Mob burns madwoman to death

Mob burns madwoman to death in Lagos

*Says android phone, N3 million cash, three AK-47 rifles found with her

A woman, suspected of being a ritualist, was burnt to death by an angry mob, Monday evening, at Abule-Ado, along the Mile-Two Badagry Expressway, Lagos.

However, the Police said she was mentally unstable and subsequently vowed to arrest those behind the killing.

Residents said the unidentified woman, who pretended to be insane, was apprehended after they were alerted by the cry for help from a child she was alleged to have abducted.

A curious motorcyclist, who reportedly stopped to urinate by a bush path along the expressway, heard the desperate cry for help and was said to have alerted other persons when he discovered a little child that was allegedly held hostage by the woman.

A mob was said to have descended on her. When searched, she was alleged to have been found with an android phone, N3 million cash and three AK-47 rifles, which were kept in a sack inside the drainage system.

The mob descended on her and set her ablaze before the arrival of policemen from Area ‘E’ division.

It was gathered that the cry of the toddler drew the attention of one of the okada riders. As the cry of the child continued, he moved closer and found the child with the woman.”

At the spot where she was burnt alive, charred bones, suspected to be that of a human jaw, spinal cord and thigh littered the ground. There were also clothes and shoes scattered around.

An identity card of a pupil was also recovered. Eyewitnesses said when the management of the school was contacted, it claimed the said ID belongs to a missing pupil.

No baby, weapons, cash found on her —Police

Reacting to the incident, Lagos State Police Command said it had commenced investigation into the killing of the woman whom it said was insane.

A spokesman for the command, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said: “Based on preliminary investigation, it was discovered that the mentally challenged woman had been living in the area for several years before she was lynched and set ablaze by some hoodlums on the allegation of having a baby and three AK-47 rifles.

The command wishes to state categorically that the woman was just murdered for reasons best known to the perpetrators of the heinous crime. The investigation revealed that no baby and AK-47 rifles were found in her possession, neither were they recovered by the perpetrators or the police. It’s just a clear case of murder.

Therefore, the Commissioner of Police has ordered that the matter be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Yaba-Lagos for proper investigation and that the culprits should be arrested and charged to court for murder.

The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, CP Hakeem Odumosu, also warned against jungle justice which is inhumane, criminal and detrimental to smooth Administration of Criminal Justice in Lagos and Nigeria at large. He equally warned that the command will not tolerate such act as the long arm of the law will catch up with anyone or group of persons who engage in jungle justice in the state. 

Suspected Yahoo boy kills twin brother

A suspected Yahoo boy, who allegedly killed his twin brother at Oleh, headquarters of Isoko South Local Government Area, Delta State, has been arrested by police operatives.

Though the reason for the killing could not be ascertained at press time, sources said it might have been carried out for ritual purposes.

The suspect, it was gathered, was found with a dog and the decomposing body of the deceased in their apartment at Old Olomoro Road, Monday, after neighbours perceived an offensive smell emanating from the flat.

“The house was locked for some days and after some time, the people living in the compound began to perceive foul smell that attracted flies around the apartment.

“The neighbours then alerted the police at the Oleh divisional headquarters. The door was forced open and they found him sitting close to the decomposing body of his twin brother. A dog was also found in the house,” a source, who craved anonymity, said.

The source said the corpse of the deceased had been deposited in a mortuary in the area while the suspect and his dog were arrested by the police.

Confirming the incident, yesterday, the Police Public Relations Officer of the state command, Mr Bright Edafe, said the police had commenced investigation into the matter.

He, however, added that “For now, there is no evidence that it was for ritual purpose. When they broke into the house, they saw the decomposing body and the twin brother.”

Cholera kills 20 in Bauchi as govt reports 322 suspected cases

Bauchi State government has confirmed 20 people dead from suspected cholera outbreak in the state.

The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Aliyu Maigoro, who disclosed this while briefing newsmen on the epidemic at the Ministry of Health headquarters in Bauchi, said 322 cases have been reported so far.

He gave the summary of the cases so far recorded in the state as of May 24, 2021, to include Bauchi 147 cases with nine deaths; Giade with one death; Misau with four deaths; Ningi, three deaths; Toro 6 and Warji 6, noting that the ministry, through the state Primary Healthcare Development Agency, responded immediately having been notified of the disease to avoid spreading to other communities.

Maigoro added that other response actions so far conducted by the ministry to tackle the disease include the establishment of the state Public Health Emergency Operation Centre and isolation centres in all general hospitals of the affected local government areas.

He said: “Four cholera treatment units have been activated in Bauchi metropolis at Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, ATBUTH, urban maternity and primary health centre, Kandahar.

“Drugs and consumables have been provided to all the isolation sites in the state. Doctors, nurses and paramedics have been mobilised to provide care to the victims.

“Outbreak response is being supported by relevant ministries, departments and agencies as well as partners— SEMA, BASEPA, RUWASSA, state water corporation, SIB, ATBUTH, WHO, MSF, UNICEF and Red Cross. Surveillance activities are heightened to detect and report cases promptly.”

The commissioner said among the steps taken is the activation of the state Public Health Emergency Operation Centre, development of an Incident Action Plan, IAP, and response coordination meetings chaired by him.

He said Governor Bala Mohammad has approved the release of funds to facilitate the response activities.

Abductors tortured kidnapped student

Kidnappers tortured abducted 400-Level student of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Olayinka Toyinbo, for 48 hours while in captivity.

The revelation of his torture was made on Tuesday in Abeokuta by his uncle, Mr. John Oyeleye, who led family members on a “thank you” visit to the university’s vice-chancellor, Prof. Kolawole Salako.

Toyinbo was abducted on Saturday on a private farm where he had gone to eke a living as a self-sponsored indigent student but was released on Monday.

Toyinbo is a student in the Department of Aquaculture and Fisheries Management, College of Environmental Resources Management at the university.

Oyeleye said Toyinbo’s father could not be on the entourage because of old age, but sent his greetings and appreciation to the university’s management and students.

He said the swift actions of the university’s management, those of students and security operatives greatly accelerated Toyinbo’s release.

He told Prof. Salako and the varsity’s management that the family was thrown into shock when the abductors contacted its members on the victim’s non-internet compliant phone.

Oyeleye advised everyone to be cautious of their immediate environment and not to go about at ungodly hours.

Responding, Prof. Salako appreciated God that Toyino was eventually released and expressed gratitude to security agencies and the general public.

He said it was regrettable that an innocent youth could be abducted while struggling to acquire education.

The vice-chancellor noted that the abduction would discourage farming, especially by students who paid their way through school by doing menial jobs.

Prof. Salako also reiterated the varsity’s commitment to the wellbeing of the entire university community.

Gunmen kidnap IYC president, Igbifa in Rivers

IJAW Youth Council, IYC, worldwide, President,  Deacon Peter Igbifa, has been kidnapped by gunmen, yesterday, around the Omagwa-Port Harcourt International Airport Road in Rivers State.

It was gathered that the style of his abductors is akin to that of operators of the operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS.

His abduction happened hours before the expiration of the 30 days ultimatum the IYC gave the Federal Government to constitute the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Board or have the region shut down by Ijaw youths.

Igbifa issued the notice on April 26, 2021 and followed it up with a warning on May 17, 2021, asking all multinational oil companies operating in the region to evacuate and peacefully shut down their oil platforms before the expiration of the notice at midnight of May 26, 2021.

A source close to the Igbifa said he has whisked away about 8:45 a.m., at the Port Harcourt International Airport road en route Abuja for a meeting.

Confirming the incident to journalists in Port Harcourt, Igbifa’s personal driver, Wisdom Emmanson, said the IYC President was whisked away at gunpoint,  adding that some of the abductors were masked and wielded guns associated with secret police officers.

Meanwhile, when contacted, Spokesman Rivers State Police Command, Nnamdi Omoni, said the command was yet to confirm the incident and promised to get back to our correspondent.

Murder of bizman: Suspected military officer arrested

A man suspected to be an army officer has been arrested by the Police in Akwa Ibom State over the alleged murder of a businessman in Ikot Abasi Local Government Area of the state.

It was gathered that the suspected army officer killed the businessman, Sunday, and dispossessed him of his vehicle after the deceased, whose identity could not be ascertained at press time gave him a ride.

A reliable source disclosed in Uyo, yesterday, that the suspect was tracked and arrested at Ukanafun Local Government Area, and the vehicle, including a rifle, recovered from him.

The source said: “The incident happened on Sunday. A motorist offered the suspected army officer a ride in his vehicle, not knowing that he was going to kill him. They got to a place, the suspected army man attacked and killed him before dumping his corpse by the roadside.

“The attention of the police was drawn to the incident and they recovered the corpse, which they deposited at a mortuary. The deceased relatives came to the Police station in Ikot Abasi for assistance on Monday.

“Fortunately, the vehicle had a tracking device. So the police assisted them in tracking the vehicle. They traced the car to Ukanafun Local Government Area, where they surrounded the place and arrested the man, recovered the vehicle, and an AK-47 rifle from him.” 

Contacted, Police Public Public Relations Officer, Mr Odiko MacDon, confirmed the incident and simply added: “The matter is still under investigation, we are trying to get the report and also trying to determine the identity of the person involved.”

Other interesting stories are:

Grazing reserves causing brouhaha

We now know what President Muhammadu Buhari was doing when he failed to attend the burial of plane crash victims: Chief of Army Staff, the late Ibrahim Attahiru and 10 officers last Saturday. He was too busy perfecting his response to the Southern Governors’ ban on open grazing.  

Through a statement issued by his spokesman, Garba Shehu, Buhari supported his Attorney General, Abubakar Malami’s widely condemned view that the ban was “unconstitutional”. The President approved the rehabilitation of “grazing reserves in the states”, starting from June 2021.  

Buhari had earlier asked the Minister of Agriculture, Mohammed Nanono (the man who with impunity built a mosque worth N30 million for herdsmen with money from his ministry) to “rediscover” what he called “grazing reserves” throughout the country. Nanono recently submitted a report to Buhari, though they have not made public the areas that constitute these “grazing reserves”.  

Thus, a line has been drawn on the sand between the Southern governors who spoke the minds of their people (judging from the absolute support their Asaba Declaration enjoyed at all levels of opinion) and the cabal in Buhari’s presidency. Now, who blinks first?

It is notable that the president intends to commence the activation of the “grazing reserves” as from June, which marks the beginning of his last two years in power. What it means is that between now and May 29, 2023, we can expect a lot of heat around this issue.

What Buhari has in mind is nothing but confiscating people’s lands throughout the country to settle nomadic pastoralists.  Fulanisation agenda is the name for it.  This is the agenda to forcefully graft Fulani from all over Africa into indigenous lands by federal might. He wants to take land from those who have and give to his kinsmen who have none without the express permission of the landowners or the state governors who are holding the lands in trust for their people.  

Since this administration came to power six years ago, its officials have come with all sorts of subterfuges to achieve this end: “Ruga”, “cattle colonies”, “confiscation of water resources”, “National Livestock Transformation Plan, NLTP”; “National Agricultural Land Development Authority, NALDA; “federal gazette to confiscate some lands”, among others, which have been staunchly rejected in the South and the Middle Belt.  

This regime had looked the other way while armed herdsmen attack and kill people and forcefully settle on their lands. This act of terrorism is something this administration has studiously refused to identify as part of the security threats facing the nation, let alone designating them terrorists and fighting them. Indeed, Femi Adesina, Buhari’s spokesman, once told indigenous Nigerians to surrender their ancestral lands or die at the hands of these attackers. Highwaymen used to say: “your money or your life?”. Now, Femi Adesina is telling us: “your ancestral land or your life?”

What it means is that the regime allowed these attacks all over the country to proffer the seizure of people’s lands for the settlement of these barbaric elements as Buhari’s own idea of restoring “peace”. The  Fulanisation agenda is no longer a rumour. It is a living reality being fanatically pursued by this one-sided government at the expense of innocent, peaceful and law-abiding indigenous Nigerians.  

Let us even examine this agenda as a recipe for “peace”. We are on our farms trying to eke a living. Strangers come with arms to kill us, rape our women, destroy our farms and abduct some of us for ransom. Instead of the government to protect us, they describe these attacks as “clashes” between us and the armed strangers just because those strangers are their kinsmen. The government refuses to protect us. Instead, when we try to fight back, the government sends its army, police and security agencies to arrest and kill us. Those we captured and handed over to the government for prosecution are released with their deadly arms to continue attacking us.  

Then, the government says we must give up our land to these violent strangers who are now claiming that our land belongs to them. And government expects this to bring about peace! Where is the logic in this assumption? Where is the sense? Where is the peace? I see no peace at all. All I see are wars and more wars until the strangers are comprehensively uprooted and sent back, bleeding from all pores, to where they came from.  Fulanisation,  no matter in what form it is presented, is a recipe for endless conflicts, not peace. Is this the legacy Buhari wants to leave behind? He will only expose his people to danger and massive loss.

I don’t know what Buhari means by “rehabilitating the grazing reserves in the states”.  There are no grazing reserves in the 17 states of Southern Nigeria. How can there be? Are Fulani indigenous to the South?  Even if there are a couple of reserves in the South West (which I doubt that the landowners consented to), the same cannot be said to be true of the South East and South-South. I know only of cattle markets in some towns, which are legitimate businesses under local control.  

The Southern governors have made it clear that open grazing remains banned. On this single page the people and governments of the South stand. Fulanisation is a conquest agenda that was used to subjugate the North to establish the Sokoto Caliphate dominated by the Fulani. This cannot be extended to the South in this day and age, no matter how powerful those today controlling our Federal Government think they are. It will be vehemently resisted. It is already being vehemently resisted, and it will never stop being resisted in the South.   Those who lose their lands to conquerors become slaves to them. I never was a slave and never will be!  

"The Southern governors have made it clear that open grazing remains banned; on this single page the people and governments of the South stand"

‘Why LG system is not working' 

....Governors are excessively greedy, operate as emperors; ...Only full autonomy will solve the problems — NULGE

THE Local Government is the branch of government closest to the people. Rural development ought to revolve around it. But this supposed closest system to the people, particularly the rural masses, is indeed very far from them. The people hardly know what goes on in their councils in terms of programs and projects that benefit them. In fact, in most cases, there are no projects at all, let alone the ones impacting the rural people. Worse still, even the council chairmen, elected and appointed, don’t stay in their council areas. This is worse in councils in the rural areas. They all reside in the cities and visit their councils at their convenience. This is why they don’t know the problems of their people.

The 1976 local government reform that created the third-tier of government was aptly aimed at bringing democracy and good governance closer to the grassroots. It aptly made provision for the election of councilors and chairmen who are people well known in their communities and who can be easily accessed by the people to know the needs of the various communities.

But with the military incursion into governance, the local government system was dismantled like other democratic structures, leading to the collapse of the system. Military leaders began to appoint council officials who in turn owed allegiance only to those who appointed them, rather than to the people they were meant to serve.

The 1999 Constitution which ushered in the present democratic dispensation though granted a sort of autonomy to the local government councils, but the governors never allowed the autonomy to function. They hijacked council funds from Abuja, appropriate them as they deem fit and released pittance to the council leaders. The governors exploited the state/local government joint allocation policy, which gave the state governors the power to control local government funds.

This policy has rendered the local government system ineffective as the governors control the funds and decide what goes to the local governments.

In some states, the governors pay a stipulated amount to the caretaker committee after such chairmen had signed their full monthly allocation, which they then hand over to their governors. This, perhaps, is why most governors have refused to conduct local government elections which would enable the elected chairmen to access their allocations directly from Abuja.

In Anambra State, for instance, the last local government election was conducted towards the end of the second tenure of former Governor Peter Obi, over seven years ago. At the end of the tenure of those elected chairmen and councillors; the present administration in the state has not conducted another local government election.

The opposition political parties in the state have been clamouring for the conduct of local government election in the state but officials of the state government insist that there is a court injunction stopping the conduct of the exercise. As it is, no meaningful development is taking place at the grassroot level. Even Internally Generated Revenue hitherto collected by local governments has virtually collapsed as the state government officials control the system.

Concerned by the Anambra situation, human rights activist, Mr. Osita Obi has vowed to stop the November 6 governorship election in the state if the government fails to conduct local government election before the governorship poll.

According to Obi, “how can they be planning to conduct governorship election while denying those who want to contest election at the local government level their aspirations? I want to be a councillor and it will be improper for someone to force me to subsume my aspiration while he is pursuing his. It is not possible. If there is no local government election, there will be no governorship election in November.”

Chief Abi Onyike, a former Information Commissioner in Ebonyi State who is the spokesman of Igbo elite group, Alaigbo Development Foundation, ADF, blamed the rot in the local government system on the excessive greed of the state governors and their totalitarian control of  governance in their states.

Onyike said: “Nigeria is parading the most dangerous set of hardened characters that operate as emperors in their states. They are not only corrupt, they have swallowed their state resources to acquire properties in Dubai, China, New York, London, Spain and the South of France, not to talk of Maitama/Asokoro in Abuja and Victoria Island, Lekki and Banana Island in Lagos.

“Because of the governors’ strangulating hold on the councils, the local governments are not autonomous, so they cannot assert their independence. The local governments are part and parcel of the states. The whole idea of making the Councils the third tier of government has been defeated as the people in the rural areas are not benefiting from the system.

“The Council Chairmen do not feel safe to reside in the Council areas because they operate as agents of the governors in the looting of council resources, using the dubious joint accounts system. The governors give them pittance which is not enough to run the council administration. So the council chairmen are always hiding in order not to come face to face with the people of the council area who are the legitimate sovereign owners of the resources being looted by the governors and their surrogates.

“The only way to have a functional local government is to go back to regional autonomy so that the local councils in the regions can be properly financed for genuine development,” Onyike advocated.

The fiery and outspoken cleric, Archbishop Anthony J. V. Obinna of Catholic Archdiocese of Owerri, blamed the rot in the local council system on greed. Archbishop Obinna believes that some measure of development would have been taking place in the rural areas to curtail the mad rush to the cities if the local government system is allowed to function.

“I blame the situation on palpable greed. The grab, grab mentality is on the high side. If we have less greedy people at the helm of affairs, things will change for the better. I do not know what needs to be said that some of us have not said, but will those in the corridors of power listen?”

For the Anglican Archbishop of Owerri Ecclesiastical Province, Dr. David Onuoha: “Most local government headquarters look completely desolate. Workers hardly come to their offices for varying reasons, including, but not limited to nonpayment of their monthly emoluments and allowances.

“How can the local government system work when the governors are not ready to let them be? How can the place function effectively when the governors remain strongly attracted to the monthly statutory allocations from the Federal Government? How can the place operate well when the lawmakers are not interested in making the councils to function?

“The local government councils will remain dead until our lawmakers wake up from their slumber and invoke the principle of oversight function. The place will come back to life when the lawmakers refuse to be tied to the apron strings of the executive arm of government.”

A politician, who pleaded anonymity for fear of being accused of anti-party speech, expressed serious worry about the rot in the system.

His words: “My brother, what do you want me to say? I cannot tell you that I am not aware of the nonfunctional status of the local governments in the state. They are all comatose and may remain so, until a God-fearing executive arm of government mounts the stage.

“It is sad that most local council headquarters have been overtaken by weeds. This should not be the case if we really want to develop the nooks and crannies of the state.

“I am a member of the ruling party, but currently, it does not appear that the current Hope Uzodimma administration is keen on conducting local government polls soonest, or removing his hands from the local government monthly allocations.

“Appointment of interim management administrators has been in vogue over the years and that is what we still have on ground today. So, nothing has changed.”

A local government worker, who simply identified herself as Mama Cordelia, lamented that things have degenerated from bad to worse in the local government system.

According to her: “We do not know why the Local Government Service Commission was created by statute, if they are not allowed to function. There is also the pension unit that is not allowed to function. Salaries are not paid. Many are owed. A disillusioned staff cannot give his/her best in service. Honestly, our morale is very low, but we shall keep praying and hoping that one day, a Daniel will come to judgment.”.

A legal practitioner and former Commissioner for Environment, Abia State, Mr. Okechukwu Osuoha, advocates the abolition of joint state and local government accounts, saying it is a major impediment against development at the local government level.

Osuoha, who had also served as a transition Committee Chairman of Isuikwuato Council, accused governors of tampering with councils’ funds under the guise of joint account.

Osuoha argued that until the councils begin to enjoy financial autonomy and independence from unnecessary interference by state governors, development in council areas would remain a mirage.

He said that many council chairmen are poised to develop their council areas but could not achieve much as states starve them of their allocation from the federation account.

The former commissioner also strongly advocated that council elections be conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, instead of state electoral commissions. This, according to him, will help to reduce manipulation of the exercise by governors.

He also advocated the abolition of the use of Transition Committee to run the affairs as members of the Committee do only the bidding of the governors who appointed them. He argued that compelling council chairmen to reside at a particular location would change nothing if they are not given free access to their council funds.

“No meaningful development should be expected at the LGAs until councils have financial autonomy. As far as governors are tampering with council funds, the chairmen can’t do any magic.

“It is only when councils start getting their funds directly from the federation account that chairmen can be independent enough to tackle the challenges of their areas without external influences,” Osuoha said.

Also, the Chairman, Abia State Elders Consultative Forum, Archbishop Princewill Ariwodo, blamed the near absence of development in council areas on undue interference by state governors.

He said that the greed of state governors has denied council unfettered access to council funds which would enable them embark on developmental projects at the rural level.

The cleric regretted that governors have so caged the local government system that it had become difficult for the opposition party to win a council poll in any state.

Ariwodo also questioned the quality of occupants of chairmanship seats at the councils, saying that many of them are not capable of driving any development initiatives.

“The council chairmen we have nowadays are not the type of seasoned men that occupied such office in the past. It is only when seasoned men occupy that office that governors will respect them. But unfortunately, governors control who comes in and who goes out, and that is why there is bastardisation of the system today,” Ariwodo said.

In his contribution, a former Chairman, Umuahia North Council of Traditional Rulers, and the traditional ruler of Oriendu autonomous community, Eze Philip Ajomuiwe, blamed the failure of the system on the Federal Government.

The monarch argued that if the Federal Government was determined to free the third tier of government from the captivity of governors, it would have made the necessary changes in the constitution.

For the President of the Abia State chapter of the Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees, NULGE, Comrade Ikechi Nwaigwe, the solution lies in granting full autonomy to the 774 LGAs in the country.

He, however, disagrees with the assertion that local government system is not working, but said it is not working at full capacity.

“I don’t agree with the assertion that the local government system is not working. It is working, but not at full capacity. If you compare the performance of the current local government system and that of 1999-2003, the latter worked better. The only problem of the local government is full autonomy. Grant full autonomy to the local government, the problems of the local government will be over.

“They will have the capacity to execute their real functions as the tier of government closest to the people. It is only when autonomy is granted to the local government that they will have the capacity to deliver the dividends of democracy to the grassroots. Again, people will be able to truly assess the performance of the local governments in Nigeria. The problem of the local government system is funding which can only be solved through granting of autonomy,” the NULGE leader said.

According to him, granting full autonomy to the local governments would also scrap the state governments from JAAC as well as JAAC from the Constitution.

“The governors have not hijacked the LGs, what they have done is through the position of JAAC which is contained in the 1999 Constitution, as amended. The application of JAAC is affecting the financial and administrative autonomy of the local governments.

“What we are asking for is that the local governments should be granted full autonomy. When full autonomy is granted, it will jettison JAAC from the Constitution. It will also remove the state governments from JAAC. It will strip the governors of the power to appoint members of the State Independent Electoral Commission, SIEC. If the autonomy is granted and the INEC conducts local government polls, then you will see that full autonomy can bring development to the local governments,” Nwaigwe said.

Nwaigwe also noted that the problems of the local government system have increased because citizens hardly ask questions about the activities of the local government.

“The awareness is high now about the functions of the local government. The people should ask questions, the people should seek, call and demand action. The problems of the local governments have increased because people hardly ask questions about the activities in their local governments. The people need to know their rights and make demands from the local governments.

“If local governments are allowed total access to the fund from federal allocation, Internally Generated Revenue and subvention from the state, the narrative will change for good. You know there is an existing law that mandates the state government to give a certain percentage of the IGR from state BIR to the local governments.”

The NULGE boss also supports that local government chairmen reside in their council areas to be close to the people and know their needs.

“The LG chairmen have guest houses in their areas where they live throughout the duration of their tenure. These guest houses are still there till date. But majority of them do not make use of them and only visit their local government areas when monthly allocations are received and disappear till the next allocation.

“This could be for the reason of insecurity. But a local government chairman will put in more efforts to protect his people when he lives in the area. However, I am aware the local government chairmen know the problems of their people. Most of them are also worried about the problems. Everyone must join hands to make the local governments more functional and autonomous. The time to do it is now.”

The former Chairman of Ohanaeze Ndigbo in lmo State, Professor Chidi Osuagwu, is of the view that for the local government system to be functional, there is need for a new constitution to return sovereignty to the people at the local government level.

“You know since 1976, it was modeled on Northern feudalism. So, what has happened is that gradually, the Igbo man learns it and overdoes it. Imagine some feudal minded people who call themselves stakeholders; they form cabals and take power; they are given certain number of local government areas as their booty; as their own share. This is what is going on.

“They do whatever they like with it. What I see in the issue is not to look at local government in isolation but to recognise that we are running a failed system alienated from the people; this is what is manifesting.

“We need a new constitution that will allow the people to determine who governs them and once it happens, the people will pick somebody amongst them. As of now, all these people who emerged, some of us do not know how it happened.

“So, the solution is to get a new constitution, return sovereignty to the people to allow them manage themselves,“ Osuagwu said.

For Goodluck Ibem, the President-General of Coalition of South-East Youth Leaders, the noble objective for which the councils were created has been defeated. He blamed the creation of SIEC as part of the cause of the failure of the system as the commissions never conducted credible elections.

“We cannot address the current security situation without first and foremost addressing the local government council malfunctions. Unless we bring the local government council back to the people, we will not achieve a lasting solution and peace in the country. The local government council remains the key to solving security issues among other things,” Ibem said.

He called for the scrapping of the SIECs, integrating their staff into INEC and allowing INEC to conduct council elections.

Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, a prominent Igbo youth leader, wants a total overhaul of the local government system in Nigeria and grant the councils full financial autonomy; adding that INEC should be saddled with the responsibility of conducting council elections.

According to Isiguzoro, the major setbacks for the community development in the council areas are not because the chairmen and councillors do not reside in their local constituencies, the main problem is the continuous rape on council funds meant for rural development.

A political analyst, Hon. Emeka Jonah attributed the failure of local government system to undue political interference or lack of autonomy.

“Local government has failed ineffective service delivery at the grassroots due to many factors. Some of these factors are lack of funds, corruption, undue political interference, lack of autonomy, lack of qualified professional staff, leadership problem, poor work attitude, among others.

“There is high degree of external influence in local government affairs by the higher levels of government, particularly the state governments. The governors are fond of controlling their financial allocation, taxes, counterpart funding and failure to conduct council elections.

“The state governors merely conduct council election just to justify their perspective enterprise managers through SIEC. The state governors ensure that the people to occupy council elective positions are men and women proven to be submissive to them,” Jonah said.

He also called for an amendment of the 1999 Constitution, saying that it created confusion by empowering state governments to conduct LG elections and mandates the NASS to provide legal backing to allow local government work as the third tier of government without being controlled.

“When examined closely, the contradiction in section 7(1) of 1999 Constitution which empowers the state government through state assemblies to create local government council and the same constitution mandates the NASS to provide legal backing to the LG through Section 8. This is where the federal and state governments flex muscles over the existence and running of the LG as a tier of government.

“Due to the loophole created by the 1999 Constitution, governors control all the activities of the LGAs, especially financial transactions. 

The councils can’t execute any project without approval from the state governor. Sections 7(1) and 8 of the 1999 Constitution as amended, should be amended to provide for a more viable local government system”, he said.

Jonah called also advocates council chairmen residing in the council areas, saying that “the refusal of the council chairmen to reside in their locality is enough to impeach them”.

Culled from Vanguard

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