DEMYSTIFYING THE CADENCES OF ADMINISTRATIVE LEADERSHIP IN OSHIMILI NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT COUNCIL

If only politics is played the way it ought to be in this clime. But it is quite unfortunate that the political structure in today’s governance all over the country has become such that local government council are a microcosm of the state party structure. It therefore means that the party controlling the state affairs trickles down to the local government affairs. This system continues to place the generic scourge of godfatherism in high esteem. As a result, once a party hold sway in the state, the total control of the affairs at the local government level becomes rife. Invariably, where an opposition stiffs its neck for a battle royale with the ruling party, sets the stage for a suicide mission.

For this reason, elected chairmen of various councils are handpicked with a bid to establish a regime of service to his or her political godfathers and benefactors. Oshimili North Local Government is among the 774 local governments suffering from this anomalous trend. I am quite surprised that no matter the high placement of some of these benefactors, they still struggle for the crumbs that fall down as leftovers from the national cake. I still wonder when we will get off this hook.

The godfathers controls what comes in as allocation and determines who gets what from the largesse. Owing to this, there is no need to be surprised to see an Idoma man winning a contract to supply laterite in our domain at an exorbitant price when we have a son of the soil who can do the same contract at a favourably lower price. It boils down that the lucky beneficiary is only a candidate of the benevolent gods. To some extent, what transpires behind the bidding can be more personal than political. An unhealthy deliberation has been going on in the social media for some days now over an Asaba man who was given a contract to install solar-powered lights in Ibusa when we have competent hands to deliver the job.  But whatever be the case, the award may be as a result of personal relationship and largely prebendalistic in every sense of the word.

More so, there is a mounting scenario that where  past and present local government bosses are having a field day, trying to play a hocus-pocus on the administration of our local government council. I got the wind that the contract of building Ashia Eke was awarded and the payment transcending three regimes, yet remained unfinished. Instead, there is a concession agreement with the contractor, Mr. Elofu Dike to run a Build Occupy and Transfer (BOT) pact for twelve years. Agreed that government is a continuum, hence the need to be diplomatic during and after one’s tenure.

From the information I gathered, the building of Ashia Eke market was awarded as a contract under Barr. Ben Okonkwo administration to the tune of an amount that was later raised to N450 million to Mr. Elofu Dike. This is because the latter gave the sum of N9 million to fund his election. It therefore behoves that the contract award was given in lieu of compensation. From the records, no dime was paid until Hon. Onyeayana Okafor inherited the debt as the council chairman. Negotiations were entered into as some of the debts were off-setted during this administration. The courts were to later sack Hon. Onyeayana Okafor’s administration, ushering in a transition administration headed by Hon. Innocent Esewezie. He began to service this debt and paid until it was remaining N50 million.

In the same vein, the contract for the solar-powered street lights at Obi Ajudua road and Umuokonogwu stretch executed by Sen. Francis Nwajei was never paid until Hon. Onyeayana Okafor whose regime awarded the contract left the seat. A court order later instituted the payment, thus compelling the administration of Hon. Innocent Esewezie to agree on paying a monthly instalment of N3 million. So, I shudder at the realization of regular debt servicing spree of this administration knowing that debt servicing is normal for every democratic government whether at the federal, state or local government level.

Information from sources also revealed that at the warm up of the 2014 local government election, Mr. Elofu Dike became the campaign Director-General of Hon. Louis Ndukwe. This was after supporting his campaign with huge sum of money. He did not end as he equally took him to other personalities who also supported his principal financially. Practically, the election was a smooth sail for Hon. Louis Ndukwe who coasted home victory. At this juncture, on resumption of duty as the council chairman, he decided to concession Ashia Eke market, Ibusa to 12 years Build Occupy and Transfer (BOT) agreement to his benefactor, Mr. Elofu Dike.

Presently, Mr. Elofu Dike, I understand, is warming up for the position of the local government chairman in this year’s local government election, a position Hon. Louis Ndukwe is holding at the moment. From the grapevine, there are insinuations that Hon. Louis Ndukwe is also working assiduously towards returning as the council chairman for the second time.

In as much as I may not harp on the convoluted scenario that is gradually building up in the PDP family in Oshimili North local government which has always believed in zoning formula and equity – Sen. Peter Nwaoboshi being a strong advocate of the pact, I begin to see where water was allowed to seep into the cantaloupe overtime. Is it a case of love lost between the benefactor and the beneficiary?

I am still marveling at the sudden outburst of the current chairman of Oshimili North Local Government council, Hon. Louis Ndukwe. He makes servicing of debt by successive administration looks like an anathema and impracticable in this clime. Peremptorily, I do not want to believe that he is doing this in order to whip sentiments from the hoi polloi. Besides, when the gentlemanly agreement to concession Ashia Eke market was mooted and nipped, nobody was there as it was purposely done in good faith and the a trusted ally.

In all, the administration of this local government has been run under different hands with diverse intents and purposes like family business. It is good that such issues are unraveling at this point in time.

-        PNI