Thursday, 28th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search
Breaking News:

FCT council laments absence of infrastructure

By Sodiq Omolaoye, Abuja
07 November 2022   |   3:29 am
Residents of Gwagwalada Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have lamented the absence of infrastructure in their community, saying the government abandoned them despite paying heavily for social amenities.

FCT, Abuja

Council blames dwindling revenue

Residents of Gwagwalada Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have lamented the absence of infrastructure in their community, saying the government abandoned them despite paying heavily for social amenities.

The residents said most of the roads, schools and primary healthcare centres had been in a deplorable state, with little or no effort by the government to fix them.

They made the observations during a Town Hall meeting organised by Foundation for Rural Proletariat and Community Advancement (RuralPro) for the executive council, legislators and residents in Abuja.

Through its ‘Citizens at the Centre’ project, RuralPro, a youth-led non-partisan organisation, engages citizens across the 774 local councils to spark discussions on their shared priorities and work with elected officials at the local level to transform those priorities into policy action.

Founder/Executive Director of RuralPro, Ojooluwa Ibiloye, said “the project uniquely helps to understand the shared priorities of the people and provides the basis for grassroots action” to drive local communities forward.

Presenting report of a survey conducted in Gwagwalada, recently, Ibiloye said residents wanted a strong education sector with an inclusive scholarship scheme for children from low-income homes, quality and accessible primary healthcare, stable power supply, clean water, road infrastructure, equitable participation in decision-making and sustainable practices that protect the quality of life and environment.

A resident, Sule Abdullahi, said all roads in the Ikwa Ward of the council were completely bad.

“We are calling on the Area Council to come to our rescue. Our primary schools also need urgent attention, as some of the roofs are open and the classrooms are not conducive for learning,” Abdullahi stated.

Ismaila Usman, another resident, observed that most of the health facilities in his vicinity were underequipped and understaffed.

Responding, Executive Vice Chairman of Gwagwalada Area Council, Saidu Abdullahi, who represented the Chairman at the meeting, pledged the support of the leadership of the council to look into the nine shared priorities presented in RuralPro’s report.

While lamenting the dwindling revenue of the council, he said the previous administration left only N5,000 in the council’s coffers.

Councillors of the 10 political wards in the council, as well as representatives from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), were present to increase their understanding of the issues that matter most to the people at the local level.

0 Comments