The tasks before new Abia Mayors
By Ogbonnaya Ikokwu
The much-talked-about underdevelopment of many rural communities across Abia State and Nigeria at large is not unconnected with the leadership failure at the Local Government level. This is because the local government, as the third tier of government, is closest to the grassroots.
The 1999 Constitution created a lacuna by providing for a Joint Allocation Account Committee (JAAC) between the state and local government.
Furthermore, the constitution also gave the State House of Assembly the power to make laws for the smooth running of the local government system, thereby giving the State the lee way to always dictate to the local government.
Since the inception of the present democratic dispensation in Nigeria in 1999, state governors have been using the Local Government as a settlement package to their loyalists by appointing them to superintend over the councils.
Again, since Local Government allocations go into the joint account, governors also devised the means to determine what each local council will get against its statutory allocation from the Federation Account.
But shortly after the assumption of office by President Bola Tinubu, the Attorney General of the Federation approached the Federal High Court, Abuja with a suit seeking for the financial autonomy for the 774 LGAs in the country.
The governors, however, challenged the suit but the Federal Government won the case on July 11, when the Supreme Court decided the matter in its favour and granted financial autonomy to the Local Government system.
The apex court also ruled that every state must conduct Local Government elections to elect chairmen, their deputies and councillors within three months.
As a result of the judgment, Gov. Alex Otti constituted the Abia State Independent Electoral Commission (ABSIEC) on September 5, and appointed Prof. George Chima, as the Chairman. The commission’s mandate includes but not limited to the conduct of free, fair and credible Local Government elections.
The commission fixed November 2 for this year’s council elections and worked hard to achieve a successful exercise with the election of the 17 chairmen and 182 councillors.
Now that the elections are over, the task ahead of the newly elected chairmen, their deputies and councillors will be to reposition their councils for greater efficiency toward making life more meaningful for their people.
Each Local Government chairman and his team must do a proper diagnosis of the challenges facing their people and come up with short, medium and long term solutions, by taking advantage of their council’s areas of comparative advantage to excel.
It is pertinent to state that the new council leaderships must join hands with Gov. Alex Otti, who is working round the clock to build access roads to the various local governments across the state.
The governor charged the mayors during their inauguration to focus on solving the basic problems that have confronted the people in their various councils over the years.
These problems include the lack of access to potable water, basic health and education services, effective maintenance of Trunk C roads and quick response to security threats in the local communities. These should receive priority attention.
Since many of our councils in Abia are in the rural areas, the chairmen should make it a point of priority to grade roads leading to the farmlands, markets, health centres and schools.
Another task that the mayors should also undertake will be the renovation and retrofitting of public primary schools and health centres.
Beyond changing of roofs, windows, doors and repainting of walls, all other facilities required to run the education and health sectors should be made available.
It is important to note that if adequate attention is paid to education at the grassroots level, many problems associated with youth restiveness, drug abuse, armed robbery and prostitution would be reduced to the barest minimum.
Reducing insecurity and crime in our communities should be the first item on the list of priorities by the mayors, because no meaningful progress will be made with insecurity in the rural areas.
The only way the mayors can replicate the vision for a New Abia is by residing in their respective LGAs so as to feel the pulse of their people through regular interactions with them. This will help to keep them abreast of their needs and aspirations.
No mayor should see his emergence as an opportunity to tour the world, expand his business frontiers and become super rich, rather they should see their victory as a call to the servicee of their people.
Mayors must work assiduously to leave their foot prints on the sands of time by taking after the developmental strides of great leaders like Dr Michael Okpara, Dr Akanu Ibiam and Dee Sam Mbakwe, whose legacies still speak for them decades after their demise.
They should also close ranks with Gov. Otti and replicate his Abia first mantra in their LGAs.
Indeed, Abia will experience an unprecedented wave of development across board, if the mayors put the interest and needs of the people first in all their undertakings while in office.