By Anastasia Agunwa/Chizoba Okeke/ Gloria Abugu
The State Commissioner for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Community Affairs, Mr. Collins Nwabunwanne has said that the ministry was planning to reform the entire Local Government system for optimal performance at the grassroots level.
Mr. Nwabunwanne stated this when he led the ministry’s officials and that of the Local Government Service Commission to appear before the House Committee on Local Government & Chieftaincy Matters to defend the 2023 budget proposal at the State legislature.
According to the Commissioner, the ministry has a lot in stock for Ndi Anambra as regards the 2023 budget at the grassroots.
He expressed optimism that under the administration of Prof. Charles Soludo, the ministry would reform the local government councils, adding that a lot of things will come into play.
Most times, we found out that local government staff do not come to work. And we found out that most of the stafftypesnot have the basic tools to work. And that is the issue, by the time this administration starts providing them with the basic tools to work, they will start coming to work.
“It is not enough to crucify them when you don’t even know their problems. So we have been able to identify what these problems are”, he averred.
He decried a situation where Local Government Chairmen type and photocopy the secret documents of the councils outside their offices, thereby indirectly leaking the official secret of their councils because of no working tools in the office.
That is what we are trying to do now, to make sure they are provided with the computer systems to ease their problem.
Nwabunwanne frowned that one could hardly see any local government staff who could type, adding “with that, most of the local government Chairmen go outside to get Secretaries who can type”.
He listed some of the reforms that would take place to include organizing training for Local Government staff on typesetting, knowledge of the particular language use in typing, providing them with typing machines and 10 KVA solar systems.
We are going to organise training for local government staff to ensure that every staff will know how to type. Also train them to know the particular language to use in typing because government has a language to communicate.
We will provide them with typing machines and 10 KVA solar systems because of constant power outages to prevent constant buying of fuel and diesel.
“By the time we provide these solar systems to all the 21 Local Government Councils, then the issue of power will be put to rest because the solar batteries can carry most of the computer weights”, he explained.
On inter community governance, the Commissioner disclosed that they would also looked at the frontiers of government where the community development of the areas would take place.
People who will look into the development of the various communities because we find out that the local government come under a whole huge responsibility.
So we are trying to bring it down, the way they are trying to bring down the federal government to the state, and to the local government areas.
We are also trying to drill from the local government to the frontiers of community development and so many more will come up during the reforms.
We will provide them with chairs and tables, vehicles and activate things that have not been working in the local government. In fact, we will look at things and do the needful to make the local government administration better.
Most of the local government premises are covered with weeds. These are the things we are going to clear off.
“The basic things that we presented today, are the things we need to do before the local government will work again and be conducive enough for the staff and the people”, he said.
He suggested that the revenues of the local government taken aware from them should be given back to them to enable them generate revenues to develop their areas.
Depending on some cases, they can share percentages if need be. These are part of the programmes that we will do for the local governments in 2023 budget.
These projects will not cost much, most of them are like monthly allocations to local governments and when you put some months together, the work can go on.
Look at our educational system at the grassroots, the healthcare centres, we will look at them too.
He was optimistic that things would get quite better if the local government system is reformed.
However, the Chairman House Committee on Local Government & Chieftaincy Matters, Mr. Pete Ibida representing Njikoka 11 State Constituency has advised the ministry to ensure that the local government councils perform creditably.
Equally appeared before the various committees at the State legislature to defend their 2023 budget estimates include the deputy Governor’s office, the Ministry of Justice, Judicial Service Commission/ High Court of Justice/Customary Court Appeal and the Ministry of Industry.(Ministry Of Information)
