Local Government Investments and the Safety of an Ecosystem: Mathematical Evidence from a Developing Nation

Abstract

Local governments are the motors that drive the lives of their citizens. There is no human individual who does not live under a local government, regardless of where they are situated. This is why every local authority’s environment requires a wide range of investments to make it safe and clean. In this research, we assess the expenditure arrangements of Nigerian local governments to guarantee environmental safety. A green and healthy environment is the ultimate goal of all nations throughout the world; thus, local governments are also working to reduce CO2 pollution in their communities. Nigeria has 774 local governments, and the bulk of these areas have significant pollution densities, owing to CO2 emissions from crude oil refining for both commercial and domestic use. The Niger Delta regions, where commercial quantities of crude are tapped, are the most affected by this predicament. The two techniques of spending (recurrent and capital) in local government are examined in this paper for the period from 1993 to 2020 using a multiple regression method to determine their influence on CO2 emissions reduction. The results reveal that the combination of the two methods reduce the effect of CO2 emissions, but capital spending has a greater positive benefit than recurrent spending. Examination of this link reveals that there is a very weak association between CO2 emissions and the two types of local government expenditure. The obtained results suggest that local administrations should deploy necessary environmental statutes, fines, and penalties using security officers for enforcement in order to put a halt to illegal crude oil refining and pollution.