To prepare newly elected local government chairmen and vice chairmen for the task of governance, the Oyo State Government held a two-day retreat to set the tone and expose them to issues. YEJIDE GBENGA-IGUNDRAE reports that the two days event was a blue print to help them follow the best practice in meeting the needs of the people and tapping into the cardinal programmes of the state government.
Over the years, there had been obvious disconnect among the people and those elected to manage their affairs, especially at the grassroots level, making it difficult for the people to feel the impact of governance in the hinterland as well as across the country. To stop this trend and ensure that the grassroots feel the impact of governance, the Oyo State Government last week organised a retreat for local government chairmen, vice chairmen as well as head of local government administration (HLAs) to prepare them for seamless administration.
The retreat which was held at the Ilaji Hotel and Sport Resort was aimed at exposing the participants to the rudiments and intricacies of administration as the third tier of government and widen their knowledge in a bid to promote good governance, ensuring they deliver good governance and dividend of democracy to the people as well as assist the governor to deliver the dividends of democracy and spread it to the hinterlands effectively.
The retreat themed, ‘Ipa Ijoba Lese Kuku’, which was packaged by Messrs Fosterfield Consulting on behalf of the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs and the Office of the Special Adviser on Strategy and Political Matters, according to the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Chief Bayo Lawal, “is just one among several other training delicacies the ministry would serve you in the course of your three years sojourn at the helms of affairs at the grassroots level to expose you to the rudiments and intricacies of administration.”
The two- day event was a bumper programme that afforded the participants the opportunity to learn from experts, all they need to know to ensur good governance and seamless administration. They were taught about Code of Conduct for public office administration at the local government level, community engagement in conflict management at the local government level, effective revenue generation strategies for local governments, innovation and creativity in managing resources at the local government tier of government and key principles for successful local government in Oyo State on the first day which ended with a gala night.
On the second day, they got training on SDG goals at the local government level, strategies for keying into the four pillars of the Oyo State Government at the local government level, ethics and governance at the local government level, media and communication strategy management, partnerships that engender smart macro-economic growth and human capital development at the local government level and procurement and fiscal guidelines with emphasis on transparency in the award and execution of projects.
Other lectures for the second day programme are security awareness and threat mitigation, economic expansion through agricultural value chain, sustainable accountability framework: a tool for accelerated development at the local government level and keying into the economic and budgetary direction of the Oyo State Government which was followed by a goodwill message from the Secretary to the State Government, Mrs Olubamiwo Adeosun, before the governor’s remarks to close the retreat.
In his speech to close the retreat, the state governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde, focusing on the need to put an end to the security challenges in the state, admonished the local government chairmen and vice chairmen to strengthen intelligence gathering at the local government areas as the tier of government that is closer to the people, urging them to replicate all the working policies of the state government at the local government levels.
The governor emphasised the need to adopt the four pillars of the Seyi Makinde-led government; education, health, security and economy expansion and add to it if need be to meet the yearnings of the people as some needs may be peculiar to some local government areas, adding that the state government will match action with local environment needs.
“This interaction is a good opportunity for us to interact and for me to share one or two things with you. I’m sure a lot of you are familiar with our roadmap to accelerated development. We brought out the document before the election last year. And I’m happy to tell you that the author of the document is here and that’s Prof Musibau Babatunde. My wish is for you is to adopt these four pillars. But for some of you, there may be peculiarities in your local government, so you can vary it a little bit, whoever wishes may add to the pillars.
“For us, we will match action to the need that is peculiar to our local government areas. One area we have been adjudged to have failed is security. Well, it is a big challenge to us because security actually strikes at the heart of every other thing we want to do; expansion of economy, health, education, all of those will only happen in a safe and secure environment. So you are coming in at a very challenging time and you all have work to do because we have to do more for our people in the area of security, especially in Ibarapa and Oke Ogun axis. In all your various local government areas, it is a must that you do Security Council meetings monthly as a minimum. But in local governments where you have challenges, you can do it once every two weeks. I want you to replicate some of the policies that we have that are working at the state level and where you need direction and support, please don’t be shy about it because if we get it right from the local government level, it will assist our overall position as a state. I can bet that by the time we are done branding our security architecture; they will copy it at the national level in this country,” the governor said.
In her goodwill message, Mrs Olubamiwo Adeosun, urged the council bosses to count themselves lucky because they have been blessed with a governor who is in a hurry to develop the state and translate the development to the grassroots, encouraging them to design measures to deepen the developm
ent activities of the state government at the local government areas.
“As the ears and eyes of the governor at the grassroots, you must design measures to deepen the development objectives of the state by expanding on the four pillars of this administration, building infrastructures that target the economy, build health centres for peoples wellbeing, schools for educational advancement and better the lots of the farming populace by introducing agribusiness initiatives,” she said.
Speaking on the topic, ‘Media and Communication Strategy Management,’ the Chief Press to the Oyo State Governor, Mr Taiwo Adisa, told the participants that the success of their administration is tied to having the requisite media management skills as the media has an unimpeachable role in the political setting and cannot be sidelined in governance. According to him, that there is an inseparable form in the nature of the relationship between the media and politics and in politics and political settings, media practitioners are forever present and the relationship is like that of the sailor and the sea, adding that “the politician and the media are highly intertwined. We must therefore agree that the media has a role that is practically unimpeachable in the political setting.
He advised the chairmen to adopt a media strategy that will be effective in the society they have found themselves, urging that as local government administrators, they have to adopt a paradigm that works which is the ‘Talk and Do’ system as silence kills the business of governance and there is a need to allow people know what they are doing, why and how it is beneficial to the society as silence will kill the business, adding that “ you cannot afford to remain silent if you are to be seen as maintaining an effective communication strategy. It is therefore given that the marriage between the media and the different levels of government is inseparable but there is no guarantee of a smooth ride all the way. I recommend the use of close-knit teams with clearly identified agenda.”
On his part, Chief Bayo Lawal warned the participants to operate within the ambit of the law, follow due process and due diligence as well as all provisions of the Code of Conduct law for public office holders in line with the state governor’s zero tolerance for corruption, adding that they should see themselves as servant-leaders to meet the yearnings of the people whose expectations are high and would not accept anything short of good governance.
Present at the event were Commissioner for Local government and chieftaincy matters, Chief Bayo Lawal; Chairman Local Government Service Commission, Dr Remi Ayodele; Special Adviser on Security Matters, Mr Fatai Owoseni; Special Adviser on Politics and Strategy, Hon Babatunde Oduyoye; Special Adviser on Agri-business , Dr Dabo Akande; Special Adviser on Economic Matters; Prof Musibau Babatunde; Special Adviser on Local Government Matters, Honourable Yemi Aderibigbe and others.
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