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… Insists LGAs/Councils Must Be Fully Carried Along

…Thanks President Bola Ahmed Tinubu And National Assembly

Worried by years of hemorrhaging struggles for Nigeria’s global relevance and missing links for its burgeoning economic prosperity, the National President of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), the only veritable platform and an amalgam of over 774 local governments and area councils in Nigeria, Hon. Kolde David Alabi, has set agenda with innovative solutions as a paradigm shift that will redefine the future of the country in broader perspective.

Speaking during his open address to the National Executive Council (NEC) members at its 45th meeting over the week in Abuja, Alabi narrated how some ALGON’s apex decision making body the (NEC and BOT) went on a 2 day strategic visit to National Assembly with separate meeting before some Senators and Honourable Members of the Federal House of Representative took place, thanking the Senate leadership and other principal officers led by the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Honourable Tajudeen Abbas, pledging the unflinching loyalty and solidarity of the entire councils across the country to their oversight and constitutional responsibility of pivoting for a better Nigeria.

He opened up to his colleagues at the strategic NEC meeting on what the country has been losing in the international space due to poor political will, apathy of some multinational development partners like the European Union, United Cities and Regions as well as other numerous donor agencies of the world.

He blamed it on malfeasance and disregard of world leading best practices evident in the global Gateway development ecosystem with its value chain transforming numerous nations including the likes of Morocco and Egypt as well as Sudan.

He said that Nigeria must rise up like other Africans countries and fast emerging countries of the world that are remarkably showing resilience in forcing their leaders to comply with popular demands for true democratic change that guarantee political pluralism to curb much power at the center which is the standard best practices world over, hence the common denominator of devolution of powers especially to the local government.

He noted that the present situation call for open and democratic governance, characterized by popular participation, competitive elections, and free flow of funds devoid of undue interference.

The ALGON National President noted that for Nigeria to exit from its present ‘ghost-mode’ in the international map to one of the countries with viable opportunities, its local government system duly guaranteed by the Constitution as enshrined in (Section 7 sub 1) as Amended must be in accordance with its letters and spirit in line with the framers of the ground norm.

While thanking the National Assembly that the present 10th Assembly jointly agreed that the Local Government and Councils are the linchpin of the nation’s growth, it therefore must be protected for all its entitlements, given unhindered access that discourages ‘business as usual’ perception, hence according to him; the need for aggressive structured decentralization reform of the local authorities and regard as state actors given its huge demography, economic prowess of solid mineral deposits, agriculture value chain, human capital, as destination for a new world and as pride of place before international partners like the European Union.

The National President also told his NEC members that he shared the insight with the National Assembly that the Movement towards functional and effective constitutional democracy world over is presently about globalization that patronizes local development through an unhindered bottom up approach.

This he said despite being promoted widely by world leading institutions, such has been the infallible stand of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) in the past five years of his administration as the ALGON National President.

Alabi noted that such new disposition towards a renewed democratization in Nigeria is a consequence of pressures from both internal and external presently of which the entire populace need not take the back seat to save the local government system and the nation in general.

During the NEC meeting, he pointed out that experience has shown that the three tiers of Government are most times at cross purpose in terms of right needs assessment, prioritizing projects, and political will to strengthen the last leg of the Tier which is the local government.

He pointed out that for Governor’s and other leaders to deliver on the promises of economic growth and prosperity as bandied and encapsulated in their various campaigns are more of wishful thinking due to poor encouragement and inability to acceptance of some well structured development realities by grating freedom to the councils.

He said that aligning with policies that identify competitiveness moving forward, offers opportunity to be supported by both local and international partners, external aid donors and creditors on good governance aimed at providing numerous window of opportunity for Nigeria will be the best interest of the grassroots; citing his several.

He said that the direct beneficiary like the councils need the support of every patriotic Nigerian to push for unhindered inclusion which will create space for holding its managers accountable.

It has become obvious according to him that even the western donors are becoming more choosy and selective with whom or where to domicile their assistance, focusing on countries undertaking both political and economic reforms through bottom up approach, the kind of system that derives direct impact on the economy devoid of mismanagement as a result of some democratic forces.

It will be recalled that the NEC agreed in maximizing the engagement with the two chambers of National Assembly for true democratization and sanitization of the councils.

They unitedly believed that local government is the development destination of the country to simultaneously solving acute problems of economic reconstruction, renewal and rehabilitation of the asphyxiating system that has since been patterned to fail.

They said it was retrogressive that overtime democracy proved elusive in the local level having aggregated the indices with key performance Indicators (KPI) overtime including the failure of the Sustainable Development Goal which was its surface approach that do not directly affect the grassroots.

Hon Alabi appealed for cross-fertilization of ideas which was part of the sub-theme in the NEC meeting on been how best to intensify the advocacy of embedding democratic concepts that will not be alien to the country but those which will meaningfully affect the people in the rural areas.

He call for leaders to reinvigorate their rule with community inputs, this according to him has worked in Africa citing of particular mention like Tangier in Morocco which has steadily undergo rapid development and modernization with interest in Tourism and have become a destination of sort as an examples, he also praised leadership in Tapas Cairo Egypt which was developed by its Local administration like the local government because they enjoy unfettered freedom and support of the government at the center.

He said has transformed their various economic ecosystem with increase GDP growth and job creation, Foreign Direct Investment, Tourism, Agronomy and Technology.

He concluded by thanking President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his infallible position for good governance and as an exemplary local government friendly leader whose development imprints have revolutionalized the local government system pleading with him to save the current situation as part of global regime identity and for posterity.