LG Funds : LG Chairmen Given ‘Free Hand’ In Kwara– ALGON Chairman
Chairman of the Transition Implementation Committee , Ifelodun local government, Kwara state, Hon Jide Shonibare in this interview with Team@orientactualmags.com said Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has changed the face of the State of Harmony and also recorded outstanding accomplishments.
Hon Jide Shonibare, who is the National Publicity Secretary of ALGON and the chairman of Kwara state branch, also asserted that the governor has allowed the Local Government chairmen to have a free hand with respect to funds belonging to the sixteen local governments in the state.
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Would you say that the needed dividends of democracy have been delivered in the state under an APC government?
Thank you very much, I can assert without any fear of contradiction that as far as Kwara state is concerned, as far as governance in Kwara state is concerned, and as far as the people of Kwara state are concerned, it has been good news all the way , it is what everyone can see.
The executive governor of Kwara state, Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq ,who is the chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, has done creditably well, his achievements are there for everybody to see. It’s glaring. When you look at most of the projects that Governor Abdulrahman has initiated since the beginning of his first term in 2019 till date, they are what have helped to put Kwara state on the map,
The concern of Governor Abdulrahman is to make sure that majority of our young people in Kwara state get employed when they leave tertiary institutions . There has been so many complaints about unemployment but when you assess the Abdulrahman administration, the only thing anybody can say is that he has not probably allowed or promoted the thugs, the bad boys that they call good boys. And you will see that the activities of those boys have reduced drastically. When you come to the local government level, you know local government is the closest to the people and by the special grace of God, the little time this present leadership in our local governments in Kwara state have spent, we have performed well and delivered dividends of democracy.
There’s no local government you’ll get to that you will not see not one thing or the other with respect to the projects that have been executed by the chairmen. It cuts across all the 16 local governments. There is no local government you will visit that you will not see that the chairman of the local government has done one project or another including provision of water, you’ll see that some local governments chairmen have also provided street lights. The provision of the street lights, will definitely help to tackle insecurity and enhance night-time economy.
We have chairmen who have built new markets, schools , drainage , health centres, electrification project and others.
There’s no local government you get to that you will not see that the local government chairman has done 3, 4, 5, 6 or more projects .
As the ALGON chairman, you have asserted that your members have delivered dividends of democracy, are there identified areas of improvement?
As far as local government is concerned, it is from what comes to the council that we have done all these. Here in Kwara state, to the best of my knowledge, the situation with regard to the running of affairs of the local governments is different from what had been the situation in the past.
In what way?
Number one, in the past, it was the central government (that is the state government) that determined how every kobo of local government was spent. You will discover that before 2019, maybe 14 or 16 years before 2019, you cannot see any local government that the council chairman will do anything in terms of project. They have always been there to only pay salaries. Whatever they would do was determined by the state government. But now, local governments in Kwara state are doing projects on their own. We are the one that determine how allocation is being spent in the state. The only difference as to what is happening presently now is because of some local government that might probably have problem if allocation goes straight to the local government, If not for that, Kwara state is one of the states in the country where the governor does not tamper with local government allocation.
Can we say instructions may be given to you directly or indirectly in respect of the LG funds?
No. No one gives any instruction because Iam a member of the allocation committee and that is where we decide what goes ,where and what goes not. That is where we decide. It is whatever we decide at that committee meeting that stands. Anything we didn’t discuss at the committee cannot stand. It cannot be executed by anybody. If there’s anybody that goes outside the discussion we have during the meeting of the committee, that person may face charges. So, we decide what goes here, what goes there and everything, It is not the governor that dictates to us. He doesn’t give instructions, he doesn’t dictate. We do everything. We, the chairmen have been handling things ourselves.
People have said local governments should play an important role with regard to security matters, do you think this is correct or what do you think should be done to address insecurity in some parts of the state?
Yes, it is true that local government is the closest but in terms of insecurity, it is an issue that is beyond local government capacity. The reason why it is beyond local government capacity is this; what is rampant now is kidnapping. The kidnappers, when you have opportunity to come across them or when you have opportunity to see some of the ammunition that have been seized from them, you’ll see that even for the Nigeria Police or the Nigerian Army to face this people, if not because of professionalism ,special skill and knowledge, the Nigerian Army and the Nigeria Police may not have any reason to overpower the hoodlums . So, it is a very big task to say local government should be the one to tackle insecurity , but it can be done in collaboration with the state and the state will also have to collaborate with the federal. So , it is the duty of the three tiers of government the reason why I’m saying this is that the local government is the one that has the capacity, and also better positioned to recruit vigilante and hunters. Most of the operations that have been successful, it was not without the involvement of the local vigilante and the hunters. Because, hmh.. our local vigilante and hunters, the bulletproof they have is stronger than any other bulletproof you can think of.
In terms of ammunition, they may not have powerful ones. The hoodlums, the type of guns they are using, they can shoot sporadically for as many times as possible which our local vigilante do not have. But because they are strong in terms of bulletproof of a thing, that is what has been sustaining them.
You’re the chairman of Ifelodun Local Government, can you please tell us ways you have impacted the lives of Ifelodun people?
Well, I can’t mention all. I will just tell you a few of those things that I’ve done. One, so far so good, at least 30 motorized boreholes have been constructed at different locations on my watch. The day before yesterday, we went to Kara to officially inaugurate the Kara market which was also done by our adminstration and we have 22 lock up shops there. We have built classrooms in our primary schools. We’ve also given all primary schools pupils in the local government exercise books to assist their parents. We gave each one of them four exercise books.
And we gave each teacher two higher exercise books for them to write lesson notes. When I took office, the local government bulldozer was dysfunctional. It had been like that for many years. We have put it back to shape and it is now working. As of the time we assumed office, there was no functioning tractors but three tractors are now functioning. There is a place called Kaba Dongari during rainy season, they will be hindered from leaving the village for town and they have an arable land and farmers who engage in farming activities would not be able to transport agricultural produce to the desired markets because there is a river that will hinder them from doing this during rainy season, we have intervened and constructed a bridge now and we thank God that nothing can stop any vehicle from transporting agricultural produce anymore.
With respect to street lights, we did street lights projects in Ganmo, Amayo, Idofian, Ora, Atanda, Owode Ofaro , the local government secretariat and so many other villages . We have not stopped there, we are continuing by the special grace of God, we will touch other town and villages.
I would say this is surprising. You’ve done this high number of projects and people don’t get to know about it because the impression out there is that the LG leaders in the state have not done anything in respect of dividends of democracy. So, what really is the problem?
Some people are mischievous. The reason why I said they are mischievous is this. Those things being mentioned that we have done in all other local governments. These things are spread all over the local governments so there’s no way people will not get to hear that we have done this or that you know what usually attracts the interest our people is that you should make noise on radio but the AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq government has not shown interest in such a thing. You know, Governor Abdulrahman has been referred to by many as a quiet achiever. He doesn’t need noise. Maybe probably that is one of the things that may have caused that . Secondly, when you look at those people blaming council chairmen here and there, they are in opposition parties whom for several number of years were given the opportunity to be in government. They will never see anything good about APC. No matter how good a project is, they will never see it as good. That is the reason for the Yoruba proverb that says ‘Ota eni kii pa odu oya’. That is it.
Ilorin is expanding towards Idofian axis, and this will definitely enhance the value of Ifelodun LG land, have you come up with a plan to acquire land and make the local government maximize the potential ?
Yes, just like you said. The level at which Ilorin is expanding is very high. And when you look at Ifelodun, it is one of the local governments that have benefited from this because if you leave Challenge and if you’re moving towards Ganmo, if that person happens to be a visitor, he or she wouldn’t know that Ganmo is not within Ilorin. They may think they are in the outskirts of Ilorin, not knowing that they have completely left Ilorin. So, there are benefits with respect to this. And my predecessors, those who served as council chairmen before me, they had opportunities, they got some land at Amoyo but before we came in, it had been exhausted. What we are doing presently is to see how we can acquire some in Jimba Oja. But notwithstanding, we are doing the needful to maximize the opportunities that our proximity have offered , we would acquire land and by the time we do that, it will be properly channeled and used for the purpose of promoting the local government and enhancing its economy.
Who is Honorable Jide Asonibare?
He is the ‘small boy’ sitting in front of you. Hon. Shonibare, is presently the Chairman of Ifelodun Local government , the chairman of ALGON in Kwara state, and the National Publicity Secretary of ALGON. By the special grace of God, he’s married and blessed with children. He is a Christian and an indigene of Owode Ofaro, Ifelodun Local Government.
You are always well-dressed, did you start this when you became an adult or when you became a political office holder?
This has been me , I can say it is inborn , I have always tried to be well-dressed , . God has made me to always look good and well-dressed. I don’t like being seen as a ruffian or not being able to go anywhere on a short notice because of what I am wearing, since my childhood days you will always notice the difference in me when compared to my peers-Team@orientactualmags.com
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