By Raphael Okhiria

The Edo State Chapter of the Association of Community Newspapers’ Publishers of Nigeria (ACNPN), has expressed concerns about the slow rate of development, and poor socio-infrastructural facilities, and amenities in rural communities in Edo State, saying that federal and state legislators, as well as local government council chairmen must assist, and complement, the efforts of the state government in its determination to reactivate the state’s dilapidated infrastructures and better the living standards of the people, especially those in the rural communities.

Speaking during its one-day symposium, with the theme “Injecting life into our rural communities”, the Association’s Edo State Chairman, Comrade O’Ray Osawe, stressed the need for “representatives of the people, who yearly collect constituency project funds from their various Assemblies, to genuinely invest in the upgrade of life-enhancing social amenities and infrastructures, especially in our rural communities. It is the obvious failure, in this direction, that has led to the prevailing upsurge in rural-urban migration.”

While challenging the elected office holders to realize that “these financial safeguards, in form of constituency project funds, are backed by the constitution and the Assemblies’ operational modalities”.

— Comrade Osawe

Comrade Osawe maintained that “the reckless diversion, or misappropriation, of such funds for other existential frivolities are inimical to the overall interest of the people,” insisting that “this attitude is unbefitting of genuine representatives of the people.”

The ACNPN State Chairman equally challenged local government council chairmen, “as the constitutionally-recognized third-tier of government that is closest to the people,” to pay more attention to revamping ailing social amenities in their localities, remarking that “if council chairmen cannot build roads with asphalts, they sure can regularly grade community earth roads. Thank God, His Excellency, the state governor, recently gave councils, across the state, graders and trucks. I do not think that is too much to ask or demand from the people’s representatives.

“Those in our villages, as we know, do not really need much, other than the basic necessities of life. Give them roads, even if they are regularly graded earth roads; give them water; give them access to primary healthcare, primary education; give them markets to sell their wares, foodstuffs, and give them peace through adequate security.”

While disclosing that the Association of Community Newspapers Publishers of Nigeria, ACNPN, “is committed to informing, sensitizing, enlightening, educating, and entertaining indigenes and residents of the state, especially those in the grassroots communities, about government programmes, activities, policies, and governance challenges.”

He further emphasized that “the publishers, in turn, carry the people’s feedbacks, in terms of their needs, challenges, expectations, views, and aspirations, to the government.

“Ours is a two-way communication channel that seeks the mutual understanding, and cooperation between those elected in government, and the people they represent, for the overall benefit, growth, and development of the state, through effective governance of the grassroots. We are the closest print media to the people in the grassroots. We see and understand their pains and challenges. And we regularly interface with those in government, and those who intend to be in government, to enhance information dissemination and mutual understanding between government and the people they govern.”

Comrade Osawe, while remarking that the ACNPN was adding its voice to the clamour “for our rural communities to receive the desired attention, through the effective collaboration of the people’s representatives with the state government,” enjoined “especially Senators, federal and state legislators, and local government council chairmen, who receive allocations and funds on behalf of the people in the rural communities,” to promptly stand up to their responsibilities.