crisis, several communities and groups in Delta State, continued to agitate for the creation of additional local governments in their areas. Again, the study also observes that local, government administration in Delta state is burdened by a lot of challenges, prominent among which are lack of autonomy, corruption and over-staffing. The study concludes that until local government administrators in Delta State tackles the problems of corruption and over-staffing among others, local governments in the state may, perhaps, find it difficult to develop the rural areas of the state, which is the main objective for the establishment of the local government Councils.