Is the Local Government Only About Extortion and Weddings?, By Simbo Olorunfemi

The autonomy local governments enjoy in this area is being abused. What will happen if they were to be more ‘autonomous’ under this k-legged system? One would think that local governments exist to serve people at the grassroots and not to take advantage of them. Not too sure that most of the people elected or appointed to administer them have a clue what that is about. We really need to start paying more attention to what is going on there, if the change we so desire, is to have an impact at the bottom of the ladder.

When some commentators call for local government ‘autonomy’ in Nigeria , I chuckle. Not because I don’t understand the perception that local governments are in handcuffs, courtesy of many of the state governments. But because the reality, for me, is that the problem is clearly beyond one tier of government hampering the performance of the other. Not only are many of the local government administrators happy with the chains (where there are), most of the political leaders and civil servants at that level have not delivered, even with the ‘limited’ autonomy they have. They have no interest in governance nor do they understand what that even entails. As a matter of fact, local government management ought to be strictly a state government affair – in terms of creation and sustenance. Listing Local Government Areas in the 1999 Constitution, using same as basis for revenue allocation, and conferring on the National Assembly the power to ‘legitimise’ local governments created by states, is a huge mistake. It is drawing Nigeria back, as it further entrenches the practice of ‘feeding-bottle’ federalism.

But back to the point here to be made – local government administration in Nigeria is a huge scam. They do nothing. They do not even pretend about it. And they offer nothing, by way of apology. You would think that in Lagos State, with its vibrant local economy, some of the local governments here would be rivalling some of the state governments who solely depend on handouts from the centre, in terms of revenue generation and projects executed. You would think they will be more creative in engaging with the informal economy. It is not so. Most of them are simply content to receive revenue allocated from the centre and share the spoils of office. Back in the day, collection of outdoor advertising fees was a huge revenue earner for the ‘boys’. Now that the Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency (LASAA) serves as a central collection point for outdoor advertising revenue in the state, they simply fold arms and wait for their share of the booty. Control of markets is supposed to be an exclusive preserve of local governments – where they have not ceded that away to state governors who seem to enjoy building markets as proof of performance, they take joy in building some ramshackle stalls here and there, in partnership with some ‘contractors’. They sell shops to proxies and extort outrageous rent from traders.

It is not surprising, as local government, over the years, seem to mistake their power as only meant to extort all sorts of dues, levies and fines from the citizens, without commensurate responsibility for service or solutions to problems confronting their communities. Local government administrators seem to assume themselves as new age colonial masters with a mandate to perfect sundry means of extortion. They have a collection of thugs, daily deployed to extort money from road-side traders and hawkers. Some are assigned to ‘Okada’ riders, who relish employing violent tactics in the course of their assignment. In the days when the state of our federal highways made travel a more regular chore, it was not unusual to find some of these thugs on federal roads. Usually armed with logs of wood, with nails strategically hammered into them; they were on hand to harass and roughen up travellers, with a demand to cough out one local government fee or the other. I hear it is the same or even worse, in Abuja.

For some reason, not much attention has been paid to what is happening at the local government level, with their administrators, for as long as I can remember, getting away lightly. Some Chairmen, once elected, relocate from their constituency to live it up elsewhere, in line with their new-found status. A number of them simply show up at the end of each month to process payments to political office holders and civil servants. To think there is even an elaborate structure at the local government level, with a legislative arm, peopled by all sorts of people who go by the exotic title of councillor, is to imagine the absurd, in its extreme. I hear some of them are even better paid than our professors. Councillors profess too, in their own way, serving as foot soldiers for those in high places. Some do little beyond occasional squabbles over loot allocation formula and threats to impeach the Chairman. The state of our local government administration is, at once, a comedy, as it is a tragedy.

Getting married at the local government registry is no longer a walk in the park for the ordinary man…From the man at the gate who insists on a fee before allowing cars into the local government office on a Saturday, to the talking drummers conjuring music one moment and insulting guests the next minute for not reciprocating with a naira rain. From the musician who swings from Fuji to Gospel Apala with a microphone which sources energy from his pocket, to the women who insist on affixing ribbons to the dress of even the uninterested, in demand for ‘Owo-Ayo’.

Sometime back, I had cause to visit one of the local government offices in one of the less-affluent parts Lagos. I was not going to be allowed to drive my car into the dirty car park unless I paid N200 as parking fee. I had been there before and that was not the case. I queried it. When did that start? Whose order could that be? I fired questions at the fellow. He had no answer, beyond it being an order from the Chairman. I decided not to make use of a car park, littered with overgrown weed, shrubs and garbage. I opted to park the car by the side of the road and alighted to engage them on the propriety of an instruction to tax visitors to the local government office. I made a show of taking photographs of the refuse-littered park, with a threat to take action. I was there, again, the following week – eyes all over me as if a ghost had suddenly appeared. I turned around – the refuse had been cleared, the car park fee had also been abolished. Thankfully, those who witnessed the ruckus had taken the message to the top.

On Saturday, I was at another of the local government offices to witness a wedding ceremony. Conduct of marriage ceremonies has become a cash cow for local governments in Lagos. It is an industry of its own. Some of the requirements can be strange and elaborate. We cannot tell exactly what the official fee is. But we can attest to the ingenuity and creativity that goes into the design of the list of requirements couples are meant to fulfil by these local government officials. They must have taken a cue from some of the creative lists generated, these days, to extort money and sundry items from grooms, under the guise of what is tagged ‘engagement’ ceremony or ‘traditional’ wedding. Officials demand for wine, milk, noodles and all sorts. Years back, the request for milk was, even, brand-specific. We were also told to bring a portion of the cake along with a copy of the certificate. It was not a plea, but a requirement. Back then, the official complained that my ‘wahala’ was too much, for asking questions. Today, the guard at the gate was quick to shut me up. ‘This is Nigeria’, he boldly reminded me, as if I needed to be told.

The fault is in our way of life as a people, Prof Agbakoba once submitted. We have a fundamental flaw at the ontological level, he argued. Our culture is materialistic, and not ascetic. Everything moves us. Everything pushes us around. We have not been able to theoretically overcome matter. As a result, we are unable to physically deal with it. That is why we keep erecting hurdles, in the name of culture, in the way of getting simple things done. The ordinary man cannot do ordinary things such as marriage, burial and other ceremonies in an ordinary way.

Perhaps he is right. Getting married at the local government registry is no longer a walk in the park for the ordinary man. Take today’s experience – From the man at the gate who insists on a fee before allowing cars into the local government office on a Saturday, to the talking drummers conjuring music one moment and insulting guests the next minute for not reciprocating with a naira rain. From the musician who swings from Fuji to Gospel Apala with a microphone which sources energy from his pocket, to the women who insist on affixing ribbons to the dress of even the uninterested, in demand for ‘Owo-Ayo’. From the beggars thrusting envelopes into the hands of everyone in sight, those selling ‘Ofada’ rice, to the official who takes a tray round to collect ‘offering’, it was all carefully choreographed.

Our local governments must assume that the only reason they exist is for the misery and disadvantage of the citizens. They send thugs around with padlocks to lock up traders’ shops for not paying the arbitrary fees charged for trade permits and radio-TV licences. They send thugs to the streets to harass traders and Okada-riders. Hooligans are sent to the highway to extort fees from bus drivers for waste baskets and radio licence.

Things are, obviously, a little different now. Cash rules; the requirements have been monetised – eight thousand naira initially collected, ostensibly as official payment. Another three thousand naira collected, this morning, before the groom was allowed to ‘pick a number’. He had no receipt to show for the payment, as to be expected. All for a ceremony that barely lasts five minutes. Well, what do I know? It was all justified under the guise that it was supposed to be a joyous occasion, even when austerity was evident on the faces of most of the participants here. I am told that, at the Federal Marriage Registry Office in Ikoyi (once declared illegal by a court), the fee, at the moment, is as much as eighteen thousand naira.

Our local governments must assume that the only reason they exist is for the misery and disadvantage of the citizens. They send thugs around with padlocks to lock up traders’ shops for not paying the arbitrary fees charged for trade permits and radio-TV licences. They send thugs to the streets to harass traders and Okada-riders. Hooligans are sent to the highway to extort fees from bus drivers for waste baskets and radio licence. Yet they do not remember about their responsibilities in the areas of education, health, etc, towards the people. Rather than institute social benefit schemes for the people at the bottom of the pyramid, closest to them, they think their main responsibility is to cater to the greed of politicians who put them there.

They are making a mockery of what should otherwise be a simple marriage ceremony in the office. They have commercialised it, taking advantage again of the most vulnerable. The vulnerable women who should be able to come under the umbrella of the formal structure for protection against traditional institutional structures that abuse widows are not able to do so, on account of cost. It is most unkind. It must stop. The autonomy local governments enjoy in this area is being abused. What will happen if they were to be more ‘autonomous’ under this k-legged system? One would think that local governments exist to serve people at the grassroots and not to take advantage of them. Not too sure that most of the people elected or appointed to administer them have a clue what that is about. We really need to start paying more attention to what is going on there, if the change we so desire, is to have an impact at the bottom of the ladder.

Simbo Olorunfemi works for a Nigerian communications consultancy.