A Kaduna-based non-governmental organisation, Legal Awareness for Nigeria Women (LANW), with support from MacArthur Foundation, has said it trained 119 community monitors and conducted needs assessment on 455 primary and secondary schools in Soba, Chikun and Kaura LGAs of Kaduna State in three years.
The Executive Director of LANW, Barrister Rebecca Sako-John, said within the period also, the organisation was working on a project titled, ‘Strengthening Transparency and Accountability in the Education Sector (STATNES)’ to strengthen access to information on governance and administration of public funds for quality service delivery in the state.
She said under the project, LANW was also able to track 82 schools, 35 primary health centres (PHCs) and 35 rural water supply projects.
Speaking during an anti-corruption campaign aimed at increasing citizen’s demand for zero tolerance against corruption, Barrister John-Sako reiterated that the fight against all forms of corruption is a collective responsibility.
“I am happy we have been able to get commitment from all the stakeholders to continue with these processes even as donors withdrew their services.
“We are also happy that the MDAs shared what they have learnt from us. So, we have just reflected on what we have been able to do in the three local governments and at the same time, looking inward, we have not done bad based on our set goals.
“The MDAs we have worked with also gave us feedback and we are happy to also tell them to extend what they have gained from us to other MDAs to do likewise so that they will have full citizen’s participation in governance processes.”
Some of the community monitors said the three years of training, tracking and experience sharing with MDAs enabled them to understand the modus operandi of government agencies which had allowed them to track and report the public projects in their communities for action when necessary.
The review meeting saw an award presentation to Kaduna State Public Procurement Agency (KADPPA), Planning and Budget Commission, State SUBEB and the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA) for their contributions to the project. A traditional leader who was actively involved in the project monitoring with his subjects was also presented with an award.
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