Brief History

The Department of Local Government and Development Studies as the name implies teaches and conducts inquiry into Local Government operations, organization and management. Prior to this, the Department was known as the Department of Research, Management and Consultancy established in 1971 with the following responsibilities.

1. To provide the governments of Northern States and to a lesser extent to the Federal Government of Nigeria , and business enterprises in the Northern States a consultancy and advisory services in the areas of organization analysis, financial management, development administration, personnel management, law and judicial administration and problems of local and urban governments.
2. To promote a variety of Conferences, Meetings, Seminars and Workshops to
discuss problems in the general field of administration.
3. To provide a research facility for the Institute of Administration.
4. To provide a publications facility for the Institute of Administration.

Following the 1976 Local Government reforms the Federal Government correctly observed that facilities had to be established to develop the much needed manpower for the newly created Local Governments. Consequently in 1979, the Federal Government designated three National Universities as Centres for the training of high and middle level manpower for the new local governments in the country. Ahmadu Bello University and specifically the Department of Research and Consultancy now the Department of Local Government and Development Studies was designated to train local government staff for the northern states except Benue, Kogi and Kwara States.

It was in response to this demand that the department began the following training programmes in the 1979/80 academic session.

1. MPA in Local Government: This is a fifteen month programme and students are offered two major areas of specialization: Administration/Management and Finance/Accounting.
2. The Advanced Diploma in Local Government: This is a one year programme to equip serving senior local government officers with advanced management skills.
3. The Higher Diploma in Local Government Administration: This is a Two-year programme also designed to provide advanced and professional higher local government training for middle and top local government Staff/ Officers.
4. The Diploma in Local Government. This is a two year programme designed to equip middle level local government staff with requisite professional, accounting and management skills.

The Diploma programmes were suspended along with all other Diploma programmes in the 1994/95 session by the Major- General Mamman Kontagora Administration in Ahmadu Bello University as Sole Administrator. It was in 2006 Academic Session that all the suspended Diploma Courses in ABU were reinstituted. The Institute of Administration is incharge of Diploma Courses. The MPA (L.G) and Ph. D (LG) Programmes continues in the Department.

Mission

The goals of the programme are as follows:
(a) To produce individuals with a broad and balanced understanding of local government and development issues.
(b) To approach the study of local government and development in a more focused, structured, systematic and organized manner.
(c) To provide a stable and formal forum where modern and current literature and methodologies on local government and development studies can easily be channeled, taught and developed.
(d) To arrest tendency for duplication in the location of a base or discipline for the study of local government and development. In so doing a concerted curriculum that would address the issues of local government and development and their interdisciplinary nature, would be developed and implemented. In other words, the programme aims to achieve a coordinated forum for the comprehensive study of local government and development issues, especially at the first degree level (which has been lacking in the University).

Philosophy

The challenges of the 21st century dictate that institutions should be responding more to changes and development from the environment rather than those generated by these institutions. This is because the effects of globalization and information technology, and scientific breakthrough and indeed the plethora of socio-economic and political problems pose significant impacts on ‘institutionalization’ and the existing ways of doing things, plus the very objectives for which organizations exist. As a result of these, there is need for the development of appropriate manpower to appreciate and respond to such changes in the interest of organizations and their objectives.

Local Government and Development Studies therefore seeks to stimulate and support change oriented administration by developing appropriate manpower to deal with such growing situations.

The type of manpower envisaged includes:
a) One that can initiate and manage change in and for an organization.
b) One that is receptive to change and should be able to use environmentally induced changes to the advantage of the organization.
c) One that is not going to allow the organization to lag behind current developments in the environment;
d) One that can read changes and adapt to them;
e) One that can translate the imperatives of change for the development of both people and the organization.

The idea in all these is to produce a balanced individual that is exposed to, and understands the idea of Development, its interdisciplinary nature, functionality, universalistic appeal and centrality to the understanding of man and his environment.

From a local government perspective, the exercise will move the traditional conception of local government from a mere governmental bureaucracy to a dynamic institution that is capable of responding to its immediate and wider environment as they throw up challenges.

Academic Programmes

Staff List