Kano: Winners emerge in competition for accountability in governance

By Uzair Adam Imam

Participants in the Rising Awareness Driving Action (RADA) competition have won a grant of N100,000 each to kickstart advocacy programmes in their respective communities.

The competition, organized by Blue Sapphire Hub, a leading non-governmental organization in northern Nigeria, was supported and funded by the MacArthur Foundation and the Ford Foundation.

The competition held at the hub’s headquarters in Kano, on Saturday.

The Executive Supervisor of the Hub, Engineer Sulaiman Bala Sani, stated that the pitching and ideation competition followed a twelve-week radio program aimed at raising citizens’ awareness about the roles and responsibilities of political office holders.

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Engineer Sani said, “During the program, we raised citizens’ awareness about the responsibilities of political office holders from councilor, chairman, up to the president.

“The program, aired on Arewa Radio every Sunday, aimed to advocate for good policies so that politicians do the right thing, and to educate the community on their rights as voters and the fact that politicians are serving them, not the other way around.

“In the first week, we provided a general overview of the democratic process and moved on in subsequent weeks to highlight the roles and responsibilities of each political office holder. At the end, we discussed the recall process and how to contact politicians with complaints or concerns.”

He added that the program included a question-and-answer session, allowing people to participate and ask questions. Following this, a training session was conducted over two months for over a hundred participants who applied.

Engineer Sani noted that the three final winners are expected to use the grant for advocacy programs in their communities, focusing on areas such as community development and health.

Babangida Zama, leader of the group that emerged the overall best, expressed gratitude to the organizers and pledged to use the grant to advocate for inclusive political activities for people with hearing impairments.

Abdullahi Mustapha Rabi’u, leader of the second-place group, expressed his gratitude to Allah and stated that the grant serves as a motivation to kickstart impactful projects in their community.

Abubakar Ibrahim Machika, the Community Coordinator of the Hub, emphasized the importance of the initiative, noting that most people are unaware of their rights and the roles and responsibilities of their leaders, making this move crucial for society.