Autonomy of Local Governments in Nigeria: Issues and Way Forward

The autonomy of local governments in Nigeria is a pressing issue that affects grassroots socioeconomic development. In view of this, this study examined the autonomy of Local Governments in Nigeria using selected local government areas in Rivers State as case study. However, the specific objectives of this study were to examine the impact of financial autonomy on effective governance in selected local government areas in Rivers State, to investigate the relationship between administrative autonomy and effective governance in local governments in Rivers State and to assess the effect of political autonomy on effective governance in local government areas in Rivers State. This study adopted a survey research design and utilized primary data collected from a sample of three hundred and eighty-seven (387) local government employees and administrators across selected local government areas in Rivers State. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, analysis of variance and multiple regression analysis via SPSS 25.0 statistical package. The study findings revealed that financial autonomy has a significant positive effect (r=0.079{p=0.021<0.05}) on effective governance across selected local government areas in Rivers State while administrative autonomy has a significant positive effect (r=0.742{p=0.000<0.05}) on effective governance across selected local government areas in Rivers State. it also revealed that political autonomy has an insignificant positive effect (r=0.043{p=0.148>0.05}) on effective governance across selected local government areas in Rivers State. It was thus concluded that concluded that autonomy in local governments in Rivers State, Nigeria, yields significant insights into the critical role of financial and administrative autonomy in effective governance. The study recommended, amongst others, that the state government should grant more administrative autonomy to local governments, enabling them to establish tailored administrative structures and to implement certain policies.