From Sola Ojo, Kaduna
The Sole Administrator of Jaba Local Council headquartered in Kwoi and the only female among the 23 local government Chairmen in Kaduna, Mrs. Nita Byack George said her experience in the past 12 months has taught prudence in the management of available resources.
She said contrary to the thinking that there is so much money in the local government to play around with, she has learned that about 90 percent of the available allocation to her local government is for the payment of salaries and other workers’ entitlements like leave grants and all that.
With that discovery due to inflation and global economic meltdown, “we have to re-strategise by way of using the little resources at our disposal at the council, leveraging on continuous engagement of our people and of course, the stakeholders including contractors and development partners to render people-oriented and developmental services”.
The Administrator, who spoke to journalists on the occasion of her first year in office said despite her financial and social challenges, she has been able to weather the storm and enjoy the benefits that come with the responsibility to leave her footprint on the sand of Jaba local council located in the southern part of the state.
“I’m grateful to God for being among the living and those who are serving in this capacity. I’m also thankful to Governor Nasir El-Rufai and his deputy, Dr. Hadiza Balarabe for the opportunity they have given me to serve as the sole administrator of Jaba local government.
“I want to appreciate all traditional leaders, religious leaders, cultural groups, women groups, youth groups, security agencies and each person in Jaba.
“It has been 12 months of tense work experience with its blessings and challenges. We thank God we have been able to weather some of the challenges and enjoy some of the blessings not as a person but as a people.
“It has been joint teamwork because a tree does not make a forest.  We were sworn into the office on November 15, 2021. So, it has been one year of great work.
On her achievements, she said, “we have achieved quite much but I’m not sure of mentioning all for the purpose of this brief interview. We have focused more on human capital development.
“When we came into the office last year, one of the issues we identified was a deep gap between the government and the people as evident in a lack of engagement with people. The truth is that achieving anything tangible without having the trust of the people will be difficult.
“In education, we have been supporting our younger ones to have their books for use in schools. We were able to provide classroom furniture. We have done the first phase and the second phase is about to be delivered.
“Also,  we have been able to restore electricity in some communities which include Ndofa, Bitaro, Taimen and Kyari, Kumdengbu general hospital among others.
“On infrastructure, we almost complete five blocks of eight flats senior staff quarters and we are hoping that it will be completed and commissioned soon. One thing I have in view is not to leave any project uncompleted by the time I’m done with my administration.
“Township road of Kwoi was bad and we have been able to get an SDG project that has awarded us a certain kilometer of the road and we hope the work we begin soon.
“In agriculture, we have been able to support our people to purchase fertiliser and improve their skills in modern farming.
“In terms of security, Jaba has been celebrated to be among the most peaceful LG in the state but that comes with a lot of hard work.
On challenges and prospects, she said, “shortage in finances have negatively impacted on the jobs we ought to have done in the local government. So, in one of our community engagements, we made our people understand the need for revenue generation drive of the local government as it is in the present.
“When we looked at what is coming as allocation to the local government, we discovered that about 90% of what we have is taken by payment of salaries which people don’t understand. Truth be told, we need to be looking away from government employment. We need to begin to think innovatively.
“Young people should begin to appreciate what they are doing once it is within the ambit of the law because there is dignity in labour”, she opined.