The Anambra State government has urged leaders of the one hundred and seventy-nine communities in the state to use the Christmas Season to resolve what it described as unnecessary controversies which have affected community development throughout the state.
According to the state Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Mr C. Don Adinuba, the plea has become necessary because of the inability to start the third phase of the government’s Community-Choose-Your-Project several months after setting aside a whopping three-point-four billion naira for the purpose.
The Commissioner explained that under the development scheme, each of the one hundred and seventy-nine communities selects a project it needs and also decides a contractor from their area for it while the state government provides twenty million naira for the execution.
He noted that Obosi and Onitsha get double of the amount because of their huge populations while various communities have under the scheme executed various projects like market, library, health centre, water borehole and civic centre.
According to Commissioner Adinuba, while all communities have received the first tranche of twenty million naira each, most communities are still battling with the second phase mostly on account of various community disputes, including over the sites of such projects and the perennial conflicts between town union executives and traditional rulers and land ownership, land compensation and even the names such projects will bear pointing out that the state government made the completion of the first and second phases of the
Community-Choose-Your Project in each area a prerequisite for participation in the third.
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According to the Commissioner, the inability of the third phase to take off was discussed extensively at the last state Executive Council meeting of the year at the weekend, and the state Governor Chief Willie Obiano who presided at the meeting used the opportunity of the yearly mass return of Ndi Anambra from all over the world to their homeland during Christmas to appeal to stakeholders in each community to resolve every dispute affecting the third phase.
He noted that Anambra has in the last five years emerged Nigeria’s safest state and also the most peaceful and social cohesive, but pockets of controversy in various places have not enabled the state to attain the level of development envisaged for the people.
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