By Marie-Therese Nanlong, Jos.
Mr. Caleb Muftwang, the chairman of Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State and the secretary of the state branch of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, ALGON, in this interview responds to questions on his stewardship, the relationship between the state and the council and applauds the exceptional shrewdness and sincerity of the Jonah Jang administration in the matter of council funds  Excerpts:

You have spent about six months in office as the Executive Chairman of Mangu local government area, how is the journey so far?

So far, so good, we want to thank God for His mercy since we came in. We have been able to stabilise the local government to a large extent. Basically, these six months have afforded us the opportunity to study and understand the system and also to plan for what we want to do in the days ahead. So, I will say these six months have been quite rewarding by the grace of God.

What factors would one say have been responsible for the relative peace in the local government?
Mangu local government has been largely peaceful but we have had few incidences of armed robbery and cattle rustling but we have been able to contain them by God’s grace. I must laud the performance of the security agencies, they have their constraints especially of vehicles and so on but we have tried in our little way to encourage them and enhance their performance and so far, they have not disappointed us. They have contributed largely to maintaining the peace and we have gone a step further by trying to ensure that the vigilante groups really work effectively in their various communities.

We have tried to see how we can give the vigilante system a backing of the law at the local government level so that funding of the groups is sustained because with the kind of situation we find ourselves, it is no more feasible to run vigilante groups as mere voluntary organizations. They have to be quasi-voluntary in the sense that yes, though people may volunteer to participate but they have to earn a stipend in order to encourage them and boost their morale.

What are your plans to improve the revenue base of your council?
Let me put the record straight here in Plateau State. Honestly, I want to commend the governor of Plateau State. I have heard stories where many governors misappropriate local government funds but Plateau State is a different case and I will give credit to Governor  Jang because during the tenure of the caretaker committee chairmen, he refused to release all the funds accruable from the federation account to them since they were not elected by the people and he kept the money for the elected chairmen to utilise.

As I am talking to you, we are in the process of drawing down on those savings to augment our income and since we came in, I want  it on  record that the state government has not in any way withheld any of our funds, our funds come as at when due. The only thing that we met is that we have so many contingent liabilities and one of the biggest challenges we have is the staff payroll. Once we deduct money to pay the local government staff and  teachers’ salary, at the end of the day, you find out that almost 80% of the income is gone but we are looking at trying to increase our revenue base beyond depending on the federation account.

Fortunately for us, Mangu and Mangu town particularly is an emerging city of the future and we are trying to reposition Mangu in a way that we can be able to improve our IGR. One of the things we are doing is that we are reorganising our markets, trying to raise them to a certain standard and making sure that people do not pilfer with funds that should come into the council’s treasury. So, we are tightening the loose ends, we are blocking the loopholes to ensure that we generate as much from those markets.

What brought about your decision to enter politics?

My coming into the chairmanship was a people oriented thing. When you hear politicians say “I answered the call of my people”, sometimes it is just a cliché but in my own case, I want to say that it was not just a mere cliché. It was really the people that said look, you can’t run away, you’ve got to come and help us at this level. It took me sometime to decide, I had to pray, I had to consult with friends and mentors. Of course, I will not forget to thank the governor who also gave his support.

What is you take on the clamour by many people in Plateau State for the gubernatorial seat to be rotated among the zones of the State?

Muftwang

I think the issue of who succeeds Governor Jang is naturally going to generate a lot of interest because the governor to a large extent would determine what happens in the State in the coming year. So, it is understandable when people debate the topic and of course the issue of where the next governor should emerge from. There are two competing schools of thought, one is that we should simply look at merit and choose someone who will be able to carry the State forward, the other side of the coin is that people are saying that let us ensure that there is rotation.

Now, the thing about rotation is that it is not enshrined in any law, it is not enshrined in any document but somehow, in people’s minds, there is a sense of fairness that if one area has touched it, another area should be allowed to touch it too. I think there is nothing wrong with that so again, politics is a game of persuasion. I believe that as we count down to the time, all the issues are going to come to the fore and the political class has a way of managing the process.

Are you one of those praying with the governor as he requested?
Praying is not bad and I believe that every well meaning citizen of Plateau should be praying because praying shows that you are concerned but of course, after praying, there will come a time when decisions have to be taken and we are getting there. The result of prayers will be known and I am sure that one way or the other, the decision has to be made.