As Anambra State gears up for the forthcoming local government elections, the Mayor of Awka North Local Government Area, Chief ThankGod Anago speaks with OKEY MADUFORO on council administration in the state and why there is no vacancy in the office of the chairman of the council

What is happening to allocations meant for the 21 local government areas in Anambra State?

Against what some sections of the public are saying, allocations meant for local government areas in Anambra State go to the council directly and the governor has no hand in them.

The local government system is indeed more emboldened by this development and we are using the funds judiciously. The works department, and in fact, all the departments in the local government areas of Anambra State are busy and anymore telling you that the governor is withholding our allocations is being mischievous to say the least.

We reached an agreement with governor to bring a certain percentage of the allocations for general inter council development and the sum is nothing compared to the size of our allocations. Some people claim that Joint Accounts Committee (JAC) is still in charge but I can tell you that it is not true and you can carry out your private investigators on that.

But we are talking about total autonomy of the local government system…

The 21 council areas in the state are indeed autonomous and have been functioning optimally without any external interference and there is that synergy between us and the state government. However the constitution needs to be amended to address some gray areas that have to do with the kind of autonomy that you are talking about.

First of all, the duty of both the state and the local governments to serve the people and to provide security for lives and property and also provide other forms of social security, which is what we are doing as a government. But that does not mean that the total autonomy that you talked about is affecting our duties and functions as a government.

There is this clamour for both state and local government police; what is your take on that?

The concept is good but it has its challenges of defining their boundaries. At what point does the federal police come in and at what point does the state police come. In the case of local vigilante, we already have the community vigilante groups and the neighborhood watch operations, which can pass for local government police. Don’t forget that we have that Agunechemba Security Squad, which is also working with the local vigilante groups.

You have about four persons angling for your position as mayor of Awka North Local Government Area. Are you not worried that you may not return to the position?

There is nothing to worry about in this contest. This is democracy and people are at liberty to aspire for any position, and our party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), has provided for a level playing ground for everyone.

But what comes to focus is what you are going there to do and not just being a local government chairman. When you look at those jostling for the position, you will discover that they are all greenhorns who do not appreciate the enormity of tasks before them.

I have been there for about 14 months and I know the challenges before anyone that wants to serve as the chairman. I am not afraid of the primary elections and I am not losing sleep about it because the fact speaks for itself that I have continued to put Awka North Local Government Area on the rise.

It is being rumoured that Governor Charles Soludo may return of the incumbent mayors. Do you think that you are among those who will return? Why not?

Besides, the governor has visiting the 21 council areas and he can see for himself what each of the chairmen has so far achieved. You said that it is being rumoured, so let us take it a rumour, but in reality, the people in the rural areas and the governor himself can appraise what we have done so far.

For me in Awka North, my area of focus is that standing policy of Mr. Governor, which is to make Anambra State a livable, prosperous smart city state and to turn Awka North from a departure lounge to a destination point. You know that my council area is said to have been under the siege of bandits.

But if you come to Awka North now, you will agree with me that those horrific days of kidnapping and killings are gone. We have provided enough security architecture in all the communities in the area and thanks to the launching of the Udo Ga Chi Security Operations by the governor.

We have also complemented this with the equipping of our local vigilante groups and neighborhood watch operations with the presidents general of town unions and village chairmen getting involved in the security of lives and property. Under 14 months of my administration, we provided and installed security surveillance cameras which have enhanced the monitoring of our towns.

Awka North is classified as one of the most backward council areas in Anambra State; do you agree with this assumption?

No! That may have been in the past as you need to go back there again to see for yourself what we have done. We constructed a one-kilometre road with functional drainage system and solar-powered street light in Amansea community as well as Ezi- Okpkikolo with a spur at Holy Cashew and also the roads at Mgbakwu community.

The collapsed Ugbenu-Ime hanging bridge linking Ugbenu to Enugu State has been reconstructed. During the perennial flooding, Ebenebe community is always affected, but we have carried out erosion and flood control in that area, so the people of the area have nothing to worry about the next rainy season.

But your opponents are accusing you of mere grandstanding. They claim that not much has been done under your watch…

You call them opposition and that is their duty to dismiss what is going on in the area. The so called opposition people may turn blind eyes to the educational revolution in Awka North. Their children, who have been out of schools, are now back to schools. And you can recall that in the past, most children were not encouraged to go to school but what we did had changed the narrative.

Under our Educational Support Programme, my administration has renovated over 39 classroom blocks in all the primary schools in the council area and the children and relations of the so called opposition people are benefiting from those projects. They are also beneficiaries of the countless intervention schemes that we have carried out in the past 14 months of my administration but they claim that we are doing nothing.

Those water schemes scattered all over the council areas are still functional and are powered by solar hence providing good drinking water for the people in the rural areas yet we are doing nothing. This is a case of bad opposition and they feel that the cam do better when they lack knowledge of the workings of the local government system.