LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT (A CASE STUDY OF IDEMILI NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, ANAMBRA STATE)
ABSTRACT
This research work was undertaken with a view to ascertaining the community development in Anambra state of Nigeria with a focus on Idemili North local government Area- as a case study. The work looked critically (in question) towards community development within its area of jurisdiction.  In doing this, the researcher based his study on the provision of the 10976 local government reform in Nigeria which made community development one of the explicit functions of the local government -s. In carrying out the research, primary and secondary data were used.  Related literatures were reviewed (secondary data) and questionnaire were equally prepared and administered to local government functionaries (primary data). The finding of the research was reached using the result of the tested hypothesis. For the analysis, it was found that many factors act as stumbling blocks on the way of community development in Idemili North local. Such factors include: Lack of adequate organization frame work and orientation, lack of dedication and commitment on the part of the local government -s to the cause of community development. and misplacement of organization  From the above findings, the researcher recommended that there should be procurement of adequately trained personnel for the organizational and community developmental processes associated with community development in their area of authority and there should also be improvement in the condition of services of the employees.  This will raise the standard of performance of the staff and also attract, qualified and competent and from outsize.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction                                    
1.1    Background of the Study                    
1.2    Statement Of Problems               
1.3    Objective Of The Study                      
1.4    Research Questions                          
1.5    Significance Of The Study                 
1.6    Scope of the Study                    
1.7    Limitation Of Study                      
1.8    Definition of Terms                          
CHAPTER TWO
2.0    Literature Review                      
2.1    Concepts and Definitions of Community Development  
2.2    Concept of Community Development            
2.3    Local Government and Community Development        
2.4    Pre-Post Interndance Reforms                
2.5    An overview of local government                  
2.6    Summary of Literature Review                 
CHAPTER THREE
3.0    Research design and Methodology             
3.1    Research Design                           
3.2    Area of Study                            
3.3    Population Of The Study                
3.4    Sample & Sampling Technique                
3.5    Instrument For Data Collection      
3.6    Method Of Data Collection             
3.7    Validity Of The Instrument           
3.8    Reliability Of The Instrument           
3.9    Method Of Data Analysis             
CHAPTER FOUR
4.0    Presentation and Analysis of Data               
4.1    Data Analysis                               
CHAPTER FIVE
5.0    Summary of findings, conclusion and Recommendation
 5.1    Findings                                   
5.2    Conclusion                                
5.3    Recommendation                         
Bibliography
Appendix

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1    Background of the Study
This study is the modest attempt at a lucid explanation of the impact of local government in Nigeria. Nigeria today is stressful and confusing because of the way the government works. How well a community performs economically, politically, and socially depends on the creativity, commitment and vision of its administration. Nigeria will develop only when the rural communities are developed. And this will only happen when the administrators are committed to the development of the communities.  Any person, who wants to know why Nigeria is not developing as rapidly as it should, should visit any of the local government areas. Life is pressed out of almost everything. The people are financing various development projects (community hospital, road construction, rural electrification, water project e.t.c) because monthly allocations to local councils are not properly utilized (Isiraojie, 2010).
 According to Akanni, (2011),   Local government at least in principle , deal with grassroots politics (keeping law and order, basic sanitation, constructing and ,maintaining local roads, supplying water, administering local schools, providing skills training and employment for residents. However, community development is the process or effort of building communities on a local level with emphasis on building the economy, forging and strengthening social ties, and developing the non-profit sector. Therefore, community development program are aimed at improving the quality of life of the people in the community. Local government areas are supposed to be the engines of the national development. A quiet rural community grows into a bustling city and the local developed government makes this possible. However, in developed societies, when people are tired of living in the cities, they relocate to the rural communities where life is less strenuous (Ibietan, 2010).
       However, the opposite is the case in Nigeria. Living in a rural community is difficult because nothing works as it should. The local government administrators are part of the problem like their counterparts at the federal and state levels, they are wired in pursuit of personal goals at the expense of broader community interests.   As noted earlier, life in the local areas is a bit more difficult than that in the cities, partly because some of the council administrators lack the skills and knowledge to perform their duties. An administrator should understand what community development is and what it takes to develop an economically distressed community like a business manager, who determines what, should be produced; an administrator directs and determined the peace of community development. But an individual cannot give what he or she does not have (Ibietan, 2010).
      To develop and implement good policies an administrator must have the skill to develop and analyze social and economic data. Although data collection and analysis is a serious problem in government agencies in Nigeria. It is more problematic at the local areas. One cannot over emphasize the importance of reliable data. In particular demographic data helps to identify the buying power and market size of a community and provides investors with information about the economic health of an area.   There are inconsistencies and organized chaos in local government administration in Nigeria. The system has elected local government chairs and appointed administrators, and some states are creating development centers in the local government areas. All these conducts to channel public funds to canals of state governors. As mentioned earlier, some of the individuals who administer these looting centers are dangerously lacking in the skill and knowledge to develop a community. As it where, you cannot give a backbone to an invertebrate. One of such administrators in Anambra state who parades himself as “Dr” (and other bogus title) does not even possess a high school diploma, what type of leadership would such a fraudulent and hollow individual provides a community?   There are business opportunities in rural communities, but they lack requisite infrastructure to lure entrepreneurs and investors. For any community to attract new investment and fatter economic growth and development, it should have basic social infrastructures, effective leadership, and an environment conducive for human habitation, because bad environment causes health problems and negatively impacts property values (Hanachor, 2019).  Local government in pre- colonial era, the present construct that is Nigeria is an amalgamation of over two hundred and eight ethnic nationalities, brought under one umbrella through the ambition of Britain and the economic rivalry amongst the colonial powers.
    The North predominated by Islam use it’s religion to entrance centralized leadership reminiscence of the sultanate which (Buccus 2007) referred to as “habits and attitudes of political difference and subordinate. In the original societies that now formed Nigeria, traditional institutions held sway. National rulers were the over lords while their subjects were subordinates. Europeans slave traders therefore used these established institutions in what later became known as native authorities to carry out their slave raid and economic exploitation of the people.
 The beauty of this practice was that these traditional overlords exercised their powers only after seeking the consent of the people.
1.2     Statement of the problem
Local government in Nigeria just like any other government institution is confronted with a number of problems and challenges.
These problems and challenges influences and sometimes hampered the effective and efficient performance in the discharge of the problems which have militated against its ability to fulfill and to actually develop as a strong tier of government.
One of the major problems of the local government has been political problems. Previous studies have shown that local government administration in Nigeria has not been contributing in the social and economic development of the rural areas. Poor staff moral contributes to the poor performance of the local government administration in Nigeria is facing numerous challenges and some of the problems to the research work.
1.3      Objectives of the study
The broad objective of the research work is local government administration and community development with specific reference to Idemili South local government in Anambra state. The specific objective s of the study is as follow:
1.    To find out how local government affects community development.
2.    To specify the roles of local government during community development.
3.    To identify the challenges hindering effective community development through local government programme.
4.    To identify the strategies to improve effective community development through local government programme.

1.4    Research Questions
The research questions will be based on the following:
1.    How local government can affects community development?
2.    What are the roles of local government during community development?
3.    What are the challenges hindering effective community development through local government programme?
4.    What are the strategies to improve effective community development through local government programme?

1.5     Scope of the study
This research area and dimension of coverage is based on only the roles of local government and community development. The staff, teachers, farmers, businessmen in Idemili South local government of Anambra state have chosen as the respondents.
1.6    Limitation of study
The researcher was affected by the usual constraints and problems common with similar researchers in Nigeria. Summarized below are some of the constraints.
1.    Finance: in carrying out this research, there is inadequate fund to carry out proper investigation in some areas.
2.    Time:  The time available for the researcher was limited coupled with the fact that there were assignments to do.
3.    Dearth of statistics: Data and information that research funding appears to be written for easy understanding.
1.7    Significance of the study
The need and importance of the research is obvious. At a time when local government has come to assume an overwhelming influence on the process of political and economic development. It becomes more relevant to examine much more closely, the characters and dynamic of these three tiers of government and to clarify the major contradictions that have landed to impede its capacity to promote development at local level.
         However, a scientific study of this kind becomes necessary especially at this time when the past and present civilian administrations are particularly concern about community development.
         Finally, this study will generally add to the growing numbers of literature on local government affairs, more particularly on the roles of local government administration in economic and social development of rural areas in Nigeria and pragmatic solutions offered towards making them more efficient and responsive to the needs of the rural Nigerians, it also goes to policy makers and researchers alike.
1.8    Definition of Terms
The following terms have been defined for the purpose of this study
1.    Local government:  this is a government at a local level exercised through representative councils established by the laws to exercise specific functions within a defined area.
2.    Development: development is a multi-dimensional process involving a re-organizational and re-orientation of the entire economic and social system, in addition to improve income and quality of life of the inhabitant of an area. It typically involves radical changes in institutional, social as well as popular attitudes and sometimes even customs and beliefs.
3.    Programmers: this consists of essentially integrated series of development projects that spans over a length of time or period.
4.    Development:  As Anselem Uba put it: The gradual and orderly unfolding of the characteristics of the successive stages of growth involving the energy and expending of capacities of individual to provide greater functioning abilities. It means essentially progress towards a goal.  It involves change from simplicity to comprehensibility and implies an increasing progressive maturity of behavior as well as organization of personality and character.
5.    Community development: The regional conference on the integrated approach to community development held in Moshi pauzana (2017 ) defines it as ‘the out come of the series of quantitative and qualitative change among a given rural population and whose converging effects indicate in time a rise in the standard of living and favourable changes.
3.    Local Government:  International encyclopedia of the social sciences defined ‘local government’ as a public organization authorizes to carry out and administer a limited range of public politics within in a relatives small territory which is a sub-division of a region or national government. It is political and administrative unity that is empowered by law to administrate within a specific locality.
4.    Administration:  Chambers 21st century dictionary defined an administration’ as an act of direction, managing or government of an organization affair for a period of time.