‘My focus is on infrastructural development’

Alhaji Abdulrahman Ajiya is the chairman of Abaji Area Council. In this interview, he speaks on his administration’s desire to address rural infrastructure deficit. Excerpts:   August 30th will be three months since your administration took over the mantle of leadership of Abaji Area Council. How is the journey so far? It was very unfortunate […]

Alhaji Abdulrahman Ajiya is the chairman of Abaji Area Council. In this interview, he speaks on his administration’s desire to address rural infrastructure deficit. Excerpts:
 
August 30th will be three months since your administration took over the mantle of leadership of Abaji Area Council. How is the journey so far?
It was very unfortunate that I assumed office at a very difficult time. I met the council completely in a mess, as virtually most of the infrastructures are totally decaying, while huge financial liabilities were left behind. We have no option than to see how we can address some of them and fix all the infrastructures in order to bring the council back to its past glory. Immediately I assumed office, I toured some of the council’s 10 wards to see things for myself, especially the state of projects. We also used the opportunity to interact with the electorate to know their challenges in the area of amenities.
What effort has the council made to tackle some of the challenges, especially in the area infrastructures?
What I did during the tour with few of my political associates and my campaign director general was to take record of some of the major challenges facing the rural people so that as soon things improve, we would address them.
The report of the transition committee would soon be made known to the residents through town hall meetings. By this, the good people of the council will understand that we actually assumed office at a very difficult time, when even payment of workers’ salaries is a problem. However, it is obvious that there are high expectations from our people, especially during my electioneering campaign where I promised to tackle some of the problems they are facing, especially the infrastructural aspect.
The council has taken some of these challenges so seriously that despite the non-availability of funds, we are planning to support our rural farmers with some farm inputs such as, agro-allied chemicals, sprayers and assorted seedlings in order to boost farming across the council.
And we have also embarked on refurbishing of some of the grounded tractors so that we can give them out to farmers to cultivate their farms. I will also prioritise the education sector, as we have already put in place measures where our children, especially those who go out of the council to look for admission into senior secondary school will now get admission into senior secondary school without much stress.
And to achieve this, we have been able to identify and secure some blocks of classrooms in a section of the Pilot Science Primary School where we have started renovating. It will be converted to Government Day Secondary School (GDSS), Abaji.
We observed that establishing a senior day secondary school here in Abaji town, which has already been approved by the FCT Secondary Education Board, will go a long way in also encouraging parents to enroll their children in school.
My administration is also working hard to address erosion problem especially at Abattoir community, where residents suffer damage every rainy season.
On the gully erosion along Agyana road, we are also liaising with the ecological fund department of the FCDA to see how the erosion problem can be addressed.
Apart from that, there are other projects, such as the rehabilitation of some grounded boreholes and reticulation of pipes; rehabilitation of the NTA booster station, renovation of Unguwar Manko clinic, which is already on and the provision of hospital equipment among other basic amenities.
In a nutshell, my administration will solely focus on providing viable amenities and revamping all the grounded infrastructures across the 10 wards of the council as soon as the council’s finances improve.

What prompted your decision to set up a committee to investigate the staff strength of the council?
Before the council election, we received information of how the past administration was employing people without following due process, just to please some individuals and get their support.
So, immediately I assumed office, I decided to set up a committee to investigate and screen all the staff of the area council in order to ascertain the staff and the true position of the whole issue. And thank God, the committee did its work perfectly, screened all staff and submitted its report.
But we are going to call for a town hall meeting to open up what I met on ground.  Before then, do you know that we discovered that some appointments were backdated while I was studying the report? And will you also be surprised to hear that some appointments were carried out by the administration few days to the council elections, some after the elections and also some few days to my inauguration. So, like I said earlier, the present APC administration came and met the council in a total mess with government facilities virtually grounded, while some viable ones have been carted away.
The council was also left with huge debt and liabilities; staff salaries and arrears, including that of cooperatives running to millions of naira were left unpaid by the past administration, which is even among reasons that prompted me to order for screening of the council staff.
And I want also to  tell you that it is not staff of the council alone that are being screened. We are auditing the Local Education Authority (LEA), in order to ascertain their staff strength so that at the end of the day, the people who voted for me will know what we came and met on of  ground. Because it is quite worrisome that 90 percent of the council’s monthly allocation goes to payment of LEA staff and teachers’ salaries, while at the end of the day, we don’t have money to pay other staff their salaries.
Is your administration planning to sack some LEA and area council staff?
I know what I met on ground on assumption office, but what I have been telling people is that any appointment that was carried out few days to the council election and after the election without due process will be cancelled.
That was what I said when I inaugurated the transition committee. But I was surprised that some group of people said I was planning to sack people, which is not so. And besides, what we are trying to do is for the best interest of the good people of the entire Abaji Area Council. But I will not comment further on this, until we meet during the town hall meeting, everybody will see the truth, when we let the cat out of bag.