Mbah Charges LG Chairmen to Take Government to the Grassroots, Tackle Poverty

Our Reporter 

Governor of Enugu State, Dr Peter Mbah, has charged the newly sworn-in chairmen of the 17 local government areas in the state to make themselves accessible to the people and take concrete steps to reduce poverty at the grassroots.

Mbah gave the charge on Wednesday at the swearing-in of the newly elected local government chairmen and vice chairmen at the Government House, Enugu, stressing that the local government system must be an active partner in delivering development to communities across the state.

He said the chairmen, as the tier of government closest to the people, had a critical responsibility to ensure that the benefits of government reached residents, particularly poor and vulnerable households in rural communities.

The governor said his administration's objective of eradicating poverty in Enugu could not be achieved without deliberate interventions at the local government level, where many residents directly experience the challenges of inadequate access to education, healthcare, sanitation, economic opportunities and other basic services.

Mbah, therefore, urged the chairmen to immediately commence work and align their programmes with the broader development agenda of the state, particularly in education, healthcare, sanitation, agriculture and poverty reduction.

He also reminded them that their election had created a social contract between them and the people, saying the promises made during the electioneering period had now become obligations that must be fulfilled.

“In the last few weeks, you went around the communities, meeting our people, soliciting their votes. They have done you that honour of giving you their mandates to serve them and it is now your turn to discharge those commitments.

“So, what you have just done here today is beyond symbolism. It is quite significant because it means that you have just sealed the social contract you have with the people.

“I would, therefore, imagine that you are going to hit the ground running because there is really no honeymoon when we have quite a whole number of tasks ahead of us at this point,” he said.

The governor particularly challenged the council chairmen to remain physically and administratively accessible to the people, stressing that elected local government officials must be available to listen to residents, understand their challenges and respond responsibly to their needs.

“You must be accessible to the people that elected you. You must be accountable to them. And you must spend their resources responsibly,” Mbah said.

He said poverty reduction should not be treated as a slogan, but as a measurable development objective, urging the chairmen to identify poor and vulnerable residents in their respective areas and design interventions capable of improving their livelihoods.

According to him, the state's poverty-eradication agenda must begin from the communities, with local governments playing a central role in identifying gaps, mobilising resources and ensuring that government programmes produce tangible improvements in the lives of residents.

Mbah also placed education high on the agenda of the new council administrations, directing the chairmen to look beyond the construction or renovation of school buildings and focus on measurable educational outcomes.

He urged them to establish the number of school-age children within their respective local government areas who were not attending school and work systematically towards ensuring that every child of school age was enrolled.

“It should equally interest you to have the statistics of those kids that are of school age that are not in school in your local government and to be actively working to ensure that you have zero — and I mean zero — not even one child who is of school age should be out of school,” he said.

The governor said the new council administrations should see themselves as development partners with the state government rather than as a passive tier of government.

He urged them to deploy their resources responsibly and ensure that government interventions were targeted at areas with the greatest needs, especially communities where poverty and deprivation remained prevalent.

The Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission had on Sunday declared candidates of the All Progressives Congress winners of the 17 chairmanship and 260 councillorship seats in the local government election conducted across the state on Saturday.

The newly sworn-in chairmen are John Ogbodo, Nkanu West; Mike Ogbuekwe, Nkanu East; Ugochukwu Nwanjoku, Aninri; Jude Chinedu Asogwa, Nsukka; Caleb Ani, Enugu South; Ugo Ferdinand Ukwueze, Igboeze South; Brendan Emeka Ani, Isi-Uzo; Ibenaku Onoh, Enugu North; Martin Amadieze, Igbo-Etiti; and Innocent Ezeoha, Udenu.

Others are Chris Onyekachi Simon, Igboeze North; Chijioke Ezeugwu, Uzo-Uwani; Hyginus Agu, Udi; Uche Okolo, Awgu; Beloved Dan Anike, Enugu East; Greg Anyaegbudike, Oji River; and Vitals Ndu, Ezeagu.

Responding on behalf of the chairmen, the Chairman of Igboeze South Local Government Area and Deputy Chairman of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria, Enugu State, Barr. Ugo Ferdinand Ukwueze, expressed appreciation to the people of the state and Governor Mbah for the opportunity to serve.

Ukwueze said some of the chairmen who had previously served under the governor had acquired valuable experience and knowledge that would guide them in their new responsibilities.

He pledged the commitment of the chairmen to good governance and said they would work to justify the confidence reposed in them by the electorate.

“For those of us that were privileged to serve under your leadership in the past two years, I can tell you that the knowledge gained, experience acquired cannot be measured in words.

“We want to sincerely commit and recommit ourselves to the course of your good governance so that at the end of our tenure, we will be proud that Enugu State gave you the opportunity to groom us to what we are actually becoming,” he said.

The ceremony was witnessed by the Deputy Governor, Barr. Ifeanyi Ossai; members representing Nkanu East and West and Igboeze North and South Federal Constituencies, Hon. Nnolim Nnaji and Hon. Dennis Agbo; Deputy National Chairman (South) of the APC, Dr Ben Nwoye; State APC Chairman, Dr Martin Chukwunweike; Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia; Chief of Staff, Barr. Victor Udeh; and other government officials and dignitaries.