Forum
Details
The essence of organizing this forum was to bring elected public officials into contact with their electorates, as it is noted that after elections, most elected officials relocate to the state capitals, and do not keep in contact with their people regularly.
Among the participants were elected public officials, the Deputy Governor of Plateau State, Speaker and Members of the Plateau State House of Assembly, Local Government caretaker committee chairmen, religious leaders, civil society organizations, politicians, police, para-military organizations, representative of women groups, youths and journalists.
The national director of political and civic education department of NOA, Mrs. Ngozi Ekeoba, opened the floor by welcoming all the participants to the event, while the Director General of NOA, Mr. Mike Omeri, who was impressed with the turn-out of participants, gave a short remark on the reasons why the elected officials should always be in contact with their electorates. Mrs. Hildegard Behrendt-Kigozi, the Director of Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation (KAS) in Nigeria, welcomed the participants and introduced KAS activities in Nigeria. Plateau State House of Assembly is a KAS partner since many years and she expressed her satisfaction about having this event in Jos and experiencing the great interest of the people and elected officials of Plateau State.
The event was declared opened by the Deputy Governor, Prof. Sonny Tyoden, who represented the executive governor of Plateau State, Rt. Hon. Simon Lalong. He relayed the message of the governor to the people of Plateau, that his administration will always create an avenue for the citizens to have their say in governance.
Prof. Pam Dung Sha , a professor of political economy, University of Jos, delivered a paper titled “The Mutual Responsibilities of the Electorate and Elected Public Officials towards Interface for Good Governance/Development: Challenges and Prospects”.
This was followed by short presentations by the Speaker of Plateau State House of Assembly, and the representative of local government caretaker committee.
At the end of plenary session and the discussions different submissions from many stakeholders were made and the participants agreed on resolutions, which are as follow:
i. That sustained interface between elected officials and the electorate will go a long way in promoting good governance and development.
ii. Elected representatives should constantly and consistently make themselves available to their constituencies for Town-Hall meetings with the electorates.
iii. That there is the need to sensitize the electorate on the constitutional roles of the parliament because of the erroneous belief that their power is limitless.
iv. That the establishment of constituency offices for elected officials is crucial and imperative.
v. That government at all levels should consider the issue of continuity of projects embarked upon by their predecessor as a necessity to avoid cases of abandoned projects in the country.
vi. That the Forum on Citizens Conversation should be replicated at the Local Government levels for the desired impact to be felt.
vii. That public official should consider as a priority, measures aimed at addressing the problem of unemployment and drug abuse by the youths in the state.