Utilization Of Local Government Funds Through Participatory Development In Some Selected Local Government Areas (Lgas) Of Kogi State

Abstract

The study examines the need for the efficient allocation of local government funds through participatory development in order to ensure the judicious use of their resources. It also examines the rural people’s needs as perceived by them and also their needs as perceived by the local governments. This study is necessitated by the fact that the local government resources are not adequate to provide the needed services and the need therefore to ensure that the resources at their disposal are used efficiently. The primary data for the study were obtained directly from the selected local government areas and the communities while existing literature and their finances provided the source of secondary data. Rank correlation was used to test the degree of correlation between the local governments’ perception of the communities’ problems and the communities’ perception of their problems. It was revealed that the people in the rural communities have the ability to articulate their needs. It was also revealed that in almost all the communities, the people’s perceptions of their problems is quite different from the way their problems were perceived by the local governments. This led therefore to the non efficient use of local government resources as they were not used to meet the people’s needs as expected. It is therefore suggested that the local governments should consult with the communities and carry them along when planning for them. It is also recommended that, the local government officials should consider the communities first in their developmental programmes and not see their own interests as matters of primary concern.