Community Council Government is a very necessary and significant policy for the development of Rural Areas. Rural communities in Imo State are highly impoverished; and over decades have suffered political bondage of negligence and lack of development.
There is a high need to bring the presence of the government very close to our Rural Communities. It is quite open and clear, the political parties and their political leaders are representatives that have ruled Imo State before now have never been kind to our rural communities, their selfishness, wickedness, and ungodliness and lack of vision for development have kept our rural communities behind in economic development and civilization of the millennium age. Our rural communities are not ably represented in the affairs of the government.
We have been highly unfortunate over decades; our political leaders and representatives pay more attention to their personal interest and to their political party interest; and neglect the interest of the communities which they represent.
We have L. G. A Counselors, L.G.A. Chairmen, Legislators of the State House of Assembly, and the Federal Legislators; who are elected to represent the interest of their constituencies, but ‘our rural communities do neither know the actual provisions the government has given to them nor do they receive the allocations provided for them. State politics and corruption have taken over the rights, development and future of our rural communities. Our State Imo was credited on February 13th, 1976. i.e. 36 years of existence. We still have the very old Owerri town and Orlu and Okigwe Urban areas. No other urban town or City has been developed since 36 years of Imo State.
Imo State remains the only State in the country Nigeria that has no manufacturing industries. While politicians and business men in other states are aggressive citing companies and factories to push up development of their Communities and State. The people of Imo State are only interested in spending billons and millions of naira in the court and tribunals over dry and futile political cases.
The only investment area our people are invested on is building hotels and brothels; to have our young girls appear nude for their leisure.
It is the efforts of community leaders that have been helping our Rural Communities. With some patriotic and philanthropic persons that help solving one burden or the other in our rural areas.
Government contractors play tricks and cheats on the rural Communities without anyone rebuking them. Establishing Community Council Government in Imo State will grossly help to wipe away the tears of rural dwellers.
Arguments and oppositions against the Community Council Government are getting hot and hotter. If good reasons and right steps are not taken on this it will jeopardize the spirit of Rescue Mission Agenda that is recovering our State in reality.
In Imo State, our people like to play politics of no development. We do find favour on push him down activities. It is common, when ever justice and fair play want to rise and take position; you will always hear the voice of the wicked opposing to shout down at righteousness, peace and joy of the people. We do not like to allow anyone that knows better than us to manifest his vision. To think Imo State to be a one city state is a long day dream with a poor vision.
Let us stop using politics to overtake the development of our rural areas. Some political parties are instigating the civil servants to firmly resist the community council government. Their fear is that the Government of Owelle Rochas Anaya Okorocha will use this wonderful strategy of rural development to grossly earn the political support of the masses at the grass root. Of course the good steps of Rescue Mission Agenda will silence and collapse every other political party in Imo State. But nothing is better than, the best.
Establishing 4ie Community Council government in Imo State will offer the following political gain:
• It will enable our rural communities to have direct link to the line up of the government.
• The Communities that have been suffering abandonment and negligence by the government; will no longer suffer bottle necks to make their reports and demands reach the government.
• The policies and programmes of the government will actually get down to the grass roots.
Rural Dwellers will be seeing the presence of the government come to them. They will no longer be hostile and antagonistic to government programs and projects.
• Autonomous Communities are made up of few villages; it will make the villages and their communities feel part and percale of the government in reality.
• Villages and communities that have been neglected and marginalized over decades will begin to have their demands receive urgent attention.
• It will make the dividend of democracy actually get to the reach of every rural community in Imo State.
• The selfishness and in-competency of existing political representative at
L.G.A. State and Federal Levels will become highly checked and minimized as the community Council Government will always be armed to the teeth with information of the programs and provisions of the government. The days of convincing and deceiving the rural communities with political stories will become obsolete, as they will have their able and close functional and patriotic leaders giving them the very truth of the affair of the government.
• The suppression of larger communities over smaller communities will become a thing of the past..
• Every village and community will now have voice and be regarded in the government.
• Political Oppression and greedy of Some Old political crocodiles will become checked and minimized.
• The activities of political sycophants and double dealers will be highly exposed.
• Real and actual democracy will show itself in governance. You can see that the slogan is no longer “shear the money” rather it “is save the money for the people”.
• The government will no longer be far from the people in rural communities. The things that make them spend much money on
transport to and fro Owerri before they can do it, will be done for them just at their communities.
The frustrations they used to suffer at government ministries in Owerri will become highly reduced. And the risks they used to in-cure also will become minimized.
Work pressure at state capital and at LGA headquarters will become highly reduced. Governance will become easier for government functionaries.
ECONOMIC BENEFITS:
With the community Council Government, communities will have a direct and brotherly representative in the affairs of the government.
Go right round Imo State; all the giant water reservoirs, water boreholes established by past administrations are not functioning. The community council government will now attend to the maintenance and upkeep of government projects and make sure they are serving the purpose they are made for.
Issue bordering the communities will without delay be reported to the appropriate government office or agency.
The usual selfish political representatives will now seat up and do what they are expected to do for their constituencies. Moreover, the community council government will help the political representative at higher levels to freely get to the rural communities and attend to their needs.
The leaders of the community council government will at their best effort propagate the development of the natural resources and human capital of their communities.
The presence of the community council government will attract more respect and regards of the rural dwellers for the government.
Destruction of government facilities will become minimized as government has recognized them.
Rural communities will begin to wear new looks of growth and development.
Economic activities, trade and commerce will gain rapid increase.
Villagers will gain the opportunity to rent out their idle houses and rooms to
gain income.
Our people will become more serious to prepare and position themselves for better tomorrow.
Various communities will be competing in development and advancement.
PACKAGING THE COMMUNITY COUNCIL GOVERNMENT
The government of Owelle Rochas Okorocha should save this good vision by keeping the Eze’s or traditional rulers away from the management of the community council government.
We are aware of the kind people that were made traditional rulers in Imo
State. Though we have some good and responsible traditional rulers in
Imo State but they are quite few. It will spell doom for the government to
hand the leadership of the Community Council Government to the
Traditional Rulers.
Even, presently, the involvement of Chieftaincy Affairs in the payment of primary school teachers salaries in Imo State is about to explode heavy demonstration, riot and strike by the primary school teachers; if correction is not made in earnest.
The Eze’s or traditional rulers are custodians of customs and tradition. They should be given advisory role to the community council government.
I suggest the government to use the principle of staff transfer! redeployment to send some good civil servant with astute administrative acumen to go and set up development for the rural communities. Sending civil servants to go to their own communities will not give us fast development in the communities. Civil Servants of other communities should be used. As they go to their new assignment, they will rent houses there, leave there and their presence will be felt and be honoured. Rural dwellers will appreciate them and give them good hand of hospitality.
But if you send civil servants to their own communities, their will be no regard for them, they are automatically exposed to their family enemies. There will be high record of sudden deaths of community council workers within the first one year. You should know our people who dwell in the rural areas, have much hatred on their brothers and sisters who leave in the cities. The issue of sharing land and spaces in their family will take off some human heads.
Let us take the best option when we have opportunities to do good. I can understand many civil servants who are rejecting the community council government, they do so not because they don’t see the good content of the policy, but that they do not want to go to their village to die very soon.
So, let us use staff transfer system with new employment from the rural communities to set up the Community council government.
Also let the government survey the communities and pick idle persons for the appointments for the community council government and place them on trial for one or two years.
I solicit the support of the good people of Imo State, our elites, I plead you to give support to this developmental strategy of our government.
Thank you, remain blessed.
Long live Imo State
Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria
Long live Governor Rochas Anayo Okorocha
Imo MUST BE BETTER.
