This study examines the difficulty local governments experience in fulfilling their constitutional responsibilities as the third level of government, even in the face of government changes aimed at improving their performance and offering lessons learnt to address the issues. Local government administration, Nigeria's third tier of government, is in charge of bringing about socioeconomic development locally. Since the establishment of the nation's local governments, numerous reforms have been tried, but unsuccessfully, to achieve the goal of local government establishment. The study collected and analyzed data using a qualitative approach. According to the survey, local government is finding it more and more challenging to successfully serve the public. The study came to the conclusion that both the federal and state governments could address the institutional and attitudinal aspects of the problems. It suggested giving the local government the same level of autonomy as the other levels of government in order to enable it to function freely. A legislative framework should also be in place to prevent the state government from needlessly interfering in local governments' internal matters. Finally, human resources should be available to provide effective leadership and accountability in order to accomplish the goals outlined by the establishment of local governments in Nigeria.