A combined body of Civil Society Groups led by the Justice,
Development, Peace Commission (JDPC) of the Catholic Archdiocese of
Onitsha has offered an administrative template to the Anambra state
governor, Chief Willie Obiano.
Making this public yesterday in Onitsha, yesterday at the kick-off of
sensitization activities of the group in Onitsha in specific thematic
areas, including education, primary health care delivery and
agriculture, the Project Manager of JDPC, Mr Uche Madubuko told
journalists that the civil society groups would like to focus its
campaign in the first three months of the new Obiano administration.
According to him, ?the government has made commitments on the sectors
it wants to address but we want to engage them so as to make the
governor address the needs of individual communities in the state
based on charter of demand of such communities”
Madubuko identified congestion of classrooms in the state and stated
that his group would like the state government to employ more
teachers. This, he noted was to make the ratio of one teacher to
twenty five students as recommended by the Universal Basic Education
national policy on education. He described as unacceptable a situation
where a teacher handles over sixty pupils in one class.
He said that researches have proved that no effective teaching or
learning could take place in such a rowdy and riotous environment.
On health, he observed that the primary health care delivery in the
state has not really gone to the grassroots especially when it was
glaring that rural women are still delivered of their babies using
lanterns, candles and touch lights inspite of huge investments claimed
to have been made by the government for the sector.
He therefore promised that civil society groups would embark on a
rigorous campaign to ensure that Anambra state keys into the National
Health Law for health care delivery to be taken to the door steps of
rural dwellers.
The Project Manager reiterated that there is urgent need by the state
government to give strategic support to the real farmers in the the
rural areas. He noted that most of the times when government comes up
with a programme to support the farmers, the aid was always hijacked
by politicians and top civil servants who has no farm anywhere and
were no farmers at all. ?We want the government to assist the farmers
with improved seedlings, fertilizers and tractors as well as soft
loans.”
