LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATIVE DEVELOPMENT IN IBESIKPO ASUTAN L G A AKWA IBOM STATE, NIGERIA

The 1979 local government reforms called for democratic participation at the grassroot level, decentralization of the country to the local government level, empowering local government to take charge of their administrative development among others. However, despite the reforms, local government’s administrative development in Nigeria is still faced numerous challenges over the years. The study determined the effect of local government and administrative development in Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area. Specifically, the study sought; to examine the effect of training, welfare and communication on administrative development in Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area. Anchored on modernization theory, the study employed survey research design to collect data from 386 respondents gotten from the population of the study which was 143,310, comprised of the youths, women and elders in Ibesikpo Asutan, L.G.A. The instrument for data gathering was a structured questionnaire designed in line with the objective of the study. The data collected were analyzed using frequency tables, simple percentages, while chi-square was used in testing the hypotheses. Findings from study revealed that; training, welfare and communication significantly affect administrative development in Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area. Therefore, the study recommend amongst others that; provisions should be made by the local government to increase level of training by bringing in experts to boost the skills of staff in Ibesikpo Asutan, the local government administration should increase the quality of welfare packages in order to boost the level of administrative development in Ibesikpo Asutan.