CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR APPOINTMENT AS TRANSITION COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN GUMA LOCAL GOVERNMENT COUNCIL
Dear Uncle Sam,
I received with great joy the news of your appointment as Chairman Transition Committee Guma Local Government, and I write to join your teeming supporters in Guma, and beyond; to felicitate with you over this well-deserved appointment, and to share with you an agenda for the development of our Local Government.
When on June 3, 2015, in a move largely expected of any newly inaugurated state government; Governor Samuel Ortom dissolved the Transition/Caretaker Committees appointed by his predecessor for the 23 Local Government Areas in Benue state, little did I know that he would proceed from there to appoint for us in Guma a Transition Committee Chairman that would come into office, not only very adequately prepared but equally predisposed to the ideals of democracy, democratisation and good governance. I have had the privilege of working very closely with you during the electioneering campaigns of the last general elections, and you struck me; right from our first meeting, as someone who is focused, diligent and who if given the opportunity to serve in public office, would excel beyond all imaginations. I have no doubts whatsoever that you will do very well for our people within the short period of time you are expected to be in office. And it is against the backdrop of this confidence I have in you that I have decided to share with you and other members of your Committee some thoughts and ideas on how we could move Guma to the next level.
In sharing with you these thoughts and ideas I am conscious of the fact that Governor Samuel Ioraer Ortom also happens to be from Guma and it is therefore expected that sharing and exchanging thoughts and ideas on development would assist the incoming leadership of the LG and indeed the Governor himself in the development process in Guma Local Government.
1. Identifying Our Priority Development Challenges – just like it is the case with any other local government in Benue State and Nigeria at large, our development challenges are pretty well known and we require no effort towards a process of rediscovery. Some of these range from limited access to primary health care facilities, lack of standard educational institutions especially nursery and primary education, to insecurity, poor road network etc. Obviously, what might be a development challenge in one community may not be a priority in another community. Consequently, there might be a need to convene stakeholder fora that will identify with certainty what the priorities of the respective communities are or is, and how best we can begin to identify possible solutions. The beauty of this strategy is that it would also give the people a sense of belonging as they too would be involved in the process of identifying our challenges and the possible solutions to them. These fora will be structured in such a way that they would be involved right from the kindred level right through to the council ward level and culminate at the Local Government level. It would also be structured in such a way that they would not just be the usual jamborees but based on credible representation. We can collaborate with the Benue State Planning Commission, the National Planning Commission (NPC) or NGOs and inter-governmental bodies like the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) towards enjoying at no costs whatsoever, some level of technical support in this regard. At the end of the exercise we hopefully should have a holistic document that clearly identifies our respective development challenges itemised in terms of priorities and then strategies towards combating them over time.
2. Integrating Diasporans into the Development process in Guma – there is a huge but yet unrecognised and obviously underutilised segment of our population that you may need to advert your mind to. For want of a better expression I loosely refer to them as diasporans. I refer to diasporans here not in the sense of only those who reside in Europe and America but to include those who are within Nigeria but outside Benue. We only need to task one of your Committee members with the responsibility of identifying these individuals according to their respective Council Wards and striking a relationship with them in such a manner that Guma could then benefit from their experiences and God given talents and resources. You may be surprised to discover that this process may lead to the identification of high ranking officials of the federal government, senior military and para-military officers, international civil servants etc who could individually and collectively become a pool of immeasurable resources for our Local Government.
3. Human Capital Development - like every other local government area in Benue state or Nigeria at large human capital development is a necessary ingredient in the development process, and yet a deliberate and carefully planned human capital development process is almost none existent in most local governments including Guma, and even where it does exists the quality thereof leaves a lot to be desired. In the course of my electioneering campaign recently I came across graduates of Universities and other institutions of higher learning who couldn’t as much as construct a good sentence in English Language. I was particularly alarmed when I asked one of them to do an application on my behalf to an agency of government. What came out of it left me numb! This challenge is traceable to a faulty educational foundation brought about by the near collapse of primary education in Guma Local Government. If we must get this right then we must engender a process that will see to the emergence of a solid primary education programme. Once we are able to get this foundational level right then the superstructure that would be built on it would have a chance to stand the test of time.
4. Adjustment of Settlement Patterns – complimentary to the challenge of human capital development is the settlement patterns that have become customary to our people. As beneficial as the concept of small towns and villages is to the development process our people are very clearly oblivious of the benefits derivable from this process. It is my hope and expectation that you and members of your committee would work very closely towards the development of an inclusive policy of resettlement of our communities in such a way that they could maximise the benefits derivable from available government amenities. Already, we in Mbakyor Kindred in Mbabai Council Ward have already commenced this process which has enjoyed immense support of your predecessor in office Barr. Amos Aboh. Additionally, this process will engender a process through which Guma could become the pacesetter in terms of digitalised land administration and a veritable example for other local governments to copy. It would also hopefully lead to a process by which we could begin to identify and preserve some of our forests for the sake of posterity. In an era when the devastating effects of climate change are here for everybody to see and feel there is a felt need for our local communities not just to become aware of the dangers of this phenomenon but to begin to take actions towards combating these effects.
5. Agribusiness Development/Expansion – agriculture is undoubtedly the mainstay of our economy in Guma and the entire Benue, and yet the agricultural sector has yet to receive the priority attention that it deserves. We are still stuck in traditional methods of farming with the obvious limitation and even the little yield that is available to our people does not generate income that is commensurate with or to the efforts put in. I am not unaware of the fact that mechanised farming is a capital intensive activity that is obviously beyond the financial capability of our Local Government considering its current capital outlay, but the importance of this sector in Guma makes it imperative that we become creative in our response. It is entirely possible to explore the possibility of entering into partnership with tractor manufacturing companies in a manner in which the companies or their subsidiaries or agents will work directly with each of the ten Council wards in the provision of tractor hiring services and with the Local Government Council only acting as a guarantor and facilitator of the process working with the various communities, their respective traditional rulers or cooperatives where they exist. That way you will not be expected to commit resources beyond your coping capacity and yet open up our people to immeasurable benefits from the process. I have come to realise that this is the era of application of diverse kinds of pesticides and herbicides, and I believe we can also do same in this regard.
6. Facilitate Commerce/Entrepreneurship – within your first two months in office you should consider convening an economic summit that will lay a solid foundation for the development of our local economy. Such a summit will facilitate the process of enhancing local bilateral relations with much more endowed local governments in other APC controlled states here in north-central Nigeria and particularly in the south-western Nigeria. The results, outcomes or recommendations from this summit will then form the basis for a formidable relationship with relevant Chambers of Commerce, other private sector institutions or relevant government agencies. As a first step in this direction we must consider the possibility of creating incentives that would attract banking services to Gbajimba and other relatively big settlements within Guma. Certainly, we should be able to jumpstart a savings culture in the local government with the introduction of mobile banking services on our major market days. In view of the huge losses incurred during the 2014 attack by mercenaries it might be worthwhile to explore the possibility of introducing within our local communities some form of insurance policy that would come in handy for our people in the event of natural or man-made disaster.
Speaking about insurance I think I should mention here that one additional challenge confronting Guma is that of insecurity and the irresponsible proliferation of small arms and light weapons. This situation has been exacerbated by the ever present danger of the menace of herdsmen who operate almost unhindered in this area. I am not a security expert and have very little to say in this regard but can only ask that you pay more than a passing attention to this issue.
7. Research/Documentation - as a people we come from an oral tradition with hardly any inclination towards documenting even some of our most epochal events or recognising certain personalities who have played very significant roles in our communities. Herein lies the imperative of an elaborate process of research and documentation in our Local Government. Recent technological advancements have made this a lot easier and there is absolutely no reason why we cannot take advantage of this digital era to begin an elaborate process of documentation. A booklet for instance that tells at a glance our previous Council Chairmen, representatives in various legislative assemblies, traditional rulers, community leaders and other persons who have distinguished themselves in their respective fields of human endeavour, will surely hold some appeal.
8. Improving Primary Health Care Delivery – another area that is in urgent need of intervention is our primary health care delivery system which you will agree with me is almost none existent at the moment. In the course of my electioneering campaign it struck me as odd that our people in Guma including women and children usually run to Makurdi even for the commonest ailments not to talk of major medical procedures like surgeries. It is therefore my suggestion that you liaise with the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and the Nigeria Insurance Commission with a view to developing a health insurance policy that will be most suitable and most beneficial for our people considering their peculiarities.
9. Women and Youth Development – the women and youths of our various local communities constitute the most vulnerable and the most marginalised segments of our population in Guma and I guess elsewhere too. And while a local government council may not be the best suited tier of government for women and youths development there is certainly a lot we can do at that level to erect a foundation and set the tone for the empowerment of our women and youth. In this regard your committee can explore the possibility of working closely with small and medium enterprise agencies at state and federal level that could provide them soft loans to expand their businesses. Adult literacy is yet another area in which the Local Government can enhance the empowerment of our women especially. With regards to our youths the development of sporting facilities/parks and recreational centres in each of our ten council ward headquarters could easily become a veritable platform not just for empowerment but also mentorship, interaction and inter-generational dialogue. The good news is that the local government council can be very creative in this regard and will not have to deploy its monthly allocation in the realisation of these lofty goals but could rather warehouse, incubate or otherwise facilitate an endowment fund for women and youth empowerment which would then be managed and administered by a non-partisan committee made of credible individuals.
10. Reconciliation/forging a common political/elite agenda – even with the best of intentions no meaningful development can ever take place in an atmosphere of chaos and disunity, and Guma is no exception. The 2015 general elections, and in particular the contestation and acrimony that accompanied the contest for the position of governor Benue state, has again widened and deepened the gap between the Ihyarev and Nongov people of our Local Government. It is rather unfortunate that people who have a rich and robust history of cooperation and complementarity and who have worked together in the past to forge a common agenda for the development of our local community now appear to be at daggers drawn over political positions. Never before in the history of Ihyarev-Nongov relations has this negative sentiment been elevated to the level it has during the electioneering period. Obviously, urgent action is required to bring us back from the brink of the precipice before we end up consumed by the hate that has so far been generated by this negative sentiment that holds no good for our community. All hands must literarily be on deck to ensure that this happens and your committee more than any other platform is best suited to facilitate this process.
I am of course available to interact with you and other members of your committee on how best we can follow through with some or all of these ideas.
Thank you very much Mr. Chairman for your patience and once again Congratulations on your well-deserved appointment. I wish you all the very best in office.
Regards,
Mike Utsaha
APC Candidate Guma Constituency
Benue State House of Assembly (BNSHoA)
April 11, 2015 General Elections
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