Don advocates election of retirees as council chairmen, councillors, not youths

Prof. Etim Frank of Political-Administrative Theory Department, University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, has advocated the election of retirees as council chairmen, saying their wealth of experience will be an edge over youths, whom he described as novices.

He made the call during a two-day capacity-building training for young people organised by Clement Isong Foundation in collaboration with ActionAid Nigeria in Uyo with the theme: ‘’Public finance, political education, and gender-responsive in public service.’’

He also noted that council administration functions were established in 1978 and called for a radical review since, according to him, they are not in line with current realities.

He stressed that retirees were better qualified to handle council administration because of their years of experience in terms of financial management.

“So many people have narrow perceptions of autonomy. It is not solely about giving financial independence to councils. I must state it here that most council chairmen do not have administrative experience. Now, for such a fellow, if bundles of money come to him, he will run mad.

“For me, retired persons should be made local government chairmen and councillors because they have seen it all. The biggest problem of council government is leadership, the political class appoints people there and the bulk of the people appointed are fresh from school, have not worked anywhere and have not had any administrative experience anywhere.

“They don’t even have experience on how to manage human and material resources to get a result. So, why did you put a novice there? They put a novice so that they can continue to control and dictate to him. It is a challenge,” he said.

Earlier, the Director of the Foundation, Mr. Elkanah Oluyori, said the reason the programme focused on young persons was to enlighten them on the power they have to be able to make good political decisions for positive change in society.