FUNCTION OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT COUNCILS

     The local government constitutes the third tier of government in the country. It is in partnership with the federal and state government in making live worth living for the people in the rural areas.

           According to the Nigeria year book of 1981, it is believed that local government is fundamental to building a stable government not just at the state but also at the federal level through representative councils established by law, the councils exercise, specific responsibilities within defined areas.

        Udonsi (1978) states among other things that the local' governments have wide statutory powers to enable them discharge their functions effectively. He said that the functions are discharged through the headship of different department and supervisory councilors.

         The main functions of the local government are set forth in the 4th section 7 of the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria 1999. Local government functions are broken down into three (3) major broad categories:- law and order functions, mandatory functions and permissive functions.

a. Law and order functions

    Local government maintains law and order in their domain by:

• Reporting any act that is likely to result in breach of peace to the community.
• Prevention of breach of peace.

b. Mandatory functions

     There are the functions that are exclusively preserved for local government and they include:

• Provision of market, motor parks and their subsequence maintenance.
• Construction of local roads within its area of jurisdiction
• Provision of facilities for general sanitation and also provision of sanitary inspection and refuse disposal night oil disposal where applicable.
• Provision for the control of viruses. That is any insect that gives unpleasant biting of any of small animal or bird the destroy cross.
• Construction and maintenance of public conveniences like slaughter houses, slabs, cemeteries, and community and reaction centers.
• Provision and maintenance of packs, gardens, open spaces and gazing grounds.
• Licensing, supervision and regulation of eating houses and laundries
• Licensing, regulation and control of the sale of liquor 
• Licensing and regulation of bicycles, handcarts, and other types of vehicles other than those mechanically propelled and canoed.
• Control and keeping of animals.
• Control of hoarding.
• Control of land held under customary tenure.
• Naming of roads and streets and the number of lots and buildings.
• Control and collection of revenue from private forest estates.
• Collection of vehicles par charges.
• Collection of community tax, property and other rates, death duties etc.

c. Permissive functions

These are functions specifically meant for local governments but, where the fund for such functions is not available, state or federal government can perform such jobs.

They include: 

• Provision and management of nursery, primary and adult education.
• Information and public enlightenment is done by local governments through their designated councilors. This could be done through rallies and public gatherings organized by local government.
• Health centers, maternity centers, dispensaries and health clinics, ambulance services, leprosy centers, prevention health services, abattoirs and neat inspection.
• Provision of scholarships and bursaries. This aspect is the most local government or authorities.
• Provision of public libraries and reaching rooms.
• Agricultural extension, animals, health extension, extension services and veterinary clinics.
• Rural and semi – urban water supply.
• Fire services
• Provision of roads and streets (except truck roads), their lighting and drainages.
• Control of bergers, prostitutions and repatriation of destitute.
• Control of water and atmospheric pollution
• Provision of commercial undertakings
• Regulation and control of. building
• Twin and country planning.

Local government have the permissive function in the hands of the federal and state governments. Their impact has not been seriously felt in the area.

SOURCES OF REVENUE TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT

     To strengthen the local government administration, sources of revenue to are open to them. however, Oguma (1996) posited that generally, the local government has eight main sources of revenue which include: 

1. Stationary allocation
2. Rates
3. Grants
4. Fees and charges
5. Fines
6. Earnings and profits
7. Loans and miscellaneous sources.

       According to the 1976 government reform, local government councils derived their income from two main sources namely

1. External and
2. Internal sources

1. THE EXTERNAL SOURCES

  

     They external sources are made up of the state grants which stand at 10% ( ten percent ) of internally generated state revenue and the federal government which stands at 20% (twenty percent) of distributable pool account. These make up the statutory allocation to the local government finance.

OTHER SOURCES OF REVENUE INCLUDE:

• Grant – block and specific from the central government. Block grant is the usually monthly grant while specific grants is for specific project
• Grant from state government
• Loans to carryout special projects
• Value added tax revenue (VAT)

2. INTERNAL SOURCES

The internal sources are as follows:

• Rate tenement, penalty for tenement state, state government grants in lien of tenement rate etc.
• Licenses, fees and fines, Obstruction fines, bicycles licenses , dog licenses emblem, motorcycle tillage etc.
• Food control: slaughter and abattoir fees. Bake house license, meat, fish, cold room and butchers license fees etc.
• Social: Marriage registration fees, town union/organization, age grade registration fees, cinematography, naming/registration of streets, temporal booth permit, mobile open air preaching, betters minstrel fees etc.
• Health: Registration/dislodging of septic/depot license, improvement of stray animals/registration fees, pest control and disinfectant fees, reinstitution of births/deaths burial fees dispensary/maternity fees, laboratory test fees, environmental sanitation services fees.
• Economic: Registration of contractors, petty traders permits, small-scale industries permit, mechanic welding, electricians permits etc.
• Works/ Engineering survey: workshop receipts, hair charges, survey fees, approval of building plans, mortgage/sub-lease approval fees, customary right of occupancy fees and commission on transfer of plots.
• Commercial undertaking: motor park fees, market fees, transport/mass transits services, rent on local government properties.

SOLUTIONS OR WAY FORWARD TO THE PROBLEMS OF EFFECTIVE REVENUE UTILIZATION

      For local government to utilize their revenue effectively, there are some certain step which they need to adopt or take in their various local council.

        Firstly, there is need for accountability of the local government. Accountability as the ineluctable quest for control means that government revenue is often more devoted to avoiding work out comes than to achieve the best one's (Okereke 2004).

As Lucas [1999] has put it, accountability is a form of quality control of the local government. We avoid the really bad but forego the really good. It is a price well worth paying to avoid the great evil of mis - management of local government fund and mis-government, but always, there will be some question whenever we are not faltering discretion too much, and insuring too heavily, at the cost of making it possible for the local government to discharge its commission. Accountability of auditors both internal, external and auditor -general, the council of the local government and various department of the local government will go a long way in solving the problem or revenue utilization in the local governments. It is their individual and join responsibilities to alert the audit alarm committee before irregular and illegal payment are made, failure to do so, will make them liable to appropriate share of punishment as provided under guidelines.

        The audit alarm committee was provided to make sure and prevent the chairman of the local government who has the final say in all financial matter making any irregular or illegal payment. The auditor general being the accounting officer, appointed by the state government to check the financial position of the local government, has the power to veto payment is illegal. Based on that, audit alarm can be raised by informing the auditor - general of the local government about the illegal payment to be made. Through there measure, local government revenue can be well managed as well preventing waste of revenue.

    However, if our local government, Igabi local government in particular, should take accountability measure or control in all the serious department especially in the treasury department effective utilization of revenue will come in place ( Nwankwo 2002 ).

          Another way forward to the problem of effective revenue utilization is the financial and budgetary control (Eze 2000). The financial control according to him is based on the old dictum that he who plays the pipet dictates the tune. The money used by the local government is supplied by central government and state government. It is also proper for them to know how the money is being used. The case of joint account between the state and local government as enunciated in 1999 constitution is an instrument of financial control of local governments by the state government. These provisions have brought to question the whole philosophy of government as a third tier of government in Nigeria.

         Budgetary control is a very solid foundation for the control of all financial maters of the local government. This budget contains and consist of all the envisage revenue and expenditure of local government in a financial year. The treasure, the secretary and the chairman in liaison with the finance and appropriation committee of the council are responsible for control of the budget. the treasures ensure that each payment is covered by a voucher daily signed by the secretary of the local government.

           In the words Amecheta (2001) finance and general purpose committee control is another body that helps in the control of financial management of the local government as was contained in the Anabmra state local government Edict No.9 1999. In summary, financial and budgetary control is aimed art facilitating routines accountability in the part of local government and their staff. The objectives are to mains purity, effective utilization in financial administration of the local government in Nigeria.

          The principles of checks and balances are another measure by which local government revenue can be utilized as stated by Axos and Jefferson (2009). Thus principles of checks and balances mean that power should be used to check power, that no arm of government should possess absolute power. "This is because power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely" That each of the three tiers of government I.e the federal, state and local government should acts as a watchdog over the other. In essence, the federal government should watch and control the state vis-a-via from Initiating bad policy or embezzlement of fund. That the budget of the local government which contain the estimate made for the year, must past through the ministry of planning and budget to the legislature, and must be approved by the legislature. The state can control the local government through the appointment of the auditor general of the local government. The state has acted as a check on the local' government.

     

          The Vote controllers of the local government are another body that can help in local government financial prudence. The vote controllers must be responsible for his actions and reactions. By responsibility, we do not means that a vote controller should not stand in the way of development especially in a democratic dispensation that we currently have on ground, where electorate are always eager to reap dividends as soon as possible. The reasonability of a vote controller must be such that the votes must be spent according to the exact purpose of the budgetary estimates except for some urgent and highly compelling and genuine reasons. Through a vote controller, a great deal of effective revenue utilization can be ensured. Unfortunately, all ages are always on the chairman and other political as well as principal career officer; however it is our considered opinion that closer watch should be beamed on vote controllers for a better clean bill of revenue Prudence in local governments. (Oladoyin and Olaiya).

              According to Ofoeze (2004) eradication of corruption in the local government as well as corrupt – free person el or officer in the local government will ensure effective management of local government revenue. Indeed, as professor Achebe (1993) in his book, "The trouble with Nigeria local government" as put it, "corruption has passed the alarming stage and has entered the fatal stage, and Nigeria local government will dies if it keep pretending that it is only slightly indisposed". The local government must allow the virtues of democracy such as equity, equally, liberty, popular participation, accountability, transparency, plurality of policy options etc. Nigeria local government, Aninri local government is not exempted is sick from head to toe with corruption. What we need now is how to make the present governments viable and more accountable and reasonable too especially local electorates.

 

          According to the chairman of the federal island revenue service, Mrs. Ifueko Omoigui Okauru, blamed the high rate of corruption at the local government on the on the over dependence on oil revenue. According to her, revenue and its effective utilization are critically important for the survival of the local government councils. She said if only the local government could only look upwards to source of revenue through tourism, and investment initiative, the temptation to wait for funds from the state and federal allocations, only for it to be misappropriated would be minimally reduced.

                There is need for the direction of finance of the local government to be corrupt free because he is the local government chief accountant or chief account officer and in a way the custodian of local government funds, he is the chief financial adviser to the chairman of the local government, thus ensuing that the financial policies of the local government are kept within bounds and limits. Arising from the foregoing, it is clear that the directors of finance in all his capacities stated above can be seen as the chief financial officer of the local government on whose shoulders, the efficient financial management of the local government lies, and from whom explanation is expected for any unconscionable and improper of local government revenue or finances. Other personnel are not excluded especially the heads of various department (HODs) in the local government, the councilor, etc as Okereke (2004) would note, that corruption is not found in the local government, but among the personnel who operates in local government. Although corruption can not be completely eradicated in the local government councils, but should be minimized in a very high rate.