The Executive Chairman, Mrs Nkechi Chukura Ndokwa East LGA, Aboh Kingdom, Delta State, Nigeria. AN OPEN LETTER ON THE NEED FOR PEOPLE ORIENTED GOVERNANCE IN NELGA Permit me to address you with the title of a Chairman, rather than as a Chairperson or a Chairwoman. Your recent outing and feat in the just concluded LGA election qualifies you to be called a Chair MAN. The magical skills used by your strategists in walloping our brothers even in our own hometown in a seemingly ‘free’, ‘fair’, and ‘open’ manner still remains a mystery, at least to me, in the history of our political movement. You are indeed, worthy to be called a Chairman! However, while we acknowledge that the processes and manner in which you have emerged as our Chairman is vague and blemished and was characterized by unlimited abnormalities, I still want to recognize and acknowledge that you have become our Executive Chairman. Since the appropriate authorities have recognized and have conferred legality to your person as the Executive Chairman of our local government, I am obliged, like every other person to acknowledge and recognize you as such. As you begin the implementation of your plans for the LGA, I wish to bring the following information to your notice in a public manner, for consideration and review. 1. You are now the Chairman of an entire LGA with more than a 100,000 population. I am not sure how many persons from this number are members of your political party, but I am sure, by virtue of their indigeneship and citizenship status, they are members of the LGA. Please remember, you are not a Chairman of your political party, you a chairman of an entire LGA, you are a Chairman of over 100,000 people. Not a Chairman of few party cabals and godfathers whose only interest is to share our monthly collective allocation like it is their personal investment. You should do better than your predecessor. During the election period, you were a party person, but as at today, you should cease to be a party person and become a government person. A government person makes you a leader of everybody irrespective of party affiliations. The monthly allocation you shall now spend the next few years managing is not an allocation for the PDP, it is an allocation for the over 100,000 population. Please, do recognize this distinction as you begin administrative functions. 2. I am not sure of who you perceive as the source of your electoral victory. Whether it is the poor people who came out in their numbers to cast their votes, or the political godfathers who funded and facilitated the movement, or even the party structures who did the maneuvering to ensure you became the Chairman. Whoever you dim fit is the source of your success is left to you and your God to decide. I do not yet know whose interest you shall spend the next three years protecting. But I wish to appeal, when the interest of party leaders conflict with the interest of the people and you wish to make a choice, please do what is appropriate by supporting the interest of the people. They might not have supported you as anticipated during electioneering, but do not forget, the resources and monthly allocation you shall receive in the next years to come, belongs to them, not your party! Whether they had supported you or not does not change the fact that it is their money that you will from hence forth begin to manage. Please put their interest first, if the conflict arises. It will certainly arise, when it does, please put the people’s interest first. 3. As I write to you today, the Nigerian Police Academy has begun registration for new intakes, also ongoing, is the Nigerian Navy recruitment. Just last few months, the Nigerian Army recruitment came and elapsed. I knew of many and still know of many miserable and jobless youths from our local government who would have loved to be recruited into these National institutions and other national opportunities. Yet, they either had no knowledge of the recruitment process, and for the few who had the knowledge, could not afford to financially follow up the process. Yes, our people are that poor in Ndokwa East, they need your support. Your government is the closest government to these people, if you can’t help them, nobody else can. Abuja is far, Asaba is far, Aboh Kingdom is the closest government to us. I want to believe that under your Chairmanship, our LGA will do better. Please, do put this problem into your agenda and bridge the gap between opportunities and how it reaches our youths even in their rural areas. I have kick started an initiative to solve this problem, but I believe what an individual can do, a government can do far better. Please do find a solution to this important problem in our LGA. 4. It is no longer rumor that political leaders of our LGA now claim right to a certain percentage of our monthly allocation simply on the political culture that they ‘put’ you and your government into power. It is one of the reasons why I, in particular, insisted that your power and legality must come from the people and not from the leaders. When you get into that dilemma of choosing between party leaders and the general people’s interest, please, do the needful by supporting the general people’s interest. Ndokwa East LGA monthly allocation is a commonwealth, not a private fund to be shared between party leaders on a monthly basis. When that dilemma and pressure comes, please do cry out to us, we will stand behind you to fight our common enemy, if you are sincere enough to always tell us the truth. 5. Sooner or later, you shall begin to manifest the objective of your political agendas by executing projects. Please, do develop a cost effective method in your award-of-contract process. If a market can be renovated or built with N3million, please do not renovate or build it with N15million. N12million is a lot of money and is enough to change the lives of a hundred jobless youths in our LGA. Do not follow the irrational and reckless ways of your predecessors. Please do learn to award Ndokwa East contracts to any competent hand, irrespective of party membership or tribe of the contractors. 6. You must have noticed the stiff welcome the people of Ndokwa East had towards your emergence as a PDP party flag bearer. It was mostly not simply because you were a woman, it was mostly because of their terrible experience with their last female Chairwoman. I hope you will prove us right by asserting that women can do better if given the opportunity. The future of Ndokwa East women in politics depends on your performance. Do not disappoint your fellow women. Our young brilliants girls, farmers, and aged women. Please, do not disappoint them. Prove us wrong by doing those things we believe women cannot do. 7. Lastly, we have no choice than to believe in and support your government as long as it is sincere, transparent and progressive. But remember, I personally do not patronize who I cannot criticize, so watch out and learn to be accommodative to harsh but constructive criticisms as they hit your government. I will be championing that cause personally! The list can go on and on, but I believe I have highlighted few of the major issues. I will do discuss the other issues with you when we do meet to discuss about policy plan and the way forward for our Local Government. And do pardon my manner of discussing confidential issues in a public manner and place. Once again, accept my heartfelt congratulation as the new Executive Chairman of Ndokwa East Local Government Area of Nigeria. My regards to your executive team and the elected councilors. Tony Osborg
Posted on: Sat, 15 Nov 2014 05:48:32 +0000
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