…By Ebuka Onyekwelu

Chief Uzu Okagbue has called on Nigerians to pay more attention to the federating units of the country and hold them more accountable. This, Okagbue said as Nigeria commemorates its independence anniversary, which also coincides with his birthday. Emphasizing his position, Uzu said that if half of the attention paid to the presidency by Nigerians is given to state governors, then, Nigerians will experience dramatic change that will directly impact their lives.

Aside from holding state governors accountable, he also called for local government chairpersons to be held to the same standards of accountability, if the people are serious about their demand for good governance. “My point is that Nigeria is clearly designed to meet the needs of its people through the federating units – States and local governments. We have 36 states and 774 local governments. It is easier for these states and the local governments to solve our local problems. Any State or local government that is committed to the people will have a more fruitful impact in their lives because it is closer; it knows the problems and can address them with a precision that has a personal touch,” Uzu said.

In August, no local government in Anambra State received less than N300 million Naira from FAAC disbursement for the month of July. Yet, governance continues to elude the people, as they scamper for the most basic things such as good roads and water. Ironically, these local governments receive enough money to be able to provide these basic needs of the people. With the push by the Federal Government which has forced all state governments to conduct local government elections so that the FAAC allocations can be sent to the local governments directly, holding local government leaders accountable is no more out of place. Reacting to this development, Okagbue said that local governments should be held even more accountable. “Local government chairpersons should be able to tell the people what they are doing with hundreds of millions of Naira they receive from the federal government every month. I expect our people to be decisive on this. We all must understand that the more we fail to hold our governors and local government chairpersons accountable, the farther we defer our dream of a better-governed society where the people are in the centre of government’s decisions and actions,” Okagbue concluded.