An Enugu based Youth organization, COAL CITY YOUTHS INITIATIVE has called on the state government under Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi to declare a “state of emergency” in all the 17 local Government areas of the state.
This call was made by the Director General of the group, Comrade Johnpaul Anih in Enugu on Friday during their Press Conference. He decried “the deteriorating state of the various local governments and remarked that the rural dwellers are suffering from the council chairmen’s style of leadership.”
His words; “we conducted a tour of the 17 Local Governments of the state and discovered that Ndi Enugu in those rural areas are living in penury and unexplainable pains due to lack of government presence. We still have the findings from the research” he stated.
Comr. Anih went ahead to say that “our local government chairmen have turned into demigods in their various council. In various local governments, the health sector is in shambles, our education sector has deteriorated, the agricultural sector is now moribound, embezzlement of public funds persists in the finance sector, while people have lost hope in the judiciary which is the last hope of the common man to seek redress. All these factors & many more continue to truncate good leadership in all the local Governments of Enugu state.
“This is jet age. We need people with vision who truly understands the rudiments modern day technology so at to meet the challenges of modern society.”
The group condemned the way in which council chairmen are selected & not elected, and maintained that Democracy can never thrive in such condition as it is counter productive. They alleged that, “the lacadesical attitude of the council chairmen have been responsible for the rate of underdevelopment seen in the rural areas.”
In an interview, the state coordinator of the group Hon. Remigius Ozonwama called on the state Governor to urgently establish a monitoring committee that will give him a holistic report on the happenings in various councils as there is no visible project embarked by them.
“As the local government elections draws near, our youths must speak with one voice to entrench new, Purpose driven and good kind of leadership with a clear roadmap and competence to solve the many problems of the society” Ozonwama said.
