The Public and Private Development Centre (PPDC) has urged Nigerians to hold the government at all levels accountable, as part of measures to engender national development.
The Programme Officer of PPDC, Margaret Lawrence, made the call on Wednesday in Abuja during the stakeholders’ engagement on service delivery in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), organized by the PPDC with support from the Voice project, for FCT residents.
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She said the project is all about how the citizens can access their rights to be involved in the contract that is being awarded within their community for proper accountability.
According to her, over time, people always say NGOs are always talking about it, thus the need for the people to take ownership of the contract for their well-being.
“On this basis, we decided to take a step forward and also collaborate with other Civil Society organizations so that they can speak independently. Today they are not hiding under the shadows of PPDC, even though we engaged them, but their findings are being shared and that is why we called the concerned community for them to be involved and whatever you heard from them is first-hand information,” she said.
Also, a Dutse Alhaji Community representative, Ibrahim Husseini, said though they are part of the FCT, the government schools are poorly taken care of, urging the government to come to their aid.
He said, “During the rainy season our children do not go to school because school buildings are not properly taken care of. We are part of FCT. We should benefit from what those who are in the center are benefiting from.”
On her part, Ms. Keima Ogunlana, Program Director, Sam Empowerment Foundation, who monitored Junior Secondary School, Phase 3 Abuja, and Primary Health Care Center, Gwarinpa, said that the Gwarinpa Primary health care facility is in a bad condition.
“When rain is falling, the hospital is always wet. People with disabilities cannot have access to the hospital. There is no drug and the toilet facility is not functioning. No light in the primary health care center,” she said.
Also, an official of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Mr. Soji Taiwo, said, a total sum of N120m would be required to build a single Primary Health Care Center in Nigerian Community.
He urged the National Assembly members interested in community projects, especially Primary Health Care Centers across the country and to budget N120m for a standard center instead of the N40m that hardly equipped it.
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