By Mumini AbdulKareem
The immediate past national president of the Ilorin Emirate Descendants Progressive Union (IEDPU), Alhaji Abdul Hamid Adi, has faulted the use of consultants for revenue collection across various local governments in the state.
Adi, a former chairman of Ilorin West Local Government, who was one of the Special Guests of Honour at the launching of the book “Ways to Achieve Effective Revenue Generation in the Local Government System: Kwara State in Perspective”, at the secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) on Saturday, said consultants engaged for revenue collection at local governments lacked the knowledge of their area of operation and most times often rely on council staff to get the job done.
He therefore advocated for proper training of local government employees with deep and sound knowledge of residents, places and nooks and crannies of the respective councils.
Speaking with newsmen on the sideline of the event, the Kwara State Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq said his administration was determined to improve the local government administration in the state adding that Kwara is ready to implement council autonomy recently passed by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Governor who was represented by the Chairman of the Kwara House of Assembly Committee on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon AbdulGafar Ayinla Ayilara said the executive is ready to give the local government their full allocation and ensure they deliver effectively.
In his presentation, the author of the book, Yusuf Abdullahi said the local government needs to brace up in effective and efficient revenue generation to meet the enormous challenges facing the system.
Yusuf, who is the Director of Finance at the Local Government Service Commission noted that considering the dwindling allocation from the federation account and the unreliability of oil in the international market, it behoves on political office holders in the system such as chairmen, supervisors, legislative councils and stakeholders to have the political will to harness the solid minerals, agricultural resources and tourist potentials in our local areas to generate more revenue.
According to him, “If these points are considered, local government areas in Kwara State and in Nigeria would be the envy of the whole world.
The Makama Lafiagi, Alhaji Tajudeen AbdulKadir Audu, in his address said it is unfortunate that much attention has not been focused on the local government despite being the tier of government that should be the most impactful on majority of the citizens. He said revenue collection system is the most challenging because of the close interface between man and the system itself and advised that there should be deliberate efforts on the part of the state government to create a viable local government revenue collection machinery just as it has done for the state with the Kwara State Internal Revenue Service (KWIRS) by having a good data base to enhance the system.
The book, with 48 pages and five chapters was reviewed by HOD Marketing Department, University of Ilorin, Dr Mustapha Ismail Yusuf.
