By CHARLES IWUOHA

Newly elected Council Chairmen and Councillors in Ebonyi State have been charged to avoid partisanship in the distribution of social welfare and empowerment schemes in their Council areas.

The State Commissioner for Human Capital Development and Monitoring, Mrs Ann Aligwe, gave the charge on Monday in a lecture in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State capital.

The lecture was part of a two-week orientation and training organised by the State government for the elected grassroots leaders.

Aligwe, in the lecture titled “Empowerment of Local Constituents”, stressed that empowerment was the bedrock of every governance and government at all levels, be it at federal, state or local.

She noted that every empowerment programme was expected to improve life expectancy of its beneficiary, adding that failure of an empowerment scheme to affect the beneficiary's life positively creates socio-economic problems to the society as it leaves the supposed beneficiary worse than before.

The Commissioner, who identified various kinds of empowerment to include educational, economic, political, social and psychological empowerment, admonished leaders to always study the kind needed by their constituents at any given time to avoid misplacement which could be counter-productive.

Aligwe explained: “Effective empowerment must be geared towards changing beneficiary’s life positively; must be timely and accurate; must be adequate and sufficient to meet the beneficiary’s needs at the time.

“Empowerment must not be based on political patronage, self-centeredness or based on Political Party lines.”

While commending Governor David Umahi for his various empowerment schemes in the State, Aligwe emphasized that good citizens’ empowerment helps to reduce crime in society.

“Leaders who build a culture of empowerment set their people on the path of continual growth and development.

“It leads to self-employment and rapid industrialization, enables one to discover vital talents and societal values for self-worthwhile ventures, thereby facilitating the process of nation building,” she stressed.

Other facilitators at the day’s event, including the State Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development, Mr Orlando Nweze, and the Auditor-General, Dr. U. S. A Udu, delivered lectures on Budget/budgeting process and financial regulation/memorandum respectively.

Monday’s event was the third day of the programme flagged off by the Deputy Governor, Dr. Kelechi Igwe, on Thursday last week.