IPM Completes Ten-Ward Tour of Bakassi and Brings the Conversation to a Town Hall

Political movements often talk about "reaching the grassroots," but few put in the legwork to visit every ward in a local government area before holding a major meeting. The Ideal Progressive Movement (IPM) says it has done exactly that in Bakassi. After touring all ten wards of the Local Government Area, the group brought political stakeholders, traditional rulers and community members together for a Town Hall Meeting. The aim was to keep the conversation going and make sure the people of Bakassi have a voice in it.

Who Is Behind the Movement

The Ideal Progressive Movement is a grassroots support group within the All Progressives Congress (APC). Its Board of Trustees is chaired by AIG Chief Enene Okon (Rtd.), and under his leadership the group has built its work around two things: mobilising people at the community level and engaging stakeholders directly.

The Movement describes its approach in simple terms. It wants to meet communities where they are, listen to what they have to say and encourage people to take part in the political process together. The ward tour and the Town Hall Meeting are the most visible expressions of that approach so far.

Ten Wards, One Purpose

The first phase of the exercise was the tour itself. Members of IPM travelled through all ten wards of Bakassi Local Government Area. They did not simply arrive, make speeches and leave. According to the Movement, the visits were about sitting with residents, hearing the challenges each community faces and collecting feedback.

IPM says this was the first time a tour of this kind had covered all ten wards. If that is so, it matters. Local communities, especially those far from the centres of political activity, often feel that attention only comes around when an election is near. A visit that reaches every ward, and not only the most accessible or populous ones, sends a different message. It tells people that no community was left out.

The value of a tour like this lies in direct contact. A resident who gets to speak face to face with someone from a political group can raise a worry in their own words, without it being filtered through a middleman or a written report. For the Movement, this kind of contact is a way to understand what people care about before deciding where to put its energy. For residents, it is a chance to be heard.

Gifts as a Sign of Goodwill

During the ward visits, IPM also presented gifts to the communities and clans it visited. The Movement describes these as a gesture of goodwill and solidarity, a way of showing respect to the people it was meeting.

In many communities across Nigeria, arriving with a token of appreciation is part of good manners. It acknowledges the host, shows that the visitor has come in peace and helps set a friendly tone for what follows. Seen this way, the gifts were part of opening the door to conversation.

The Movement is also clear that the material gestures were not the main point. What mattered more, it says, was the room the visits created for residents to say what they expect, talk about what their communities need and take part in discussions about the future of Bakassi. A gift is soon forgotten, but a real chance to be heard can shape how people feel about the process for much longer.

From the Wards to the Town Hall

Once the tour was complete, IPM moved to the next stage: a Town Hall Meeting. If the ward visits were about going out to the people, the Town Hall was about bringing people together. It gave the Movement a wider platform to carry forward the conversations that had begun in the individual wards.

The meeting drew political stakeholders, traditional leaders and members of the community. Those present deliberated on issues affecting the people and on the development of the local government area.

The order of events is worth noting. By visiting the wards first, IPM went into the Town Hall already having heard from residents in their own communities. The meeting could then work as a place to bring those separate voices together, rather than as a one-off event with no background. Whether the Movement follows up on what it heard is something the community will be watching, but the sequence itself reflects a sensible way to run a consultation.

Who Was in the Room

The Town Hall Meeting was graced by His Excellency, Apostle Senator Bassey Edet Otu, the Governor of Cross River State. The Governor was represented at the event by the Honourable Commissioner for Information, Hon. Pst. Ekpenyong Cobham. His presence gave the meeting added weight and marked an important moment in the Movement's grassroots efforts.

The meeting was chaired by Engr. Eyo Ita Eyo-Ndem. Traditional rulers and community leaders from the various clans across Bakassi also took part, alongside other stakeholders. Having people from different clans in one place meant that the discussion was not limited to one section of the local government area. A forum that includes voices from across Bakassi is better placed to talk about shared concerns and shared goals.

The Place of Traditional Rulers

The attendance of traditional leaders from across the clans deserves special mention. IPM noted that their presence underlined the importance of inclusive engagement and the role that traditional institutions play in community development and peacebuilding.

This point holds true well beyond Bakassi. Traditional rulers are often the people closest to the day-to-day life of a community. They know the history, the relationships and the sensitivities that outsiders may miss. When disputes arise, they are frequently the first to step in. When a project needs community support, their backing can make a real difference.

A political group that wants to work in a community without involving its traditional leaders is likely to struggle. By bringing them into the Town Hall Meeting, IPM acknowledged that lasting engagement needs the support and goodwill of those who already hold the community's trust.

Looking Ahead to 2027

The meeting also fit into the Movement's wider mobilisation efforts ahead of the 2027 general elections. IPM's focus in Bakassi is the APC 5/5 agenda, and at the meeting it restated the importance of unity, cooperation and steady grassroots participation in pursuing its political goals.

Elections are rarely won or lost in the final weeks alone. They are shaped by the relationships built long before campaign season, by whether people feel their concerns have been heard and by how well a group can bring different voices behind a common cause. Seen in that light, a tour of every ward followed by a town hall is early groundwork. It is a way of building trust and organisation well in advance.

Of course, the Movement has its own political objectives, and it says so openly. Readers and residents are free to judge those objectives for themselves. What the exercise does show is a decision to spend time in communities, listening to people, rather than relying only on messaging from a distance.

Why Listening Matters

The Movement's central message after the tour and the Town Hall is that meaningful grassroots engagement takes more than reaching communities. It takes listening to their voices, acknowledging their concerns and keeping the dialogue going.

That is a fair standard, and it applies to every political group, not just IPM. Turning up is the easy part. The harder part is what happens afterwards: whether the concerns raised are taken seriously, whether people are kept informed and whether the relationship continues once the cameras and the crowds have gone.

For residents, the best response to an exercise like this is to take part. A town hall only works if people use it, by raising their concerns, asking questions and following up on what was said. For the Movement, the test will be consistency. A single tour and a single meeting can open a door, but trust is built through repeated contact over time.

IPM describes the ten-ward tour and the Town Hall Meeting as a key phase in its ongoing engagement with the people of Bakassi. By reaching communities across the wards first, and then bringing community voices, traditional authorities and political stakeholders together, the Movement says it has created more opportunities for dialogue on the concerns and hopes of the people.

The word "ongoing" is important. The Movement does not present this as a finished project. It says it will continue its activities across Bakassi, with a focus on strengthening relationships with stakeholders, encouraging community participation and working toward the APC 5/5 agenda ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The story of IPM's ten-ward tour and Town Hall Meeting is, at its core, a story about method. The Movement chose to go to the people first, hear them out in their own wards and then gather everyone in one forum with the traditional rulers and political stakeholders. It paired the visits with gestures of goodwill and ended with a meeting that had the backing of the state government through the Governor's representative.

What comes next will decide how the exercise is remembered. If the Movement keeps listening, keeps showing up and keeps the people of Bakassi involved, the tour and the town hall may be seen as a solid starting point. For now, they stand as a visible effort to bring the political process closer to the communities it claims to serve.