THE ROLE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

ABSTRACT: This research entitled local Government and National development: A case study of Ikeja Municipal Council of Lagos State is aimed at evaluating the impact and contributions of Ikeja Municipal Council in National development. It is also to identify the problems that are militating against Local Government efforts in the provision of infrastructural facilities, and finally to make recommendations on how Government and rural communities can improve their contribution to National development. To realize these objectives, a number of research questions and hypothesis were developed to guide the research, while the questionnaire method of collecting data was used to generate answers to these research questions and hypothesis. Two hundred questionnaires were distributed, while170 of these questionnaires were returned, the method of data analysis applied is the simple percentage approach. The findings of this study include that lack of adequate finding, poor and/ or incompetent manpower has militated against the capacity of the Council to engage in people oriented projects. To this end, this study among others recommended that there should be adequate financing of local Governments in Nigeria and that in terms of employment and deployment of manpower in local governments, efforts should always be made to put pound pigs in round holes.