Okorocha Inaugurates Imo Traditional Parliament

The Imo Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, on Thursday
inaugurated the state traditional parliament with the mandate to pass laws that
would govern communities.

Inaugurating the parliament, Okorocha said there was the
need to revive long-standing Igbo traditional culture and practices now facing
extinction.

He noted that the traditional parliament, an offshoot of the
Community Government Council (CGC), was necessary because, according to him,
the local government had not lived up to expectations.

“The government at the local government has been hanging.
Until you introduce the community government, governance cannot be said to have
reached the people.

“There is no government when there is no community
government. Before, governance was a top-to-bottom approach, but now it is a
bottom-to-top approach where more power is given to the people,” he said.

The governor urged the traditional rulers to ensure they
made laws that would affect the lives of members of the community and preserve
their culture.

He challenged the traditional rulers to ensure peace and
security of lives and property in their respective communities.

He noted that each traditional ruler would take
responsibility for any breakdown of law and order as well as insecurity in his
area.

“This government will hold the traditional rulers
responsible for any criminal activity in their community.

“The “Ezes” have a duty to help us check criminal activity.
Ezes should question strange faces and activities of people in their various
communities,” he said.

Okorocha said the community government council would
introduce the spirit of patriotism into communities and make each community the
food basket of Imo.

He cautioned against unnecessary award of chieftaincy
titles, saying in the next few years, traditional rulers would be graded
according to the agricultural produce from their areas, number of roads
maintained and number of trees planted.

Also speaking, the Speaker of the Imo House of Assembly, Mr
Benjamin Uwajimuogu, explained that the CGC was passed and signed into law
after a public hearing and deliberations by the assembly.

He said the 49-page law recognised all communities in the
state, adding that the essence was to formalise the existence of community
governance. “There is no way we can develop the community without the active
participation of the traditional rulers.

“The aim of community council is to bring the governor and
community leaders into fusion,” he said.

Prof. Chima Iwuchukwu, the Commissioner for Public Utilities
and Community Government Council, noted that the CGC would bring about peace in
communities and ensure everyone enjoyed equity, and was recognised at all
levels. He said the council would bring development to the grassroots by
relating with both the local and state governments.

“The CGC will succeed because it will relate with both the
local government and the state. It will be government of the people, with the
people and for the people,” he said.

The Chairman of the Imo State Council of Traditional Rulers,
Eze Samuel Ohiri, on behalf of the traditional rulers, commended the governor
for instituting the parliament and for ensuring that the Igbo culture was
revived in the state.