Kunle ADELABU
The Chairman of Ikorodu-Oga Development Association (IKODASS), Otunba Ganiyu Abiru, has stated that the problem with the Councils in Ikorodu division is the penchant of their leadership to play to the gallery with projects that have no value to the people.
The former Permanent Secretary/Clerk of the Lagos State House of Assembly stated this while delivering his speech after being sworn-in for the second term as chairman of IKODASS on Sunday, June 16, 2019.
He alleged that the councils, which should be the closest tier of government to the people at the grassroots, are too far away from them .
“Our local governments, which are the third tier of government and which are supposed to be very close to the people, are paradoxically very far away from those they are supposed to look after.
“All of them are complaining of inadequacy of funds to execute projects, while those that are executing projects have not altruistically prioritized what they are executing . Projects will be meaningful if they will be beneficial to the greatest number of people living in that community.
“What I see as the albatross of our local governments’ leadership is their penchant to play to the gallery with less impactful projects”.
Otunba Abiru, who is a former Executive Secretary of Ikorodu Local Government during his service days, called for the revisit of internally generated revenue method.
“For the local governments to deliver the dividends of democracy, the institution must revisit its method of revenue collection.
“A system where a local government contracts out its revenue collection to inexperienced people, politicians, cronies and relatives is not only a disservice to the institution but also to the people of that community”, Abiru stated.
“The use of this category of people is responsible for the several linkages being experienced in the revenue generation and collection activities of the local governments”.
While saying that he is not opposed to the use of Consultants in generating revenue, the retired Permanent Secretary stated that career civil servants or professional consultants should be considered for such service.
“I will suggest that this responsibility should either be left for the Civil Servants who have a career to pursue or professional consultants with credible antecedents and professional background.
“We cannot continue to run government as a personal fiefdom. The time to change is now because when the day of reckoning comes, Ikorodu people will decide what is good for them”.
While challenging the local government administrators to be creative in revenue generation and administration of councils, Otunba Abiru warned them that people are getting more enlightened.
“Our local government chairmen must be creative and innovative to meet the challenges of the present day socio-economic and political realities. We should know that our politics is wearing a new improved colour while the electorates are getting enlightened by the day”.
