The Chairman, Caretaker Committee of Obio / Akpor Local Govemment Area of Rivers State, Chief Prince Noble Amadi has set the machinery in motion to tum around the fortunes of the local government in accordance with the directives and mandate of the Governor of the State, Chief Nyesom Wike.
Barely one week in office, the council secretariat in Rumuodomaya has once more become a beehive of activities as the CTC Chairman has taken bold steps to put smiles on the faces of the people of the local government including residents of the area.
Already, workers of the Local Government Council are now counting their blessings, as the current administration, going by the Governor’s directive has cleared the backlog of salary arrears owed them.
Besides, the caretaker committee has launched ‘Operation Keep Obio / Akpor Clean’ to ensure that all nooks and crannies of the local government are kept clean and environmentally healthy. And to truly empower the people, the local government boss has constituted an empowerrnent committee and equally ordered the reopening and reactivation of the Rumuepirikom Skills Acquisition Centre for sons and daughters of the area to acquire one skill or the other, particularly those of them who are not engaged in any meaningful venture.
One of the cardinal policies of the present caretaker committee is to rebrand the local government by sanitising the revenue collection mechanism which had in the past seemingly destroyed and tarnished the image of the local government. With dissolution of all functional committees including revenue committees in the local government, the caretaker committee chairman has swung into action to give revenue collection a human face, to the extent that fake revenue agents are now in for serious trouble. Indeed, he is redefining revenue collection in the local government.
The council has already banned illegal street trading, as it is liaising with Community Development Committees (CDCs) in the various communities to assist in this direction.
Already, the Rumuekini Community has provided a piece of land within the market axis of the community for the purpose of relocating those selling liquor around the Obiri Ikwerre axis of the East- West Road. The unwholesome activIties of some businessmen and women operating around this area have often defaced the Gateway local government area.
Moreover, by virtue of the open door policy adopted by the present administration, the caretaker committee is expected to reach out to all spectrum of the Obio / Akpor society with a view to giving all and sundry a sense of belonging, to the extent that at the expiration of its tenure, the people would be glad enough to say that they have never had it so good.
These were some of the insights the Chairman of the Caretaker Committee, Chief Prince Noble Amadi offered in an exclusive interview with The Tide in Port Harcourt recently. He said the overall vision of his government is to run an open door administration because as he put it, he is a servant of the people rather than a leader. “My appointment is a call to serve the people. I am not a leader. I am a servant of the Obio / Akpor people”.
He also revealed that going by the Govemor’s directive, workers of the council have been paid their salaries up to date.
“If you interview the workers, they will tell you that they are happy with His Excellency. That a caretaker committee chairman has come and carried out what the Governor said. I have told people that I must obey all the directives of the Govemor. I am not owing workers salaries. And I will never owe”, he said.
“On revenue collection, the council chairman noted that those doing business in the local government as well as those who own property are only permitted to pay Tenement Rate as approved by the Rivers State GovemmenL Now, what we intend doing is revenue collection with dignity. You don’t go and begin to beat people. We have said that anybody that rnasquerades as corning from the Chairman’s office or the council should be snapped. What we intend doing is to ensure that touting is reduced to the barest minimum,” he said.
Against thiS~drop, therefore, he directed the people to
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soon as anybody comes to them to demand revenue, adding that security agents would not hesitate to arrest any fake revenue agent. “I have addressed all revenue officers and contractors of Obio / Akpor because I have dissolved all functional committees and all revenue committees. I have also asked them to apply. We will scrutinise. We will know where they live. They will give us two passport size photographs. And each of the revenue committees must work with the police. The essence of this is to get it right.
We don’t want to tarnish the image of the State,” he said.
Chief Amadi also stressed the need for people of the state to continue to support Governor Wike.
“The Governor has done a lot. If you travel from one local govemment to another, you will see roads, hospitals, bridges and a lot of what the Governor has done including human capacity development. In all the sectors, the Govemor has performed. That is why he has gotten lots of awards. I want to say that all Rivers people should support the Govemor for second term in office because Rivers State is POP. Obio/ Akpor is POP. Everybody should go and get his PVC. PVC gives you a voice in 2019”, he said.

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