Comrade Akeem Olatunji Ambali, president-general of the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), has called for revitalising the nation’s councils to free them from the shackles of state governments.
He charged the local government stakeholders to unite to transform the councils.
Bali spoke yesterday in Abuja on the second day of the Forum of Heads of Local Government Administration in Nigeria (FOHOLGON).
She was represented by Eng Kayode Adebayo, the NULGE boss, who said the autonomy given to the LGs was challenging and must not be trampled upon by maladministration.
According to him, autonomy would bring about good governance, bridge the infrastructural gap, and stop rural-to-urban migration if properly utilised.
In his welcome address, FOHOLGON president Abdul Rahman Mafara urged local government administrators to take advantage of the networking opportunities available to redress the stagnation they are experiencing due to their dependency on state governments.
He said that as the engine room of local government administration, the heads of administration in each council have a significant role to play by “exploring new avenues of collaboration, sharpening our skills to make informed and inclusive decisions to drive innovation for efficient service delivery in the 774 local Councils in the country.”
He said there was a need to build partnerships and collaborate to leverage resources and expertise.
“As heads of administration at the local government level, our role in achieving the goals of autonomy is vital. We are the technocrats that will implement the policies to actualise the set goals.
