REVENUE GENERATION UTILIZATION AND GRASSROOTS DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA (A CASE STUDY OF UYO LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, AKWA IBOM STATE)

REVENUE GENERATION UTILIZATION AND GRASSROOTS DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA (A CASE STUDY OF UYO LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, AKWA IBOM STATE)

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

  • Background of the Study

The Local Government is the tier in the federal system operating in Nigeria. This was done to see to it the needs for the Local people are met effectively as Local Government in more close to the people and can readily provide these services to the local people within their territorial expanse.

However, the local governments in the exercise of their enormous constitutions duties to the people are met with various circumstances militating against their effective service delivery to the people.

One of the recurrent problems of the local Government in the three tier system in Nigeria is dwindling revenue generation as characterized by annual budget deficits and insufficient funds for standard of living of the people.

Local Government areas are the nearest government to the people at grassroots in Nigeria, they are strategically located to play pivotal role in national development since they are responsible for the government of about 10 percent of the entire population of the majority of Nigerians and formulated strategies and policies for their realization. (Bello Imam 1990).

Local government in Nigeria receives statutory allocation from the two other tiers that is the federal and the state government. At the present revenue sharing formula, local government receives 20 percent from the federation account. They are also statutory entitle ten percent of state internal revenue. As regards to value added tax, to local government on the following (50 percent) equally. Adisokonu Nwakwo, 2004.

The federal government controls all the major sources of revenue like import and export duties, mining license and royalties, petroleum dales tax, petroleum profit tax and companies icon taxes among other revenues, Local government taxes are minima hence limit their ability to raise independent revenue. So they depend solely on allocation from federal account much of the revenue collected by the federal government are distributed among the different tires  of government using  the vertical revenue allocation formula is from the federal government that incapacitate  local government from performing their best to do project. (Emengua, 1993 and Ekpo 1994).

Local government has the responsibility for economic planning and development and citizenship development empowerment through primary vocational education and capacity enhancement through health care provision cannot be effectively executed. In s study carried out by United Nations Development programmes (U.N.D.P) and the state local government department of the presiding, out of an aggregate of 23, 6027 claimed by the respondent local government only 5,291 are listed to national grid for electricity supply while 33 percent do not have electricity at all even in the headquarters (U.N.D.P, in 1989) yet between 1997 the local government executed only 122 rural electrification project nationwide. 60 percent of the local government inhabitants have no access to telecommunication facilities.

Consequently, to further compound the problems of the local government is the state/local government joint account which has completed paralyzed the local government from carrying out any meaningful project due to the fact that state government under this joint account milk and siphoned the finances of locals government, hence no financial autonomy of the local government in the use of monies accusing to them from the federal account and other revenue resources.

  • Statement of the Problem

In recent times, citizens are interested on the development of their local government which yearns towards improved standard of living. Local governments actualize the development goals through revenues mobilization. The more the revenue the more the development but local government administration is faced with challenges which cause backwardness in terms of development in Nigeria as a whole and in Uyo Local Government Areas of Akwa Ibom and such problems are as follows: (Ejike, 1993)

Over control of public revenue by federal and state government due to this, there is no lucrative funds left to local government in development process are not known, low quality staff which include untrained personnel who are supposedly tools for development at the local government level, even the few available ones are not properly trained in efficient budgetary and financial management system. The delay in the passage of annual budget in addition to in-sincerity among the council staff on field assignment poses greater problem because most of them usually divert collected fund for their personal usage. Thereby denying the council of the needed funds for it operation.

It is on this promise that this study is seeking to investigate whether generated and stator revenues have been properly utilized for sustainable development or not with a view to proffer possible remedies by way of suggestion as elicited in the study.

1.3 Objectives of the study

This research study is done with the aim of examining areas in which revenue generation, utilization and grass root development is carried out in Uyo Local Government Area.

  1. To examine revenue generation and utilization in the development is carried out in Uyo Local Government Area in Akwa in state.
  2. To ascertain the sources of revenue in Uyo Local Government Area.
  • To identify factors to be considered in the all caution of revenue by federal, state, and local government.
  1. Find out the effect of corruption in the development process of Uyo Local Government Area.

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