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t is no longer news that the much talked about Community Government Council (CGC) elections did not hold after all on 15th December, 2012. To members of my school of thought, the failed CGC elections did not come as a surprise. Number one reason why it failed was that the Ruling Party wanted to dilute to achieve a selfish result the constitutional qualification for any contested post. For instance in some Local Government Areas it was said that Civil Servants who are choice of their Communities are not eligible to contest when the law establishing CGC does not hold that for me the failure dated back when the idea was mooted with the purported dissolution of Town Unions by His Excellency, Owelle Rochas Okorocha the executive Governor of Imo State, and Ndi Eze in support of the dissolution forgot the Igbo adage that says “Onye gburu dibia gworo ya oria, ihe riaga ya agwubeghi” (The man who killed the native doctor that cured him, what he is suffering from is not finished)”.
His Excellency and his agents wanted us to believe that CGC if comes into effect will bring government/development closer to the grass root. The question that begged for an answer was “is this enough reason to warrant the dissolution of the Town Unions?, though without constitutional backing. Chief Achike Udenwa the Ex Governor of Imo State who created Local Government Development Centres with the same reason to bring government/development closer to the grass root did not dissolve the Town Unions, and his successor Chief Ikedi Ohakim did not dissolve the Town Unions either when he allowed the Local Government Development Centres to stay.
By the way, is the existence of Town Unions not to foster development through community self effort and government assistance among other vital functions? It is a truism that the Town Union is the political arm of the Community, the proposed CGC seems to be. What the government will not want us to believe is that the CGC will be partisan how can when it will be a creation of a Political Party in power. If His Excellency should insist on the creation of CGC, he should for goodness sake leave the Town Unions alone, for it is no gain saying the fact that the Town Union has more vital roles to perform in the Community than whatever functions the CGC will perform if created. Take for instance, apart from Town Union’s development oriented functions, every Community Eze was a product, of the Town Union, a function that CGC cannot and will not perform.
Let us take it that the sitting Ezes will be for ever, but Communities which are so big and will have the tendency to request for autonomies, or perhaps for political reasons, new Ezes will be produced and this absolutely will be by the Town Unions. Ndi Eze know this fact and this is why it baffles me that majority of them embraced the CGC hook lime and sinker, whether they like it or not will bring them into collusion with their subjects if the Governor goes ahead to create it either by elections or appointments. Beyond this, most of them will certainly lose their staff of office when they failed to account to both the government and their subjects funds appropriated to the CGC under their watch by the government. Again most of them will be object of ridicule in their Communities especially when they will introduce certain avenues to generate revenue that may seem hard on their unemployed subjects.
Take it or leave it the purported abrogation of Town Unions with the intent to replace it with the CGC is tantamount to rewriting the custom and tradition of the people which Ndi Eze are supposed to protect as custodians. I therefore urge His Excellency to drop this idea, but rather galvanize the Town Unions to discharge their functions more effectively, for according to Abraham Lincoln “In giving freedom to the slave, freedom is assured to the free”. And like John Mason would say ‘if you have tried to do something and failed, you are vastly better off than if you had tried to do nothing and succeeded. However if His Excellency insists at all cost he will no doubt show case himself to what John Mason said and I quote “whoever is in a hurry shows that the things he is about doing is too big for him. His Excellency should also be aware that the creation of CGC will certainly not dim the light of Community Associations or Unionism, suffice this to say that communities will be free to elect executive officers that will independent of the government pilot the welfare of their members and organize community festivals such as yam festivals, launching of projects, coronations and others.
In that case I will advise His Excellency to ensure that staff of office and certificates of recognition are issued to the Ezes Elect, leave the Town Unions to function since the relevant laws creating them have not been repealed and finally ensure there is adequate security going by the volatile environment of some communities.. Alternatively, His Excellency should constitute the Town Union’s President General, Women Association’s President, Youth Association’s President and the Community Liaison Officer into a Committee that will report to the government through their Eze.
