Silent achiever in the history of local government

    administration in Nigeria, (Otunba) Hon. Bode Agbeleye,

      Chairman, Ijero Local Government, Ekiti State.

If there is anything that motivates Otunba Bode Agbeleye, the current caretaker Committee Chairman of Ijero Local Government, it is the desire to labour for the common good of the greatest number. And this he has vowed to continue to do ceaselessly.

  As a young man bubbling with vision, courage, vigour and a lot of energy, his aim on assumption of office in June 2007 was to turn the local government into an Eldorado within the shortest time possible. But like other humans, he has an environment to contend with. However, as a man with never say-die spirit, he has been able to make some modest achievements which have been acknowledge across the local government area, even by political opponents.

  Worried by the unspeakable level of poverty in the locality, he took some steps towards alleviating the monstrous poverty biting his people. Part of the steps yielded fruits recently when he presented trade equipment to artisan from the 14 communities in the council area; the equipment so distributed cut across the various trades practiced in the area.

  The equipments presented at a colourful ceremony held at council secretariat in Ijero by the Ekiti State Commissioner for Local Government and Culture, Barrister Abiodun Bamiteko included seven vulcanizing machines, six welding machines, one auto-mechanical machine, two rice processing machines, two panel beating machines and eight set of barbing equipments, others were twelve sets of hair dressing equipments and nine fashion design and sewing machines.

  He had earlier distributed seventy Celtel (now Zain) phones to people across the twelve wards in the council under the tripartite arrangement involving Zain, State and the local Government. Under the scheme, beneficiaries are to pay with ease. Also, about 120 persons at 10 per ward have benefited from a micro-finance credit scheme, also a joint poverty alleviation project between the state and the local government.

    In the area of education, Agbeleye has paid bursaries to one hundred and twenty students of institutions of higher learning at the rate of N5000 per students. Ten students were picked from the twelve wards in the local government area to ensure fairness and avoid uneven distribution.

   As a unionist himself, he was piqued by the worrisome situation of students at the local government level. Having served as an officer of Ijero Local Government Students Union at the local and national levels as a student, he immediately summoned the students and urged them to resuscitate the union. The students heeded the advice and reorganized, putting a credible executive in place to run the affairs of the union. This indeed facilitated the bursary awards.

   Embarrassed by the non-presence of library facilities in the oldest local government in the state, the Agbeleye caretaker administration has renovated a dilapidated building belonging to the local government at Igbamitoro area of Ijero. The building is to house the first public library in the local government.

   The Agbeleye administration also recognizes traditional rulership and accords the institution its due respect. Apart from constant dialogue with them, he holds welfare of traditional rulers paramount. He provided generating sets to all the Obas of the fourteen communities comprising the local government area to cushion the effects of power outages frequently suffered. Not done yet, the chairman purchased new vehicles to all the Obas to facilitate their easy movement a their attention is needed from time to time both in Ijero, the council headquarters and Ado-Ekiti, the State capital.

   Earlier, Otunba Agbeleye had presented a newly purchased Toyota Corolla salon car to the office of the Secretary to the Local Government. Convinced that appreciation of workers worth can serve as a moral booster, the chairman initiated a monthly award for herd work and diligence from his personal income. Two staffers of the local government had won the award for the months in November and December 2007 respectively. Immediately after his assumption of office, the sorry state of the secretariat complex arrested his attention. The complex situated on top of `Oke Ayinrin` had no water, part of the fence had fallen down, the environment was littered with unserviceable vehicles, the offices were apparently overcrowded while sensitive and very important documents were being taken to town for reproduction as there was no photocopier in the entire secretariat complex.

   Convinced that he could only get the best out of the workers only if the working environment is conducive, the chairman ordered the replacement of the main gate of the secretariat complex that was already in a very bad shape. A new administrative annex, the only addition to the ones built in the late 70s was constructed to ease space difficulties. Also, the existing offices were repainted and refurnished while rugs and window blinds were replaced. Three digital multifunctional photocopiers were acquired and distributed to the offices of the Chairman, Director of Administration and the treasurer to the Local Government. Honourable Agbeleye moved to the abandoned legislative building which was started by the immediate past administration and completed it to ease office accommodation problem by the time next elected administration resumes duties.

   His next port of call was the staff quarters along Ara/Araromi road where he carried out an impressive renovation. The quarters which was in a sorry state houses the official residence of the Chairman, Secretary to the Local Government, Director of Administration and the Treasurer to the council. The quarters were fenced and ten new air conditioners were purchased for office use.

In the area of health, the Agbeleye-led administration is not leaving anything to chances. Within its short span, it has added a building to the existing one at Iroko Health Centre while the Odo-Ese Health Centre in Ijero has been fenced. The council has not wavered in its contribution to the drug resolving funds at the state level, while it has considerably improved the sanitary condition at the secretariat complex with the provision of modern toilets.

To show its commitment to the deplorable condition of the deprived Ilukuno community, the administration has finally opened up the Ilukuno community with the tarring of Ipoti/Ilukuno/Oke-Oro road. The 6.5 km road which had been neglected for decades serves as a link between the people of Iloro, Ijurin, Ipoti, Ilukuno and their kith and kin in Oke-Oro, Iroko, and Ayegunle. With the road tarred, passage from Ipoti and Iloro/Ijurin to Ilukuno and other communities like Oke-Oro and Iroko/Ayegunle is now shorter. Drainages have also been constructed at Okunrin River in Ijero and Ikoyi quarters in Ipoti to stem the tide of erosion in the areas.