CORRUPTION AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION IN NIGERIA: A DISCOURSE OF CORE ISSUES

Nigeria is rich in natural and human resources, with a population of over 150 million people; the most populous country in Africa. At the time of her political independence, on 1st October 1960, Nigeria excelled in the production of agricultural products such as groundnut, palm oil, cocoa, cotton, beans, timber and hides and skins.

Then, during the oil boom period of the seventies, Nigeria made headlines with her oil wealth, as a country richly endowed with oil and natural gas resources capable of financing a number of important projects to meet basic consumption and development needs (Salisu, 200:2). With per capita income of around $1,100 during the late 1970s, Nigeria was regarded as the fastest growing country in SubSahara Africa (Salisu, Ibid).

Yet it remains predominantly underdeveloped due to the scourge of corruption that has corroded it.

Corruption denies the ordinary citizen the basic means of livelihood, it worsens unemployment and erodes our image as a nation and as an individual (Danjuma Goje 2010:1). It has undermined Nigeria’s economic growth and development potential, with a per capita income of $340, Nigeria now ranks amongst the least developed countries in the World Bank League table (Salusi, op.cit). Nigeria’s higher education system once regarded as the best in Sub-Sahara Africa is in deep crisis. Health services are woefully inadequate, graduate unemployment is rising and so too is crime rate (Salisu, Ibid).

This culture of corruption which is rampant at the national level constitutes a threatening force to development at the grassroots level. It has been a significant factor leading to the general failure of local government as well as an excuse for suspending representative institution (Humes and Ola, N.D:104).

Corrupt practices have been deleterious not only because they divert funds from public purposes to private purses but also they undermine the vitality of local government (Ibid).

This paper, therefore, examines the crisis of corruption in Nigerian local government administration. It is divided into five parts viz: the introduction, concept of corruption, concept of local government, corruption in Nigerian local government system: the causes, effects and manifestation and finally the conclusion, which is the way forward.

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