The Benue State Chairman of the Association of Local Government in Nigeria (ALGON), Hon. Maurice Orwough has said the Local Government autonomy which Governor Hyacinth Alia has completely keyed into would provide the impetus for faster development.

Hon. Orwough who spoke to New Telegraph in Makurdi declared that local government chairmen in the state would work in tandem with the development agenda of Governor Alia, and would not leave any stone unturned to transform local governments into a people-oriented grassroot development, to justify the resources, from the federation account.

Orwough who is the chairman of the Guma local government said as chairman, he has taken the bull by the horns by giving priority to critical areas including education, health, security, agriculture as well as provision of water to the people.

The ALGON leader lamented under development of local government areas in the state, adding that he has come with a vision to ensure the dividends of democracy in the area for his people.

He commended Governor Alia for his unprecedented development strides in the state, stressing that on assumption of office, he met dilapidated structures in the local government secretariat, which made him begin renovation of the chairman’s office and the entire secretariat to avoid sitting under the trees to run the administration.

He said abandoned projects dotted in the area would be fixed while tractors would be acquired to assist farmers since peace has returned to the rural areas through efforts of governments and security agencies.

He said plans were in the pipeline to increase the Internally Generated Revenue of the local government, which he said has now risen from N120,000 he met to over N1,200,000 monthly.

The Guma council chairman lamented the worsening insecurity bedevilling the area where schools, primary healthcare centres and markets have been destroyed promising that his administration will give road construction attention for easy access to the markets.

“We have come with a zeal, the people should be patient with us. They will experience more developments, in line with the governor’s agenda which we are solely taking a cue from”, he said.

He called on donor agencies to continue to intervene in the humanitarian challenges confronting Guma and other local government areas in the state.