As part of strategy to
strengthen governance for effective and efficient service delivery among the three arms of government, the Cross River State Governor, Senator Liyel Imoke, has inaugurated the steering committee on State and Local Governance Reform (SLOGOR) projects.
He tasked the committee to take the reforms process right down to all the local governments as part of the change.
Inaugurating the committee at the executive council chambers in Calabar, the state capital, with Deputy Governor, Mr. Efiok Cobham and cabinet members in attendance, Governor Imoke said it was important and critical that all stakeholders understand reform programme and be part of it.
He noted that no successful reforms could be achieved without the three arms of government being part of the process, adding that: “we cannot achieve meaningful and sustainable reforms as an administration without the House of Assembly playing its role in providing strong support by way of legislative framework for us to be able to say truly, we have achieved reforms or that we have actually reformed.”
Stressing the importance of reforms in governance process, Imoke urged the various stakeholders in the three arms of government to begin to think of ways of doing things differently in a way that would impact on those they governed.
According to the governor, “what is fundamental about the importance of this project as it relates to reforms in governance at various levels is that as an administration, we have emphasised that we need to think of doing things differently in a way that it is beneficial to the people that we serve.”
Lamenting the imperviousness of people to change, Imoke observed, “one of the greatest challenges with reforms is that of getting used to change. We have been so used to doing things the same way without giving considerations to changes that can yield better result, because we are so stuck in our ways. We do not think that anything else that is introduced could be positive and of use or could even contribute to the improvement in governance.”
“We must accept the fact that the only thing that is constant in life is change and unless we come to terms with the fact that change is constant, you will find that you will never be able to be ahead of the pack. So, if we have institutions that have been used to doing things in a particular way for so many years, whether it impacts on certain deliveries or governance or whether it even takes advantages of new technology, it is not as relevant as sustaining a particular approach that they are used to,” he said.
