The French System:
French Local Government type, “the Commune” is not autonomous. It is highly centralized and dependent on the central government. Its activities are supervised by the Ministry of Interior, represented by a prefect.
The Local Government is headed by an elected Mayor. The Mayors take orders from Prefect, who is an experienced Federal Civil Servant. Apart from the Prefect, Other Members of the council are elected and serve for a six-year term. The council’s annual budget is approved by the legislature and its policies and programmes are approved by the Prefect. It operates a Single-tier system of Local Government Administration.
The British System:
British System operates a multi-tier System of Local Government. There are many kinds of Local authorities. There are six types: Parish Council, Rural District Council, Urban District Council, Borough Council, County Council, and County Borough Council. These councils enjoy a high degree of autonomy. They identify local problems and take actions and decisions on how to solve them in specific areas assigned to each one. Each council is headed by an elected chairman. It has elected councillors and Civil Servants. Each Council provides its own specific services. In an area, more than one local authority will be providing different services.
The Nigerian System:
After 1914, indirect rule was operational in Nigeria. It operated a traditional system, where the native authorities used to carry out the services of the Local Government. In the 1950s, with an increase of Nigerians in the political administration, the North still made use of native authorities while the Eastern and Western regions adopted new systems similar to British System.
In 1976, the introduction of Local Government reform, a new system of Local Government administration, resulted in a Single-tier system of Local Government coming into existence. This Single authority is in charge of all the services the Local Government authority provides in that area. The structure of all the Local Governments is the same. Each Local Government is made up of an elected Chairman, Councilors, and Civil Servants. Chairman heads each Council. Local Government is constitutionally recognized as the third tier of government. Traditional rulers are no longer members of the Local Government Council.
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