An Overview Of Local Government Administration And Service Delivery In Ekiti State 1999-2009
Feyisara Olaitan Eunice
Faculty of the Social Science, Political Science Department (Public Administration as Specialization) Ekiti State University, Nigeria.
Keywords: LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION, SERVICE DELIVERY, Development
Abstract
The virility of a political system is measured by the overall development of rural areas and the commitment to the growth of viable democratic system. A key indicator of good governance is efficient and effective service delivery to the people at the grassroots which is one of the objectives and justification for the creation of local government. Service delivery is the working together of different groups/system effectively to provides or conveys or releases socio-economic development essential to the people. Development will be insignificant in any political system if the government does not positively affect the lives of people at the grassroots or if development eludes the grassroots dwellers, It is observed that the problem of governance and effective service delivery particularly at the local level has been in doldrums in the political history of Nigeria. In Ekiti State, service delivery is disadvantaged by some identifiable problems such as lack of strategic planning that often leads to poor implementation of policies, lack of participation, poverty, abuse of office, societal indifference, poor working environment and intergovernmental conflicts. The paper focuses on service delivery, who determines service, the recipients, and impediments to effectiveness in the delivery of quality goods to the people at the grassroots. The study employs both primary and secondary sources of data collection. There was a structured interview across different levels, the political office holders; the Bureaucrat and people at the grassroots. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive analysis. The study concludes that service delivery is a collective effort of the government and the people. Amongst others, the paper recommended that, Society satisfaction should be rated base on survey, this, can reposition the local government for a better service delivery