Actionaid Nigeria and Centre for Information Technology and Development(CITAD) have trained 40 representatives of 16 communities in Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act.
This is as the organisations working
to improve the lives of the poor and the neglected, called on media practitioners
to rise to the challenge of sustaining awareness on FOI issues with a view to
ensuring that its implementation remains at the front burner of state and none
state actors regarding good governance.
Cross section of some of the participants at the training on FOI Act organised for communities in Abuja on Wednesday at Dutse, Abuja by Actionaid Nigeria and CITAD
The essence of the training was to inform,
educate and embolden the neglected communities to engage with the government by
asking questions on issues affecting them, especially issues pertaining to
social amenities and governance generally, in their constituencies.
Some of the beneficiary communities are
Tungan-Ashere, Leleyi Gwari, Paseppa, Kilankwa, Pai, Leleyi Bassa, Tukpechi,
Kuchibuyi, Guto among others.
The one-day training which held at Dutse , Abuja, Nigeria on Wednesday, drew participants from the communities cutting across the five area councils of the FCT where Actionaid Nigeria and CITAD have been offering interventions for over five years.
Speaking in an interview, CITAD Programme Officer, Yesmin Salako stated that the purpose of the training was to give the community people the knowledge because knowledge is very important.
1st from the right, CITAD Programme Officer, Yesmin Salako and other participants during the training on FOI Act on Wednesday in Abuja.
According to her, as civil society
organisation covering training, advocacy, using ICT to empower the people, CITAD partnered with Action aid Nigeria to sensitize the communities on their right to access
information about issues that directly affect their wellbeing.
Giving an overview of the FOI Act, the State Coordinator,
Youth Digital Engagement for Actionaid Nigeria, Mubarak Ekute attributed
the lack of information on basic rights faced by the FCT communities to the deprivation of social amenities like
roads, electricity, schools and portable water.
“Rural communities are vulnerable to
deprivation from government agencies. Rural women who are among those deprived
of basic amenities, experience increased risk of poverty and lack of development
due to lack of information on what the government has promised to deliver.
“FOI has provided the public the right
to request for access to records from government agencies, parastatals, federal
agency which has the potential of contributing to nipping in the bud the
current lack of information being experience in rural communities in Nigeria
and across Africa which allows for marginalization to take place,” he said.
The State Coordinator, Youth Digital Engagement for Actionaid Nigeria, Mubarak Ekute while giving an overview of the FOI Act at the training.
Also fielding questions from
journalists at the event, Ekute said after the training, community
representatives would be able to hold their duty bearers accountable.
"They would be able to write and demand for certain things being done in their communities. There will be a step down training for the larger communities. We are going to follow up and make sure they have a committee that will write FOI and make sure certain things are coming to the community. Apart from the committee, we will still be following up and engaging them and if they have any challenges we can come in and assist,” he added.
“In the 16 communities that are
represented in this training, we have so much abandoned projects. We have so
many unattended social amenities that should be undertaken for masses to
enhance their wellbeing but those things are not there.
“In the course of our interaction with
these communities earlier, we realized that they are issues that they do not know
about and for that reason they are always in the dark so, from the outcome of our consultation with the representatives of
the social accountability committee we saw the need to organize this training
for the people to empower them to ask for information from agencies of
government that are related or relevant to what they are asking about or
concerned about, “ he said.
The Social Mobilization Manager for Actionaid Nigeria, Adewale Adeduntan during his presentation on ‘Freedom of Information Act and Right of Access to Information at the FOI Act training.
He said it is expected that after the training, participants would realize that it is their responsibility
and entitlement to ensure that they
engage with the government to ask questions on issues that bother them
especially on social amenities, and governance generally in their constituency.
During his presentation on ‘Freedom of
Information Act and Right of Access to Information, Actionaid Nigeria Social Mobilization Manager,
told the participants that as citizens of the
country, they had the right to ask any government ministry, agency ,
parastatals or department whatever they needed to know about their government
and projects.
“People will severally trample on your
rights if you do not know and you cannot engage effectively if you are not informed
and you do not know your right,” he added.
He said Nigeria is at the level where
it is presently as a result of lack of transparency of public office holders
and the government.
In view of the gap in knowledge,
Adeduntan said there is need for vigorous awareness campaigns and awareness on
the FOI act and citizens must own the FOI and take advantage of its provisions
to participate in governance and hold the government accountable
Among others, he recommended that
government at all levels must show commitment to the working of the FOI Act by institutionalizing
and mainstreaming same in public service and further called on civil society
organisations to take advantage of the Act to request for information,
challenge government and educate Nigerians on government activities.
He said with the accountability mechanism of
social accountability structure already in place in the communities, Actionaid
and CITAD will ensure all abandoned projects are tracked “so from those projects
we now know which ministries, departments or agencies are responsible for handling
such and we now see how we direct their requests to such. “
Participant, Sani Abubakar
“When I get back to the community, I will mobilize my people to do advocacy that will make our community to be developed more than what it is now,” Abubakar said.
A participant, Maimuna Rabiu of Gofidna community
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