Mallam Yusuf Abdullahi, an accountant and management expert, says local governments need autonomy and effective revenue generation to enable them function well as a tier of government.
Abdullahi said this in Ilorin while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the sideline of the launching ceremony of a book he authored.
The book is titled “Ways To Achieve Effective Revenue Generation in the Local Government System – Kwara State in Perspective”.
Abdullahi, who rose from a revenue officer in the local government system to the position of treasurer expressed regret that the councils had failed to tap into potential areas for revenue generation at the grassroots.
According to him, most of the local governments in the state rely largely on allocation from the federation account.
This, he said, was not too good as oil was failing in the world as a source of revenue.
“I don’t want the little experience I have gathered over the years in revenue generation to die with me. I want the present generation and the one’s yet unborn to benefit from it, learn from it and build on it so that they can implement the recommendations.
“There is a need to diversify into other sources of revenue. We have solid minerals in Kwara, agriculture is there and tourist attractions can also fetch the system revenue,” he said.
Abdullahi, who is currently a Director of Finance at the Kwara State Local Government Service Commission, condemned engagement of consultants for revenue collection in some local governments in the state.
He said that there were competent hands in the system that could coordinate revenue generation better.
The author advised state governments not to usurp the constitutional powers of local governments in areas of revenue collection.
“There is no need for any state government to collect revenue on behalf of local governments. It is specified in the constitution the areas of revenue collection for the two governments,”he said.
He, however, urged local governments to raise the level of infrastructure development at the grassroots to encourage voluntary revenue payments.
Earlier in his remarks, Alhaji Yahaya Alapasanpa, Chairman of the event, described the book as timely, particularly now that President Muhammadu Buhari’s government had granted financial and administrative autonomy to local government systems in the country.
Alapasanpa said that recommendations in the book, if adhered to would help in making the system result-oriented and pave way for effective administration.
Dr Mustapha Yusuf, who reviewed the book, said that the 78-page book, highlighted potential areas of revenue generation in each of the 16 local governments in the state.
According to him, the recommendations will enhance effective revenue generation in the third tier of government. (NAN)
