…to guarantee equitable, prudent use of resources
Governor Alex Otti of Abia State has observed that the gains of the Supreme Court ruling on Local Government autonomy in July, 2024, can only manifest when stakeholders appreciate that absolute autonomy may not be immediately feasible in a federation with multiplicity of challenges that can only be effectively tackled, through collaboration, joint planning and pooling of resources.
Governor Otti made this assertion, Wednesday while declaring open the 18th Community of Practice Meeting of the Commissioners of Budget and Economic Planning in Nigeria, held at the Banquet Hall of the Government House, Umuahia.
He observed that no meaningful development could be made without intensive and consistent planning and advocated for the reactivation of Economic Planning Boards across the States and made effective to guarantee equitable and prudent use of resources pooled by the States and local governments as determined by the individual State Houses of Assembly.
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He also suggested that whatever framework is developed regarding the States’ and local government relationship within the framework of autonomy must prioritise prompt payment of the salaries and pensions of staff and retirees connected to the local government system across the federation.
Also, quality basic education and health services, security of lives and property within the communities, improved interactions amongst stakeholders, and all the other administrative functions that impact the lives of everyday Nigerians.
He said that the letters of the law must not take precedence over the spirit, especially in a federating system like Nigeria that is still vulnerable on many fronts.
According to Governor Otti, planning is at the core of every worthwhile development initiative, stressing that development is not a random event, for it requires a realistic assessment of what available resources per time can achieve within a carefully structured framework of economic and social aspirations.
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He added, “The success of any society since the beginning of time is essentially about what happens in the planning room. Planning, therefore, precedes development and offers a logical insight into why some societies win the race for development while others falter.
“If there is one thing that has been learnt following the meteoric rise of several economies outside the traditional Western economic blocs over the last 50 years, it is the fact that development can happen anywhere once the fundamentals are right and coordinated. In essence, development is the logical outcome of effective planning.
“It also follows that very negligible development, if any, would occur in an environment where planning is treated as an avoidable inconvenience or given scant consideration, like we find in many familiar places”.
