The Role of Leadership in Governance and Development Crises at the Grassroots Level: Insights form Ijebu North Local Government Area, Ogun State Nigeria

Filling the gaps in local governance: an analysis of the structure and process of informal community governance in Ibadan, Nigeria

“…However, as previously mentioned, there is evidence that Nigerian local governments have to date failed in fulfilling their constitutional duties(Abe and Omotoso 2021;Nkwede et al 2022), and the findings of the current study serve to bolster this claim. Growing disenchantment with the local government Olaniyan Informal community governance in Ibadan, Nigeria CJLG September 2023 68 system is palpable…”

“…By contrast, corruption and lack of a strong governance apparatus that can force leaders to accept responsibility and account for their actions have undermined the ability of statutory local governments to provide basic services to constituent communities. According to extant research, Nigeria's statutory local government system is actually an enabler of corruption and corrodes the culture of accountability and openness(Hassan and Iwuamadi 2018;Nkwede et al 2022). Huge sums have been allocated to local governments in the past three decades from central government, yet there has been no appreciable improvement in the wellbeing of the populace (Nwaodike and Ayodele 2016).…”

Decentralisation and local governance in Nigeria: issues, challenges and prospects

“…In other words, local government in Nigeria was created to strengthen and promote grassroots or local governance. However, local governments have largely been unable to effectively perform these functions, as the system is confronted by a plethora of multifaceted challenges (Anayochukwu and Ani 2021;Anayochukwu et al 2022;Obisanya and Hassan 2022;Nkwede et al 2022). Some of the principal challenges are identified and discussed below.…”

“…By contrast, the culture of corruption demonstrated by the political leadership of the contemporary local government system continues to undermine good governance, denying the people democratic development (Nkwede et al 2022). Anti-corruption campaigns and demands for public accountability by civil society groups and other relevant stakeholders are more often targeted at public officials in higher levels of government, while little or no attention is paid to the vital need for accountability in local government.…”