Fides Media Living the Faith
By Jude Atupulazi
The government of Pof Chukwuma Soludo in Anambra State says the days of imposition of community leaders in the state are gone. The Commissioner of Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Hon TonyCollins Nwabunwanne, who disclosed this to Fides, said it was in line with the state government’s resolve to encourage democracy in the grassroots and boost development.
‘Yes, that is it. What we do is just to monitor and supervise; to make sure that everything in their constitution is well followed. And what is important is that it is in line with the democratic process – option A4, so that people can choose their leaders.
‘That is the only way people can listen to you, that is the only way the people can achieve peace, the only way the community can attract meaningful projects from government. It is only when they choose their leaders that they can reach out; a leader who speaks and they listen – that is important to us,’ the commissioner stated.
On the state governor’s earlier promise to conduct local government elections, Nwabunwanne hinted that the elections would be conducted by the end of the year.
In his words, ‘The governor in his manifesto said he would conduct local government elections and hopefully, it might be by the end of this year. The next budget may come with the local government election.’
In the area of Grassroots Security, he said the state government had been able to provide security at the local government level through the establishment of Anambra Vigilante Group, AVG, noting that one of the greatest achievements of the Soludo Adminstration was fighting insecurity.
‘We really work hard to beat them (criminals) down. You know, the crime rate was high when we came on board, but it has reduced drastically now. Security Agencies will be able to give you well detailed and elaborate information about it. All I know is that, at least, at the local government level, we are doing it – we have AVG. With the synergy we are having with the state AVG, we have been able to get some people (criminals) out of the streets.
Nwabunwanne however decried what he called the plethora of disputes in many communities and described such as posing the greatest challenge to his office. He however expressed satisfaction that many of such had been resolved.
He said that resolving those disputes came with a lot of pressure, noting that there were people who did not want elections to take place and who usually would want to frustrate every effort at achieving peace. He expressed delight that the government was able to overcome those challenges.