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Meet No 1 council chairman
in Enugu, No 3 in Nigeria
… Yet, Uche Anioke, Awgu council boss hopes to set new records
From CHIDI NNADI and PETRUS OBI, Enugu
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
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Anioke
•Photo: Sun News Publishing |
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When last Friday Governor Sullivan Chime of Enugu State flagged
off the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chairmanship election campaign
in the state ahead of the December 5 polls, the party knew it has
little or no work to do in the Awgu Local Government Area as the
people of the council have already adopted the incumbent chairman,
Uche Anioke, as their man.
Anioke has won the heart of his people in the last one year and
seven months he has served them as chairman by delivering to them
democracy dividends, a proof that he knew what he wanted to do from
the beginning.
Indeed, when in 2007, Anioke offered himself to serve his people
at the local level; panic immediately took over his opponents who
said that he was over-qualified.
Thus his opponents pleaded that he moved to higher positions as
he had held several positions in the immediate past administration
of the state as commissioner, managing director of parastatals,
special adviser and coordinating council chairman, but Anioke’s
desire to transform Awgu into a modern urban area was uppermost
in his mind.
So, he did not bulge to the request of the opposition, and upon
assumption of office in 2008, he told his people to take the photograph
of Awgu council area and judge him after two years when his first
term will expire.
Indeed, under one year and seven months, the Awgu council boss has
lived up to his promise, a feat that caught the fancy of the House
of Representatives who adjudged him to be the best local government
chairman in Enugu State and the third in the country.
And the Awgu council boss in this interview with Daily Sun says
he is not done yet with his people as he hopes to set new records
when he returns for his second term, promising that after the coming
two years he would surely top the record of the House of Representatives.
After accomplishing this, Anioke hopes to move to the national level,
saying then he must have paid his dues in Enugu State. Excerpt:
The House of Representatives honour
Actually, recently at the Sheraton Hotels and Towers, the House
of Representatives Committee on State and Local Government Affairs
invited almost the entire country to a ceremony in which, according
to them, they wanted to recognize chairmen across the country that
have contributed positively to the development of their areas. Prior
to that, a couple of months ago, I got a notice that I had been
nominated as one of the three that are doing well in Enugu State.
At first I was skeptical, though last year I had won a similar award
by the same committee as the best in my senatorial zone, we were
three, myself, Ogbonna Idike of Igbo-Etiti and Sam Ngene of Enugu
South; we went and were honoured, but that was at the senatorial
zone.
So, this time around it was a different one and I asked what has
happened to the other one, they said there was a change of guard;
it took me a lot of time to consider it, but when I discovered that
I was recommended by the Ministry of Local Government of Enugu State,
I felt encouraged because I didn’t know how they came by my
name; they said they sent a letter to the Ministry and the Ministry
nominated me.
I felt that if Professor Frank Asogwa, commissioner for Local Government
Affairs has so nominated me then something good will come out of
it. The panel came to Enugu and spent some quality time; the first
time they came they spent like one week, they came the second time,
they came more than four times at various stages, asking various
questions, and at the end I was nominated as the best in the state.
Eventually, I got a letter, elected for the South-East zone and
two days to the event I got nominated as the third best in Nigeria.
What the award means to me
The award has come and gone and I want to say that I feel challenged
by the award; challenge is the word because I said to myself, if
the man from Akankpa could come second and the man from Kano could
come first and I when looked at their portfolio I was convinced
they did better than myself; so I am challenged to ensure that next
time I want to beat them to the game; and the game for next year,
for me starts today.
I want to put an infrastructure, which each time it is presented
nobody will be in doubt that these people have done well. I want
to commend the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the committee
for putting in place this competitive spirit among the local government
chairmen in the country because this will spur people up; you won’t
be docile anymore, you won’t be relaxed, you know there are
rewards at the end of the day. So, I feel honoured and as I said
a couple of days ago, I have dedicated this award to one man; first
to God, but on earth to Governor Sullivan Chime. If you will recall
he was my colleague at the state executive council in the past regime,
and now he is my governor.
He has given us an enabling environment here in Enugu State for
every chairman to perform optimally; if you fail as a local government
chairman in Enugu State it is because you have refused to work not
because the environment as it were has not been conducive. So, I
want to give this award to my governor, I want to dedicate it to
him and I want to tell him not to change from the manner he is piloting
the affairs of Enugu State and in particular his attitude towards
local government chairmen. As far as he is concerned local government
chairmen are mini-governors of their local governments and he has
never for one day tried to interfere with the way we run our local
governments; rather he has introduced a collaborative effort that
has made us proud; I will give you an example.
There is an old road; old Port Harcourt road that runs from Akpacha
in Enugu South, through Ozalla, through Awgu, Aninri to Lokpanta
in Abia State; for more than 30 years that road has been in total
state of disrepair. I was in government for eight years in the past
regime and that road never attracted any attention. At the beginning
of last year I begged the governor; if you go through that road
now, it is being asphalted; it is a 52.6 km road and it is in partnership
with Awgu Local Government. The project will cost over N4 billion;
Awgu is contributing about N900 million; and this road happens to
be one of the projects for which I was judged as to be doing well.
It is a rare thing that we are doing it; so in all I want to tell
you very honestly that I am happy and I am challenged and with this
award I am poised to do more.
Why I decided to serve my people
You will recall that as a participant of the politics of Enugu State
from 1999 to 2007 so to speak, I served in various capacities in
the state; first as a foundation Publicity Secretary of the PDP
in the state; then as the Managing Director of Enugu State Housing
Development Corporation which saw the emergence of Ebeano Housing
Estate and then the Golf Estate, which I mid-wifed; then I moved
on to the Star Printing Publishing Company as managing director,
later I became the Commissioner for Youths and Sports, became Special
Adviser to the Governor on Special Duties; later Commissioner for
Poverty Reduction, and commissioner, governor’s office; and
towards the end of Governor Chimaroke’s regime I became the
coordinating chairman of Awgu Local Government; it was this small
journey into local government administration that opened my eyes
to what I can do as a chairman of a local government; what I can
do to change the lives of my people.
So, this brief assignment made me feel I could do much more as a
chairman than as a commissioner, and that was why I offered myself
for election in 2007, to be able to change the landscape of Awgu
which has been dilapidated for several years. And I won in that
election, so I was propelled by this challenge to see how I can
leave my people better than they have been; that was the simple
motive.
My achievement in two years
This is one question I have always tried to avoid; one because it
is definitely not in my habit to blow my own trumpet. If you recall
in 2008, the NUJ in Enugu State gave me an award as the best performing
chairman, then tongues started wagging; ‘no, it was sold,
no, it was bought,’ but I believe any person who is conversant
with my person knows; if you talk about the finest politicians in
Enugu State, even as a chairman, it will be wrong to count me out.
I don’t blow my trumpet, but we mid-wifed Chimaroke; Jim Nwobodo
was there, Egugbe was there, Chidi Okoro was there, Anthony Eze
was there, as young as I was I was in the first team that mid-wifed
the last regime in Enugu State; anybody in Enugu can bear witness
to that. I humbled myself and did all I did. So, when I became chairman
I had an idea of what was wanted, not what I wanted because I campaigned
in all the communities; we have 20 old communities and 38 autonomous
communities.
I campaigned in all of them and asked them to list their priority
projects which are today in various stages of completion, there
are three ongoing projects in each of these communities; the projects
are at different levels, but there is no community you will go to
and not find at least three ongoing projects. Last year I chose
between doing a tarred road to my village, which most people are
branding as an achievement, doing access roads to all the 20 old
communities in Awgu local government.
The last time the NUJ were there, the result they had was that I
won the best in integrated rural roads because you can move from
one community to the other. There may not be a sense in tarring
a road in which only 10 vehicles will pass in 10 years, it’s
a waste of people’s money; rather you give them an earth road
because the traffic on that road is small. You do not go and invest
N400 million on a road in which only 10 vehicles will pass in a
day.
I give you an example of what development is like in Awgu local
government; there is a place we call Nkwe and Ezere, the topography
is something else; it’s quite hilly and rough; when the father
of a former Commissioner for Health died, the governor was supposed
to be there, but a lot of people felt the road was impassable and
that he could only get there by an helicopter.
You need to go through that road now to find out the enormity of
work we did there; to translate an otherwise hilly, stony environment
into a road that the governor’s sleek car can really go through.
Now, I want to tell you, you can verify this; when the chairman
Bottom of Fof the PDP in the state came to that function the first
thing he said was Uche Anioke we are very proud of you; when NUJ
came I had to take them through that road, to see the rough terrain;
in fact, it’s like the devil’s elbow in Obudu Cattle
Ranch. So, what we have tried to do is to see that our people get
exactly what they wanted.
Beyond these, there is another area I feel I have done something
significant and that is the area of inter-governmental relations.
I was the first chairman in the state to procure vehicles and equipment
for security operatives in the state; it was after I had done that
that the governor encouraged others to do so; they may have surpassed
me, but the idea was mine. Also I went into e-Governance in legislative
endeavours in Awgu; what I mean is not just that I bought computers,
I also built an ICT centre.
I ensured that those who work with me are computer literate. Especially
my legislative council, I bought personal laptops, that’s
what we call e-Legislation; each time after sitting the Clark of
the House goes home and whatever are the proceedings of the day
he sends them direct to the councilors so that in the twinkle of
an eye, you don’t need to bring a hard copy, at the comfort
of your home you receive the proceedings of the day.
For the NYSC, we are a selling point; almost every three months
in a year, corps members are posted to the state. And when they
are posted, they know two towns, Enugu and Awgu; and it is Awgu
they will go to first.
If you are coming from Port Harcourt you have no business going
to Enugu, if you are coming from Abia you have no business with
Enugu, you go to Awgu; therefore, Awgu is the mirror of Enugu State.
What they meet on ground will tell them the picture of Enugu State;
it may be wrong or right, but that is from where they will begin
to build the picture of Enugu State; and for me, if you come to
Awgu and there is no electricity, that means there is no electricity
in Enugu State; if you come to Awgu and you don’t have access
to water there is no water in Enugu State.
And it should be recalled that until I became chairman of Awgu,
the NYSC state orientation camp had been without electricity and
I had to immediately link the camp to the national grid. I beat
my chest for it because my brother if you do not say here I am nobody
will say there you are. Some people would say why are you blowing
your own trumpet, but if such an institution has been without electricity
for the past 20 years and I came and like the biblical Jesus, I
said let there be light and there was light; why would I shy away
from it?
An American General, Douglas, once said that ‘to be modest
when a man has achieved so much is hypocritical;’ when a man
has achieved so much and you want to be modest about his achievements,
you are not being fair; if he has achieved much, tell him he has
achieved much, if he has failed, tell him. So, I feel that the one
year and ten months we have been in Awgu Local Government we have
been able to bring peace to our people. When we came in a town like
Mgbaku was factionalized, they are no longer factionalized; a town
like Mgbowo had been factionalized, there was these arson in Mgbowo,
we’ve been able to bring peace; we’ve buried the dead
of those days.
But beyond what I have just said there was an innovation in Awgu;
I have coordinated legislative constituency projects for councilors
that have worked. All you need to do is to go to the wards and check
what the councilors have been able to do with the N2 million we
appropriated for each development in their wards.
In Mgbowo, for example, a councilor built four culverts; these are
areas otherwise the local government may not have gone into; where
the roads would have been impassable, but he had to build four culverts
as constituency projects; not the kind of thing you hear in other
legislative assembly where they are never executed, these can be
verified. In Amaogwugwu, my councilor there as well, his own village
has never had electricity, but there is electricity in Amaogwugwu,
so with the N2 million appropriated to him as councillor his own
village now has electricity. It is the same in all the wards so
that in future a councillor can beat his chest and say I was able
to attract this to my people.
The other area is in terms of ensuring that the image of our local
government is projected to the world. Of course, if you watched
NTA on December 31, 2008, there was an NTA International programme
on Awgu local government. It was done by NTA, but we facilitated
it that for several months you keep hearing about Awgu local government.
In all, I can tell you, we have done so well, I was surprised when
I got a call from the NYSC, and they said that the Director General,
Brigadier General Tsiga was coming to Enugu and that he would want
to see me, I was surprised and wondered why he would want to see
me. When we got there the man had to honour me for what he called
outstanding contributions to the NYSC throughout Nigeria, saying
that he was not sure any local government chairman has surpassed
me in contributions to the NYSC. I pay corps doctors N40,000 and
I pay other corps members in Awgu N10,000 because we use the doctors
effectively.
My corps doctors visit all the rural communities on a daily basis
and administer medical services to the people; and I tell you if
a doctor is to consult for 100 people in a day, even if it is N1,000
per person you can imagine how much that would amount to. People
were criticizing that, saying we were paying the doctors so much;
I said no, because these doctors work on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays,
and Fridays; they leave their homes to go to work and close by 5:p.m;
we maximally use them so there is nothing we can do than to pay
them well. The director said there is nowhere in Nigeria such is
done. So, when we say we were honoured by the National Assembly
we feel so proud because we know the things we have done and we
are really proud of it.
My coming third and the imperative for local administration in the
East
Yes, Each time you leave your house fully dressed you think you
are the best; you look yourself in the mirror, you feel on top of
the world; but by the time you attend a function and look around
you will find people who are better dressed than yourself. I thought
I had done well to deserve the first position, but they felt otherwise;
that one or two people have done better than me, and I have no problem
with that. I give it to them; I had a glimpse of what the man in
Kano did, I have nothing to complain about; I also had a glimpse
of what the man in Akanpka did, I am okay with that. All I can say
is that I am challenged by this to do more.
The fact that you didn’t come first, second or third does
not in any way translate that you have not done well. We are talking
of 774 local government areas in Nigeria; so if you are the 5th,
10th or 20th and 40th position, you have done well. Our people have
done well; we really have done well in the South-East, perhaps we
will still do better; that’s all I can say.
December 5 polls in Enugu and my second term bid
I have a covenant with the Awgu people and it is very simple; on
4th January, 2008 at a reception here, I told them to have a pictorial
view of the local government; if you like document it, and let’s
have the face of Awgu as of January 2008, by the time I leave, whether
it is by January 2010 or whether it is extended to 2012 when I finally
bow out, take another picture of Awgu.
If you don’t see a transformation from what it was to what
it is then I would have failed; and in so doing I borrowed a leaf
from Abraham Lincoln in his second inaugural address when he promised
Americans that he would do his best; ‘the best he knows how,
and the best he can.’ Like he said if at the end, the end
brings me out good, what people would say about me would amount
to nothing, but if the end brings me out bad, 10 angels when he
was right will not make any difference. So, I assume that at the
end of the tenure whether it is the first or second tenure that
my people will be able to stand in judgment as to how far the government
has been able to improve on the lives of our people.
And I think as I speak now, of course, we have people that will
say no; but I think on my own account; we will try our best within
the limit of our resources to ensure that we translate Awgu local
government from the dominantly rural local government to at least
a semi-urban local government.
A local government without electricity is rural; there are no hospitals,
there are nothing, but today as we speak, we have so fashioned it
out that in every community there must be a health centre, there
should be a secondary school, there should be a primary school,
and there should be an access road.
Three years tenure for local government in Enugu State
Let’s be frank, the tenure of local government chairmen in
Enugu State ought to be three years; by a certain unknown system
the last administration reduced it to two years and when we were
elected it took time for our governor to realize it was two years;
and since most of us are getting a second tenure I do not advocate
for an elongation.
Two terms of two years each is enough; but beyond that the minimum
a local government chairman should get is three years. Because when
you start a project; let me tell you if you are not experienced
and you become a chairman in the first six months you are not at
home with the legislative council and by the time you are at home
with them and plan your projects the next year is gone and you are
preparing for election.
So, two years will appear to be grossly inadequate for any meaningful
outing. In fact, you will be at the planning stage when your tenure
will expire. So, I think that ordinarily I don’t know why
the tenure of local government should not be four years. If the
House of Assembly could be four years, national assembly and presidency,
I don’t see why it should not be four years. And if there
is any reason to reduce it, it shouldn’t be less than three
years.
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