Kunle Adelabu
A legal practitioner and public commentator, Barr. Saheed Kolawole Shilings, has said that local government chairmen are not deserving of any public sympathy while urging them to make judicious use of the resources available at their disposal in making positive impacts on the people.
The former Chairman, NBA, Ikorodu branch, who spoke as one of the discussants at a panel session themed, “Towards an effective local government administration”, also charged council chairmen to also engage stakeholders more if they need assistance.
He was reacting to the keynote speaker, Hon. Kehinde Bamigbetan’s position at the session that there is need for review of the revenue sharing formula to give more money from the federation account to the local government.
“First, the keynote speaker talked about how many local governments we have in Ikorodu and the revenue going to the local government, as for me, it is not the volume, it is the desire to do something with what you have”, Barr. Shillings said.
“If you receive little and you have passion to do something with it, you will do it and not until you are given billions before you can work.
“Igbogbo/Bayeku LCDA made a budget of N1bilion. If that is the average for all local government, have we seen N200million on the ground?”, he asked rhetorically.
“If the money is doubled, it will still not bring anything if the mindset is not changed”.
He said that many of those seeking elective offices, especially for the local governments, are always after how to better their own lots and not about what they want to offer to the people.
“Those going into government are always after personal gains. Somebody that is wearing N3000 shoe before, look at what he’s wearing today”, the legal practitioner said.
“They are just looking for people that will sympathize with them. They don’t deserve sympathy. The chairmen are in the same club with their leaders.
“These local governments are focusing more on birthdays and other ceremonies for their leaders and donating to all sort of things for their leaders because they are also stealing through that process”, he alleged.
“Have they presented anything for the constitutional amendment process? Can’t they present their positions in the newspaper? Why did they fail to come to their people first to know their inputs?”, he asked.
“There is nothing wrong with local governments doing same thing that we are doing here today and mobilize people to come. That is the only way to understand them and by understanding them, we, the people, will be able to assist them. If we are not doing that, definitely nothing will work” .
He identified state governors across the country as major problem militating against the effectiveness of the local government administration as well as other governmental institutions.
“The Nigeria local government system has one Ogre, which is the governor of every state. They take from the local governments, House of Assembly, the judiciary and they are still asking the federal government for their own share from some sort of money that doesn’t concern them. They want all power and money for themselves and nobody is questioning them”, he alleged.
“The chairmen just look like they are being cheated, no, it’s a lie. They are all birds of same feather”, Shillings added.
The Former Secretary to the Ikorodu Local Government, Comrade Japheth Odesanya, was also of the view that more money for the councils might not solve the problems confronting the local government administration.
He said that increase in federal allocations does not necessarily mean that the allocations will get directly to the council.
While stating that council administrators are not sincere with the little resources at their disposals, he charged them to be proactive and responsible in discharging their responsibilities to the people.
