By: John Bassey.
The Kebbi State Governor, Comrade Dr. Nasir Idris, Kauran Gwandu, has charged all the Local Government Chairmen in the state to abide by rules and regulations governing the local government policies and programs implementation.
He gave the charge on Saturday at the opening ceremony of a two-day induction workshop on Democratic Governance and Sustainable Grassroots Development for Kebbi State Council chairmen, held at Dankani Guest Inn, Sokoto.
The governor, who was represented by the Hon. Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Alhaji Abubakar Umar Dutsinmari, said the workshop was designed to enhance the capacity of the local government’s top policy and decision-makers.
“I implore you, people, to make use of what you’ve learned in this workshop and extend it to your people at the grassroots. This will enable others to gain from the knowledge you’ve acquired,” he added.
The workshop, which was organized in collaboration with the Lead Consultant, “Direct Contact Communication Ltd, sought to bring sanity into the local government administration and ensure good governance.
While charging the council chairmen to exhibit the spirit of discipline, hard work, and dedication to duty, the governor thanked the organizers of the workshop for choosing Kebbi State for the training.
Also speaking, the Director and leader of the lead consultant of Direct Contact Communication Ltd, Prof Mustapha N. Malam, appreciated the state governor for supporting the organization and ensuring the success of the program.
He explained that the essence of the program was to bring the council chairmen, who were close to the grassroots, to acquire knowledge that has a direct bearing on the people.
“This training is a worthwhile venture because of the capacity development benefits it offers to participants in their respective duties of providing dividends of democracy at the grassroots level.
“The workshop is timely because it is conducted just at the beginning of your tenure as elected leaders of your local government councils and at a time when councils are on the eve of enjoying financial autonomy.
“Similar to the other two tiers of government, federal and state, you have constitutional roles as provided for in the constitution and also as contained in the recent judgment on the LG autonomy by the Supreme Court of Nigeria,” he added.
He then admonished all the participants to be policy drivers at the local levels, saying: “Your election is an opportunity for you to address the problems people face at the grassroots.
“This training, therefore, is apt as it is intended to improve your capacity to do the needful and function maximally in the discharge of your mandate,” he added.
Different papers were presented, including; Overview of Nigeria’s Development and Policies from Independence to Date, The Challenges of Leadership by Prof Yahaya Baba from Usman Danfodio University, Sokoto (UDUS).
Others were Managing Local Government Council As 3rd Tier of Government and its Relationship with the Federal and state mandate and Responsibilities of the chairman by Dr Ibrahim Baba Shatambaya, among others.
