General News
AN NGO, Christian Rural and Urban Development Association of Nigeria (CRUDAN), South-West zone, has organised interactive meeting with local elective representatives and community members on ways to ensure good governance.
Mr John Akinpelu, CRUDAN Zonal Programme Officer for South-West, said at the meeting on Friday that the programme was aimed at strengthening the collaboration between the government and the community members.
Akinpelu said that the programme would also bring about accountability and justice.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the programme was tagged: ” Creating a Platform for Accountable Representation and Justifiable Actions for Community Development.”
Akinpelu said it was important to bring elective representatives and the community members together for interactive meeting.
He said that the meeting would also afford community leaders to ask questions, while elective representatives would be able to respond appropriately.
“This is to ensure that the community is aware of programmes and initiatives of elective representatives at the local government level.
“We hope to see that the elective representatives and the community are working together to ensure that community is moving forward and also solving issues affecting various communities
“We want a collaborative effort for both community members and elective representatives. They are the two agents of good governance.
“Government representatives are responsive and answerable to the public from which their authority is derived,” the CRUDAN zonal programme officer said.
In his remarks, Alhaji Usein Kehinde-Oredipe, the Missioner, Ansar-deen, Ijebu-Ode, said that local governments were handicapped, adding that they did not have enough resources to respond to infrastructure needs of the communities.
Kehinde-Oredipe said it was important for local governments to receive monthly allocations directly from the Federal Government and not the state, pointing out that it would allow them to meet the people’s needs at the grassroots.
Responding, Mr Adesola Ogundare, Leader of the House, Ijebu-Ode Local Government Legislative Council, called for collaborative efforts with the community, saying that government alone could not fix every problem.
Ogundare explained that Ijebu-Ode Local Government had to manage available resources to address some challenges facing the local government.
NAN reports that community representatives at the event engaged in Group Work where they highlighted and identified some of the issues affecting their communities in Ijebu-Ode.
They listed some of the issues to include bad road networks, flooding, security issues, epileptic power supply, among others. (NAN)
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Tags: Adesola Ogundare Alhaji Usein Kehinde-Oredipe CRUDAN John Akinpelu
