The 21 local government Council’s chairmen in Adamawa State have sponsored their wives for a leadership training programme in Istanbul, Turkey.
The Council’s first ladies were accompanied by senior officials from the ministry of local GOVERNMENT, and were reportedly left the country last week for the training.
Commenting on the trip, the chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) Adamawa State branch, Suleiman Toungo, who is also the chairman of Toungo LGA
said the training is intended to equip their spouses with leadership skills.
Toungo, said the council chairmen embarked on their own training recently, arguing that their wives need similar exposure so they can offer useful advice to them on governance.
“We did our training two months ago, so I do not see anything wrong with our wives going for training outside the country,” National Paper quoted Toungo as saying.
“They are our wives and we need their advice. We are looking at the importance of training them leadership, not the cost.” Toungo, said.
Although, the trip has sparked widespread Condemnation on social media platforms, with Nigerians describing the episode as wasteful in light of the recent financial autonomy granted to local governments. Some critics of the trips described it as a waste and insensitive to what ordinary Nigerians are passing through. ”can’t the training be organized in Yola, the State Capital, or Abuja, or even Lagos., that would have saved a lot. They should have consider.They should have a priority and consider cost.”
