From Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
Imo State Chairman of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), Hon. Willie Okolieogwo is one of the most workaholic council boss in the state. He is also the sole administrator of Oru West Local Government Area.
In this interview with Sunday Sun, he explained the synergy between ALGON and Governor Hope Uzodimma in extending the dividends of democracy to the rural areas.
He also spoke about payment of salaries and pension, as well as why the local government election has not been conducted in the state. Excerpts:
Are you satisfied with the present security situation in Imo State?
You might have been in this state for the past couple of months; I can assure that the level of security now is not as it has been for quite sometime, it has drastically reduced to the bearest minimum and that’s as result of the synergy between the executive governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma and those collaborating with him at the local government areas, which are called the sole administrators. That’s why you can experience relative peace .
Speaking of synergy, what’s the current relationship between ALGON and community leaders in the state?
The relationship has been wonderful, there has not been any quarrel among the traditional rulers or community leaders, there have been great synergy that has sustained the economic activities in the state. The Presidents-General have been assisting the state government to ensure this peace we’re talking about, the governor cannot be at all the local government areas at the same time.
Are you comfortable the state assembly voting against the financial autonomy of the local government system in the state?
Naturally, we are not supposed to be happy with that, it’s something that concerns us, but I’m not a member of the Imo State House of Assembly, they might have seen what I’m not seeing that warranted their decision. Democratically speaking, as far as I’m concerned, if independence is given to the local government that would be wonderful, but sometimes spectators are more worried than the players, the people at the House of Assembly, they are the players ,they cannot act as spectators, so they may have additional information or reason that made them vote the way they voted.
How has ALGON been of utmost help to the present administration?
His Excellency has proven so many of his critics wrong ,as a man who has been a legislator, he knows his onion and we think he has come to change the narrative both in administration, management of materials resources in the state; in fact, the way I have seen things and the way people talk, he seems to have overtaken the late former governor of the state, Sam Mbakwe. Imolites are already angling for him to come for a second term because of what he has done. No government in the history of Imo has done that, I’m talking about what he has been able to achieve withing his first one hundred days in office, within the fist two years and now he’s about four years, he has done marvelously well, in the entire 27 local government areas of the state. The effect of his governance is being felt everywhere, those who have not got it now will definitely get it and so far he has scored more than 80 per cent and that’s why there is clamour for him to come back. I also plead with them to let him to come back for a second term. If given another opportunity, he would turrn Imo to another Dubai.
They said the health centres in the rural areas are failing under your watch,how has KT been under your watch?
I don’t know when you last visited the primary health centres in the state,within the first one year of the governor, he mandated the interim committees to ensure that the 305 primary health centres in all the wards of the local governments to be rehabilitated, funds were made available, the projects were taken personal by the interim management committees. As we speak all have been rehabilitated within two years in office of the governor, they now give medical attention to people at that level. I’m aware also that ALGON at the national level as far back as 2006 awarded primary health care facilities in all the local government areas in the 774 local government areas in the federation. In Imo, we have 27 of them well rehabilitated and well equipped .
What’s the fate of the workers in the local governments, I understand these people have not been treated fairly in the past?
Management of human beings, researchers would say, is much difficult than the management of machine because you can command a machine and it would give you result, but human beings, when you give him directives the moment you leave he does whatever that comes to his mind . Sometimes the staff you’re talking about may be asked to supply data so that relevant financial responsibility can be met, sometimes they distort their date of employment when you take this to the computer to varify, it may throw it back at you and when you’re not there to explain, it would warrant you to start looking for ways to correct it and in the process you have harmed yourself and your payment not being made. But the error was from you, some people you ask them, what’s your date of birth, they wouldn’t give you proper data and it will later affect your payment while those who did their proper verification are receiving their salaries without problems as at when due hundred per cent, no deduction, so if for one reason or the other you constituted to the reason you’re not being paid, you cannot blame the government. Those who are not in the system wouldn’t understand this problem, the man who caused the problem for himself would go back home to say I’ve worked for several months, I’ve not been paid; meanwhile you’re the cause of your problem . The summary of it is that nobody that is working under this government, both at the local government and state, if you properly did your verification you can be sure to get your salaries intact, whether you’re a pensioner, retiree or still working for the government ,your salaries have no problems as long as the state government is concerned. That reminds me of the local government staff last week were ask to stay back for their promotional exams,this is what has been abandoned for the past 15 years by the previous government, but the governor said no, these people are human beings, they have their families, why would they be stopped somewhere, he said let’s improve their welfare, let’s give them reason for being in this service.
There haven’t been a substantive local government administration in the state for a very long time, does that bother you?
Unfortunately, the man sitting here was a former counsellor elected in my ward in 2010 and suddenly when Rochas Okorocha came to power, exactly on the 6 June, 2011, he dismantled the local government system, both the traditional institution, town union, local government structures, those aggrieved went to court which I’m part of them; the 2010 counsellors and we got judgment against him and you know he’s a man that has no respect for constituted authority, he ignored the judgment and the system remained like that, just couple of months before his exit he concocted what he called a local government election by selecting some persons from each autonomous communities, you will begin to wonder, where he got the law from to enable him to do such election, having 640 counsellors, it was a dead on arrival programme. Like I said earlier, the present government inherited their rotten system and His Excellency has taken his time to study things and begin to ameliorate the situation as it where and again, election of the local government would have been long done under him, but because of the insecurity it wasn’t possible, but I assure you that all things being equal soon election would be conducted. But I can also assure you that the people he appointed now either as members of interim management committee and the present sole administrators, they’re doing very well. I’m their chairman for three years running, I know what happened before and I know what is happening now and I know that there is no wall of different between a local government chairman-elect and sole administrators or interim management committees. In fact, we are even doing more, all these things I pointed out earlier, getting the primary health care centre done, schools and even the market ,we also went into market construction, lockup shops, open shades, it turns around the economy too, there were people there before either elected or appointed, they never did anything, this was under the help of Senator Hope Uzodimma and that is why there is high clamour even from the opposition asking him to do a second term .
Are you invariably saying that your members are calling on the governor to run for a second term in office?
Not only our members, Imolites have spoken, when he hosted a town hall meeting last year at the Ndubuisi Kanu Square, they begged him to do another four years.