THE ROLE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT SERVICE COMMISSION IN MANPOWER DEVELOPMENT AT THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT LEVEL

Abstract

Before the advent of the colonial era, local communities had their own system of administration. It was organized by Village or Clan heads who met periodically to take decisions on the affaires of the community. The arrival of the British colonial government with the introduction of indirect rule system brought some levels of supervision into local administration, such that the villages heads and the clan heads, although autonomous leaders of their local communities, were under supervision. Today, these autonomous communities have been grouped under different Local Government Areas, with the Local Government Service Commission (LGSC) providing supervisory role. The development of the local communities therefore depends on the effectiveness and efficiency of the LGSC. This paper critically assessed the role of Local Government Service Commission in the development at the local government level. The paper adopted the secondary method of data collection, and relied on the ‘New Public Management’ theory (NPMT), for analysis. Given the emphasis of NPMT on good governance, institutional and organization restructuring, as well as service delivery, the paper concluded that the LGSC is bedeviled with series of problems, particularly corruption. There is therefore, the need to sanitize and strengthened the system to ensure development at the local government level.