CHAPTER TWO
2.0 DEFIINITION OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT LOCAL GOVERNMENT: -
Is the lowest tier of the government anywhere in the world. It is very important because of its
closeness to the people. The main purpose of the local government is to ensure effective
administration at the grass root level, local government aim at ensuring adequate mobilization of
human and financial resources for the local development. A local government can be considered
as a mini-government serving a particular political unit of administration division in a country.
Creating a local government therefore implies breaking down a country or state into smaller unit
for effective administrations. Local government in Nigeria have undergone a lot of vicissitude
and reforms. The most popular of which has been the 1976 reforms which informs the
framework of operation day. The 1976 guideline for the local government define local
government. “this is the government at the local level exercised through representative council
established by the law of exercise specific power with a defined area”. The power should be
given to the council substantial control over the local affairs as well as the power to initiate and
direct the provision of services and to determine and implement project so as to compliment the
activities of the state and federal governments in their area, and to ensure true devolution of
function to those councils and their traditional institution and local initiative and respond to local
needs and tradition are maximized.
2.1BRIEF HISTORY OF IBARAPA CENTRAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT, ERUWA
Ibarapa Central is a Local Government Area in Oyo State, Nigeria. The Ibarapa central consist of
Igbo-Ora and Idere town. Its headquarter is in the town of Igbo-Ora.It has an area of 440 km2and
a population of 102,979 at the 2006 census. In 2018 the population is estimated to be around
322,189 people. The local population is almost made up of Ibarapa peopleWho are in turn, a
Yoruba ethnic group.Ibarapa Central Local Government with headquarters at Igboora, Oyo State
was carved out of the then Ifeloju Local Government on 4th December, 1996 by the then Head of
State and Commander in Chief of Armed Forces, Late General Sanni Abacha. At the release of
the Federal Government Gazette of May 1997 the Local Government was re- named Ibarapa
Central Local Government.The young and promising Local Government was bounded in the
East by Ibarapa East Local Government, in the West and North by Ibarapa North Local
Government and in the South by Ogun State.
2.2OBJECTIVES AND ROLES OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT
It has been generally agreed that no central government can satisfactorily conduct administrative
wholly from the capital through the civil servant’s base at the headquarters. It logically follows
therefore, that there is need for a form of decentralization such as, enabling government reach
out to people at local level. One of the principal objectives of having local government therefore,
is to provide a means of running services of all kinds which are tailored to special needs.
