Chukwudi Enekwechi
KWALI Area council of Nigeria’s federal capital Abuja is notable for agriculture and pottery making which also elevated an indigene of the area, Ladi Kwali to global recognition and honour. Today the biggest conference hall at the prestigious Abuja Sheraton hotel is named after this illustrious daughter of Kwali area council.
In the present time other prominent sons and daughters of the area are making their people proud with their service and commitment to the accelerated development of the communities. One of them is Honourable Danladi Chiya who is currently in the saddle as the executive chairman of Kwali Area council.
Having being elected about three months ago to run the affairs of the area council for three years he had hit the ground running realising the urgent need repay his people for the mandate they freely gave him. In doing this he undertook a holistic appraisal of the socio-economic needs of his people and is now making sure that his administration is addressing those needs as expected.
For instance, one area he has addressed since May 20 2019 when he assumed office is human capital development as it is key to the successful implementation of the other programmes in his kitty. Already he is boosting the morale of workers of the area council with prompt payment of salaries and allowances as well as improving their working conditions by giving a face lift to the environment and providing power to the area council. He has undertaken a total renovation of all the offices, provided needed furniture, electricity, vehicles and other incentives necessary for any workforce to operate optimally.
As an administrator of note, Honourable Chiya has embarked on the construction and rehabilitation of road networks, bridges and agricultural routes with a view to enabling farmers evacuate their agricultural products to the city markets. Today the various markets in Kwali area council and neighbouring communities are booming based on the boost in economic activities created by the new administration of Honourable Chiya.
Similarly the administration is in the process of providing other incentives to farmers in the area council with their plan to purchase 15,000 tonnes of fertilisers to farmers to increase food production.In the area of job creation, the chairman has within his one hundred days in office facilitated and secured about fifty white collar jobs for the indigenes of the area council in some federal and state government agencies.
Similarly he has in a bid to reduce poverty and create jobs donated forty motorcycles, fifteen sewing machines and some wheelchairs to improve the lives of their, youths, women and the physically challenged.
Also realising the need for a healthy mind in a healthy body, the Chiya administration is paying adequate attention to sports development with the relentless support being given to youths to excel in various sports competitions. His personal involvement at ensuring that sports is giving a pride of place in the area council has spurred the youths into engaging in various sports competitions within and outside the federal capital territory.
In his determination for accelerated rural development in Kwali area council, Honourable Chiya has commenced the rehabilitation of some rural roads not only to make them more accessible for the easy evacuation of agricultural products to the major cities but improve the lives of the rural dwellers. Such roads include the Bonugo- Koroko road, Kwali Market-Ace Microfinance Bank road, Area council secretariat ring road and the Gumbo Bridge. He has also renovate the Kwali Divisional Police station and equipped the facility to enable the personnel function optimally and provide adequate security for the Kwali area council residents.
So under the Chiya administration Nigerians are seeing signs of a local government that is delivering on the mandate given by the electorate and should serve as an example to others in the country. It is indeed a sign that we may be finally getting it right at the grassroots as their leadership are becoming more accountable and responsible.
Perhaps with the recent ceding of financial autonomy to the local governments by the Buhari administration development at the grassroots will increase astronomically, thereby offering the inhabitants a more fulfilling life. Before now financial resources of the local governments were domiciled with the state governments who decided what to allocate to them at their whims and caprices.
Even though some people consider this gesture by the Buhari administration as tokenism in the whole gamut of the clamour for restructuring in the country , yet it will relieve this critical part of the three tiers of government of the burdens they have been faced with on account of the overbearing influence of state governors. In this instance Kwali area council is a typical example of where local government administration is working for the people, especially the rural dwellers as the helmsman is poised to use his tenure to affect their lives positively.
One of the negative effects of state governments’ control of local government finances is that it alienated the elected officials from their people as they were unable to give account of their stewardship. Now having assumed some control, the local governments in Nigeria will have no choice but to deliver on their campaign promises to the electorate as this is the purpose democratic governance is meant to achieve and the example of Kwali area council should be emulated by other in the country.
Enekwechi writes from Abuja.
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