Alaafin to Buhari: No meaningful rural transformation without council autonomy

The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi 111, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari, to confer with relevant stakeholders and commence work as a matter of national importance, towards granting
autonomy to local governments’ administration in the country.
He also called on members of the States’ Houses of Assembly to demonstrate that they derive their sovereignty from the people and support the National Assembly’s concerted efforts in granting autonomy
to local governments.
 The country, monarch said, will be a better place when this autonomy
is granted, as history will therefore remember all those who have, and
who will support this genuine demand.
Oba Adeyemi made the call when members of National Union of Local Government Employees [NULGE] comprising the executives, leaders, and women representatives from the four local governments [Afijio,
Atiba, Oyo-East and Oyo-West] that constitute Oyo Federal Constituency paid him a Save Our Souls visit.
According to him, ‘’ The quest for deeper and viable democratic instrument that will create the means for regular interactions between the people and the government, for proper service delivery and
alleviation of poverty among the local population necessitated the idea of unfettered autonomy for local governments in the country. Many of the democratic nations of the world, including United States of
America, Brazil, and India have come to terms with the need to
strengthen local governments and make them functional in scope and
operation. The socio-economic reality of the modern world has
imperatively compelled every serious nation to improve the standard of
living of the local population through a viable and efficient local
administration’’.
He noted that despite the desperate economic notion behind
colonialism, the British colonial government in Nigeria after the
amalgamation realised the paramount need for robust governance at the
grassroots, hence their style of local administration though a facade,
yet, they were conscious of its importance.
‘’Regrettably, development of the grassroots which should always be
the concern of every responsible and responsive political system has
not been the primary focus, as development and participation have
continued to escape people of the grassroots. Development remains
insignificant if it does not positively affect the lives of those in
the periphery of decision making arrangement. Local Governments in
Nigeria were created as the third tier of government whose objective
are to ensure effective, measurable and efficient service delivery to
the people. Why then are these genuine motives being stultified,
council workers and rural dwellers are made to suffer for the unjust
cause?’’.
Earlier, the State Public Relations Officer of NULGE, Pastor John Ojo,
said there is no doubt that Local government autonomy will bring about
rapid transformation to the grassroots, unlike the present situation
of stunted growth and inaction, adding that grassroots development
will tremendously reduce rural urban drift, congestion and criminal
propensity in our city centres.
‘’If autonomy is granted local governments, there will definitely be a
reduction in rural  urban drift which will equally reduce organised
crimes in the country .Council workers would not be owed salaries for
months as is presently the case in the state’’ .