Uncategorized

Herdsmen/farmers’ clashes, our major challenge in Ivo — Ajah, council chairman

CHIEF Emmanuel Ajah, who is serving his second term as chairman of Ivo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, in this interview shared his challenges of administering the council and his achievements so far.

Challenges

The major challenge we are facing is insecurity due to illiteracy. When we assumed office, insecurity was the major challenge in Ivo LGA. Then, there was a place called Ojukwu bus stop. Nobody could pass that bus stop and if you passed it successfully, you go for thanksgiving. There were no military and police checkpoints in my place. The place was too porous and deadly. Anybody could come into the community, do anything and get away with it. So, when I came in, I took it upon myself to secure my place. First, I wrote to the former governor and he approved it.

“I brought in Army and Mobile Police security checkpoints. Today, we have military and police personnel manning our area. I built a lot of security houses, especially at Ojukwu bus stop and put solar light there to provide light. The securitymen are staying there and that is the best in the South-East. The Chief of Army Staff came in December to host soldiers in my area and others in South-East states for their FOB ceremony.

We have tackled internal insecurity of kidnapping and armed robbery and what we are tackling now is farmers/herders  clashes. This is the major problem. The clashes are taking my time and money. It gives me sleepless nights. I want to ensure that our people return to the farm. We have put everything in place. We don’t discuss security matters in the open.

ALSO READ  Pre-marital testing as key to HIV prevention – Sokoto Traditional Ruler

Education

In education, I encouraged the students through scholarships and paying their examination fees.

“We also organised skills acquisitions for talented people in Ivo. We gave them money to enroll into skills acquisition programmes and also gave them money for empowerment to start up their own businesses.

Healthcare, roads, agriculture

In the health sector, we have health centres, which we support in one way or the other. We also cleared bills of some indigent people who could not pay their hospital bills after receiving treatment.

“In the area of roads, I constructed one kilometer of concrete road leading to the town. Although I did not start the Atani bridge, I  completed it and right now, vehicles including lorries and trucks are making use of the road.

“When I came on board, there was no Magistrate court and no High court building in my area. There was no place for the judges and magistrates to conduct their court proceedings. The High court was sitting in the local government hall while Magistrate court was sitting at Ohaozara Council Area because the Magistrate court was burnt when the Akaeze community had fracas that forced the government to move the court to a nearby community.

I have built a High Court complex and a Magistrate Court complex in Ishiagu which the Chief Judge came to commission and we are enjoying it today.

“In Agriculture, I saw that the most important thing was to empower the poorest through agriculture. You know we always cultivate rice, cassava and yam and we have fertile land. When I came on board, the first thing I did was to buy bags of fertiliser and distributed them to 1,000 farmers and later, I distributed inputs to 5,000 farmers, shared kits, and distributed herbicides.

ALSO READ  Dennis Idahosa Emerges Edo APC Governorship Candidate

Relationship with state government

“The Governor has his own manifesto that is “People’s Charter of Needs.” We work together for the good of our people. No friction over local government fund and other things. We have never had an issue over funds.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button