By Victor Lewis
As the tenures of Local Government Chairmen across the 25 Council Areas of the State come to an end, two factors come to limelight in determining the type of governance Deltans must expect from the next administration in the light of the prevailing socio-economic situation in the country.
Those two factors include governance and performance record amongst the 25 LGAs in the past three years and the second is, the expectations of Deltans from the incoming administration whose operators must be determined by the people choice.
Most people have argued that the three years tenure of Local Government Chairmen in the State is too short to allow for a meaningful administration. On the other hand, some are of the opinion that some of the Council Chairmen who found their way into office are actually not only misfits but very unpatriotic and lack the interest of the people such that even if they are given the privilege of say ten year’s tenure their impact may not be felt amongst the people.
It has been observed that some of these non-performing Chairmen spend their time coining up unrealistic reasons why they could not live up to the expectations of their people. Such excuses include poor fund, lack of peace, insecurity, bad terrain, political opponents, ethnic confrontation, etc. These excuses, in most cases, amongst such unpatriotic chairmen, are played up, sometimes using the media to hype same and gullible people will believe and buy into them.
However, against these unfounded excuses, there a few Council chairmen who are patriotic, who are more interested in leaving behind tangible legacies and whose selfless dispositions pushe them to go extra mile to make personal sacrifices and their satisfaction after their three years tenure is the delight and ultimate happiness of the people.
As the Local Government Council chairmen tenures end yesterday across the state, one man stood tall and shoulder high having satisfied himself with the streak of accomplishment in the aspect of peace, unity, infrastructural development, security and the overall welfare of his people. The celebration across the entire Warri North Local Government Area continues as the outgoing chairman, Hon. Smart Yomi Asekutu, rounded up his last moment with the commissioning of landmark infrastructural projects which have become testimonial of a leader who is patriotic, selfless, unifier, moulder and a God-fearing leader who ran the affairs of the Council Area for three years in a people-oriented style.
‘Res ipsa loquitur’ is a latin maxim which means the fact speaks for itself. As Asekutu leaves Warri North Local Government leadership position after a three-year’s very successful, fulfilling and nationally-recognized reels of achievement, his legacies that dot every nooks and crannies of the Council Area, speak volume of his commitment, dedication and determination with which he delivered the dividends of democracy to his people.
Amidst the chain-long catalogue of projects which span the length and breadth of the Local Government Area, Hon. Asekutu has been very outstanding in the area of peace and security. Anyone who has a good knowledge of Warri North Local Government Area would testify that it is the only Council in the State that shares common borders with two states in the State. It shares boundary with Ondo as well as Edo States.
Beside that, Warri North comprises of two major ethnic nationalities – Ijaws and Itsekiris, whose history of co-existence in time past cannot be said to be cordial. So, whilst cross-borders criminal infiltration created some form of banditary and other criminal activities within the area, the hitherto frosty relationship between the two ethnic nationalities most times, resulted into mutual suspicion and enmity.
Also, the bad terrain of the Council Area with little or no government presence before the arrival of Hon. Asekutu, in such critical areas as health, potable water, electricity, transportation and communication – all posed major challenges to him when he became the Council chairman three years ago.
But the coming of Hon. Asekutu into the leadership of Warri North Local Government Area created a harmonious relationship between the Ijaws and the Itsekiris in the area. Asekutu who sought the divine guidance of God, like the biblical Solomon, not only obtained wisdom from God to unite the people, he also embarked on equitable and fair developmental projects to the benefit of the two ethnic nationalities. As he was giving his valedictory speech to the Itsekiri community in Ubagboro during the commissioning of several projects there, he advised the people to beware and be wary of some mischievous elites from the area who reside in places like Warri and other cities from where they create ethnic-related trouble and export it to the riverine communities with a view to cause disaffection between the two tribes. He reminded them that, at the end of the day, it is the people that suffer. Asekutu identified this problem early in his administration and decisively dealt with it, hence he finished strong in the area of peace. In fact, the Warri monarch, HRM Ogiame Atuwatse III, was reported to have commended the Council chairman in the manner he administered the Area with peace and harmony.
Asekutu also dealt a heavy blow on the festering security challenges that was bolstered by cross-borders bandits who robbed, killed and kidnapped for ransom. In collaboration with the Gbaramatu High Chief, Government Ekpemupolo (aka Tompolo), security agencies and the State government, this perennial threat was finally removed with arrest and elimination of a notorious leader and his gang.
So, as the Ijaw-born Council chairman took his oath of office and allegiance in Asaba, the state capital, he already had his job cut out for him on how to surmount the above enumerated challenges and achieve result.
As Asekutu took the final ride out of Koko, the headquarters of Warri North yesterday, he left as a satisfied man with the inner conviction that he did not disappoint the people, that the Ijaws who had their first shot at the Council chairmanship for the first time since the LGA was created in 1991, did not disappoint the dual ethnic nationalities of Warri North. He owed all glory to the Almighty God.
As leaders and elders of Ubagboro, an Itsekiri community, celebrated the commissioning of a modern jetty, a well furnished health centre and a potable pipe-borne water projects, first of its kind in the area, there is already a nostalgic feeling amongst them.
Many are already having a feeling of continuation of the kind of leadership which Hon. Smart.Yomi Asekutu executed in the past three years and the general feeling is for him to continue for another purposeful term
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