Govt urged to decentralise programmes on MDGs

Accra, Aug. 16, GNA - Targets of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) would not be achieved if implementation of the various programmes were not decentralised to get people at the grassroots involved, Nana Boachie-Danquah, Chairman of the Local Government Council, said on Wednesday.

He said people at the local level had an important role to play in the attainment of the goals and their absence would be difficult to meet.

Nana Boachie-Danquah said this at the opening of a three-day workshop of the Nigeria Union Local Government Employees (NULGE) of the Osun State chapter in Accra.

The workshop facilitated by the Local Government Workers Union of Ghana Trades Union Congress is under the theme: "Trades Union Leadership and Conflict Management, International Labour Standards, Grievance Handling, Disputes Settlements and Productivity Improvement as They Affect Local Government Administration."

It is to expose participants to administrative practices and styles in vogue outside Nigeria, sharpen and improve their skills and techniques used in discharging their constitutional and statutory responsibilities.

Nana Boachie-Danquah noted that in Ghana, local government had been the key to the achievement of the MDGs and urged Nigeria to copy that example.

He urged trade unions to be at the forefront and to engage their employers in constant dialogue, monitoring, evaluation, accountability and justice to ensure good governance.

"However, as you dialogue for better conditions of service, you must exercise that with restraint and embark on a constant education and training for workers on issues since most workers are still not conversant with grievances condition," he said.

Mr Ali Baba Abature, Special Assistant to the Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr Stanley Adjiri Blankson, noted that the local government system had rapidly and evenly spread development throughout the country saying this was due to good policies.

He said for governance to succeed, workers should be assertive, proactive and facilitators of the local governance system. "Workers should see themselves as purely loyal professionals ready and capable of implementing policies and programmes and to refrain from dabbling in politics."

Mr Kenneth Olugayo Dinudu, President NULGE, appealed to trade unions to be good ambassadors and cautioned them to exercise restraint in their fight for better conditions of service.

Dr Esther Offei-Aboagye, Director of the Institute of Local Government Studies, said trade unions had the responsibility for the maintenance and advancement of a high standard professional practice and urged them to engage in providing continuous education and training for members.