Ahead of the G7 Summit holding tomorrow in Biarritz France, where world leaders will meet to discuss global challenges, over 50 of the World’s leading NGOs have petitioned the G7 leaders to accelerate action on gender equality.

The petition, which was coordinated by the ONE Campaign and co-signed by Connected Development [CODE] and other NGOs, warned that despite promises to do more for women and girls, the world is dangerously off-track on gender equality.

At a moment when the future of multilateralism is in doubt, this year’s G7 summit presents an unprecedented opportunity for leaders to show they can make a difference. Reducing inequality is the central theme of this year’s summit and yet gender inequality remains one of the most pervasive barriers to growth and prosperity.

According to CODE’s Chief Executive, Hamzat Lawal, the G7 leaders have an unprecedented opportunity to begin to turn the tide against gender inequality by fast-tracking the delivery of long-lasting change for girls and women across the world, including Sub-Saharan Africa.

Lawal added that inequality hinders the possibility to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals, especially in Nigeria, and urges the World Leaders to support new laws, policies and funding that will help to advance women’s rights and economic empowerment.

It is beyond belief that we will have to wait another 108 years to achieve gender equality across the world. Until this changes, leaders are ignoring the power and potential of half the world’s population, Gayle Smith, President of ONE said.

The letter calls on the leaders attending the summit to take real action and agree to independent reporting of their commitments when they meet in Biarritz.

The format of the G7 Summit will involve the leaders of the African Union, the IMF, the OECD, the UN and the World Bank.

Ijeoma Oforka

When harbingers of societal development such as poor accountability, arbitrariness, corruption, and negligence are fed fat, socio-economic progress involuntarily suffers.

It is perhaps cliche but imperative to say that the leadership of any given society either makes or mars it. In essence, the progress and advancement of a community, to a large extent, rests on the shoulders of a selected few who are either elected or appointed to lead them. Therefore, it takes the semblance of fraud, falsehood and outright deception, when votes and political appointments exchange hands with corruption and total insensitivity to the plight of the people; trading places with Commitment, Transparency, Character and Accountability.

This is the situation suffered by the people of Ikot Idem Udo of Onna Local Government Area and Idong Iniang of Eket Local Government Area, both in Akwa Ibom State. These communities are currently denied access to clean water, fencing and staff quarters projects which should have been implemented by the Saving One Million Lives Programme for Result (SOMLP4R) of Akwa Ibom State Ministry of Health. The non-existence of these public services is a reminder that government seats and coffers are being infiltrated by Nigerians who do not mean well for Nigerians and Nigeria. 

Ikot Idem Udo has a population of about 8,000 people while Idong Iniang has a population of 18,977 people. Both communities have been subjected to untold hardship in accessing basic healthcare. Sadly, their health needs are hinged on one Primary Healthcare Centre each; marred by huge inadequacies regarding, medical equipment and Instruments, drugs and WASH facilities. 

For a truth, many Nigerians, especially grassroots rural dwellers, have been marginalised and their rights trampled on by a few who continue to swindle funds appropriated for development projects in these communities. The world is watching, more importantly, the International Communities are providing aid as a gesture to put out the enraging inferno that the Nigerian populace have had to endure for so long. However, meaningful impact cannot be quantified when officials, aided by greed, mental backwardness and myopic thinking, hijack the funds and get away without any penalty.

Good health is good for all, and to be candid, not much of it can be achieved when health workers are denied access to medical supplies and equipment, compelling them to work under harsh conditions in negation to professionalism. 

It was Pericles, a prominent and influential Greek Statesman and famous Orator, who once remarked that: “What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the hearts of others.” Translated thus, your good works are your legacy. Hence, when you are in a position to impact the lives of people, do so.

By and large, for a community to grow in good health, develop and advance, its leadership, at all levels, must embrace Commitment, Accountability and Transparency. Only then, will progress find root in the society.

One can only hope that after a long and tortuous wait, the people of Ikot Idem Udo who only received a bore hole facility due to  a tremendous follow up by CODE’s Follow The Money team and Idong Iniang in Akwa Ibom State, finally find relief and comfort.

Concerned by the poor service delivery of Primary Healthcare Centres in Nigeria, two Non-Governmental Organisations, Nigeria Health Watch and Connected Development [CODE], have signed an MoU to advocate for improved service delivery in primary healthcare centres across the country.

The partnership, signed yesterday in Abuja, was established for the purpose of monitoring healthcare service delivery and increasing accountability in the delivery of primary healthcare services in Kano State. It will focus on Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) services, and will include other services such as family planning, immunization and antenatal services.

Although, Nigeria has many PHC across the country, the performance of the healthcare centres is hindered by poor infrastructure and maintenance, insufficient drugs & vaccines and sub-standard equipment and limited health workers, factors that are hinged on financing and governance.

On the objective of the project, Director of Programmes at Nigeria Health Watch, Vivianne Ihekweazu, said; “The foundation of healthcare delivery should be through our primary health centres and this project will focus on monitoring the effective delivery of basic healthcare services, with a view to driving positive change in the quality of healthcare Nigerians have access to”.

According to CODE’s Chief Executive, Hamzat Lawal, “this partnership comes at a time when sustainable measures must be put in place to strengthen Nigeria’s healthcare system. He added that access to healthcare is one of the basic human rights and providing basic health services to people, especially at the grassroots, through standard primary healthcare system is key to stabilizing the Nation’s medical care challenges.

Strengthening healthcare service delivery is crucial to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 3; to ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages, including the delivery of interventions to reduce child mortality, maternal mortality and the burden of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

About Nigeria Health Watch

Nigeria Health Watch is a not-for-profit organization that aims to advocate for the health of Nigerians, strengthen the capacity of health sector organisations, enlighten Nigerians on good health habits and practices and engage and support government and other partners to formulate and implement positive and effective health policies. Its dual strengths in health and communication enables it to provide solutions for communications and advocacy in the health sector.

About Connected Development

Connected Development [CODE] is a non-governmental organization, whose mission is to improve access to information and empower local communities in Africa. Its initiative, Follow The Money, advocates and tracks government/international aid spending in health, WASH, and education across grassroots and communities to promote and ensure open government and service delivery.

Muazu Alhaji Modu

North East in 2018 ranked highest number of out of school children in Nigeria. This is mainly caused by the devastation of the region by Boko Haram insurgency, impeding academic activities and causing the increase of the number of children that are not in school.

Another contributing factor to the accelerating number of out of school children is the deficiencies in the basic education sector— lack of  basic infrastructures, inadequate teaching material and poor qualification of teachers—are making education in the NorthEast a challenge that needs urgent intervention.

In 2016, the Nigerian Government budgeted NGN 20million, for the construction and furnishing of 2 blocks of 3 Classrooms at Tongo II Primary School in Tongo village, Gombe State under the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC).

Follow The Money, known for its mission to track government spending and ensure transparency and accountability in the implementation of government or international aid projects in grassroots communities, began a campaign, #FurnishTongo, to track and oversee the completing of the Education project in Tongo II Primary School.

Follow The Money is working to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 4 –improving access to quality basic education and ensuring effective service delivery at grassroots. As the Follow The Money Chapter Lead in Gombo State, I led a team on a preliminary visit to Tongo community. There, we learned that the school had only 4 classrooms  while 2 of these  classrooms were dilapidated but still, they served as learning rooms to over 700 registered Pupils (414 Boys and 286 Girls).

Follow The Money sensitized the people of Tongo and intensively engaged local leaders, women groups, youth groups, religious heads—in the tracking  process so they could ask their elected representatives the right questions and monitor the contractors assigned the project till it is completed. One of the challenges we experienced was harrassment from political persons acusing us of working with opponents to incite rural dwellers against the government. Our lives were threatened and we were told if we did not end our campaigns, we would be locked in cells. We, however, presented documents (page of the budget where project started, tender advertisement, FOI request letters to various MDAs, reports of community outreaches etc.) to them showing FTM’s independence of any group. We told them Follow The Money is a legitimate transparency and accountability movement

We intensified our advocacy on both traditional and social media. Few days later the construction commenced and was completed  within a very short period of time. After the implementation, the ratio of students per classroom drastically reduced at the school and more children were enrolled at Tongo II Primary School. Our advocacy brought about the building of 6 additional classrooms and also created opportunity for hundreds of children to access basic education.

Press Release:

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences (ICPC) is to partner a Non-Governmental Organisation, Connected Development (CODE), to ensure that funds channeled towards constituency projects are appropriately utilized.

ICPC Chairman, Professor Bolaji Owasanoye, who received CODE delegates, led by Hamzat Lawal, in his Office in Abuja, stated that his administration was determined to track constituency projects especially in the Local Government Areas (LGAs) to combat corruption in the country. “Implementation of constituency projects is one of the ways by which we can ensure that what the Presidency desires to do connects with the people. Every year, funds are budgeted for constituency projects, yet, people at the grassroots especially, are not beneficiaries,” he added.

CODE’s Chief Executive, Hamzat Lawal says the purpose of the visit was to establish collaboration with the Commission in advocating for transparency, accountability and good governance. Lawal added that constituency tracking ensures funds are properly utilized and meet the needs and aspiration of the Nigerian people, although these funds are usually syphoned, marginalizing the Nigerian people and denying them access to their rights. Exploring collaboration with the ICPC is a strategic move to collectively combat corruption, illicit financial flows and track to completion, development projects in rural areas so people can have access to portable drinking water, standard healthcare and even primary education.

ICPC is also partnering with CODE on mobilizing the youth, through CODE’s Follow The Money University Campus Tour, on an anti-corruption movement where young people are sensitized on good governance and the movement to end corruption in Nigeria.

The ICPC Chairman, commended CODE on winning the UN SDG 2019 Mobilizer Award and for its passion in fighting corruption and holding government representatives and authorities accountable. The Commission pledged support to CODE’s FTM initiative.

Chambers Umezulike

On 30 April 2019, two of my colleagues and I began our trip to Bonn, Germany for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Global Festival of Action (GFoA) 2019. Our social accountability initiative, Follow The Money, had been nominated for the 2019 UN SDG Mobilizer Award. The Award recognizes individuals, organizations, government institutions, foundations etc. who are advancing the global movement for the SDGs in the most transformative, impactful and innovative way. Representatives of nominated initiatives in each category were expected to be at Bonn for the Announcement of the winners.

The GFoA is an annual event organized by the United Nations (UN) SDG Action Campaign, an initiative of the UN Secretary-General. The festival celebrates, empowers and connects the global community driving Action for the SDGs. It provides a space to showcase the latest innovations, and approaches to SDG implementation, while linking organizations and individuals from different sectors and regions to build partnerships. The SDGs Action Campaign aims to advocate and engage the public on the SDG implementation, while empowering and inspiring the world to achieve the SDGs. To operationalize this mandate, the SDG GFoA came to life. This year’s GFoA was slated from 2 – 4 May.

As we waited to board our flight to Bonn, I had mixed feelings. I was excited about the festival and at the same time, my mind was racing – We had been shortlisted as a finalist for the UN SDG Action Award  from over  2,000 applications from 142 countries of the world. It still feels a little surreal.

Personally, I knew we deserved the  recognition and had to bring it home. Such an award is a commendation of our team’s back-breaking efforts in mobilizing communities to hold the government to account and facilitate the implementation of SDGs 3, 4 and 6 in their communities. As the one leading the programmatic wheel since 2017, I was sure the recognition would inspire the team  to keep reaching communities and impacting lives. And if we did not bring it home – haha, this part kept my mind racing until the winners were announced on day 1 of the festival.

We touched down at Bonn in the afternoon of May 1, checked into our hotel rooms, had a quick shower and hurried to the World Conference Centre Bonn, venue of the festival. We registered for the big event and attended a 2-hour on-boarding session for the award finalists.I barely slept that night. I was so anxious to hear the announcement of winners of the SDG Awards, the next day.

On the first day of the festival, the grand opening plenary caved way for showcasing excellent initiatives from across the globe delivering solutions for the SDGs. The day was full of sessions on intellectual discourse around global issues and solutions that seek to eradicate poverty, through sustainable and inclusive human development (many of which Follow The Money team was on the stage to speak about). Later that evening,  the UN SDG Action Awards Ceremony started.

The winners for each of the 7 categories were announced. I could not contain my excitement when Follow The Money was announced the winner of the Mobilizer category. Follow The Money emerged winner of the 2019 UN SDG Mobilizer of the Year! I was so overjoyed, that I would not stop screaming for a long time. Our team Lead, Hamzat Lawal received the award and gave an acceptance speech. On that same platform, he launched the Follow The Money 2018 Report to the world. It was indeed a remarkable evening. We received so many accolades on many media platforms both home and abroad. Our twitter account was bursting with notifications of congratulatory messages. At Bonn, we were celebrated- people shook our hands, hugged us, asked to take pictures with Follow The Money team, asked if they could know more about our cause, expressed interest in tracking government spendings in their localities, the accolades were endless. We were overwhelmed and interestingly so. We exchanged business contacts with many other outstanding initiatives, had meaningful chats with SDG Global Fest delegates, and  received a warm DJ reception at the cash bar.

The second day of the festival was also splendid. We had several sessions, networked and met with potential partners that could drive the Follow The Money Movement in other parts of the world. The day also featured a festival walk to the Rhine river. On the third day, we had an hour session where we shared, in details, the methodology of our Follow The Money work, we also rubbed minds with other finalists in our category, answered questions about Follow The Money movement and were receptive to comments.

Everything about the Global fest was mind blowing–from the impressive brand messages, aesthetics, calibre of panelists and discussants, quality of intellectual conversations, presentations, and most importantly, learning about other outstanding initiatives across the globe.

The festival afforded us a great opportunity to explore collaborations, learn, establish synergy and foster cooperation with several organizations. We built strategic alliances and  are currently discussing with colleagues from Canada, South Sudan, Catalonia, Malawi and Philippines who are interested in starting Follow The Money in their countries.

Bonn was so beautiful and had a green landscape. It was inspiring to see that Germany is taking the lead on environmental sustainability and sustainable growth. We also touched down Cologne to visit some awesome tourist sites. Thanks to the Chinese restaurants in Bonn – hahahahaha 🙂 if you know, you know.

This was a remarkable experience and I believe with this UN SDG Award, Follow The Money can do more to ensure people hold their elected representatives and governments accountable for development projects and this will ultimately bring more people, especially at the grassroots, out of poverty, making it possible to achieve the United Nations SDGs before 2030.

Follow The Money movement is growing, with citizens signing up to hold their governments to account, ensure judicious spending of government and international funds to improve service delivery and eradicate poverty.

Sign up here, DO NOT BE LEFT OUT.

By Saater Ikpaahindi

The growing number of Out-of-School children (OOSC) in Nigeria is alarming. To better understand how two organisations are working to tackle this problem, I tagged along on CODE’s first field visit in its partnership with FlexiSAF foundation. FlexiSAF foundation is piloting an initiative on accelerated learning with OOSC in Rugga, a grassroots community in Wuye, Abuja.

FlexiSAF’s Accelerated Learning Programme aims to create a safe learning space where the most vulnerable Out-of-School children in grassroots communities are identified and provided with basic quality education within their communities. Connected Development will support FlexiSAF through its far-reaching influence in hard to reach grassroots communities by identifying children who will benefit from this programme.

My first thought as we drove through the community was that it seemed like a community the Government had ‘forgotten’. There were no standard structures in sight only sprawls of makeshift structures made from aluminium roofing sheets and plastic cement sacks. I wondered if the community had access to basic amenities like a school, a health centre and clean drinking water. iAlighting from the vehicle and walking down the dusty earth road towards a forest green three-room structure, I heard the voices of children singing a popular rhyme I learnt as a child. ‘My head, my shoulders, my knees my toes, my head, my shoulders, my knees my toes, my head, my shoulders, my knees, my toes they all belong together’. Peeking into one of the rooms, I saw children seated on mats as they learned in English, about the different parts of the body and their functions. Situated in front of the children was an enthusiastic Teacher whom I later learned was Miss Abigail and the class, Miss Abigail’s Space.

Speaking to Miss Abigail and Mr Nelson, FleixiSAF’sCommunity Liaison, they told me that classes were divided into three two-hour sessions in a day with different groups of children attending each session and a different Teacher leading each session. Each class (Safe Space) was named after the Teacher leading the session. I further gathered that they teach the children using the Montessori method and children are not only taught numeracy and literacy skills but life skills, etiquette, interpersonal relationship skills and hygiene. Both noted that there was a noticeable impact on the children, their parents and the community. Miss Abigail said that prior to attending the programme several of the children had very poor hygiene habits and could not speak a word of English. However, from learning about hygiene, t, many children took a bath and brushed their teeth before coming to class and now they understand  the importance of washing their hands. She said it gave her joy to see these transformations within two months since the programme started.

Mr Nelson commented that because of the changes other parents had noticed in the children who attended the programme, several of them have approached him to enrol their children. 

At some point,  I sat with the children and asked one of them, Amina, what she had been learning and she began making /‘t’/ sounds and pronounced team, tick, tin. Surprised, I glanced at Miss Abigail and she explained that one thing they teach the children is phonetics and how to pronounce words using sounds. Following an exhilarating session of singing and dancing with the children, I asked them what they enjoyed most about coming to Miss Abigail’s Space and they all resounded that “they loved coming to learn”.

In a community with no school, the provision of a transition centre where children can learn and are supported to enrol in a regular school through accelerated learning is a step towards positive change. Many of the children in Rugga community do not go to school. This was clear from the number of children I saw roaming the streets, sitting around or playing. However, even without speaking to them, I could feel the enthusiasm and willingness of the children to learn as some perched by the windows and doors of the study centre listening in.

Collaborating this was my discussion with Mr Suleiman, a farmer and petty trader whose child is a beneficiary of the accelerated learning programme. He said that “many children are eager to learn but constrained because of the absence of a School in the community and household finances.” Mr Suleiman spoke of the initiative as a welcome development and called on the Government to assist the community with basic facilities like a school, a healthcare centre and water.

As the children bid us goodbye, one thing I take away is their eagerness to learn and that little rays of hope can make a difference.  This makes it pertinent for the government to begin to think up sustainable measures to educate its young ones as a way to curtail the growing number of out of school children.

Connected Development’s home-grown initiative, Follow The Money, has emerged winner of the 2019 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Mobilizer Award!

This announcement was made at the SDG Global Festival of Action currently holding in Bonn, Germany. The SDG Action Awards Global Project Leader, Laura Hildebrandt, said that the award showcased some of the greatest innovators, mobilizers, connectors, storytellers, communicators, visualizers and includers from across the Globe.

Expressing delight about the recognition, Follow The Money Founder and Chief Activist, Hamzat Lawal, dedicated the award to rural grassroots communities across Africa and to the CODE team for their resilience in promoting the Follow The Money mission even in the face of insurmountable pressure. Hamzat added that “this recognition shows that our little efforts to promote social accountability and advocate for better service delivery in marginalized communities are not in vain.

We are honoured by the show of love and we thank everyone for their immeasurable support. This win is for Nigeria. We are elated that our work and impact stood out from among thousands of brilliant applications from all over the world,” Lawal added.

The Follow The Money Founder further stated that “young people in Nigeria are carrying out remarkable projects that are geared towards nation building, yet communicating the impact of their works to the global community seems to be a challenge. With this UN SDG award, I am committed to helping passionate and driven youth get the needed recognition for their works. We all have a role to play in showcasing unique innovative talents in Nigeria to the global community.”

According to Mitchell Toomey, Global Director of the UN SDG Action Campaign, “The 2019 winners are the most impactful, transformative and creative SDG Action drivers. They dared to believe and act for change. They are perfect examples of the wonderful humanitarian work that is happening around the world led by thousands, if not millions, of people.”

Follow The Money which started in Nigeria over seven years ago, has chapters in Kenya, The Gambia, Cameroon and Liberia. As the largest social mobilization & accountability movement in Africa, it has advocated, visualized and tracked USD 10 million meant for social development across African grassroots communities, directly impacting over 2,000,000 rural lives.