A few days ago, the Tide Newspaper ran an advertorial of a retinue of projects to be embarked upon by the Bonny Local Government Council under the leadership of the incumbent Executive Chairman, David Irimagha, an engineer and politician.

The advertisement of these projects was met with skepticism by a Bonny populace that have overtime become wary of successive administrations at the local government which were tainted with a debilitating hallmark of nonperformance.

Four years after the Edward Pepple administration, which was hated for not mainstreaming handouts but yet loved by many for bringing dynamism to governance with visible projects strewn around the LGA, a few of his successors have done well to add some smudges of impact here and there, though these amount to little drops of water in an ocean.

As time passed, questions as to the current administration’s performance after a year in office have been trending on social media with concerns been raised over its policy thrust and governance direction. These concerns were, however, met with silence given the aversion of the incumbent to publicity and preferred penchant to rather work in silence and let his actions speak for him.

But considering the trend of the last 13 months of this administration, it is evident that David Irimagha was focused on changing the narrative of development and governance in Bonny LGA and this as quietly as possible. This, he has severally made clear to his close associates and demonstrated by body language.

This was the stance that saw less talk on the reconstruction of the bridge at Ghana woman junction at Akiama which had collapsed and effectively cut off residents around Akiama, Coconut Estate, Oguede, Abalamabie, Bagg-Jumbo, and Longjohn communities. They had to make a detour through the Willbros Road to get home or get out to Bonny Main Town with its concomitant hike in transport fares. Irimagha only talked about the bridge on the day of its commissioning.

Ditto for the commencement of construction work on the new Bonny Main Market built by the Edward Pepple administration but being remodeled by the David Irimagha government. An ultra-modern shopping mall, abattoir, security outpost, and parking lot, among other facilities are being added to the market to make it a 21st century compliant business environment.

Since he assumed office, salaries and all other forms of remuneration for both civil servants and political appointees have been paid seamlessly and up-to-date, same as empowerment initiatives for various categories of the less privileged in the community. Support have also gone out to nongovernmental organizations, women and youth groups, and several others to drive social impact initiatives. All these have gone on, albeit, quietly.

There have also been ongoing engagements with all the security agencies to assure security on and around the local government area. Chairman Irimagha’s collaborative efforts with stakeholders such as the traditional institution, political class, security agencies, youth groups, etc – have paid off as the local government area has one of the lowest crime rates and ranks high among peaceful communities in Rivers State.

His efforts were recently given a boost with the procurement of a gunboat by the State Governor, Nyesom Wike to bolster the fight against sea piracy and other forms of criminality on the Bonny waterways.

To curb incidences of burglary, stealing, cultism, and other crimes he kept up with his predecessor, Cyril Hart’s policy of restricting the operations of commercial motorcycles to daytime. Prior to the curfew, which runs between 8pm and 6am, and still in place, criminals were leveraging the services of these Okada riders to perpetrate crimes in different parts of the island. The curfew effectively put a lid on these.

In a bid to drive governance on a multifaceted template, he inaugurated various committees to ensure maritime activities, revenue generation, security operations, commercial activities, employment processes, and several aspects of governance were functioning seamlessly. These have paid off big time as it has effectively dispersed responsibilities to his appointees thus affording him and his strategy team the time and space to focus on the bigger issues.

It must be said that at the core of his quietly burgeoning success story is his strategy team, which comprises of the Vice Chairman, Anengi Barasua Green, Secretary to the Council, Omoni Longjohn, his Chief of Staff, Uriel John-Jumbo, Legal Adviser, Victor Fred Pepple, Chief of Protocol, Bright Hart, Special Adviser on Security, Idamina Tobin, and Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Williams Ogbah Agwu.

They are complimented administratively by the Supervisors for Works, Daniel Tamuno-Opubo Wilcox, Education, Christaben Frank Hart, Youth and Sports, Hamilton Bob-Hart, Agriculture, Isaac Jumbo, and Health, Pafuro Nixon Tolofari. This team remains unbeatable as it parades a rich blend of competences and razzmatazz of capacity on various fronts which he has been leveraging to stay on top of his game.

Faced, upon assuming office, by a dearth of funds to drive governance processes, Irimagha opted for an upscale in the local government’s internally generated revenue (IGR) with a view to addressing funding gaps in delivering the dividends of democracy.

He told the Bonny Chiefs Council that his administration will initiate a paradigm shift in the collection of internally generated revenue (IGR) due to the shortfall then in federal allocation accruing to the local government council which gave rise to the need to source for alternative sources of revenue generation.

In that meeting, he was accompanied, in his characteristic manner, by his ace team comprising his Vice, Anengi Barasua, Leader of the Legislative Council, Miriam Hart, Deputy Leader, Dipinye Jumbo, Secretary to Council, Omoni Longjohn, Chief of Staff, Uriel John-Jumbo, and a former Caretaker Committee Chairman, Charles Jumbo, amongst others.

The Bonny LG Chairman informed an elated audience of eminent Chiefs of Bonny Kingdom that he intends to initiate a review of the parameters for payment of tenement rates by multinationals and other business entities operating in the area which he observed was long overdue for a review.

He further explained to them that his administration would engage experts to carry out a thorough review of the rating parameters and ensure they were consistent with global best practice. The process was on already, though without any publicity.

One issue that has been of critical concern to residents of Bonny LGA: Sanitation, was already being addressed with refuse disposal trucks evacuating refuse bins at night while street sweepers keep the streets clean during the day. Already an action plan to address the flooding challenge being faced by the community was being developed.

With the direct inflow of funds from the Federation Account in line with the new financial regulations by the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), the David Irimagha led administration has embarked on developing a development action plan that would see the proper utilization of the accruing funds to deliver impactful and sustainable programmes and projects across the land.

With an expressed tenacity to see through with tangible developmental initiatives and social impact projects, it is clear that all David Irimagha needs at this critical time is the support of the people of Bonny Local Government Area. An accomplished engineer, astute politician, resourceful leader, and creative strategist, David Irimagha apparently possesses the requisite capacity and competence to take Bonny LGA to the next level.