INVESTIGATION THE ROLE OF SAGBAMA LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1Â Â Â Â Background of the Study
Local government is widely accepted as a viable instrument for rural transformation and for delivery of social service to the people.
Local government is the third tier of government in a federal system like Nigeria. As a third tier of government, it is charged with the responsibility of rural and community development. It is divided into political sub-division of the nation into units to power. This is why the National guideline for local government reform of 1978 of Nigeria conceived of local government.
Government at the local level exercised through a representative council established by law to exercise specific functions with defined areas. These powers should give the local government substantial control over local affairs as well as staff and institutional and financial powers to initiate, determine, and implement profit so as to complement the activities of government in the area (Ezeani, 2004).
As a third tier of government endowed with statutory grant from federal and state government, local government were expected to serve as effective agent of social, political and economic development at the grassroot level.
The 1975 local government reform assigned more authority and functions to the local government. They were recognized as third tier of government in the country with the responsibility of facilitating community development through bringing the government nearer to the local people through local government transformation. (Abubakar, 2010; Aluko 2006; Anyanwu 1992).
The reform was a method designed to bring an improvement in the social and economic life of the people, the rural communities and making process of their development self sustaining by reducing rural muting the basic needs of the people increasing employment and providing amenities like roads, water supply, light, good communication network, hospitals, designed to improve their rural social political, economic and cultural lives.
