Ben Ezechime, Enugu
The Enugu State Government has said it would augment funding for development projects by the 17 Local Government Areas of the state to the tune of 60 per cent to speed up grassroots development.
This was the outcome of State Economic Planning Commission meeting with the 17 LGA chairmen in attendance.
Speaking after the meeting, Secretary to the State Governmental (SSG), Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, said the government was looking at agriculture, agro-allied industrialisation and critical infrastructure.
He said this was targeted at boosting the rural economy and creating jobs for the teeming youths.
Onyia said that Gov. Peter Mbah-led administration was desirous of forging a progressive partnership with the local governments by providing marching funds for select projects that align with the economic agenda of the state government.
The SSG said one of the key agenda of the decision was to open up the rural areas to economic development activities in the area of agriculture and agro-allied industrialisation and encourage agro-allied processing zones.
This, he said, include a land bank of 300,000 hectares for commercial farming.
“What we are planning to do is that the local governments are going to go into their communities. All the forest areas that may be locations for criminality, the local governments have agreed that they are going to open the areas.
“But the key thing is that they are going to enhance the economic activities in the rural area and open it up for economic activities to provide job opportunities for our teeming youths.
“It is a partnership where the state government and local government bring 60 and 40 per cent respectively. So, whatever they bring for those capital projects, the state government will match it to the tune of 60 per cent,” Onyia said.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) Enugu State chapter, Sydney Edeh, had commended the Gov. Mbah’s administration for the counterpart funding.
Edeh said the partnership with the state government would help in the funding of priority projects that touch the lives of the people while also promoting transparency, accountability and traceability in the management of local government funds by the council areas.
“I think the governor has decided to come to our rescue, because we at the local government sector have been having a series of problems trying to execute capital projects.
“But with the state now offering to take up 60 per cent of the cost of approved projects, we will now be encouraged to not only execute so many projects, but also highly qualitative projects to the benefits of the rural communities and economies.
“The most important thing is that there is going to be transparency, traceability and accountability in what we are doing. So it is a partnership that must work, and we are good with it.
“As ALGON, we have assured the governor of our commitment and cooperation to make sure we move our state forward,” he added.
