Aligning ICT for service delivery in Nigerian local government

Local government (LG) in Nigeria suffers from poor governance, and its corollary - inability to properly administer and deliver services. Though various reforms had been implemented by successive governments, all had yielded little or no results. However, from 1999, the new civilian administration has strongly advocated the use of Information Communications Technology (ICT) at all levels of government to facilitate better service delivery. The paper reviews the challenges facing ICT application and opportunities accruable from it, especially in the area of service delivery. Findings from data in the sampled LGs reveal an incredibly low level of ICT presence and application. Likewise, lack of web presence and web portals has deprived the LGs of efficient delivery of basic services; more so, most councils are riddled with bureaucratic lethargy. And that an implementation of appropriate ICT solutions offers an opportunity for reducing the cost of service delivery, creates easy assess to government information, and facilitate openness and transparency in governance. The paper recommends the development of web based application to harvest data, catalyse data processing, develop capacity building, establish telecentres and integrate the LG councils into the national ICT strategic plan.