By Matthew Gbenu The focus of governance has a bit tilted towards the local government in recent times, one of the reasons being that eve...
By Matthew Gbenu
The focus of governance has a bit tilted towards the local government in recent times, one of the reasons being that every tiers of Nigeria government has experienced surge in the public fund as a result of removal of fuel subsidy and floating of naira, hence while the masses face the harsh economic realities of these two policies the government at all level have been enriched and empowered to deliver dividends of governance to the governed- that should be the succor to bear the pain of the policies.
Since the policies took effect, the average monthly income handed over by the state government to the local government has doubled, if not tripled.
Below is the relative money extended to the three administrative governments that made up Badagry Local Government in 2025, and the average in 2023 was around 290m monthly.
It is important to note that these funds are money released to them for their programmes and in no way include salaries of primary school teachers and local government staff, as the state government deducts these before funding the local government from the JAAC.
BADAGRY Local Government
Jan. - 292,683,384.20
Feb. - 415,647,437.28
Mar. - 381,506,991.03
Apr. - 367,765,338.39
May - 376,236,170.68
Jun. - 329,508,403.48
Badagr West LCDA
Jan. - 284,067,103.16
Feb. - 410,142,796.03
Mar. - 377,493,922.68
Apr. - 353,755,163.24
May - 361,855,910.62
Jun. - 294,198,235.48
Olorunda LCDA
Jan. - 277,943,559.49
Feb. - 406,943,163.65
Mar. - 374,294,290.30
Apr. - 350,555,530.86
May - 358,656,278.24
Jun. - 317,156,879.32
These figures are important to set the pace for a healthy discussion around local governance without leaving room for unnecessary assumptions.
I would have preferred to compare the 3 Local Government administrations in Badagry constituency, but I will rescind and bring in an external Local Government in Lagos– Agboyi Ketu.
I believe if something is good, the question that follows is as good as what and if something is bad as bad as what. As nothing is measured in a vacuum. There should be a standard measuring metric.
Agboyi Ketu is an 'LCDA' in Lagos, with funding not as big as its counterpart in Badagry.
For instance for February and March of 2025
Agboyi Ketu received 342,356,698.44 and 313,733,991.71, respectively.
What does this mean? In simple terms, it means that for February and March, Badagry Local Government(central) received 73,290,738.84 and 60,560,298.59 more, Badagry West received 67,786,097.59 and 63,759,930.97 more, and Olorunda received an extra 64,586,465.21 and 60,560,298.59, respectively, in the same time frame compared to Agboyi Ketu. We can go ahead to do the differential percentage if our mathematics is not poor.
This comparison is important for us to truly have at least a basic understanding of what we are debating for or against. I chose Agboyi Ketu because I meticulously followed his programmes for his second tenure, as he was equally a two-term Mayor as his counterparts in Badagry.
Now to the matter,
Among the too many projects the Chairman of Agboyi ketu executed especially at his second tenure these caught my attention a total of 4.457km of roads( 13 roads) were constructed. 2 mini stadium with artificial turf were built not only equip for football but other sport activities, more than 300 housing units were constructed( probably under PPP arrangements) a real definition of modern market was built, well equipped tech house and many more ...
One of his social welfare programs, tagged "Welift", saw him directly injecting 275m in a year into the local economy through verifiable empowering of Medium and small businesses and giving out loaded cowry cards for free BRT buses to selected beneficiaries....
I usually look forward to the updates of his programmes time to time, if he is not dredging the waterway without waiting for the state ministry of environment, he is building a well-designed architectural edifice in schools, not only in primary school but also in secondary schools–which he would have claimed was not in his purview. He argues that the project is for the people of Agboyi Ketu, and they don't have to suffer while waiting for the state government.
As against what is attainable in the Administrative governments of Badagry Local Government, where a project is said to be PPP, such a project becomes a shadow of itself. There is not a single PPP project that was conclusively completed in 8 years, and not a single one was the initial plan and layout followed through to the letter. Developers build as they like without any supervision or oversight by the local governments. In some instances, developers take advantage of weak local government leadership and erect unplanned structures to maximise profits, and no plan was put in place to pave the floors of the markets that were said to be rebuilt, making their conditions worse than what they used to be. This makes the 'private' in the partnership the sole beneficiaries of the scheme. This was not the case in Agboyi Ketu. Attached is the image of one of the built markets. Look around our local government's area, and see if we can find something closer to that.
Badagry, West and Olorunda:
I am not here to water down, the achievements of any of the chairmen of our Local government, nevertheless it would be worthy of note that, from the 6 months of data pasted above, each local government received
Badagry: ₦2,163,347,725.06;
Olorunda: ₦2,085,549,701.86;
West: ₦2,081,513,131.21
While the difference is as follows:
Badagry vs Olorunda₦77,798,023.20
Badagry vs West₦81,834,593.85
Olorunda vs West₦4,036,570.65
Extrapolating these figures, what it means monthly, Badagry local government(central) received an average of 12.9m above Olorunda and 13.6m above West, and Olorunda received 0.67m above West. In summary, putting into account that the Badagry (central) expand into 10 wards, caters for 9 kingdoms and demands more overhead cost compared to West with 5 wards, two kingdoms and Olorunda with 5 wards, 3 kingdoms. Whatever developmental strides achieved in the central should be achievable in West and Olorunda, since the money they received is relatively equal. Was this the case? I think the public is in the best position to judge.
To the incoming Chairmen
Spread your developmental programmes evenly among the wards. Do your best not to concentrate your infrastructural developments in the highbrow areas, as this is the Badagry experience with the Lagos state government; we should not replicate this in our local government.
Take heed and learn early how to manage these Bureaucratic elements positioned within the council by the state government: The council manager(CM), Council treasurer(CT) and the Budget. These three can stiffen your developmental strides. You can't deep your hand in those funds without their buy-in! It's not a blank cheque.
Secondly, while in most instances it's your Party that formed your cabinets and always the case, the selected people are mostly the ones picked for political balances and not on merit and capacity. They would likely come on board with no idea of their own to help you drive your vision. For these reasons, keep to your side, vibrant young minds that will help you in your quest.
Finally, invest in tourism, tourism is Badagry's goldmine, and it's on a concurrent list. The concerned local councils should take a bold step; we don't have to wait for the state government to make this happen. Engage the services of real experts in this field.
Now that the current administration has come to an end, the incoming chairmen should take note that the populace will hold them accountable for the public funds from day one in office. While the masses bleed as a result of the economic hardship due to subsidy removal and the wealth is transferred to the government, those saddled with governance should not be balling with public money while the masses boil and bleed.
We, too, in Badagry can have developmental strides that match those in Lagos. If one can do it, why not all?
The attached images/video are those of Agboyi Ketu.
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