The allegation that the Council Managers in the 66 local councils of the State of Osun had petitioned the State House of Assembly for tenure extension has been described as untrue and capable of destroying the good job already done.
Denying the allegation during an interview with OSUN DEFENDER, the Council Manager for Irewole Local Government Area, Mr. Samson Olayinka Odewale who also doubles as the Overall Chairman of Council Managers in the state stated that no Council Manager has approached the House of Assembly for tenure extension adding that the moment their appointment came, they realised that their tenure was not going to be for long.
According to him, civil servants were more comfortable when politicians were on board as council bosses since they know the people very well and it took the synergy between them for government machinery to move.
While describing the running of council in the state as not completely new he revealed that it was practised during military regimes where they were designated as Sole Administrators.
“In the case of Osun, it is the first time the government will have the courage to appoint temporary managers at the local government level to head councils”.
This situation Odewale stated had brought government closer to the people at the local levels because the government did not go outside the locality or outside local government administration to appoint these managers.
” We are in the system and also in these councils so we feel we have a sense of responsibility to our people”.
“Because the people feel they belong to the system, some of the land on which these new councils built their secretariat were donated by the people in the commuinity to ensure smooth take off of work”, he added.
He however said that despite the scolding from the State House of Assembly, none of them appointed to act as Council Managers did no deserve to be there adding that since inception of their tenure on the 9th of March, 2016, they have been able live up to expectations.
“We are babies of circumstances. It was necessary to ensure that the new local governments did not remain without heads. Our appointments was temporary and the people so appointed were familiar with the terrain they are operating within”.
He outlined the successes he had achieved in Irewole Local Government Council Area based on the charge the governor of the state, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola gave them from the inception which included: environmental sanitation, market management and mobilisation of internally generated revenue (IGR).
“We have done our best to ensure the environment within Ikire and its satellite towns are kept clean. We renovated existing markets and eradicated street trading and finally in order to boost our IGR we engage on mass education since it is a project that must be embraced by all”.