Dons Eze
X-RAYING PETER MBAH’S TOWN HALL MEETING, BY DONS EZE
Town hall meeting is a feedback mechanism through which political leaders engage themselves with their constituents on critical issues of governance. It is a political accountably forum by which political leaders periodically render account of their stewardship to their constituents,, while the people will in turn seek clarifications on various issues raised at the meeting.
In a town hall meeting, attendees will present ideas, voice their opinions, grievances, and ask questions on issues that were not clear to them. Sometimes, the town hall meeting is televised, broadcast, or recorded.
In advanced democracies like in the United States of America, Canada, and Western Europe, town hall meeting is a regular feature, and involves all strata of government, ranging from the councillorship position to the highest level of government.
Town hall meeting helps to bridge communication gap between the government and the governed. It also helps the government to guage the pulse of the people, which will enable it to take necessary action, where possible, in order to assuage the feelings of the people, or to improve their welfare. In the same vein, town hall meeting enables the governed to unburden their troubled hearts before the government, and expect speedy fulfilment of promises made therein.
Town hall meeting is a democratic process which enables every free citizen to participate in government, different from the usual communiques without communicants by a regime that claims to be all-knowing, and which hardly tolerates alternative viewpoints. It is also an agenda setting forum whereby the government takes necessary actions based on issues raised during the meeting.
Even though that in town hall meeting there is no voting right, and there is no binding agreement, nevertheless, it gives the governed a sense of belonging, that at least, the government knows about their existence, and also gives the people the hope that their needs would be attended to.
Since coming to power about eighteen months ago, Enugu State Governor, Dr. Peter Mbah, has given town hall meeting priority in his programme. He has held such meeting for about two or three times, which involves the participation of traditional rulers, representatives of various civil society organisations, town unions, faith based organisations, trade union bodies, professional unions, students unions, women groups, market unions, farmers unions, ethnic associations, politicians, journalists, etc.,
In the last edition of the town hall meeting held on Saturday,.December 14, 2024, the over 5,000 capacity sitting hall at the Old Government Lodge, along Enugu -Abakaliki Road,.was filled to the brim. Before 8 O’clock in the morning, the event billed for 11 O’clock, had begun to witness surge of delegates at the entrance gate, with protocol officers and security men having hectic time to sort out names of invited delegates.
Even though that the event was delayed for the next two hours, the people were not tired of waiting. They remained seated on their chairs because they were full of expectations, and anxious to hear the Governor speak.
When finally the Governor arrived for the meeting at about one O’clock in the afternoon, he was not unmindful of his lateness. He started with profuse apologies for his lateness, stating that it was not in his character to keep the invited guests waiting for so long a time. He blamed it on the rescheduling of his flight from Abuja to Enugu,
Governor Mbah kicked off the meeting by giving update on various activities of his goverment. He recalled that 33 percent, or about one-third of the 2025 budget estimate now before the State House of Assembly, is devoted to education. This shows the importance his goverment has for education.
According to him, the Smart School system envisioned by his administration, will take off in September next year, while 11,000 smart teachers are to be trained for the exercise, Also, 245 smart schools are currently being constructed in 245 electoral wards in the state.
In order to ensure smooth transition from smart primary school to.higher levels of education, Governor Mbah disclosed that the state government is to construct 17 smart secondary schools, and eight smart vocational schools across the state.
On water supply, the Governor claimed that there was great improvement in the quantity of water being supplied to citizens of the state, with increase from two million litres per day, to the current rate of 120.litres daily
He attributed the inability of the administration to meet the 180 days target of supplying water to every home in the state, to bursting of old asbestos pipes, which, he said, are currently being replaced, and believed that by the time these old pipes are replaced, there would be significant improvement in water supply in Enugu State..
The significance of town hall meeting was manifested when Governor Peter Mbah informed the gathering about the coming of Austrian investors with $100 million that would inject about 150 percent daily production of water to the state, but explained that the money was not.a loan, or grant, but an investment which the investors would recover.
Immediately the Governor mentioned about “metering” of water supply by the investors,, the entire hall erupted with loud murmuring. Governor Mbah captured the people’s reaction and quickly intervened with the assurance that the government would not allow the the investors to exploit the people.
During the question.and.answer session, anybody who could grab the microphone was allowed to throw in his or her question and the Governor would oblige, and answered the question. There were no preferences of who to give the microphone, and there were no prearranged questions.
What equally caught my attention during the town hall meeting was that Governor Peter Mbah did not claim to be all-knowing. He kept on mentioning about “meeting with my team”, a couple of times. For instance, when a lady lamented about the state of roads around One Day, Upper Meniru, and Pencilmark areas in Idaw River, Enugu Metropolis, the Governor responded by saying that he would discuss it with his team. He responded the same way when the state chairman of Nigeria Medical Association spoke about the need of replacing retired doctors at ESUT University Teaching Hospital, Park Lane, Enugu.
Of no less important about town hall meeting, is the restoration of humanity to an otherwise strange person in government as well as the breaking down of walls of prejudices built around him, due to distances between him and the people.
A lot of people were made to believe that Governor Peter Mbah does not seek advice , nor talks to anybody, that he acts alone, and that he sees people only on the screen. But they were surprised to see Peter Mbah spoke several times about meeting “with my team”, shook hands with some people he came across, took several questions, and responded appropriately with candor and humility, as well as apologized two times for coming late to the meeting, etc.
These were part of the wonders of town hall meeting.
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