Challenges of Local Government Administration in Nigeria: Lessons from Comparative Analysis (Published)
Local government administration in Nigeria is classified as the third tier of government while several problems have been its recurring decimal and various reforms since 1976 haven’t been able to make the system effective and responsible to developmental challenges. Most responses to the challenges have concentrated on looking inward for respite without much success informed this the paper to examine the lessons that could be learnt from comparative local government studies from nations like United States of America, France, India and Britain. It is a descriptive study that relied on secondary data sources. The paper revealed that the challenges inhibiting efficient service delivery range from undue intervention by the state governments, the structure, corruption, over politicization of administration and staffing which were not found to be so in other systems. The study concluded that the challenges are institutional and attitudinal in nature which could be addressed given that there is the political will by the Federal and State governments. It recommended a democratized multilayer local government system, legal framework to checkmate excessive intervention by State government, enhancement of human resources capacity and accountable leadership.
Keywords: Accountability, Governance, Local Government, Service delivery, democratic participation
MAKING GHANA’S OIL MONEY COUNT: LESSONS FROM GOLD MINING (Published)
Even though Ghana is endowed with many natural resources, particularly gold, the nation continues to experience the “paradox of plenty”. Ghana’s gold money has not counted much towards national development. The nation wallows in poverty and under-development partly as a result of several challenges that continue to plague the mining sector and makes its benefits that are expected to be used to transform the Ghanaian economy, negligible. This study analyzes the implications of the challenges of gold mining for the nations’ burgeoning oil sector and argue that: “if the saying, ‘coming events casts their shadows’ is true, then what is happening in the gold mining sector may mean that Ghana’s oil money may also not count towards the development of the nation.” To ensure that Ghana’s oil money counts, the study argues that even though what pertains in the gold mining sector is painful and disappointing, it offers an insightful and useful guide to managing Ghana’s oil money to ensure that it counts in a manner that gives true meaning and effect to the nation’s lower middle income status in the lives and pockets of the ordinary citizenry
Keywords: Accountability, Gold Mining; Transparency, Oil Money, and Natural Resources.