Town Hall meetings started with the Greeks who are unarguably the inventors of democracy.
The idea behind Town Hall meetings was to afford the different spectrum of society the opportunity to converge in one location for the purpose of interfacing with leadership; for the purpose of coming up with new frontiers for solving human needs that are not only seemingly insatiable but also complex.
In an election cycle, Town Hall meetings afford persons with aspirations to get first hand information from the people they want to preside over and to also share with them their vision for a better tomorrow.
To organize a Town Hall meeting you have to be courageous and knowledgeable because with a heterogenous gathering of divergent views anything can happen.
Town Hall meetings are often organic and spontaneous and only a person with a clear vision and strong personality can dare to organise one, and a successful one for that matter.
What Dr Asue Ighodalo has done, organizing a Town Hall meeting at the City center, is to demonstrate clearly that he is not afraid to negotiate neither will he negotiate out of fear.
He has shown once again the class of man that he is: brilliant, suave and cerebral. His words command respect and reels of ideas. He is a Man of deep thinking and clear thoughts.
The opposition is making this campaign look too easy for Dr Asue Ighodalo. They are not offering any ideas or contrary views. They are not even trying to match ideas with ideas. If the opposition isn’t lying they are swearing and where they are not swearing they are threatening. From their director general to their party chairman and worse of all their candidate.
The opposition APC is perhaps the most incoherent and illogical party in this campaign. Their campaign style is shadow boxing. You won’t find any brilliance or innovation. When they are not abusing or accusing Gov Obaseki they are asking for the head of the commissioner of Police.
The APC has no manifesto because if they produce one their candidate would have to speak to it and they can’t shout abeg so they didn’t bother knowing the capability or is it incapability of their candidate.
Thank God this campaign cycle sprung up a Dr Asue Ighodalo. At least we can hear brilliance, we can see confidence and we can relate with character and capacity. In all that the APC have tried to do to his personality and reputation they haven’t succeeded, so they decided instead to go ballistic. We wish them well because at least Edo people can now see the difference between a Town Hall and a Bala Blu.
Rev Olu Martins
DDG Media and Publicity
Asue/Ogie Campaign Management Council
