The South Saharan Social Organisation (SSDO) and ActionAid Nigeria have started training 30 local youths in Enugu State in open governance engagement in an effort to promote good governance at the grassroots level.
During the Training for Young People on Social Audit and Freedom of Information Act (FOI), Capacity Building on Policy Influencing and Tax, among other events, on Friday in Enugu, Mrs. Nkem Awachie, Project Lead for SSDO on Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA II), revealed this.
The majority of the young people, according to Awachie, were chosen from the state's rural areas so that they would have the motivation and foundational knowledge needed to hold the government responsible at the local level.
She said that the training would also motivate them to ask questions, follow budgetary and legislative procedures within their council areas as well as track government expenditures and actions.
According to her, the training is about impacting and sharing knowledge on basic things youths can do to sustain good governance and ensure that leaders at the council or community levels work for the good and betterment of rural communities.
“The training will cover issues of local government budget proposal, planning. preparation and evaluation/tracking; civic engagement on political education, political parties and electoral process as well as tax issues.
“They will be tutored on Gender Responsive Public Service (GRPS), how to build skills, knowledge and confidence on youth-led advocacy and how to influence governmental policies and programmes positively to effect desired change.”
One of the resource persons, Mr Collins Nebo, said that bad governance had persisted at the grassroots due to the locals lacking knowledge of the things ongoing at the local government levels.
According to him, some political office holders or leaders use intimidation and harassment to silence anybody that questions any action taken by them at the local level.
“The people, especially the youths do not have data or information on ongoing or proposed government projects and dealings as well as not knowing where to go and source such information.
“However, with this type of training and youths actively getting involved in their local politics and governance issues, the narrative will definitely change,” Nebo, who is the Executive Director of New Century Initiative, said.
An Enugu-based civil society activist, Mr Wilfred Okeke, said that good governance was a right of the people and citizens especially the youths, they must insist on it from people holding their public offices.
“Our people should be wise and stop seeing politicians as doing them a favour when they work with people’s mandate and resources (money) to perform project(s) for the people in their localities,” Okeke, who was also a resource person, said.
He challenged youths in rural communities to be awakened to their civic responsibility of asking vital development questions and mobilising themselves to follow it up.
One of the participants, Mr Uchenna Ayogu, said that after the training, he would share the knowledge and mobilise youths within his community to find how to follow on ongoing social amenities projects in his community.
Ayogu, who is from Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area, said that he and other youths must get involved in the local politics to ensure “resources of our people work for us”.
The three-day training is being sponsored by Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA).