Chief of Okper calls on citizens to cultivate self-help spirit to stimulate development

The Divisional Chief of Okper in the Yilo Krobo Traditional Area of the Eastern Region, Nene Teye Agor IX, says development is a collective responsibility requiring that all hands be on deck to fix the wrongs in the community.

According to him, indigenes of the Okper community must cultivate the self-help spirit through initiating various projects to entice the government to come on board and offer its support to address some of the challenges.

Speaking in an interview during a tour of some communities in Okper including schools to access infrastructural challenges confronting the people, he said the self-help spirit was key to community building and development.

“If we don’t start, nobody will come and support us. The people have also understood that the little they can support with, we the chiefs will also add the little we can to it to start,” he said.

To address some of these challenges, the traditional leader urged indigenes of the community to cultivate the self-help spirit through communal labour by initiating various projects to entice the government to come on board and offer its support.

The chief who bemoaned the poor educational infrastructure in some schools in the community during his tour observed that students were either studying in dilapidated, frail wooden or bamboo structures.

He bemoaned: “During my tour of the Okper community, I realized that pupils were studying outside in most of the schools I visited. Some of them were studying under bamboo structures and you’d realize that they would be more comfortable studying outside instead,” noted the Okper Chief.

According to Nene Teye Agor IX, the current nature of most of these classrooms were not conducive to effective teaching and learning.

“The classroom blocks are not in the best of conditions and we can’t wait for the government all the time to come do it; we always expect the government to come to fix things all the time but I believe we can do it on our own as a people,” he observed.

According to him, the legacy he intends to leave is the self-help and can-do spirit among his people which will remain their identity.

“The legacy I intend leaving behind is for all to recognize the Okper people as people who have the self-help spirit and take their own initiatives and do not wait for others to come to their aid,” he stated.

The best way, therefore, he noted, is for effective collaboration between government and traditional authorities to stimulate and enhance development in their various communities.

He emphasized that closer working relations between the two parties would not only help to bring the needed development but also peace and harmony among the people.

According to him, no meaningful development can take place without the collaboration between traditional rulers and local government authorities and call for a cordial relationship and effective collaboration between the two sides towards the development of their localities.

“If you look at the Local Authority Act, the collaboration is clear. You can’t develop a community without close consultation with the chiefs. You don’t know the community more than the community, the community belongs to the chiefs…government needs to collaborate with the chiefs to ensure development,” he underscored.

Regarding bad roads, the chief said while the community can through communal labour temporarily fix sections of the roads in bad shape, he nevertheless called on the government to play its part.

To address the recurrent water challenges confronting the people of Opker, the chief said he together with the support of the community was constructing mechanized boreholes in parts of the community for the people.

Nene Agor called on all indigenes of Okper both home and abroad to come on board and contribute their quota towards the development of the community and called on the people to support him to prioritize development by contributing their quota.

He however appealed to the government to come on board and support the efforts of the chiefs and people to address the water problems of the people and develop their communities.

Best student award scheme

The chief, as part of his educational policy, has also instituted an awards scheme to recognize hardworking pupils and students in basic schools in Okper to encourage them to achieve greater heights in the educational ladder to become responsible citizens capable of steering this country in the future.