AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

Chapter One

Introduction

1.1          Background of the study

The local government system is specially designed to bring governance close to the people at the grassroots. The need to enhance efficiency and workability of the system led to the reforms in the local government administration in Nigeria. In spite of these reforms the system has neither brought the much desired results especially in transforming the rural areas nor checked corruption which thrives in Nigeria.

Indeed, one area where the system has suffered severe dislocations is in the field of Personnel management. This has helped to enforce low morals in many workers resulting in low productivity, favoritism and corruption. In order to sanitize the system therefore, there is need to keep strictly to the standard rules in relation to proper personnel placement in all the Departments in the local government (Isabemoch, 2010).

Personnel management for many years being the most strategic and potent resource in any organization, has not received the desired professional management for the attainment of local governments’ contributions towards national development. Consequently, lack of performance on the part of local government personnel often results in moribund national development. That is why the role of local government in national development has always been a question of argument and general discussion. The issue becomes worse when problems of development are traced to lack of managerial ability manifested in the inability to plan and execute government programmes as well as efficient and effective social service delivery Peter (2015).

Chafi (2014) Personnel management in local government makes development to be possible, so there is the need for the emergence of a sound manpower management programme within which adequate, skilled and well-motivated workforce should operate. No local government can be efficient and effective if it underrates the critical role that people play in achieving goals.

1.2 Statement of the problem

In public administrative management such as local Government Administration, little or no attention is often paid to personnel management as an indispensable tool for Local Government Administration. In any organization, public or private personnel play an in dispensation role in the success and growth of the organization. A cursory look at local government management in the state typifies that they cannot perform optional because they see personnel management strategies as irrelevant. No wonder local governments in the state are totally dependent on government subsidy. Inability to cater for the growth of the local government is the resultant effect of unproductivity.