Worried over the decayed community facilities in and around Abocho, headquarters of Biraidu District in Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi State, the Chief Imam of Abocho Central Mosque, Alhaji Suleman Dansoho wants members of the community to realize that most of the facilities in the area have either become moribund or broken down. This, he observed, was due to negligence, carelessness, and lack of maintenance culture among others.
The facilities include, health, borehole, places of worship, roads, schools and town hall.
Alhaji Suleman Dansoho who is also the Secretary, Kogi State Broadcasting Corporation, stated this in a thought provoking paper titled ” Enhancing the Functionality and Durability of Community Facilities Through Effective Maintenance Culture” delivered at the 2024 Annual General Meeting of the Biraidu District Development Association (BDDA) held on 26 Dec 2024 at Abocho.
The Onu Abocho, HRH Chief Jonah Okai Idris addressing his subjects.
He lamented that the traditional practice of communal clearing of community owned places such as market, playground, roads , has disappeared.
The presentation which was greeted with loud ovation, reminded the audience that they had failed to realize that an effective maintenance culture is the sure way to ensure the functionality and durability of public facilities which would ultimately benefit the generality of the people
In order to achieve the desired goals, Alhaji Suleman was of the opinion that the leadership of BDDA , in synergy with the paramount ruler of the area, should rise to the occasion by providing more purposeful and result oriented leadership while a committee be set up to oversee the pubic facilities.
He also stressed the need for youth in the area to collaborate with the community leadership to safeguard the facilities and to raise awareness on issues that affect the community.
Some traditional rulers at the event
On security, Alhaji Suleman observes that no community is safe when its security architecture is poor and weak as they have been witnessing in the community. “Thank God for the kind of royal father that we have , whose major preoccupation is to ensure peace and secure this community. His relentless efforts have paid off in many respects and I call all and sundry to join hands with him in his quest to liberate this Community from unpleasant occurrences , he said.
The event was attended by the Chairman, Dekina Local Government Area, John Urah Ikani, the paramount ruler and Onu Abocho, HRH Chief Jonah Okai Idris, the Obicha of Ogbabede, HRH Chief Joseph Achimugu, the Onu Igala Apapa Lagos, Chief Suleiman Achem as well as Member Representing Dekina/ Biraidu in the State House of Assembly, Usman Ochidi and that of House Of Representatives, Paul Gowon Haruna.
Here Under Is the Full Text Of The Paper.
Being a paper presented by Sulaiman Dansoho, Secretary, Kogi State Broadcasting Corporation, Lokoja, at the Annual Biraidu District Development Association ( BDDA ), held on the 26th Dec , 2024 at Abocho town hall.
Topic : Enhancing the functionality and durability of community facilities through effective maintenance culture, the paper examines the factors, effects and possible solutions to the trend.
First and foremost, what are community facilities ?
Community facilities are public or semi – public utilities that provide assistance for the community . They include health clinic, borehole, places of worship, road , schools , town hall, to mention just a few.
Similarly, maintenance is the process of protecting or preserving something, or the process of keeping something in good condition. Culture on the other hand , is a way of life,a lifestyle, customs , traditions , habits that portray the attributes of a person or people
Maintenance culture is an attitude which is sadly lacking in our society generally nowadays particularly our community.
The traditional practice of communal clearing of community owned places such as market, playground, roads , has disappeared.
If we care to observe, we would have realized that most of our community facilities have either become moribund or broken down due negligence, carelessness, cheered wickedness, and lack of maintenance culture.
We failed to realize that an effective maintenance culture is the sure way to ensure the functionality and durability of public facilities which ultimately will benefit the society as a whole.
Factors affecting the durability of community facilities
– poor community leadership
– Human factor – cheered wickedness
– political favouritism or influence.
– Indigeneship and citizenship dichotomy
In other words, regular maintenance of those facilities can help ensure that facilities are useful for a longer period and by that it can contribute to the transformation of the community. But , for us to achieve this, we must see community facilities as our properties and take ownership of them
I call the community leadership to change the old order. This can be achieved by addressing the above factors. We must also prioritize improving our maintenance culture in addition to adopting preventive maintenance strategies. This will reduce long term costs and extend infrastructures lifespan.
Again, the leadership of BDDA , in synergy with the Onu Abocho, must rise to the occasion by providing more purposeful and result oriented leadership. I suggest that a committee be set up to checkmate or oversee the pubic facilities.
At this juncture , we need to take retrogressive look at the past and ask pertinent questions..For example, What happened to the first vehicle donated to the vigilantes ?. The vehicle is here packed despite the intermittent huge resources voluntarily invested on the vehicle by his royal highness , the Onu Abocho , Ayidu.
What went wrong with the borehole project donated by the former lawmaker , Hon Idoko Ododo located at Ajobaje ?
What about the Ajakeya borehole project donated by former governor, Capt Idris Wada ?
What went wrong with the borehole project donated by hon Kabir Idris, a time caretaker chairman of Dekina LGA ?
The road infrastructure is no different. The human factor has contributed to the failure of many of our roads. We can on and on to talk about this . But in all of these, what is the role of our youths in preserving our community assets ?
Youths in all societies have crucial roles to play in addressing the challenges I have highlighted. They need to collaborate with the community leadership to safeguard the community facilities and to also raise awareness on issues that affect the community ( remember the case of Achakwuma in Idah ). They can also participate in volunteering initiatives and community service to create a sense of belonging and purpose. They can also work to encourage their peers to become critically engaged and involved in decision – making process of the community and participate in initiatives that enhances the durability of the facilities rather than constituting nuisance in the society
Did you also know that the borehole resuscitated by the Onu Abocho has broken down again ?
What about the one started by hon Ikani Okolo and completed by hon Hassan Baiwa Abdullahi ? . It suffered the same fate .
In the health sector , we have seen that the. ambulance provided by government for the cottage hospital is presently not in perfect condition . Why ?
Another key factor is the role of the security. No community is safe when its security architecture is poor and weak and this is exactly what we have been witnessing in our community. Thank God for the kind of royal father that we have , whose major preoccupation is to ensure peace and secure this community .His relentless efforts have paid off in many respects and I call all and sundry to join hands with him in his quest to liberate this community from unpleasant occurrences .
I wish to suggest the need to rejig the community vigilant service to make it more effective and result oriented.
The security service should also be allowed to do their work without interference. Sadly, when crime is being committed, and some persons are made to be sacred cows, how would such a community achieve the desired peace and progress ? .
Finally, I wish to thank the past and present political leaders from this Community for their relentless efforts at providing us with basic amenities , particularly, Hon Daniel Óné Ejigbo , Hon Usman Ochidi and the incumbent executive chairman of Dekina LGA, Hon John Urah Ikani.
