CONSTRAINTS ON EFFECTIVE DEVELOPMENT POLICY-MAKING IN NIGERIAN LOCAL GOVERNMENTS A STUDY OF ENUGU EAST LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF ENUGU STATE

CONSTRAINTS ON EFFECTIVE DEVELOPMENT POLICY-MAKING IN NIGERIAN LOCAL GOVERNMENTS A STUDY OF ENUGU EAST LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF ENUGU STATE

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION                                                             

1.1 Background of the Study

The local government has most often been described by many authors and scholars as the government at the grass root because it is the closest to the people in comparison to the state and Federal government. The existence of this tier of government  in Nigeria dates back to the activities of the British colonialist and their quest to bring down government closer to the local people in other to maintain law and order as it where in those days.  As Olasupo and Fayomi (2012) pointed that “prior to independence and the prolonged civil war, Nigerian local government system was essentially de-concentrative but in 1976, it became devolved and “should do precisely what the word government implies i.e., governing at the grassroots or local level” Today, the local government have metamorphosed in to a more sophisticated administrative institution charged with the responsibility to perform not only administrative duties, but also engage in the development of the local area in which it is mapped out to serve. The importance of local government is a function of its ability to generate sense of belongingness, safety and satisfaction among its populace.  All forms of government, regimes or political systems have so far ensured the attainment of this goal. Such strategy for ensuring national development and political efficacy is found in the concept and Practice of local government. Whatever is the mode of government; local government has been essentially regarded as the path to, and guarantor of, national integration, administration and development (Omatsola, 2011). To achieve the speedy development of the local government, a well articulated action plan in the form of developmental public policies/ programs must be enthroned. Public policy guides and determines present and future public decisions as well as private individual or private business institutional actions, decisions or behavior.  In essence, a public policy determines the activities of government and given private institutions in relation to providing services designed to solve a given problem (Ugwuanyi and Chukwuemeka, 2013). Being an administrative/ governing institution,  the local government through the policy making process, articulates the developmental needs of the people and then try to use the resources available to them to accomplish these policies. Over time, it has become glaring to administrators and scholars that the challenge of policies in most developing nations of the world and Nigeria as well has remained the divergence between policy intent and policy outcome. This is as a result of the gap in implementation. In the words of Dialoke,Ukah  and Maduagwuna (2017) Implementation gap manifests in the widening of the distance between stated policy goals and the realization of such planned goals. The implementation gap from policy formulation in Nigeria cannot be overemphasized as successive governments make policies that are not realizable throughout their tenure.

 It is very clear from records that Nigeria over the years has initiated well articulated developmental, economic and social policies, intended to launch the nation on the path of meaningful development.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The importance of well articulated development policy/ policies for the local government in Nigeria can never be over emphasized. It is a sene qua non for the achievement of rural development and growth. The problems of most development policy no matter how good they are on paper are that they most often do not address the need of the people for whom those policies were intended to affect. This could be as a result of a proper need analysis and articulation by policy makers; who most often concern themselves with politics rather than policy outputs. On the other hand, most development policies are usually too numerous but with little technical knowhow on how to bring them to fruition. The last but not the least as identified is the dwindling financial muscles with which to implement development programmes in the light of competing needs.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The general objective of this study was to examine the constraints on effective development policy making in Nigerian local governments.

 Consequently, the specific objectives which this study sought to unravel were: To

1. Ascertain the reason as to why the developmental needs of Enugu East local government are hardly achieved,

2. unravel how the unavailability of skilled human resources have impacted the execution of development policies in Enugu East local government

3. determine how the financial resources for implementation of development policies in Enugu East local government can be enhanced.

1.4 Research Questions 

1. Why is it that the developmental needs of Enugu East local government are hardly achieved?

2. How have the unavailability of skilled human resources impacted the execution of development policies in Enugu East local government?

3. How can the financial resources for implementation of development policies in Enugu East local government be enhanced?

1.5 significance of the study

The aim of this work like every other research endeavor is to contribute meaningfully to the bulk of extant knowledge on the subject matter. This work will help students have a better understanding of the subject matter. On the other hand, this work will be of great benefit to decision makers/ policy makers as turbulent challenges facing the success of developmental policy making will be unraveled and curative/preventive solutions proffered.

1.6 Scope of the study

This work sought to explore the constraints on effective development policy making in Nigeria local governments. It is mainly focused on Enugu East local government area of Enugu state.

1.7 Limitation of the study

Poor attitude of respondents: This was the greatest challenge the researcher encountered as some of the respondents were reluctant to answer the questions addressed to them.

Finance: This is one of the major problems that face every researcher. Due to level of financial status of the researcher, the cost of acquiring the necessary information of the write up was affected.

Time: This was a great challenge as the researcher combined the research work with course work. 

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