The Chairman, Aniocha North Local Government in
Delta, Mr. Jaunty Okwudi, has called for greater performance by the
councils to eliminate what he called the negative perception of the
third tier of government.
Okwudi
told our source in Asaba that efforts should be geared toward the
provision of potable water, electricity, good health services and
quality education by the councils.
The
belief of many people is that council chairmen are looters who have
nothing to offer to the rural dwellers than to share the allocation of
the councils. We need to change this perception, the only way is to
develop the area through the provision of social amenities, he said.
He said
the perception could only be changed when the chairmen used available
resources to develop their areas and impact on lives of the people.
He said
that his administration would not ask for assistance from well-to-do
indigenes of the area, until he gave account of what was spent and
also let the people know what his projections were. Development is not
negotiable, that is what the people want to see, he said.
He said
that it would be unwise to ask for assistance now because people would
begin to have negative feeling about what he intended to do.
He
called on the Federal Government to show more concern toward
ecological problems in various communities in the state.
On
revenue generation, Okwudi said that the council was planning to adopt
new methods of revenue generation, adding that the present monthly
generated revenue was below N50,000 which, he noted, was not enough to
execute capital projects.
I have
good plans for my people which I believe will have positive impact on
their well-being, there is need for me to re-energise the entire
revenue yielding departments, he said.
We need
much money to be able to execute a number of projects identified in
the communities, Okwudi said.
He said
that the officials of various revenue yielding departments would be
re-trained to reposition them for the task ahead.
Okwudi
said that the idea behind the Fiscal Responsibility Bill was good
because it would instill fiscal discipline in public officers,
especially in the councils.
We are
hoping that in bringing this bill into effect it will do away with
major bottlenecks that plagued the development effort of the local
government, he said.
He said
that the introduction of the bill in the state was to make sure that
there was accountability in the management of public funds.
On the
joint account by the state and the councils, he said the issue was a
good development, but cautioned on the introduction of unnecessary
administrative procedures
As
new chapters and affiliate clubs, unions or groups emerge, we shall
report their news here. We currently have information on five of such
Organizations and you can see those behind them by clicking
