Crusaderhotnews
*_By Eseosa Ewere_*
Once it was in local government administration when the public ignorantly bought into the unpopular narrative that local governments only existed to pay salaries and as such they did not have the muscle or war chest to embark on capital projects
During this unholy era, one could be employed as a Council Staff or an appointee, lacking creative ideas, innovation and maintaining perpetual absence from work, during these dark days, one could see a Council Chairman once in a while, when allocation hits the account, and they gather once every month to share the spoils of allocation and it would the next month before they come again
It was a period when the public could not call for accountability and report card; a period of high-wired underdevelopment, when Council Secretariats were daily deserted for lack of programmes, non-existent policies and unrealistic framework for development
Yet, politicians fed fat for doing nothing order that feasting on the people’s collective patrimony
Little did the people know that like the President or Governor, a Local Government Chairman equally was responsible for the overall development of the locality, putting the necessary human and material resources together to institutionalize good governance, reverse infrastructural decadence as well as develop human capacity for increased productivity
Little or nothing was known about the fact that a Council Boss could rally the religious, traditional and academic institutions, other critical stakeholders to develop a developmental template that will suffice to redeem the battered image the LGA may have sustained from failed successive administrations
The people were never aware that they could speak with one voice with the aim to achieve optimum performance from the Chairman
During this unpopular era, there was crass disconnect between local government administrations and the communities; whereas local governments towed the path of financial promiscuity and administrative malfeasance, the people were consistent victims of ignorance, blindfold and deceit, knowing little or nothing about policies and programmes of their own government; it was indeed an old, unpopular political order
However, political dynamism, growing agitations as well as recent exposure to systems that work seems to be fast reversing this business-as-usual political system that considers individual’s pecuniary needs and selfish gains over and above the yearnings and aspirations of the people
Narrowing this reverse to Ikpoba-Okha Local Government, which is my principal and immediate constituency, it becomes necessary to x-ray the impact this change is having on the life of the LGA under the exemplary leadership of Dr. Eric Osayande, who chairs the political and governmental affairs of the Council
Without fear or equivocation, it is unapologetic to say that historical developers will draw greater inspiration from the Osayande-led administration at a time when the history of Ikpoba-Okha will be penned down; the Council’s first indigene has impacted greatly in nearly all sectors without looking back, without foot-dragging, Ikpoba-Okha is fast becoming an operational model for local government administration in Edo State
Today, in our dear Edo State, it is impossible to discuss good and purposeful governance at the local government level either on radio, television, land, paper or the social media without making a favourable reference to Osayande's Ikpoba-Okha
Upon assumption of office in 2018, with N14,000 left in the Council’s coffers by the past administration and a huge debt of over N200,000,000 to be paid
As it is in our administrative succession, Osayande inherited greater liabilities than assets, it was more like jump starting a new Council from the word go; there were no existing policies and programmes, no ongoing capital or programme-policy-project, no institutional framework, no developmental master plan, Ikpoba-Okha had been an empty space, a non-functional, exposed and fragile entity pre-Osayande
Little wonder Dr. Eric Osayande hit the ground running from the point of inauguration March 5, 2018 at the Edo State Government House when he, alongside other officials moved to Dumez Road market to re-assure the market women of his commitment to his campaign promise of rebuilding the market after a 15-year abandonment when the market was razed down by a wildfire
Today, Dumez Road market stands on a 250 stalls built by the Osayande-led administration that same year, it was one of the ten (10) capital projects in the 2018 fiscal year
In 2019, contractors have already been mobilized to site as Chairman plans to strip down the ugly front elevation of Dumez Road so as to rebuild it to meet up with the 2018 standard; accompanied by toilet, fence and borehole facilities, with red roof, giving the once unattractive market a befitting outlook
There has been a major shift from community self-help approach in the provision of transformers for improve electricity generation; in this regard, Dr. Eric Osayande continue to distribute between 300-500KVA transformers to power-plagued communities for which eleven (11) communities including Rubber Research, Uteh 1 and 2, Oregbeni, Ohoghobi, Nomayo, Ologbo, Ohovbe, Aduwawa, Okanaruovia and Akugbe have benefited
With the revamp of over ten (10) health centres across the LGA, effective, quality and prompt health services now takes pre-eminence over and above quackery and malfeasance
There has equally been a paradigm shift in the education sector, going by the construction of schools and supply of furniture that has become a prominent narrative in the one-year plus administration
The construction of Obazagbon, Army Day, Ogbekpen, Iwogban and Avbiama Primary Schools and most recently the expansion and reconstruction of Oguola Secondary School which ought to be a State project with the attendant near-daily supply of furniture to schools in the LGA, lives one in awe as to the financial management methodology the Council’s Chief Executive applies in meeting up with increased popular demand amidst fallen allocation and reduced revenue base
This is not to talk of the various women and youth empowerment programmes that has captured more than 850 women and youths at different sittings and continue to create windows of opportunities for more persons
The 2018 and 2019 Oba Ewuare II cultural dance and Governor’s Cup competitions remains a viable tool to shapen students character and spirit particularly in the entrenchment of cultural consciousness and talents discovery amongst youngsters; it has become and annual event that successive administrations can build upon and further expand
Osayande’s administration has inculcated new strategies in the way government do business in Ikpoba-Okha; when it took ages to acquire certificates of origin, marriage certificates and other receipts of transactions, the real-time approach of the Osayande-led administration demands applicants to wait and get immediately upon request
One cannot predict what would have been left of Ikpoba-Okha, if a non-Osayande was the Chairman of Council; perhaps it would have been business as usual, thereby further relegating Ikpoba-Okha to the days of the dogs when productive administration was slaughtered on the altar of political supremacy; selfish interests overwhelmed public outcry and Ikpoba-Okha was a suitable reference point for unpopular politics
With Dr. Eric Osayande in the helm of affairs at Idogbo, it is best and unarguable to say that yes, we are in an era of exemplary leadership even as the Council Boss continue to institutionalize public trust
*Eseosa Ewere is the Chief Press Secretary to the Chairman of Ikpoba-Okha Local Government, Dr. Eric Osayande; he writes from Ward 6 of the LGA*
0 Comments