King Daukoru calls for adequate funding for local govts

King Edmund Daukoru, the Amanyanabo of Nembe Kingdom has called for adequate funding for local governments in the country, being the closest to the people in other to ensure development at the grassroots of the country and perform their statutory responsibilities.

He stated this when he marked his 80th Birthday with pomp in Abuja, Thursday, with a pledge to work for the well-being of Nigeria.

He said, “It is not my intention to bore you with the details of community development, but it will be a major omission on my part if I closed without saying anything at all about it. Nigeria has 774 LGA’s, which are recognized in the Constitution, and are part of the budgeting process of the States. Their functionality and economic well-being is a prime responsibility of the States. But since the past two decades, if not three, they have become a drain on national resources instead of being development centers and the foundation of national economic production.

“Thus, after all is said and done, it is these empty shells of the economic dream of the mid-seventies that the kings in the present time have to oversee in some form or other.”

He indicated that he would soon launch the next phase of the development of his kingdom which would encompass a gas-turbine, integrated farming and fish culture; land reclamation and large-scale reticulated water system.

There have been renewed agitations for resource control among the youth of the oil-rich Niger-Delta, as they identified resource control as the only remedy for a New Niger-Delta.

According to the Amanyanabo of Nembe Kingdom, he would work with the Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, (Ọjájá II), the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Abubakar and other traditional rulers to ensure the socio-economic development and peace in the nation.

In a message, former President Olusegun Obasanjo commended King Daukoru for his, Uncommon courage, leadership, vision, loyalty, unbounded patriotism for his people and country.

Earlier, the Ooni described King Daukoru as “a Natural Bridge Builder who was always at the forefront of ensuring peace in the country.

The Yoruba foremost traditional ruler said that politicians would come and go but that Nigerians had no other country to call their own and that as such must keep the peace.

The Sultan praised the Amanyanabo of Nembe Kingdom for his contributions to nation building in general and his roles in the development of Nigeria’s oil and gas, in particular.

Delivering the birthday lecture, Prof. Magnus Kpakol, the former Chief Economic Adviser to ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo, emphasized the crucial role of the Niger Delta in Nigeria’s development and the imperative of energy security for accelerating rural development.

He said, “The Niger Delta is widely recognized as the backbone of Nigeria’s development. It is indisputable that the nation, as it stands today, cannot achieve success without the progress and advancement of the Niger Delta.