Enugu State has 68 development centers spread across the 17 local government areas of the state. Most of these centers have become comatose despite having salary-earning workers and administrators assigned to them. The decaying state of these centers is the focus of this report by Ben Aroh.
In 2003, the administration of former governor Chimaroke Nnamani created development centers in Enugu State. The goal was to bring development to rural areas. These centers statutorily have administrators, heads of departments, treasurers, heads of personnel management, and employees, all gaining promotions and retiring, as the case may be. Former governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi saw the need for the centers and increased them from 56 to 68. Employees of these development centers are drawn from the main LGAs where they were carved out from.
LGA Chairmen Destroyed Development Centres – Ex-administrator Alleges
Chief Kelvin Ezeugwu served as the administrator of Nsukka East Development Centre. He said the initiative was well-intended, but destroyed by council chairmen who see administrators of development centres as rivals.
In his words, “Former Governor Chimaroke Nnamani made the development centers equal to their main local government areas. If allocations for LGAs came, they would be shared equitably among the development centers and the main LGAs. Then if allocations for Nsukka LGA were released, they would be shared into four, with the main LGA taking the lion’s share. Then Nsukka East, Nsukka West, and Nsukka Central would get theirs to develop their respective areas.
“But when former Gov Sullivan Chime came, he made development centers to be under council chairmen. That was where the trouble started. The idea was that administrators would be taking directives from council chairmen. Some council chairmen never allowed their administrators to do anything, except receive their salaries, and maybe their imprest. In our own case, we were getting our salaries and our imprests. I managed our markets and the borrow pit at Opi. From there, revenue was generated for developmental purposes.”
Samie Agbo also served as an administrator. He said, “Development centers are subordinates to the main local governments. This is unlike the Local Council Development Authorities in Lagos state which are independent, and funded by the state government.
“In Enugu, when they were created newly, administrators were entitled to a vehicle each, and members constituted to run the affairs of the centers. They have offices. But the aim was defeated. I can tell you as an ex-administrator that the present administrators are only getting their salaries. Some members of the development centers do not even know the headquarters of their centers. Some don’t even have offices at all.
“When allocations come, most administrators won’t even know. In fact, some of the development centers have been shut down. Some of them were told to join the parent LGAs. But they have everything that is obtainable in the main LGAs, such as HODs. Those that have existing structures have abandoned them or rented them out. Most of these centers do not have chairs.
“Gov Peter Mbah was part of the Nnamani administration that created these development centers, so I guess he knows the brain behind the initiative. When he went for campaigns, he went to those centers to reach the people better. These centers should be more viable because they are closer to the people. Development centers should be able to handle schools and health center management in their respective domains. They should be made to be in charge of IGR points within their areas. They should be able to generate their own revenue. If development centers should run properly, it will lead to rapid rural development.”
Development Centres Exist In Name – Workers
Some staff members of development centers claim the centers are ‘dead’. One of them working in Igboeze North, on condition of anonymity, said, “These centers were created to serve as pay points. Some of the buildings were rented just to serve that purpose. Earmarking of funds to the centers ended with former governor Nnamani. After him, the concept died. The problem is that the activities of LGAs were centralized, thus weakening these centers. These centers have environmental hazards. Who will clear the bushes? What business have administrators going there when nothing is going on? There are over forty-seven workers at Ette Development Centre, for instance. It has an administrator, and about nine caretaker members who are appointed for political reasons.
“But workers have abandoned the place. They only go to work on Mondays to clock in and clock out following the directive of the governor that workers must work on Mondays, being sit-at-home. But they rather go to the central LGA, and not development centers. The whole place is being occupied by snakes and other dangerous organisms, and overgrown by weeds.”
It is the same story at some development centers visited in Udenu LGA. Charly works at Udeledem Development Centre. He said, “Nothing is happening there. Once in a while, we go to the secretariat of our main LGA at Udenu. But development centers are not even open on working days, so nothing is happening there. The ceilings are caving in; the chairs have all been damaged. It is only dangerous animals that live there.”
Janet is a senior staff at Ekete Development Centre of Igboeze South LGA. She said, “We only go to work on Mondays at the main LGA to sign in, and that is all. Those located at Iheakpu, Udenze, and Central have all been abandoned. But the administrators can also be creative. The least among them receive N250,000 monthly, but they still claim nothing is coming. They can from there, at least clean their offices.”
Don’t Let The Centres Die – Scholar Advises
Osmond Eze is a public administrator. He called on relevant authorities not to allow the development center initiative to die. Quoting him, “It would have been a good thing if development centers were given stable allowances for developmental purposes or given some IGR points. If you make somebody a development center administrator, and he relies only on his salary, and whatever the LGA chairman gives him, he is just like a staffer or personal assistant to the chairman. If administrators are not given any power except collecting salaries, the best option is to scrap it. If an administrator is not comfortable, he may have no capacity to even discipline those working under him.”
It’s Terrible – Administrator Expresses Concerns
One of the administrators of a development center in Nsukka LGA, who does not want his name mentioned, said, “We are being abused by council chairmen. The initiative would have been effective if development centers were assigned specific roles and fund allocations. But we are whatever chairmen want us to be. They don’t attach any value to us. The centers are already abandoned because nothing is happening there. You don’t ask a farmer to go to a farm without tools. Some of us report to office on okada.”
We’ll Address Your Concerns, Commissioner Ogbodo
Deacon Okey Ogbodo is the commissioner for local government affairs, Enugu State. He told THE WHISTLER that, “The present administration actually wants to act and improve on them. It would appear as if they are comatose, but it is not. Recall that during our electioneering campaigns ahead of the 2023 general elections, development centers were the basis to reach the rural areas. It is a question of re-orientating them and assigning more responsibilities. The ministry is contemplating on places people can go to get information about what the government is doing; where they can easily access government resources within their reach. And the best option is the development center. The ministry has it in our plan in our next budget to make the centers more functional. It is within these centers that we can always embark on need assessment to get what rural people actually need. It will be a center for liaisons in all LGAs.
“I am quite aware of how seemingly abandoned these development centers are now. We are also talking about cleaning them and fumigating them for the safety of workers. We have it in our program. I intend to place it before LGA chairmen; not only to clean up these centers but fumigating the environment because it is among the factors militating against irregular workers’ attendance to work. Some claim that they don’t even have offices. I am on tour of LGAs presently, and I made similar observations. The environment is something else: they look unkempt and bushy. It is becoming a safe haven for rodents and reptiles which endanger the lives of our workers.”
LGA Chairmen Decline to Answer
The chairmen of LGAs of Igboeze North, Hon Ejike Itodo, and Udenu, Hon Solomon Onah, declined to reply to questions sent to them over the squalid state of development centers in their respective LGAs. However, that of Nkanu East, Hon Sydney Ede, who doubles as the chairman of the state Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), said he had charged administrators in his LGA to rise to the challenge. According to him, “I’ll ensure that the issues you raised are implemented immediately. I will also take it up with my other chairmen.”
This report is produced with support from Civic Media Lab (CML)