Former secretary of the Ilorin South Local Government Area of Kwara state, Alhaji Atolagbe Sulaiman Alige, has charged the council chairmen in the 16 local government areas of the state to strive harder in their efforts to provide democratic dividends to people at the grass roots areas.

Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune in Ilorin at the weekend, Alhaji Alige, said the council chairmen should be abreast of development in their areas to ensure socio-economic growth.

"They should move a bit forward to complement efforts of Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed. They've been doing development projects, but they should do more and step up higher in their responsibilities. They should provide more social amenities that would help people at the grassroots level to actualise their dreams", he said.

Alhaji Atolagbe, who said that state and local government joint account  arrangement is working smoothly for the growth and development in Kwara state, added that the state government and the House of Assembly were also performing their constitutional monitoring role on all the16 council areas.

"The joint account arrangement is working well in the state. Some of the projects that the local governments cannot handle on their own are handled by the state government by injecting fund into them. They also do it jointly to provide dividends of democracy to the people", he said.

Alhaji Atolagbe, who is a member of the governing board of the Kwara state polytechnic, Ilorin, also said that about 44 rural roads are being constructed from the office of the special assiatant to the governor on rural roads, adding that the projects include grading and maintenance of the roads.

He also said that people in the grasroots areas are now encouraged to patronise primary health care centres for treatment unlike before because of improved performance of the staff and availability of drugs and equipment.

Alhaji Atolagbe, who refuted the claim that Governor Ahmed's administration had concentrated development in Ilorin state capital since inception of his administration, said that development projects are going on in all parts of the state presently.

"As 'am talking to you, the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) is constructing two classrooms each in rural community schools. It is also developing curriculum in education that affect rural and urban areas and there is free education in both primary and secondary schools. This is not only in Ilorin alone. Our policy is that every child counts in Kwara state", he said.