Tina Amanda
As the new local government chairmen of Rivers state have been sworn-in and are settling in for the job, some prominent personalities in the state have said that they have expectations as regards progress in the 23 local government area councils against President Buhari’s assent to the law granting local government autonomy in the
country.
They also called for the implementation of the autonomy Bill to ensure speedy grassroot development.
Acting Head, department of economics, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Dr. Sylvanus Amadi, in a chat with our correspondent, Tina Amanda said local government autonomy will lead to a dynamic and active parliamentary democracy.
According to him, the financial autonomy of the local government will give the third tier of Government access to operate and oversee their affairs independently.
“Local government system has not been given free hand to operate. If this autonomy law is actually given effective operation without any reservation, then the local government will stand independently and carry out their function at that level of government.
“It doesn’t mean that the local government shouldn’t be supervised by the executive, they should be directed to articulate projects that will benefit the rural areas and allocate such funds to better the lives of those they are supposed to serve.”
On his part, Former Commissioner for Chieftaincy Affairs, John Bazia, described the local government autonomy as a pivot for the attainment of dividends of democracy to Nigerians.
“In true federalism, there are three arms of government. In all democracies in the world, the most powerful arm of government is the legislature because it’s about the people and democracy is the people’s government.
“The executive, legislature, and judiciary should operate on their own independently. It is not just making sure that the local governments become autonomous when at the federal level, the executive is doing everything to impede the autonomy of the legislature that is a powerful organ of government”
They further advised the newly elected local government chairmen to serve their people credibly while having their interest at heart.
