Conference 57, the Association of Local Government and Local Council Development Area (LCDA) Chairmen in Lagos State on Tuesday, held a Workshop for councils’ employees on due process and revenue generation.
The training themed: “Fiscal Administrative Due Process and Enhanced Internal Revenue Generation,” involved council chairmen, Auditors, Procurements and other Heads of Department at 57 LGs and LCDAs across the state.
The Chairman of Conference 57, Lagos State, Hon. Sesan Olowa, in his remarks, said that the responsibility of any council chairman was to deliver good governance to the people at the grassroots level.
According to him, we are the third tier of government, and there’s a greater emphasis on transparency and accountability right now.
“As a local government chairman, our major responsibility is to deliver good governance to the people at the grassroots.
“So the conference has decided that there’s a need for us to continue to build capacity.
“It will help us in ensuring that we follow due process in what we do. It will also bring a lot of value to the citizens because we look at issues bordering on procurement and all of that.
“So we’ll ensure there’s value for money, so this is just one of the vital issues in the series of training and workshops we’re having,” he said.
Olowa, the Ibeju Lekki Council Chairman, said that the capacity training involved the Chairmen, the council managers, the internal auditors and the heads of procurement.
He added that the training also involved very important personnel within the local government system.
“I think essentially the overall goal is to see that local governments are doing well. They are delivering on their mandates and they are doing this within the confines of the law.
“This is the first in the series of training that will be coming, and we have a timetable of workshops and training that we have put together.
“So after this, we expect other personnel and officials within the local government to also benefit from this,” he added.
The Chairman added that council chairmen would be going on a lot of leadership and management training to ensure that local government were able to deliver on the mandate.
Hon. Sanni Okanlawon, the Chairman, Lagos State House of Assembly Committee on Local Government and Chieftaincy Titles, while giving his remarks, said that the training was fantastic and would improve productivity among the staffers in the council.
“This capacity training is awesome, very good, and we have been asking for a programme like this because it brings dividends and transparency in government.
“It is important that we work our effort in terms of knowledge and education in this realm, because the chairman of the council and other top officials should be well educated about transparency, accountability and due process.
“Because we hold the fortune, the resources of the people in trust, and we must seem to be transparent and accountable.
“So when we are well tutored about due diligence, about accountability, about transparency in government, then we will be able to deliver on whatever deliverables we will be talking about in terms of development of man and infrastructure,” he said.
The Chairman of Isolo Local Council Development Area (LCDA) and the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of Conference 57, Hon. Adebayo Olasoju, said that the workshop was the best any employee could have for productivity and efficiency.
“Today is just one of the best days anybody could have in terms of training.
“What is expected of us as public servants, as leaders, is that the trust we have, we must not in any way try to betray it, and as you can see, even the session is very, very interactive.
“We ask questions, they react, they deliver papers, we react to it, and I think it’s just going to be fantastic and educational.
“And the chairmen, procurement officers, and the council managers are partakers.
“The takeaway is that Lagos is performing, and residents acknowledge that Lagos is performing in terms of local government administration.
“And we are blessed we have a president who cares about the grassroots by giving us the autonomy, with more funds, more projects,” he said.
Olasoju said that Lagos local governments stood tall among others in the country by embarking on projects big enough to be handled by the state.
“You can’t stand anywhere in Nigeria where a local government will deliver a stadium, where a local government will be delivering a 40-bed hospital, a local government engaging in 2-kilometre roads.
“Compared to other states, Lagos is performing well because we have a better way of doing it, and we are the centre of excellence.
“So this deliberation we’ve had today, we take it back, we break it down,” he said.
The Council Manager of Bariga LCDA, Mr Layi Giwa, said in his remarks that the capacity training would go a long way in improving productivity and efficiency in the councils.
“What we are seeing here today is setting the pace for other local governments in Nigeria to follow. So after this training, we should expect fantastic service delivery.
“We are going back to do what we are known to be doing in Lagos State and what the authority of government is meant to be doing for the people,” he said.
Giwa, the Chairman of Council Managers in Lagos State, said that the workshop would improve service to the people and improve impactful service to the grassroots.
“And this is what Lagos State LGs and LCDAs have been doing in the past.
“We are leaving here now to go back and do more to do more within the ambit of the rules and regulations,” he said.
The Council Manager said that the training was meant to strengthen due diligence as far as the role of government at the grassroots level was concerned.
“So we thank our principals for bringing us here. It’s quite commendable, and we want this to be sustained, and it should not be a one-off thing, it’s something that we should be doing from time to time,” he added.
