The Chairman of Igboeze North local government area of Enugu State, Hon. Uchenna Ogalla says his administration is doing a lot to ensure the security of lives and property.
He said this while interacting with the Executive Committee (EXCO) of the Nsukka Journalists Forum (NJF) in his office at the local government headquarters in Ogrute, Enugu Ezike.
Ogalla said inline with Gov. Peter Mbah’s vision for a secure and peaceful Enugu State, the council was leaving no stone unturned to ensuring a peaceful and secured Igboeze North.
The chairman said that as a gateway to the North, the area was prone to all manners of criminalities due to cross-border activities.
He urged the people of the LGA to cooperate with his administration in the implementation of some security measures to accelerate development of the area.
Ogalla debunked recent propaganda by some people in the area that the council was asking people to pay tax before organising events.
“Security is costly but it is cheaper than insecurity, ” he said.
He said that before his administration, the people were used to paying some forms of security levies to some security outfits in the area.
“It is a practice that is older than me as an Enugu Ezike person.
“We surveyed everywhere and found out that it has been a common practice.
“So, we decided to harmonise it by asking people to pay more to make the system more active based on the current socio-economic realities, ” Ogalla said..
According to him, the decision was taken together with the Traditional rulers, the Presidents General and other stakeholders and everybody agreed before we launched it.
“By April 1st, it has become a practice that, if you want to do something, maybe in a months time, you go and register with the security.
“However, those who didn’t understand what we were doing went on air with propaganda, ” he said.
He, however, acknowledged that it needed time to put the people into perspective on what was happening.
On the ongoing modernisation of Eke Ogrute market, Ogalla said that the project was in the best interest of the people as demanded by them.
“During our campaign in August and September 2024, many of the people wrote to us demanding that they wanted Eke market Ogrute to be modernised.
According to him, that was exactly what the council was doing as demanded by the people.
“So, those who are complaining now that they were not informed before their shops were demolished, I don’t know where that is coming from.
“Everyone concerned was duly informed, ” he said.
The chairman appealed for patience, saying that at the end of the tunnel there was going to be light.
He said that the demolition that took place in the course of the project was carried out in other to get the best of the structures and called for understanding.
The chairman further disclosed that his administration was embarking on training and retraining of the workforce especially the teachers in the local government.
“We are training them on Information Communication Technology (ICT) in preparation for the full take-off of the Smart School programme in September.
He pledged to partner with the NJF to move the local government and the Nsukka Cultural zone forward.
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