By Sunday Ani
Lagos House of Assembly Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, has warned that local government chairmen, vice chairmen, councillors and other top officials of the 57 councils in the state will, henceforth, face strict monitoring to make them meet the yearnings and aspirations of the people.
Obasa said reports available to the House have shown that some of the council chairmen have not met the expectations of their people, so far. He warned it would no longer be business as usual in the councils as the Assembly would now ensure strict compliance to serving the interests of the people.
At separate meetings with the council chairmen, vice chairmen, councillors and senior staff of the councils in Lagos recently, Obasa frowned at the aloofness that these set of public office holders have exhibited at that level of government to the detriment of the expectations of Lagosians.
Obasa, who noted that council officials in Lagos were the only ones with four-year term in Nigeria, added that it was disheartening how some of the chairmen personalise monthly allocations, while their communities yearn for infrastructure and other forms of developmental initiatives.
“I wonder how you sleep with your eyes closed while your council cannot even build and equip a good maternity centre. You can’t justify the fact that in six months, there is no meaningful project done by you in your community.
“Some councils have had no single project for over two years. You treat the vice chairmen and councillors like they must be subservient even when you are going astray. Some of your councillors have not received official vehicles up till now. Some of your councils do not have legislative chambers, meaning that the councillors have not been holding sittings. How do you get approvals for the money you spend?
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“We are aware of how some of the councils go ahead to borrow money up to nine-digit figures without approvals or due process and how they lease council property without caution. We won’t allow these to happen again.
“It is now strictly going to be true governance at the grassroots level. If you don’t develop your communities, where would you fall back to when you leave office? How would the people see you?” the speaker asked while urging the councillors to beef up their effectiveness.
Obasa maintained that having a well-equipped maternity centre in every ward of the local governments for residents to easily access healthcare is not impossible. He also enjoined the chairmen to embark on creation of parks and gardens in their local government areas for the well-being of the people.
Going forward, he said each council chairman must adopt a policy that every quarter, “there must be something to show that you are truly in office; let there be something to commission.
“If you’re to construct a road, it shouldn’t be one that would last for a month or a year. It should be something that would make people pray for you each time they pass through it. Let’s truly serve our people.”
He warned the chairmen, the council managers and treasurers against constituting themselves into a power bloc that runs the councils without inputs from the vice chairmen and councillors, who are supposed to issue approvals for spending and projects.
“We are here today to talk to one another. This is no witch-hunt. But, I want you to always ask yourselves if you have been doing well for the people who voted you into office. How well have you been treating your vice chairmen, councillors and staff too?
“Some of you were vice chairmen before and you bitterly complained about your chairmen. Now that you are chairmen, what have you done to change what you complained about? How have you bettered those working with you? How have you changed the lives of your councillors?
“You need to have the fear of God and treat the people around you right. We, my colleagues and I, seriously made efforts, passed through a lot to amend the law for your benefits and to make you stay in office for four years. You need to think about the public and how to touch them.
“The best way to handle your office is to touch lives and do things that would make people speak well of you later in life. We have not asked you for money. All we are saying is that you do things for the progress of our state.
“The governor of our state cannot do it all alone. You are, therefore, supposed to be the nearest to the grassroots and help him with your own efforts.
“We must try to move with the moment. The world is moving and we can’t continue to do things like we live in the past,” he said.
He also advised the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs to always guide the chairmen and other officials to deliver democratic dividends to their people.
Chairman of Conference 57, Kolade Alabi David, commended the speaker for his advice and promised there would be changes in the way the chairmen run the affairs of their councils.