FG places premium on grassroots development – VP Sambo

VP Office Reports

The Vice President, Mohammed Namadi Sambo has said that the President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan administration places premium on development in the grassroots as key to the realisation of the Transformation Agenda.
Mohammed Namadi Sambo stated this on Wednesday February 12, 2014 at the Opening Ceremony of a two-day Leadership Seminar on Local Governments with the theme: “Promoting Executive and Legislative Cooperation” which is holding at the Peace Park, Abuja.

Sambo, who was represented at the event by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Umar Sani noted that due to the importance which the President Jonathan Administration attaches to the acceleration and development of people at the grassroots, different intervention policies and programmes have been introduced to impact positively on their lives.

He said: “Although the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is explicit on the powers and responsibilities of each tier of government, the Federal Government has offered varied supports in critical areas through interventions, especially in basic education.”

He enumerated some of the measures to include: the Agricultural Transformation Agenda which had repositioned agriculture as a lucrative business, and availed farmers’ easy access to cheap funds and farm inputs such as fertilizer through the E-wallet system of distribution. Other interventionist programmes comprise access to basic education through the ‘Textbooks Initiative’, the Almajiri programme, girl-child education as well as the Out-of -School Boy-Child Education Programme.

The Vice President while commending the organisers of the event also emphasised the significance of Local Government Administration to the delivery of basic services and the overall development of the society, indicating that its democratic nature is guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution.

“It is indeed gladdening to note that the Leadership Conference Limited is organizing such an important seminar that will sensitize and enlighten both the leaders and the people on the roles and responsibilities of local government administration so as to engender a sense of accountability and transparency in governance,” he added.

Speaking earlier, the Group Managing Director of Leadership Group, Azubuike Ishiekwene said that the critical role which the local government plays in grassroots development to deepen the capacity of officials as well as the need to deepen the conversation with the local governments in the light of the ongoing national dialogue and constitutional amendments informed the convening of the conference.

In the highlight of the event, a paper was presented by A. A. Anyebe (Professor) of the Faculty of Administration in the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria titled: Operation of the Presidential System at the Local Government Level: The Executive and Legislative in Perspective.

Present at the event were: the Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government, Oyo State, A. E. Olanrewaju; James Nda Jacob (Dr) of the Department of Political Science, University of Abuja and a Community Development Consultant, Duro Oniemola Egbeda-Egga (Dr) form the Ijumu LGA of Kogi State.