All over the
world, local or city governments are structured in certain ways and perform
certain known tasks. In a functioning local government system.
The Council is the legislative arm headed by the Leader. The Chairman is the
chief executive officer that implements the edicts or ordinances passed by the
Council.
Generally, local
governments perform certain identified functions; among other functions, they
are responsible for maintaining city roads, removing garbage (often through
contracted private refuse removers), sewage, and utilities such as water, fire
services. They may also have public health departments where they provide all
citizens with certain medical services (such as immunizations).
Local governments
generally have dump sites where garbage is dumped and from which some garbage
is recycled. I bet you that many Nigerian local governments do not have dump
sites for garbage and sewage!
To meet their
responsibilities Councils, have annual or biannual budgets. They annually look
at their revenue stream, know how much they generate (usually through licenses,
parking fees, ticket of traffic offenders’ fees, sales taxes, property taxes
and moneys they obtain from their central revenue sharing).
Each Council knows how
much revenue it generates during a typical fiscal year and divides it up; that
is, allocates a certain portion of it to each city department to use in
performing its assigned functions.
The supervisor or
director of each Council department makes sure that monies assigned to his
department are used for their intended purposes.The local government
accounting department and auditor look over each department’s books to make
sure that all monies are spent as assigned and if a penny is stolen someone loses
his job or goes to jail.
Each
department does what it exists to do; the council monitors each department
(through monthly over view of its financials) to make sure that it does what it
is set up to accomplish for the people in the local government.
In this
light, one is forced to ask whether local or city government still exist in Nigeria.
Are there councils, Chairmen and departments responsible for performing local
government functions. If it does have a government how come it is not
performing its functions?
To answer
above questions, you are told that the local governments do not have
independent means of generating revenue, that it does not have money to perform
its functions. And you ask why? The answer is that they merely wait for the
State governors to go to Abuja and get some money from Abuja and then give some
of that money to local governments in the State to perform their functions. Further
you will be told that the governor, by and large, steal such monies.
This is to agree
that the rulers at the local governments cannot figure out independent ways to
generate monies to run their local government but instead wait for a faraway
government at Abuja to give them the monies to do so?
What this
amounts to is that the rulers at the local government level are not human
beings! If they are, they would have studied the functions of local governments
and cities elsewhere to know how cities generate revenues for performing their
functions.
All over
the world cities generate revenue from sales taxes, property taxes, Licenses
and so on? If so how come the local governments in Nigeria have not appraised
all properties in their domain and tax them. How come local governments do not
have sales taxes on goods and services within, hotels and restaurants
included).
How come local
governments do not generate internal revenue and use it to supplement whatever
they obtain from Abuja and their States to perform their necessary services?
All over the world, City
and local governments are structured in certain ways and perform certain known
tasks. But here in Nigeria, we have a local government system that does not see
itself as a tier of governance. The workers see system as not only a place to
earn a living but to also make wealth. Primarily, it is essentially a source of
wealth for those who run it. Nothing about governance exist at that level, no
wonder the people have lost every confidence in its existence.
Governments
are necessary for running human polities. Governments obtain their monies
mostly from taxing the people. As long as we need governments we must pay for
them. Thus, taxes, change and death are the only things predictable in our
lives.
How do we
expect to run governments; do we expect money to drop down from heaven? Someone
needs to show our people why they need governments and how governments
generate their revenues.
We seek money to become
individually wealthy. We build fancy houses but will not pay taxes with which
the road in front of their houses are maintained. We do not think in terms of
public and social good but only in terms of private good.
This attitude is
compounded by the same behaviour by both the politicians and civil servants
that run our local governments, who assume that the revenues of the Councils is
meant to take care of their welfare. Hence, whenever the federal allocation is
received it is spent to the last kobo to take care of those who run the system on
behalf of the people. Fictitious projects and direct labour are used to siphon
the funds. In worst scenarios, salary vouchers are inflated to steal whatever
resources that are available.
The Chairmen have over
the years become mere morons who are used by the HPMs and Treasurers to feather
their nest. Under their very watch the commonwealth of the local people is
shared, with nothing to show as benefit to the people. In such circumstance and
experience, it is difficult to convince the people to pay taxes and rates.
The question is: who
really needs the local government system apart from the staff?
Comments
Post a Comment