The Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun has appreciate the value of local democracy and his at the for front by backing up the Ogun State House of Assembly by passing the Local Government Autonomy Bill into law.
Nigeria’s democracy is evolving, through rather very slowly. As in other participatory democracies, more and more people are now becoming increasingly interested in the choice of who governs over them. They want to be part of the process where decisions that affect their lives are taken, especially at the grassroots level. And rightly so, because not only that broad participation of people in politics promotes good governance, it is also the pathway towards power devolution which is now the in-thing around the world.
It is partly in bracing for the ultimate realisation of genuine restructuring of the country that the Ogun State House of Assembly has passed the Local Government Autonomy Bill into law with the active support of Governor Dapo Abiodun at the vanguard of it. And by doing so, the state has opened a new vista of hope for local government administration, not only in Ogun State but Nigeria as a whole.
Apart from the fact that the state is the first in the South-West to pass the bill, the governor has also gone a step further to set up a special committee to look into the ways of releasing some sources of Internally Generated Revenues to the local governments to make them more functional and independent.
It, therefore, goes without saying that Governor Abiodun appreciates the value of local democracy. Anyone who values democracy must value strong local governments. In the words of John Mill, one of the stout defenders of local government, “strong local governance fosters strong local democracy.”
This is the right way to achieve the goal and objectives of local government administration as a third-tier of government in Nigeria. Without financial independence, no meaningful development can take place at the grassroots level. According to the French doctrine, “one can govern better from far but can administer better when closer”.