The Enugu State Governor, His Excellency, Mr. Sullivan Chime attributed the state’s remarkable success story in rural development to the Visit Every Community (VEC) Initiative of the State Government.
Governor Chime said this in an address while declaring open the 2014 Post-VEC retreat organized for the stakeholders at Nike Lake Resort Hotel, Enugu.
He said that both the operational framework and the report of the VEC will be handed over to the in-coming administration in 2015 as a guiding instrument for the provision of the priority needs of the rural communities in the state.
He added that next year’s VEC retreat which would be the last for the present administration would have the governor-elect in attendance and serve as the forum for the orientation of the incoming government in the technical modalities for the achievement of the noble objectives of the programme.
Governor Chime observed that the programme had reached the stage where government has become more interested in knowing what it had not done or those facilities provided but not functional in some communities, with a view to using the instrumentality of the Initiative to impact positively on the lives of the people.
The Governor thanked the VEC Chairman, Dr. Eric Oluedo and various teams for the verification exercise and assured that government would continue to accord the programme all the seriousness that it needed to sustain the pace of development set by his administration in the state.
Leaders of the teams to the various local government areas in the 2014 VEC, in their separate reports observed the existing lapses in the provision of the basic needs of the communities but acknowledged the people’s appreciation for the positive changes already effected in their area through the projects executed under the Initiatives.
Some of the team leaders including the State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Chuks Ugwoke, a member of the State House f Assembly, Mr. Okechukwu Nwoke, Commissioner for Local Government, Okey Ani and Ndidi Chukwu Commission for Gender Affairs enumerated some of the lapses to include non-provision of the basic amenities such as access roads, water, electricity, schools and health facilities, as well as abandonment of projects and some non-functional projects provided in some communities.
They called on the government to work towards providing the basic needs within its available resources and put in place more effective measures of evaluation, monitoring and implementation of the projects to ensure proper service delivery.
Earlier in his remark, the Chairman of the VEC Programme, Dr. Eric Oluedo explained that the essence of this year’s exercise was to assess the extent of execution of the various projects initiated under the programme in the communities through interaction with people and verification with facts on the ground.
Speaking in an interview, the Chairman of Ezeagu local government area, Chief Emeka Ozoagu observed that the design of the Initiative which allowed the people to participate and contribute to the content of the projects meant for their communities had brought about even development in the area and thanked Governor Chime for bringing best practices of democracy to bear in his administration.
