CHAPTER ONE
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Revenue is the pivot of any economy, it is given priorities in the national budgets preparation because it is on the revenue available that expenditure is based. Revenue generation is never an easy task hence the available revenue checks expenditure at all levels of the economy.
The 1989 constitution states under section 160(9) that “Revenue” means any income or revenue derived by the government of the federation from any source and includes:
(A).any receipt however described, arising from the operations of any law
(B).any return however described, arising from or in respect of any property held by the government of the federation.
(C). any returning way of interest on loans and dividend in respect of shares or interest held by the government of the federation in any company or statutory body.
Public revenue, according to Stephen and Osagie (1985:182) is concerned with the various ways in which the government raises revenue. Government has different source it needs for carrying out the various scale functions required of it.
Nigeria operates a federal system of government with three levels, the Federal, The states and the local government. The federal is the back bone of the three tiers of the government why the state and the local government are the centralized arms of the central government.
Local government could be defined as the government of the people at the grass root level. Local government plays direct and active roles in the building up of Nigeria economy especially now that the local governments are autonomous hence the researchers have chosen to look into the local government revenue generation, problems and prospects with particular reference to Nsukka local government area of Enugu state.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEMS
A problem that is well identified is said to have been half-solved. Most problems that are ill defined result in an in correctly focused research effort and produce result that neither lead to increased efficiency nor effect illness.
Since 1976 different government in Nigeria(whether civilian or military)have recognized the importance of local government as inevitable agencies of ensuring grass root participation of the masses in the governance of their country.
The same federal government must have recognize the heavy burden(CAPITAL) this important tier of government is bound to carry in the process of catering for our teeming masses. This explain the elaborate arrangement made by successive federal and state government on how much revenue the local government should receive from a federal and state levels and how much each local government should generate on it own.
But experience and fact have shown that only a few local governments, generate enough funds to carry on these services. Most depend on federal and state sub-ventures to survive hence they lied and cry whenever such sub-ventures are not forth coming.
