Fashola canvasses virile LG system for good governance
Minister of Works, Power and Housing Babatunde Fashola
•Promises earnest normalisation of electricity
•Speakers laud author for scholarly work
The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, has advocated for a sustainable local government system to enable democracy dividends permeate to the populace at the grassroots.
The minister, who made the appeal while delivering a keynote address at the public presentation of two books by a former Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Lagos (UNILAG), Prof. Oyelowo Oyewo, in the former federal capital at the weekend, challenged the intelligentsia, legal practitioners, professionals and other intellectually-minded persons to present the “best 11” for stewardship at the third tier of government, since according to him, the basis of governance begins at the grassroots.
The books are Modern Administrative Law and Practice in Nigeria and Local Government Law: Cases and Materials.
He lamented that Nigeria has over the years had all manner of persons at this very important level of government.
Fashola, therefore, urged the academics to come into the system to make a lasting difference.
To him, the rife speculation that states are milking the councils through the joint account is misleading, stressing that mode of withdrawals was well spelt out to allow for transparency.
He noted that to allow for seamless operations devoid of bureaucratic confusion, certain functions of the councils were domiciled in hands of some agencies in the state to allow for orderliness during his tenure as governor of Lagos.
Fashola cited collection of signage dues which he admitted was function of the local councils, but was contracted to the Lagos State Advertisement and Signage Agency (LASAA) to allow for proper coordination, as according to him, numerous collection by various individuals, would amount to disorderliness.
He, therefore, proffered solutions to make the third tier of government more capable to delivering its important roles for the betterment of the people and society.
The minister also assured Nigerians of stable power, saying the Federal Government was working round the clock to ensure that.
Fashola, thereafter, lauded Oyewo for a job well done, noting that the knowledgeable constitutional lawyer had contributed immensely to the discipline.
Earlier, the reviewers, Prof. Olu Adeniran and Dr. K.O. Amusa, as well as the chairman of the event and former governor of Oyo State, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala, equally lauded the author for the scholarly work.
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3 Comments
What he did not practice as Governor is now what he’s mouthing off about
WHAT CAN WE DESCRIBE AS A “VIRILE” LG SYSTEM? Shouldnt someone be getting off their high horse?
I am not a politician, political scientist or public servant. But i suspect that you always need particular type of ingredients to make whatever it is needing to be made.
I know from having being through primary school that for you to come third in an exam, it is likely there are at least three in the class sitting the exam. So, thats a given. The other two are also most likely to have done better than you in the exam. Another given. If you want to make a pot of chicken pepper soup, i imagine you would need some chicken. A given. And you would (obviously) need some pepper. Another given.
Now, if you have a majority illiterate voting public, and you have such a public not having any idea how when they vote for a candidate, any candidate, such vote if it leads to a particular candidate winning and getting elected into office translates to an expectancy of such elected candidate filling the potholes on the roads and streets of your local area, or having the refuse collection and disposal scheduled, and carried out to schedule week-in week-out, or not having the richest 419-ers in the LG area being voted in as chairman and consequences therefrom, how then can an ex-governor in today’s Nigeria get up in a public forum and mouth off about a virile LG system? What does a “virile” LG system mean on the streets of Nigerian villages, towns and cities mean? Should Fashola and his type not be encouraged to first of all come down from their high horses, down to the level of the common man to first explain over and over and over again how the mind-expectation-vote-service delivery linkages work. So that when these people eventually arrive at the polling station to vote someone in or vote someone out, it would actually be based on some bit of rational behaviour and thinking or thought process? Such that the necessary “givens” which the Fashola’s of Nigeria always airbrush out of existence are actually given to them enabling them play their own part in the game of democracy.
Those who will make a “virile” governance system get a life in Nigeria do not know what that means, they dont know such exists and havent a clue what rational thought patterns can deliver such. Neither does the deadwoods who always manage to get into headship of such “virile” LG systems in Nigeria know any better.
Fashola should be encouraged to use his unique position and opportunity to think of doing the rightful and needy.
Grammar and fancy seminars backed by media hype will never deliver such so stop wasting our time please oga Fashola.
I remember during Jonathan’s time all these selfish idiotic looters who call themselves governors refuse to support the independence of the local government. All the money voted for the local government are swallowed by the governors. The chairmen of the local government councils are also fantastically corrupt so which way Nigeria? !!!!!
We will review and take appropriate action.