By Nnabugwu Chizoba
It is no news that
Abia State did not have elected Local Government Chairmen in the 17 local
Government Councils at the time Dr. Alex Otti was sworn in as the elected Governor
of Abia State. Aware of the enormous
task ahead of him and the administration he represents in Abia state, and very confident of the place of the local government in the
delivery of democracy dividends and development of the state generally, he appointed credible people to man the
affairs of each of the 17 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Abia State pending
the time election is conducted to elect people into office at the 17 local
government Councils. The head, Executive of each of the 17 Councils and their Deputies were named by the Governor, Dr Alex Otti as Mayors and Deputy Mayors respectively.
In Isuikwuato Local Government Council, Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Chinwendu Onyike Rtd, is the appointed Mayor and Hon. Harrison Anuke the Deputy. Apart from the Mayor and his Deputy, there are Councilors representing each of the wards in Isuikwuator LGA. The Councilors are presented below.
- Hon.John Madukwe
- Chief Duncan Orji
- Nweke Chukwudi
- Uche Clement Gabaolu
- Jeremiah Okezie Atuegwu
- Chukwuma lkejiaku
- Offor promise lsaac
- Sunday Mark lfeanyi
- Innocent Uwaezuoke
- Chimuanya Ogbonna
Since his election as the Governor of Abia State, Dr. Alex Otti has through his speeches, body language and actions demonstrated unflinching interest and unwavering commitment and love for the local administration. He has revealed continuously his believe that the third tier of government is fundamental for the success of his administration and development of the Abia state.
The above is not surprising considering his pedigree as a private sector person and development practitioner. From his background, his statements and actions it is clearly revealing that he values structures a lot, and in view of this appreciates the existence of rural or community structures, hence his deep interest in local government administration.
Having shown the direction he is going, through his words and actions about his deep interest towards developing the state through active, effective and efficient local government governance system, Ndi Nwanneukwu is here reminded of the role of active citizenship as a major instrument of development. This is one support tool needed by the Governor, Dr. Alex Otti to impact the state and Nidi Nwanneukwu in particular.
In view of the above, the attention of Ndi Isuikwuato is drawn to the effect that knowing the Council leadership (the Executive arm for now) either as published here or by virtue of the fact that you knew them before now, both are immaterial and of no effect if engagement of the leadership is weak after now. What is important is what Ndi Nwanneukwu is ready, committed to and eventually do with the fact that they know the leadership. What will count at the end is the degree and quality of engagement and the result achieved. It is meaningful engagement: the quality of interactions between the led and the leadership and the resilience factor of the two parties that will bring about growth, development and impact of the local government to Ndi Isuikwuato as a people.
No meaningful development occurs in any environment where the people are not engaging their leaders, interrogating their decisions, making useful contributions and demanding explanations for things not understood. Democracy as a system of governance abhors docility, ignorance and poor participation on the part of the citizens. Without active citizenship engagement and participation, constant monitoring and evaluation of the activities of the leaders by Ndi Nwanneukwu, development of Isuikwuato in this dispensation will elude the people. There is no real democratic governance system and no meaningful development that take place where the people decide to shortchange themselves. Democracy is a collective work. It is like buying and selling. The people makes the demand, places their order and demand supply from the leadership.
In the event that the leadership is unable to meet up with the reasonable demands of the people made or reached through reasonable decision making processes (agreement) by the two parties (the led and the leadership), it is expected that reasonable excuses will surface and be subjected to reasonable analyzed. The need for regular updates can never be over emphasized. Constant observation, follow up and tracking of variations is key. Records of reasonably identified gaps between the promised, expected and actual are also very important.
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