Summary of the Meeting

The town hall meeting was aimed at educating the citizens on the constitutional roles of local government officials. The meeting also provided a platform for people to ask questions on matters that affect them, strengthening the capacity of citizens to advance government accountability at the local government level.  The meeting was held at Erinje ward and had in attendance residents of Erinje community. The issues discussed at the meetings include youth restiveness, violence, and poor electricity supply. Other issues include insecurity in the local government due to the high rate of unemployment and poor representation in the government.

Participants complained that most of their representatives do not care about the people as they hardly experience development projects in their community. They also complained about the marginalisation of their people during the distribution of the COVID-19 stimulus packages provided by the state government. The people lamented that youth restiveness is affecting the business opportunities within the region and called for support from the state government to strengthen security in their community.

In conclusion, the people agreed to always act as agents of change in their community and support the local government officials in the development of their communities. The Citizen Journalist finally encouraged the people to participate in the continuous voter registration and get their PVCs to enable them to participate in the coming elections.

Critical Issues Raised During the Meeting

• The local government officials are not accessible to the people.
• The Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and the primary schools in the local government area are in a very bad state.
• The local government officials are hostile in their engagement with the citizens.
• There is a high rate of invasion by Fulani herdsmen to farmers on their farmland.

Resolution

• The citizens agreed to continue to use the various opportunities available to engage the local government and councillors to express their grievances to the government.

Below are pictorial representations of the participants.          

Citizen Journalist: Ayejuni Tony