The abysmal performance of Enugu local council chairmen in the almost two years of their administration is leaving a sour taste in the mouth.
As the third tier of government, the local government councils are the first and most tangible contact with government and indeed democracy that the people have, hence the need for the chairmen to deliberately pursue the implementation of programmes, projects and initiatives aimed at improving the lives of the people, a feature completely lacking in the present crop of chairmen in the state.
Almost two years down the line, it has become evident that the chairmen, vice chairmen and councillors have lived below expectations as clearly seen in their poor performance, misappropriation of funds as well as embarking on projects that have little or no value on the electorate leaving them to the mercies of God for survival and a total collapse of the local government system.
The desperation of some of the chairmen to get second terms in office has also led to massive embezzlement of public funds meant for developmental projects. This leaves one to wonder how a business man will continue in a business that does not fetch him profit.
Ndi Enugu are yet to see visible projects embarked-on, by these set of chairmen.
The set of activities that fall within the purview of local go councils are the building blocks of all indices of good governance, economic growth and human development. According to the 1999 constitution, local councils are responsible for primary, adult and vocational education, health services, agriculture and natural resource development.
More importantly, the local council is the level of government that is most accessible and can be most accountable to the citizens. Poor villagers who cannot afford the cost of transportation to state capital, can walk to their local councils to make their voices heard and demand accountability for service provisions.
No doubt, local government areas are treated as cash cows by state governors and political party ‘kingmakers’ rather than development centers that they are designed to be.
Local council chairmen are typically nominated by the state governor through the state’s electoral body, and supported financially by kingmakers who expect to be paid back.
This gives room for resource leakages and other forms of abuse of public treasury in the sense that funds meant for basic services are diverted for personal uses.
