CHALLENGES OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION ON SOCIO-ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION IN ILORIN WEST LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, KWARA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The paper examined the challenges of local government administration in socio-economic transformation in Ilorin West Local Government Area, Kwara State. Both primary and secondary data were used. The study population was 830 and the sample size was 260, determined through Krejcie and Morgan's (1970) sample size determination table. 260 questionnaires were distributed to seven (7) departments in Ilorin West local government council while 239 were retrieved and analyzed using Statistics Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21. Findings from the study show that respondents agreed that fiscal dependency on higher government tiers limits the local government's financial autonomy. The study also revealed that respondents agreed that political instability, marked by frequent changes in leadership, disrupts the continuity of development initiatives within local governments and respondents equally agreed that inadequate capacity, including a lack of skilled personnel and weak administrative structures, impairs the planning and implementation of development projects. The paper recommends that Ilorin West local government staff should train and retrain frequently. Financial control mechanisms in the council should be activated and reinforced to promote transparency accountability and enforcement of laws against corrupt practices in the council.