Lucky Obukohwo Reporting
In order to bring governance closer to the people of Egor Local Government Area of Edo State, a non-governmental organisation, Yiaga Africa, is establishing its People’s Assembly in that area.
The Senior Programme Officer Yiaga Africa, Anthonia Onda, said this during the inaugural meeting of the Egor People’s Assembly.
Onda said that the People’s Assembly was a citizen-participation model aimed at deepening the democratic process at the local government level.
“We want to bring the people together, including local government executives, to discuss issues that affect them.
“We encourage them to come up with resolutions, present them to the local government, and follow up for implementation.
“We are establishing this project in 12 states across the country. In Edo, it is being set up in Egor LGA.”
“Often, people don’t know how to engage with the government and assume that democratic participation only occurs during elections.
“For us, the goal is to enable people to engage with the government beyond elections,” Onda added.
She further noted that the assembly’s membership was drawn from various interest groups within the LGA.
Mrs Doris Oronsaye, Director of Socials, Egor LGA, said the initiative would help the local government executives and legislators become aware of residents’ needs.
“Once the People’s Assembly members begin holding meetings, it will allow the LGA chairman to understand the community’s needs, fostering development,” Oronsaye said.
For Mr Alex Guobadia, representing the Egor market association, praised Yiaga Africa for the initiative.
“We never imagined we would be discussing issues affecting our communities with the intention of finding solutions.
He further appealed to forum members to actively support the initiative to achieve its aims and objectives.