Local Government Administration and Rural Development in Rivers State: A Study of Tai Local Government Area, 2005-2015, Nigeria

Abstract

Grassroots development and governance are among the cardinal objectives of establishing the local government system in Nigeria. However, the attainment of these objectives has been a major challenge in Country. This has led to a lot of discourses over the relevance of the local government system in contemporary Nigeria. This study, examined the local government administration and rural development in Rivers State with focus on Tai Local Government Council, 2005-2015. The aim of the study was to interrogate the contributions of the Local Government to rural development, while the specific objectives were amongst others to assess the impact of Local Government on rural development in Tai Local Government Area. The study adopted the human needs theory as the theoretical framework and secondary data was utilized, while content analysis was used to analyse the data. The findings indicated that the Council's efforts towards delivering effective rural development projects is hampered by corruption, and other institutional decays. It therefore, contends that Tai Local Government Council has contributed to the development of rural communities through the provision of services that engendered socioeconomic development, which has improved the living condition of the people. The study recommended amongst others institutional restructuring, that would include the further alteration of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (As Amended) to engender greater autonomy of the Local Government Councils. This is a panacea to greater grassroots development.