Local Government Administration and Good Governance in Nigeria

The paper was an examination of good governance at the local government level in Nigeria. The research methodology was essentially exploratory and therefore, depended on secondary data for the examination of issues of local government administration and good governance. The interest in good governance at this level of government arose out of the continued hue and cry of poor performance of the third tier of government which has attracted many conferences, workshops and dialogues about the future of this level of government. The paper explored good governance and found it to contain three essential elements-citizen participation, accountability and transparency. Analysis of institutional, organizational and constitutional measures‟ put in place to ensure good governance at this level of government, using institutional theory suggest that institutional differences-organizational and constitutional led to crises during the implementation of the measures. These crises have drastically reduced the realization of the three concepts of good governanceaccountability, transparency and citizen participation. We recommend that there should be proper harmonization of the activities of various institutions and measures aimed at achieving good governance. The higher tiers of government should provide the legislation, reforms and coordination necessary to cultivate the ethos of good governance at the local government level.

Keys Words: Governance, Local Government, Accountability, Transparency, Citize Participation, Institutional Theory.

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