Government Councils Research Articles

Manpower Development and Employee Commitment in Selected Local Government Areas in Delta State

Nigerian local governments have been investing in employee training and manpower development over the years to improve the institutions' overall performance and level of dedication. This is because it is acknowledged that training and workforce development play a critical role in achieving organizational goals and objectives. Thus, in a few Delta State local government units, this study looked at the relationship between employee commitment and manpower development. Using a self-administered questionnaire, 390 employees provided data, and the Taro Yamane method was used to calculate the sample size. With the help of the Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS) version 23.0, the collected data was analyzed using percentages and frequency, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and linear and multiple regression. The results showed that employee commitment (affective commitment, continuance commitment, and normative commitment) was highly influenced by manpower development. The study came to the conclusion that employee commitment and manpower development increase organizational effectiveness. Therefore, in order to effectively improve employee performance and organizational effectiveness, policies that enhance workplace commitments and duties must be promoted. Therefore, among other recommendations made by the study, the management of Delta State's Local Government Councils should set up programmes for staff members' professional and personal growth. This means making long-term plans for career development initiatives. Employee commitment (affective, continuance, and normative commitments) will be greatly increased as a result, and employees will be able to meet their goals.

Wanting to be part of change but feeling overworked and disempowered: Researchers’ perceptions of climate action in UK universities

Interest in the relationship between the activities of universities and action on climate change is growing, but until recently there has been little focus on the critical role of researchers, particularly with regards to how research practices and culture can enable or inhibit change. This study addresses this gap, exploring researchers’ perceptions of universities’ measures to tackle their own emissions, their own engagement on issues surrounding the climate crisis, and challenges and opportunities for researchers to contribute to them. We present findings from a representative survey of 1,853 researchers from 127 UK universities across disciplines and career stages, including comparing responses across these professional differences, and analysis based on over 5,000 open text responses provided by the survey participants. The results show that while most have some knowledge of actions being taken by their universities and feel that universities’ public declarations of a climate emergency are making a difference, almost half think not enough is being done. They feel that responsibility for university climate action sits across government, universities and research councils, but almost all researchers are also personally worried about climate change and want to do more themselves to address it. For the most part, they also strongly support climate advocacy by those engaged in research. Yet high workload, uncertainty about what actions to take, perceived lack of agency or power, inflexible university processes and pressure to travel are just some of the many barriers researchers face in taking action. The study highlights how these barriers can be overcome, and the steps universities and researchers can take to better incorporate climate action into their research culture and practices.

Uncovering Budget Battle Practices: A Critical Study of Budget Participation in Indonesia

Purpose: This research aims to analyze the budget battle practices between local government (executive) and Regional People's Representative Council (DPRD or legislative) within the context of plenary sessions in North Toraja Regency. Theoretical framework: The theoretical framework of this article revolves around the concept of budget participation, influenced by the political environment, and inspired by Paulo Freire's ideas. Budget participation involves the engagement of the community in decisions regarding the allocation of public funds, with a normative emphasis on community involvement values. The influence of the political environment and the political will of the government plays a pivotal role in the success of budget participation. Design/methodology/approach: This study adopts a critical paradigm and employs the Habitus Theory as a tool for interpreting research data. The research also utilizes the data collection and reduction procedures outlined by Creswell (2014). The study was conducted in North Toraja Regency and involved ten informants selected through purposive sampling technique. Findings: The research findings reveal several aspects. Firstly, the practice of budgetary battles involves three models: negotiation, holding the Regional Budget Planning (RAPBD) hostage, and intimidation. Secondly, these three behaviors undergo transformation into a homogeneous institutional or group habitus among the actors. Thirdly, this group habitus is deeply internalized by the actors, shaping individual habits that are employed both during plenary sessions and outside the political context within the social realm. Research, Practical & Social implications: The social implications of these findings indicate that the existence of budgetary battle practices involving negotiation, holding the Regional Budget Planning (RAPBD) hostage, and intimidation can impact political dynamics and financial governance at the regional level. In terms of practice, these findings can provide guidance for policymakers at the local level to implement improvements in budgeting mechanisms. Originality/value: The originality of this article lies in its contribution to the understanding of how group habitus influences individual dispositions in budgetary battles. The findings concerning the three types of habitus also offer a novel contribution to the literature. This study provides crucial insights for further research in exploring the phenomenon of budgetary battles and their impact on budget participation within the context of local governance.

Trends and Shifts in Discussions in the Diet and Government Councils Regarding Subsidies for Medical Expenses for Rare and Intractable Diseases

Trends and Shifts in Discussions in the Diet and Government Councils Regarding Subsidies for Medical Expenses for Rare and Intractable Diseases

The organizational structure's the development of the Ministry of education and training Vietnam: Fluctuation in past and present

Development of organizational structure of the Ministry Of Education And Training plays a significant role in institutionalizing the Party and State's guidelines, undertakings and policies on education and training, while also reflecting the historical development of Vietnamese education. This article presents the process of formation and development of organizational apparatus from the Ministry of National Education in the Provisional Revolutionary Government of 1945, the Ministry of National Education in the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam from 1946 to 1960, the Ministry of Education according to the Law on Organization of the Government Council (1960-1965), the period of dividing the Ministry of Education into the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Tertiary and Professional Secondary Education, to the organizational structure of the Ministry of Education and Training (1990-2024). The results show that the organizational structure of the Ministry of Education and Training is always changing to meet the nation's requirements in each historical period. This development process also shows advantages and limitations from the perspective view of organizational science. It needs to have more thorough research on this issue to summarize lessons learned, contributing to promoting administrative reform in the current education sector.

Local Government Administration and the Challenges of Bureaucratic Professionalism in Nigeria: A Study of Transition Committee in Local Government Councils in Anambra State (2015 to 2022)

The democratic essence of governance is expressed and most often experienced at the grass root. The instrument of government that conveys this is the local government through sound bureaucratic experts. But it appears that the introduction of the Transition Committee has encouraged the rescinding of bureaucratic professionalism in local government administration in Nigeria. This paper becomes imperatively tasked with ascertaining the impact of Transition Committee on bureaucratic professionalism in local government councils in Anambra State. Following this, two research questions were adopted to guide the study. First, does the introduction of Transition Committee down played bureaucratic professionalism in local government administration in Anambra State? Secondly, what factors attributed to Transition Committee are responsible for low performance of local government administration in Anambra State? Data were primarily sourced and complimented with secondary source precisely academic journals and government gazettes. Bureaucratic theory was used as relevant tool of analysis. From the study, it was discovered that majority of the members of Transition Committee in local government councils are people of poor academic qualifications with little or no bureaucratic knowledge. These personalities exhibit administrative rascality in their dealings with career civil servants and bureaucratic ignorance in the discharge of their functions. These have adversely affected bureaucratic professionalism in local government administration in Anambra State. Hence, the study recommends total administrative and financial independence in the local government councils by abrogating transition committee in local government.

지방의원의 조직지원 인식이 직무열의에 미치는 영향

In order to improve the job engagememt of local councillors, this study raised the need to establish various strategies to ensure that the work of local councilors proceeds smoothly among the many support policies. Considering the role of local councilors, who are elected public officials, the performance of legislative activities varies depending on their attitudes and behaviors. Policy measures were sought through empirical research on the impact of organizational support perceived by local council members on job engagememt.
 The results of a survey of 202 current local government council members across the country are as follows.
 First, among the perceptions of organizational support, smooth cooperation had a significant positive (+) effect on the vitality, dedication, and absorption of job engagememt, and work expertise also had a significant positive (+) effect on vitality.
 Through these analysis results, it was verified that the organizational support perceived by local council members plays a significant positive role in their job engagememt.
 Second, It was found that the proper human composition of perceived organizational support had a significant positive (+) effect on smooth cooperation and a significant negative (-) effect on commitment. The results of this analysis confirmed the specificity of the organization that only local councils have, which are different from general corporate and civil service organizations. Based on this, implications and future research directions were discussed.

Improving Local Government Relations with Other Tiers of Government in Nigeria: The Imo State Experience

This study highlights the current relationship between the local government and other tiers of government in Nigeria. It argues that the essence of the relationship among various tiers which is the maintenance and well-being of the polity has been unrealizable due to the lopsided nature of the relationship. The study applies the data from available literature, information from the interviewees and personal experience as a former member of the local government council. The analysis reveals that the local government is handicapped due to the overbearing influence of the higher tiers. It further reveals that every aspect of the local government’s life has been controlled by the higher tiers. The study concludes that the present model of relationship between the local government and other tiers is a failure and needs to be changed. It therefore suggests an alternative model of relationship that will improve the system.

Trust, Corruption, and Tax Compliance in Fragile States: On a Quest for Transforming Africa into Future Global Powerhouse

This study explores the complex relationship between trust, corruption, and tax compliance in fragile states. It examines factors influencing public trust in three government branches: the ruling party (a proxy for the executive), the parliament, and the local government, and examines whether trust in these arms of government impacts tax compliance. We conducted this investigation using Afrobarometer survey data from Guinea, Mali, Sudan, and Zimbabwe as case studies. The study found that restoring public trust and promoting tax compliance are tangible outcomes arising from a steadfast commitment to electoral integrity, transparency, and accountability. This interplay becomes more vital within the framework of state fragility, where institutions are highly strained. The study highlighted that the existence of rampant corruption reduces trust in the ruling party, parliament, and local government council. Furthermore, the joint interaction between corruption and lack of trust significantly undermines the willingness of taxpayers to adhere to tax administration laws. These insights emphasise that combating corruption becomes not only a governance step but also vital to state stability. Thus, African governments should prioritise electoral integrity and combat corruption through enhanced accountability to pave the way for improved governance, enhanced trust, and a more stable path toward a global powerhouse.

Forcibly displaced refugee women entrepreneurs in Glasgow-Scotland

PurposeForcibly displaced refugee entrepreneurs face extra challenges that are beyond the barriers that face immigrants and hosts in their journey towards starting up, growing and developing their businesses. This study aims to critically examine the opportunity identification (OI) of forcibly displaced refugee minority women entrepreneurs in Glasgow.Design/methodology/approachQualitative semi-structured face-to-face interviews with 10 participants were conducted, including 6 forcibly displaced women entrepreneurs and 4 stakeholders. A six-step thematic framework for data analysis with NVivo 11 was used.FindingsFindings revealed that forcibly displaced refugee women’s entrepreneurial opportunities occur through a dynamic identification, discovery, recognition and exploitation of opportunities. Women-led businesses remain underdeveloped due to restrictions imposed by the Scottish Government, Westminster Government and local council authorities.Research limitations/implicationsThis study was only conducted in Glasgow areas, although this is where most of the forcibly displaced groups live. The research team suggests that further studies with a large sample cutting across more local authorities beyond Glasgow should be conducted.Practical implicationsThe empirical findings serve practitioners, local authorities business managers, researchers and policymakers. The study reveals a gap and lack of support and specific training and programmes that could positively benefit forcibly displaced refugee women entrepreneurs within the host communities.Originality/valueThe novelty of this study lies in the research topic which is still understudied. This is together with the new empirical findings of entrepreneurial OI and the provision of insights related to challenges facing forcibly displaced refugee women entrepreneurs in Glasgow.

Examining Environmental Sustainability and Conservation in Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State

Karu local government council is one of the Local Government Areas of Nasarawa State in the North Central Zone of Nigeria with lots of environmental sustainability and conservation issues ranging from erosion, flooding, tree felling, dumping of refuses on unauthorized sites, indiscriminate digging of roads and sewages for private uses. This paper focuses on appraising the Bye-Laws of Karu Local Government as it relates to environmental conservation and sustainability with a view to ascertaining whether such Bye-Laws, were they exist, are effective and efficient enough to meet the conservation and environmental sustainability issues affecting the Council Area. It was found that Karu Local Government have Bye-Laws which happed on the environment by failed to provide for conservation and sustainability in a manner befitting a legislature that knows through research the impact of obnoxious toxic poisonous waste drawn from the Koko Village incident of 1988. It was recommended that an interim measure of Regulations by the Agriculture Department or the Forestry Section be made to conserve and sustain the environment in the Local Council till the legislature does the needful in enacting for conservation and sustainability in the Council Area. In conclusion, the paper aligned with the view that conservation of the environment is the duty of individuals and government in tim

Community Perceptions of the Importance of Heritage Protection Relative to Other Local Government Council Operations

Community Perceptions of the Importance of Heritage Protection Relative to Other Local Government Council Operations

EXAMINING ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AND CONSERVATION IN KARU LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF NASARAWA STATE

Karu local government council is one of the Local Government Areas of Nasarawa State in the North Central Zone of Nigeria with lots of environmental sustainability and conservation issues ranging from erosion, flooding, tree felling, dumping of refuses on unauthorized sites, indiscriminate digging of roads and sewages for private uses. This paper focuses on appraising the Bye-Laws of Karu Local Government as it relates to environmental conservation and sustainability with a view to ascertaining whether such Bye-Laws, were they exist, are effective and efficient enough to meet the conservation and environmental sustainability issues affecting the Council Area. It was found that Karu Local Government have Bye-Laws which happed on the environment by failed to provide for conservation and sustainability in a manner befitting a legislature that knows through research the impact of obnoxious toxic poisonous waste drawn from the Koko Village incident of 1988. It was recommended that an interim measure of Regulations by the Agriculture Department or the Forestry Section be made to conserve and sustain the environment in the Local Council till the legislature does the needful in enacting for conservation and sustainability in the Council Area. In conclusion, the paper aligned with the view that conservation of the environment is the duty of individuals and government in times where industrialization is demanding much from the human environment.

Legal Protection for Victims of Medical Malpractice during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Study on Legislation

This study examines the forms of legal protection available for victims of medical malpractice. This study uses normative legal research with a statute approach. The collected legal material is then qualitatively analyzed to describe the problem and answer the study objectives. The results show that the complexity of health service provision during the COVID-19 pandemic increases the risk of errors and medical malpractice. The Government has established a series of legal protections, including civil, criminal, and administrative, to facilitate victims of medical malpractice claim their rights. Civil legal protection ensures patients’ rights to seek compensation through out-of-court dispute resolution, such as negotiation, mediation, and arbitration. Meanwhile, criminal legal protection regulated punishments such as imprisonment or a fine for doctors proven guilty of medical malpractice. On the other hand, administrative legal protection provides a complaint mechanism for patients, ensuring that the Government and Honorary Council will impose administrative sanctions on doctors proven guilty of medical malpractice. Therefore, it is recommended that the Government continue strengthening and enhancing public awareness regarding patients’ rights and the available legal protection mechanisms, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. This role is crucial for empowering the community to protect themselves from potential medical malpractice. Furthermore, healthcare personnel should be given maximum support through adequate facilities and equipment provision, as well as capacity enhancement through ongoing training and education, to enable them to provide optimal health services in the face of this pandemic challenge. In addition, there needs to be a strengthening of the monitoring system and legislation to prevent and effectively handle medical malpractice cases.

Factors Influencing Community Development Professionals Performance at Workplace in Northern Tanzania

This paper focuses on factors influencing CD professionals’ performance in Tanzania with reference to selected local government councils. The role of community development (CD) professionals is basically to assist and facilitate the formulation and implementation of strategic policy interventions by the government to address challenges of service and goods deli23very to communities. However, their roles are not well known among the authorities, which causes their work performance and the factors affecting them to not be clearly known. A sample of 80 respondents, which included community development officers (CDOs) and district community development officers (DCDOs), was used. A key informant interview was used to elicit information from government administrators. CDOs and DCDOs were drawn from seven (7) selected district councils, namely Meru, Arusha, Arusha City, Monduli, Hai, Moshi DC, and Moshi MC. Data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire and documentary review, then analyzed using a Likert scale, where statement(s) like most favorable, favorable, neutral, unfavorable, and most unfavorable were used to show the favoritism of the factor(s) influencing CD professionals work performance. With the aid of the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS), descriptive statistics were produced and presented in tabular form. It was found that budget allocation, motivation package, leadership style, work climate, respect for professionalism, and experts positively or significantly influence CD professionals’ work performance. This paper recommends that improving factors such as budgetary allocation, favorable work climate, leadership style, motivation package, job autonomy, employee/employer relationships, strategic plans, and career development at work will enhance CD workers’ performance and hence improve community well-being.

Alcohol licensing legislation and licensing system in South-West Nigeria: Implications to regulate physical availability of alcohol.

The proliferation of alcohol outlets has led to increased physical availability of alcohol, harmful alcohol consumption and related harm in Nigeria. This study explored alcohol licensing legislations and licensing systems across local government councils (LGC) in South-West, Nigeria. Twenty-four LGCs across three states participated in the study. Data were generated from: (i) documents containing LGC liquor licensing legislations; and (ii) semi-structured interviews conducted with 50 LGC officials (16 legislative council clerks and 34 finance officers [director of finance, rate officers and revenue collectors]) were thematically analysed using NVivo. Nine of the sampled LGC enacted liquor licence bylaws. These mostly specified categories of liquor licences issued and licensing fees. None of the liquor licence bylaw contained regulations for controlling physical availability of alcohol and outlet density. Finance officials were licensing officers and there were no licensing committees across the LGCs. The LGC officials were unanimous in stating that generating revenue from licensing fees was the main objective for licensing alcohol outlets. The LGCs licensed alcohol outlets indiscriminately and failed to regulate outlet density. The absence of regulations for controlling outlet density has implications for physical availability of alcohol in Nigeria. Our findings strongly suggest the need to develop national liquor licensing legislation with public health objectives and implementing regulations for controlling temporal and spatial availability of alcohol. Each LGC should inaugurate a licensing committee with clearly defined roles and responsibilities for licensing stakeholders such as LGC health officials, law enforcement agencies and community members.

Community Health Needs Assessment on Cervical Cancer Screening Uptake among Women of Reproductive Age in Ijero Local Government Area of Ekiti State

Introduction: Cervical cancer remains one of the leading causes of cancer contributing to high mortality and morbidity all over the world. However, early diagnosis with screening has been linked with good prognosis but different factors have been implicated in the poor uptake. Hence, a community health needs assessment about cervical cancer screening uptake among women of reproductive age in Ijero Local Government Area (LGA) of Ekiti State Nigeria was carried out.
 Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional design was used using a purposive sampling technique to administer a self-structured questionnaire to 132 respondents at the Ijero Local Government Council Secretariat, Ijero-Ekiti. Data were analysed using SPSS version 23. Results were presented in tables and figures.
 Results: The majority (85.5%) of the respondents were Christians. 72.5% were married. The vast majority (98.1) have heard about cervical cancer screening before but only 12.6% of the respondents had good knowledge about it. The utilization rate was found to be low (26.1%). Not knowing the test location (69.4%), finance (82.9%), lack of proximity (91.9%), not considering self as at risk (81.2%), and not having complaints about the cervix (90.9) were the main factors influence the utilization of the screening process.
 Conclusion: Knowledge and the utilization of women of reproductive age in Ijero LGA of Ekiti State is still poor. Healthcare workers and the government of the Ekiti State should ensure that the women of reproductive age are well equipped with the needed knowledge in order to make informed choices about their health.

Funding primary health care service delivery in the West Nile sub-region, Uganda

The provision of primary health care services is a global concern and quality health service delivery is based on a number of factors, including motivated health workers, good-quality infrastructure, consistent supply of medicines and technologies, adequate funding, sound health plans, and evidence-based policies. This study investigated the funding of primary health care service delivery in three local government districts in Uganda’s West Nile sub-region, and identified deficiencies in the allocation, disbursement and timeliness of health funding which have a negative impact on service delivery. Inadequate funding affects the quality of services, limits essential supplies and causes excessive reliance on private financing, which is not sustainable in poor rural economies. In view of these findings, the study recommended deliberate action by both central government and district councils to increase the percentage of funding allocated in their annual budgets to the health sector, in line with the 2001 Abuja Declaration. The government of Uganda should consider prioritising an increase in total national budget allocations to local governments; primary health care disbursements from central government should be paid on time directly to health facilities by use of the ‘straight-through processing system’ for all types of funding; the government should introduce, support and encourage additional community financing initiatives such as Community Health Insurance Schemes; and district and local community leaders should be sensitised on the benefits of this approach.

Representation and Forest Conservation: Evidence from India’s Scheduled Areas

How does political representation affect conservation? We argue that the mixed evidence in the literature may be driven by institutional arrangements that provide authority to marginalized communities, but do not make adequate arrangements to truly boost their voice in resource management. We study a 1996 law that created local government councils with mandated representation for India’s Scheduled Tribes (ST), a community of one hundred million. Using difference-in-differences designs, we find that the dramatic increase in ST representation led to a substantial increase in tree cover and a reduction in deforestation. We present suggestive evidence that representation enabled marginalized communities to better pursue their interests, which, unlike commercial operations such as mining, are compatible with forest conservation. While conservation policy tends to stress environmentally focused institutions, we suggest more attention be given to umbrella institutions, such as political representation, which can address conservation and development for marginalized communities in tandem.

Hurdles in Joinder: Case of Professor Enu, C.I.I. and Ndokwa West L.G.C., Delta State Nigeria

Joinder of parties in litigation is one recurrent decimal in the administration of civil justice in Nigeria. It is because of its complexity that the theory of representative action developed so that parties who have similar interests in a subject matter in litigation can allow one of their own to institute an action in their behalf usually called class action. Representative actions are popular in family, associational and organizational settings. This study is a critical conversation around the circumstances that gave rise to a joinder application in NWACC/37/2019 Chief Mrs. Rita Enu v. Melody Ogwezzy and Community Integrity Initiative where the defendants in the suit tried to join Professor Emmanuel Ifeanyichukwu Enu, the spouse of the plaintiff and Ndokwa West Local Government Council in an action concerning the naming and allocation of Street numbers in Bishop Titus Enu Close, Kwale Delta State. The study which adopts doctrinal method surveyed the claims and counter-claims in the suit and the evidence in the case and interrogated the judicial authorities in the area of joinder of parties in civil litigation. It critically raises the primary facts which the plaintiff relied upon in suing the defendants and presented the evidence elicited from cross examination of the plaintiff that yielded the factual circumstances that the defendants capitalized upon to raise a Motion on Notice for joinder. Although the joinder was swiftly dismissed by the trial court, an appeal to the High Court of Justice, Kwale was subsequently transferred to the Delta State Customary Court of Appeal, Cabal Point, Asaba where the appeal succeeded in parts: while the Local Government Council was ordered to be joined, the joinder of Professor Enu was refused. The study finds that there are clearly laid down guiding principles that a court follows in the determination of every application touching on joinder the Locus classicus of which is laid down in Green v. Green. It was further found that although the grant or refusal of an application for joinder is an exercise within the discretion of the court, which ought to be exercised judicially and judiciously and the appellate courts do not form the habit of interfering often with the exercise of a lower court’s discretion, in this case under review, the court of appeal intervened essentially because the issue of fair hearing was invoked as the Delta State Customary Court of Appeal, Asaba determined that the defendants had sufficiently demonstrated an indictment of the Local Government Council in the performance of its constitutional responsibility and thus ordered that it should be joined to be confronted with the case and complaints of the defendants.