Chairman of Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State, Dr Michael Tidi, has appealed to relevant authorities to call on the Federal Government to revitalise and put Warri port to use.
He made the plea when a group of participants of the Executive Intelligence Management Course (EIMC) 16 of the National Institute for Security Studies, Abuja, on a study tour, visited the Warri South Local Government Council.
He said the call became necessary because regional sustainable development thrived where the people were actively engaged, stressing that the “facility at the Warri Port, when put to use, have the capacity to generate thousands of job opportunities.”
The chairman lamented that despite several efforts made by the council and the state government to draw the attention of the Federal Government to revitalise the Warri Port, the ports still remained inactive.
“At the Local Government level, the purpose of good governance is to increase civil engagements with members of the communities in order to arrive at the best policy and development options that could better serve the people by creating a better human society with good living conditions,” Tidi said.
Tidi, who also reacted to the issue of Local Government autonomy, told the team Leader, Mrs Emiloye Oyelele, that the Local Government areas in Nigeria were not yet autonomous, contrary to many views.
He said what President Muhammadu Buhari simple did was to revitalize the activities of the NIFU, which was directed to give quasi autonomy to the Local Government councils in the country.
Tidi, however, noted that Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State had always given the councils in the state unfettered access to not only the finances that came to them, but also in the area of administration.
Speaking on the theme of the study tour, ‘Globalisation: Implication for Regional Integration and Sustainable Development’, Dr Tidi said “since no country is an island, the implication is that we must brace up to face the emerging challenges of the world in the areas of technology, financial, social and economic development by improving on our critical infrastructure and formulating policies that will enable our nation to attain its pride of place in the comity of nations.”
He reminded the study tour participants that the COVID-19 Pandemic was still fresh in the minds of the people as it did not only affect the health of the citizens of the world, but led to economic recession in some countries in a short period of time.
Tidi, who gave a summary of some of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which his administration had keyed into, said that on the eradication of Extreme Poverty and Hunger, his administration in the month of January this year observed the deficient wealth distribution in the locality and embarked on the empowerment of 200 business operators who were at the bottom of economic pyramid to enable them access credit for the boosting of their business.
On the reduction in child mortality and improved maternal health, Tidi noted that the primary health care department of the Council has been up and doing in reducing child mortality and have a well improved maternal health within its tenure of office.
“In combating malaria and other diseases, again, our primary health care department has not relented in combating malaria and other diseases,” Tidi said.
On environmental sustainability, Tidi said that the environment department has been around all the communities of the Council Area clearing drainages, bushes and evacuating debris to ensure that the society was cleansed.
On promotion of gender equality and empowerment, he said Warri South Council is one of the most gender friendly local government areas in the country as most of it executive and staffers are women.
“The Local Government Council has been working tirelessly based on its mandate and available resources to improve on the ease of doing business and improve on the economy of our people.
“The major factor towards sustainable development is government legislation that is making necessary laws to moderate the activities of our people and providing security for them,” he said.
Earlier, Leader of the group, Mrs Emiloye Oyelele, who represented the Commandant of NISS, Alhaji A.S.. Adeleke, said the theme was chosen by the College to assist the Federal Government in policy formulation and implementation.
“We are not restricted by the theme. We also interrogate the issue of governance at not only the state level but also at the local government level. We want to interact with you on how globalization has impacted governance at the local government level, what are your challenges, what do you think are the solution to these challenges and how these challenges can be mitigated,” Oyelele said.
The study tour, which was interactive, was attended by the executive members of Warri South Local Government Area and some members of the Warri South Legislative Arm.
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