A lot has been written in previous chapters on the 1962 - 1963 Census Crisis in Nigeria and this article only puts the whole problem in perspective. The census crisis was the first major political conflict to be confronted by the post-colonial Nigerian state.

The terms local government and local administration are sometimes used interchangeably, but they mean different things. A local government is a government at the local level established by law to exercise specific powers within defined areas while Local administration is the governing of a local area by local agents who are appointed by, and responsible to, the central (state) government.