The presentation of budget to the parliament is one of the hallmarksof constitutional and representative democracy, which gives details ofwhat government intends to spend in the next fiscal year.It also sheds light on government's income, expenditure, revenue profile, how the budget is sourced, among others.We are now in the season in which governments in the three tiers - local, state and federal are presenting their budget proposals before their lawmakers, but most of the times, the people who are supposed to be beneficiaries of such budgets are not carried along. But the government of Ekiti State, under the leadership of the Dr. Kayode Fayemi, is setting the pace by giving the people who voted him into power an opportunity to make inputs into the budget. This is in fulfilment of its promise to provide good governance, which is the first leg of its eight-point agenda, otherwise known as The Roadmap to Ekiti Recovery.It should be noted that this gesture of the government in power in Ekiti marked the first time in the history of the state that the people would be consulted before budget is prepared to incorporate the projects they want from the government.The Fayemi-led administration aims to use the first point in its development and transformation agenda to enhance participatory governance and accountability, motivating citizenry with ideas for better productivity and creating intellectual bank for policy formulation and implementation.The administration believes that the primary thrusts of the governance framework are efficiency in service delivery, participatory governance, accountability and transparency at all levels of government.It was in the light of these that the government of Ekiti State organised village square and town hall meetings in all the 16 local government areas, in which each of the 149 communities were given an opportunity to present three of their most urgent needs.The governor in his wisdom felt that sitting down in his office in Ado-Ekiti and deciding for the people of the state the projects they want the 2012 Budget to take care of was not the best, as he would need to feel the pulse of the people before presenting the Appropriation Bill to the House of Assembly later in the year.To execute key projects in every nook and cranny of the state would require going back to the people to ask them what they want from the 2012 Budget in order to fulfil their wishes, unlike in the past when projects that might not be needed by them were forced on them. This practice has given rise to abandoned and underutilised projects in many parts of the country. But Ekiti State is now raising the bar in carrying the people along in the formulation and execution of budget.The tour, which took the governor to the headquarters of the local government areas, saw each of the towns and villages coming out to present their requests in the 2012 Budget through their representatives.Fayemi undertook the meet-the-people tour with all members of his cabinet, who were expected to take notes on the requests for projects that concern their Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for necessary action.The tour also afforded the local government caretaker committee chairmen the opportunity to render account of their stewardship to the people of their council areas and commission some projects.The interface of Governor Fayemi with the people of the Ekiti State was revealing, as it afforded the state chief executive an opportunity to speak on the various projects being executed by his administration to make life easier for them.It also gave him an insight into the various problems confronting the people in the grassroots in the areas of bad roads, dilapidating and underutilised health facilities, ecological challenges, lack of electricity, potable water, among others.Apparently surprised by the humility demonstrated by the governor in asking for their inputs into next year's budget as it concerns projects implementation, the people in the grassroots used the forum to lay their cards on the table for attention in the new fiscal year. Their demands include provision of access roads, rehabilitation of bad roads, markets, transformers, hospitals, channelisation of waterways, establishment of tertiary educational institutions, rehabilitation and resuscitation of dams and provision of farm settlements.The people also want the government to provide employment for the teeming youths, police posts, resuscitate ailing and collapsed industries, upgrade some basic health centres to general hospitals, construct more befitting palaces for traditional rulers, extend micro-credit loans to local traders and farmers, among others.One of the key demands of the people in the budget tour was the creation of more local government areas to bring government and development closer to them as many of the council areas are ripe to be divided into two or more administrative units.To Fayemi, the tour was an eye-opener, as it has afforded him an opportunity to know more on the problems being faced by the people in the grassroots and the need to tackle same through the instrumentality of the 2012 Budget.The governor has since directed the appropriate authorities to ensure that all the relevant MDAs begin action on the requests tendered by the various communities for the purpose of factoring them into the 2012 Budget.With the conclusion of his interaction with the people on what they need in the 2012 Budget, the hope of the governed has been raised that the transformation they have been craving is already here. By the time the Appropriation Bill is presented, scrutinised and passed into law, the grassroots will be satisfied that their wishes are reflected in the budget and that they have participated in the business of governance.'Ogunmola, Special Assistant (Media) to the Ekiti State governor, wrote in from Ado-Ekiti.
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