Disregard the people at your peril, Lagos Speaker warns government
The Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, says any government that disregards the citizens does so at its own peril.
Obasa expressed the view on Tuesday, at a workshop for the Media and Public Media Officers of the Assembly in Lagos.
The event tagged:”Legislative Communication and Citizen Engagement-An Integrated Approach” was held at CMD, in Ikeja.
The speaker, who was represented by Tunde Braimoh, Chairman, House Committee on Information, Strategy and Security, said people needed to actively participate in governance.
“People must matter in any government that will succeed. Citizens should regulate the activities of their leaders.
“People need to be involved and informed, as power remains with the people. They have the mandate to choose who will govern them.
“We (government) are the arms, the people are the body and we must not disregard them in whatever we do. Citizens are the reason for government,” he said.
The Speaker said that it was imperative to involve the people as a way forward for the nation.
He said that the importance of citizens’ engagement made the state government to prioritise Town Hall meetings and public hearings.
“It is in the government’s interest to engage the people and it is very important for citizens to engage the government,” Obasa said.
The speaker said that people, unfortunately, did not know much about the function of legislators, urging media practitioners to educate them.
He also urged the media to shun every tendency to mislead the people for whatever reason.
Obasa said he was an advocate of training and retraining of workers to bring the best out of them.
Also speaking, Bose Lambo, the Director, Public Affairs at the Assembly, lauded the leadership of the House for its commitment to improve the skills of its staff for better service delivery.
In his remarks, Boye Akintola, Chairman, Lagos State House of Assembly Correspondents Association,commended the leadership of the Assembly for its support and commitment in organising training for media men.
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