Experience in Nigeria with decentralized approaches to local delivery of primary education and primary health services

Introductory sections of this research report describe the general framework of local government in Nigeria, its relation to national and state government, and its role in service delivery, as well as the problem of fiscal authority, including the distribution of government funds and fiscal relations between local governments. The paper then reviews the delivery of primary education in the four villages, followed by a lengthy and detailed examination of the delivery of health care services. The report concludes that the incentives facing most public officials and citizens are not conducive to improved delivery of rural public services, even given the economic improvements generated by structural adjustment. Health workers and schoolteachers have faced a drastic reduction in the value of their salaries, as well as immense uncertainty about their future. State and local governments are still subject to unpredictable structural and policy changes initiated by the central government. Their boundaries, authority, responsibility, and tax bases can be changed at will. This lack of autonomy may change with the promised return of civilian rule, but the tradition of arbitrary change from the center has permeated the Nigerian experience under both civilian and military regimes. Includes 11-page bibliography.