Cross Riverians Task Council Chairmen On Accountability, People- Oriented Projects
THE dawn of a new local government administration in Cross River State after a long lull has raised the hopes and expectations of the masses especially the rural populace on prudent management of resources and viable policy direction
Some respondents who spoke with THE BEAGLE NEWS expressed high hopes expressing optimism that rural dwellers will now feel the dividens of democracy at the grassroots.
National Vice Chairman Consolidated Grassroots Movement (CAGraM) South South Zone, and National DG, APC Door- -to-Door Nigeria, Evangelist Ubi Etowa, said: "I think with my interactions with the state leadership, members of support groups, the Party in particular and the masses are so happy since the Supreme Court judgement that actually gave autonomy to local government administration. We all know that every voter in this Country lives in a local government area and so the politics of the local government is always different from that of the state and Federal governments.
"The people are happy that democracy is back at the grassroots established once again after many years of Holgas running the affairs of Councils which did not actually give proper accountability to local government allocations and resources. Cross Riverians now expect fundamental basic needs which Maslow theory refers to as basic physiological needs. According to the theory, every human being is bound to three basic needs before you can think of any other.
"First is Security, the society is prone to security challenges such as banditry, kidnapping, assassination, armed robbery and criminality as a whole. Expectation is that the Council Chairmen, being the Chief Security of their council areas should work in synergy with security agents like the Police force, Civil Defence, DSS among others to ensure that security issues are nib in the bud to protect lives and property..
"Food security. Our state is agrarian in nature, so is Yakurr Local government area. The new council administration should as a matter of priority initiate policies which will boost agricultural development in the area.
"For instance, we have heard about the 'School to Land' programme in Rivers State some years back, where graduates and the unemployed were engaged in farming and allowances were paid. Such a programme can replicated here to guarantee mass production of food for local consumption, industrial raw materials and export.
"Transportation is another area that should be considered. After harvest, farm produce has to be transported to the market, hence the need for construction of rural roads, bridges and culverts to encourage farmers. While the health sector should be looked into. Most health centres in the local government are in dilapidated state, without adequate health personnel. We need well equipped hospitals and sufficient drugs and adequate manpower.
"Then, the educational sector. The Nigerian Constitution spells out free education in primary and secondary schools up to JSS 3 level. For the local government administration to create the much desired impact, schools should be equipped with basic infrastructure to ensure a conducive atmosphere for effective learning. Most schools have leaking roofs while others do not have enough seats and classrooms.
Recently, State Universal Education Board in 34 states in the Country were unable to access their grants from the Universal Education Board because these states did not allow their local governments to access their funds for the primary schools.
"The new Council administration should endeavour to access such funds renovate and equip schools, improve Teachers welfare, train teachers to enhance their productivity, especially in Cross River, we have the Teachers Training Institute in Biase Local government area, the council can sponsor teachers in refresher courses to upgrade their skills.
He empathized further;" There should be regular payment of workers salary., The workers should be paid as at when due, there should be no debts or salary arrests. Regular payment of monthly salary is food Sufficiency that enables Council staff to feed their families well and go to work without hunger." Etowa advised"
On his part, Dr. Olufemi Owoeye, who is the Deputy Registrar of the Federal Polytechnic Ugep, Yakurr Local government area, said:, " my expectation is that the new Council administration should maintain an open door policy and always give a listening ear to the people in order to bridge communication gaps, followed by strategic agricultural policies to empower and boost productivity as well as the economic life of the people.
" This land is blessed, but needs goal oriented administrative planning to succeed. It is unfortunate, past administrations have not created much impact except state government interventions in roads and other infrastructural facilities." Owoeye states.
"Well, Health is equally important while education is paramount. Health care facilities in Yakurr is substandard.Therefore, the Council administration should strive to improve health care facilities to meet the healthcare needs of the people. The Council should also carry out awareness campaigns on government policies on health and agriculture to achieve better implementation results. I wish the new Councils, God's wisdom and peaceful development so that at the end of their tenure the people will beg them for a second term.
Another respondent in Ugep, who preferred anonymity expressed hope that the much celebrated local government autonomy will not be a blessing in disguise to rural dwellers. He also expressed fears that the borsuals will not hijack the democratic process without any structure.
"Our people don't need much, the new Local government administration should improve on agricultural activities by initiating revolving loans which will encourage our people to go into commercial agriculture.
"We expect improved health facilities, people oriented projects, renovated schools as well as provision of social amenities for the less privileged in the society.,"he stated
