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Dayo Emmanuel
“Democracy without grassroots development is like tea without sugar or honey,” these were the words of National Coordinator of Democracy Vanguard, Mr. Adeola Soetan, guest speaker at the public presentation of a publication; Community Development Charter, on Erejuwa, Ilaje-Makoko Community of Mainland Local Government Area of Lagos State recently.
The publication, a product of a community-led initiative on the development aspirations of Erejuwa, Ilaje-Makoko community, was spearheaded by Lagos-based media NGO, International Press entre (IPC) with support from UKaid, act!onaid and of course, cooperation from the communities involved.
At the presentation of the publication which held at the Mainland Local Government Secretariat, Oyingbo, Lagos, Director of the International Press Centre (IPC), Mr. Lanre Arogundade, noted that democracy cannot thrive without the involvement of the grassroots, and that the local people are becoming enlightened as to know what to expect from the elected officers. He however confirmed that, “It is not true to say that our people are ignorant, that once the people collect money from politicians, that is enough to buy their conscience.”
On the part of the media, Arogundade in his observation said the media often do not report the real issues bothering on development of the grassroots.
“Our media houses do not report issues relating to or affecting the grassroots people, they dwell more on the Obasanjos, the Buharis, Jonathans, etc. and neglect issues of the communities, that is why we are teaching journalists to embark on solution – driven community reporting,” he said.
Also at the event, Vanesa Edhebvu from Act!onaid Nigeria, said, her organisation is bent on addressing the issues of the excluded people, making sure the government is held responsible in a peaceful manner to ensure development in the grassroots.
“Act!onaid and the work we do is to see the excluded, the grassroots people get attention. Holding government responsible doesn’t mean getting people fighting, but to get even the weakest women heard. I urge all the community represented on this project not to relent on this initiative. It shows you how to organise yourselves to make the government know what is happening and for them to know you are speaking from an informed angle,” Edhebvu said.
The guest speaker, Soetan, however continued by urging people from the grassroots to recognise there is enough power residing in them to effect change.
“We must first appreciate we have power and we should know what is happening in our immediate environment,” Soetan said, adding that, “the Local Government doesn’t exist alone, the communities make up the Local Government Areas. Democracy can only make meaning when the people know what they want and to know how to evaluate it. We must participate beyond voting. What IPC is doing is to remind people of their commitment to the electorate. People are entitled to know what a government is doing about their development, it Is not only about we voting but asking questions.”
Supervisor for Agric and Rural Development, Alhaji Afeez Danmola at the event enlightened the audience about the transparent nature of governance in the rural communities.
“In the local council, there is feedback mechanism, we don’t execute projects on our own, we meet with the community leaders and the contractors. We sit to do our budget together. I want to assure you that we will improve on what we have been doing and we will not let you down,” he pledged.
Hon Olorunleke Olusola Michael is the Supervisor for Agric and Social Development at the Yaba Local Council Development Authority (LCDA), who at the event complained people of the grassroots often times fail to rightly evaluate and appreciate development efforts of the government because of selfish reasons.
“The local people are not measuring us by our performance, but by what we can give them from hand to pocket. How many people can we give money to one-on-one?” He asked.
Relaying an experience at a particular community, Olorunleke recalled that, “There is a community at Makoko where we had 15 road projects, yet we had it tough there during the election. That means they are not assessing us by the performance but by what they can benefit from us individually.”
The event however was an opportunity for a community representative, Ojo Jude Idowu Olakunle, who represented Ilaje Otumara community to make a request.
“I am here with the request of my people, we need road, we need clinic. It is a large community, we also need a hall,” he requested, attesting to the fact that the Local Government’s Secretary has been supportive. “The madam is very assessable, her door is always opened to us, we have written letters and we are still waiting, we need action.”
One of the community leaders at the event, Chief Iroha who is the Grand Patron of Makoko at the event appreciated the LCDA’s efforts in providing support for the development efforts in the area.
He also promised the support of the Ndigbo in the area towards development. “The project you are doing in the community is a good thing, we fielded two Igbo people and we got victory, we are partners in progress, we will make sure we partner with the Yoruba people,” he promised
