Irewolede Area CDC Gets Govt Approval

AS part of efforts aimed at ensuring community participation in the rapid development of their areas, Ogun State government has officially approved the establishment of Irewolede Area Community Development Committee (ACDC).

The CDC, which domiciles in Lisa area in Ifo Local Government Area of the state, is an addition to over 200 existing CDCs across the 20 council areas of the state.

The area, The Guardian learnt has over 70 Community Development Associations (CDAs), which cuts across Lisa, Ademokula, Sonde, Alapandi and Alaagba, among other communities with over 7,000 people.

Prior to the approval, it took the communities years to get themselves ready by complying with all the requirements laid down by the law for approval.

For example, the state law has it that proposed CDCs must have at least 40 CDAs to be granted recognition, which it met. Series of inspections were also carried out as teams from the governor’s office, Abeokuta, which comprise of top directors and other officials at the local government level, visited the area to examine the readiness of the CDAs in preparation for registration.

At the ceremony held in Lisa last weekend to officially present the certificate of registration, the Baale of Lisa community, Chief Najeem Oladele Odugbemi, cited the need for rapid development of communities across the area for the establishing of the CDC.

He told government officials, guests and others at the event that the communities are ready for a new challenge to develop the area through self-help projects.

The community leader said the journey started officially in 2007, a year after he was enthroned, stressing that the essence of setting up the CDC is to ensure development in all the communities, without relying solely on government.

Said he, “ With all we have been able to achieve, we are happy we got the approval. The CDC would serve as a platform for rapid development; it is going to stir up competition among the CDAs, to contribute meaningfully to the development of the communities.

Without a platform like CDC you cannot reach out to government for development as a body.

“Government only deals with recognised and registered bodies. It will be a platform where development can start, you’ll marvel by the time we’ll be celebrating our one-year of registration, our CDC would be number one in the state, as far as projects are concerned.”