HKT Boys

Who are they?
They are the men that run the Ajeronmi-ifelodun local government aka Ajegunle. They are they backbone of the newly appointed chairman, Hon. Kunle Taiwo hence the HKT. It came to my understanding that it won’t have been possible for the new chairman to reach his status without greasing the palms of these young men. Regardless of any level of political position in Nigeria, you would always find your faithful political thugs. If you please them then you please “the people". Morally and politically, this is wrong but that is where we find our Nigerian democracy today. Do we need a change? I believe so!

-Teleola

Are Town Hall Meetings effective?

To the understanding of those that came for the town hall meetings, it was an avenue to speak their mind about what the government needed to provide for them. Of these basic amenities that need provision include electricity, water, schools, all of which doesn’t elude the government. In response to the plight of the people concerning their present problems, the Speaker spent must of the time praising his Governor, their party and the initiative of the town hall meetings. This said, it would not be fair to tag town hall meetings as a negative event but a gathering that was to achieve some level of positivity. Nevertheless, every aspect of Nigerian lifestyle is pervaded by corruption and I really could not expect anything else from this meeting. As explained below, gifts were given in exchange for people’s presence at the meetings. People are not fully aware of what it is that their government is supposed to do for them and even those that know do not see anything being done. Maybe all hope is lost but I would say that the mentality at this meeting was: “You (the politicians) eat government money, now I want my share of the national cake.” Lets all exploit ourselves!

-Teleola

Gift-giving has invaded Nigerian politics (Town Hall Meetings).

At these town hall meetings, gifts were handed out in the form of t-shirts and note-pads. Trusting Nigerians, they were hustling , rushing and pushing to get these bags. The programs were not left out of the hoarding and hustling, many of these people in attendance are not able to read these programs but I guess it would be something to take home in the bags with the rest of their goodies. Food was also given out to a certain crowd and this was also rushed by some people.
For every politician that was in attendance, a bunch of 20 men dressed in uniform t-shirts surrounded him in the quest for a little change to take home. They prevent the men from entering their cars until money is given. The men then find themselves in a corner violently and loudly dividing the money. A group of women in Aso Ebi were also present to sing praises of both the speaker and deputy speaker of the house of Assembly. I am of the belief that these people would not come there without getting some form of compensation. My question therefore is what did these people get out of the town hall meeting? Not much I presume, since to be a part of the event, they had to get a level of compensation for their time and effort.

-Teleola

Town Hall Meetings- Avenues of exploitation?

The Town hall meeting held in the Mushin constituencies was met with a large crowd of people in attendance all cramped in the exorbitant canopy carefully decorated with drapes and chandeliers. Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon Ikuforiji and Hon. Mrs Adefunmilayo Tejuoso, the representative of the Mushin constituency 1 who is also the Deputy Speaker of the Lagos House of Assembly, amongst many other politicians were present. Hon. Mrs Tejuoso in her speech explained that these town hall meetings were borne out of the demand of the people to get involved in the process of governance and in doing so leaders in these local governments with great ideas can come and express their views, ask questions and proffer solutions which will form the bedrock of planning and legislation. No doubt, leaders of the various groups came up with what they needed the state government to do for them some of which include roads, schools, drainage and many more of such issues. This initiative of the State government is a great one but i would like to believe that many of those in attendance were there because they could get something out of this gathering.

-Teleola

People Power?

Earlier this year we conducted a survey of 40 local governments in 13 states across the country. In two weeks our research teams interviewed over 1,000 respondents in local communities and local government offices, holding focus group discussions and meeting local government officials. Finding local government officials to speak to was challenging in some places (as expected) and not as much in others. Local people were quite happy to answer questions and talk about the difficulties posed by a lack of decent social services, but their cynicism was overwhelming. In response to broad questions about whether they were involved in planning for local government development, citizens said that they had not been involved in planning for development projects nor for the local government budget. A number of them said they did not complain to their local government about issues affecting their community because they felt that even if they did, it would not yield any results. It’s quite clear that a key issue we need to address is civic education for citizens as a means of civic empowerment. We need to recognize the strength of the power that we hold and how that power can change the way that we live.

-Lanre

AIYETORO LOCAL COUNCIL, OGUN STATE: Totally broken down.

The living conditions of residents in the farming community of Ijeoun Isenjo In Yewa North, Aiyetoro Local Council, of Ogun state as described in The Sunday Guardian of 5th July 2009 where there are no basic social amenities especially where the only source of water is Idi River which also doubles as a dump for all types of refuse is appalling. The Local Government Chairman is definitely missing in action (M.I.A.) ,provision of pipe borne water is one of the duties of the Local Government. The community also lacks health care facilities. The strange illness where the children of the community have stunted growth and pass blood as urine is extremely worrisome. This has been linked to drinking water from the Idi River, urgent action needs to be taken now by the local government chairman and the people. It is safe to say that most local government councils need to play their constitutional roles as active service providers in their communities. In addition, people need to constantly demand accountability from their local government officials and not wait until the public service delivery has completely collapsed or there is a crisis to raise an alarm about a non functional local government.

-Nkeiru