CODE and OXFAM are implementing a project on the Power of Voices Partnership (PVP) fair for All project within 6 extractive states- Delta, Imo, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Rivers and FCT. The project seeks to build capacity and raise awareness on the socio-economic costs associated with the Nigerian extractives sector.

PVP will focused on advocating for improved governance in the sector to ensure that corporations operate in human rights and conflict-sensitive demeanour. This project seeks to address by building new structures and strengthening existing ones to achieve sustained efforts and interventions across communities, the private sector and the government. Influence policy debates and other initiatives to ensure sustained and judicious management of tax revenue, other revenues within the extractive sector while promoting accountability.

The Power of Voices Partnership (PVP)- Fair for All (F4A) program, therefore, shall be used to amplify civic education and advocacies to promote:

1. Prudent management of natural resources (oil and gas)
2. Participatory budget
3. Fiscal transparency
4. Fair natural resources governance
5. Economic literacy
6. Fair taxation that energizes voice(s) of socially oppressed and marginalized segments of society, particularly, women, through:
7. Gender justice.

Other programmatic propositions are;

1. Fiscal inclusion through participatory needs assessment (community and shadow budgeting),
2. Tracking of expenditures (public procurement) mobilizing for fair taxation and participatory democratic rights and empowerment through (collective) voices. 

Through PVP, CODE will strengthen community voices and increase awareness on the socio-economic costs of challenges within the Nigerian extractives sector pertaining to the marginalisation of host communities. It will also advocate improved corporate governance in operations and the management of human rights in these communities.
 
One of the objectives of the project is to promote transparency and efficient management of State budgets for the extractive sector. 

To achieve the project objectives our team will strengthen the capacity of local organizations and citizens to increase the level of accountability of public actors within the extractive sectors. The project also seeks to raise awareness within the civic space, schools and the public through outreaches and followthemoney radio.

The United Nations has granted CODE special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council. The Non-Governmental Organizations Committee made the selection as a continuation of its 2021 regular session.  CODE was one of 65 organizations granted general and special status to attend meetings of the Council and issue statements.

The consultative status provides NGOs with access to not only ECOSOC, but also to its many subsidiary bodies, to the various human rights mechanisms of the United Nations, ad-hoc processes on small arms, as well as special events organized by the President of the General Assembly. 

Having fulfilled the requirements proffered by the 19-member Committee, CODE is excited to begin attending exclusive meetings of the council. According to the Chief Executive, Hamzat Lawal, “CODE’s selection offers the opportunity for partnership to advance sustainable development in Nigeria.”

The United Nations Economic and Social Council as a meeting point for partnership to advance the three dimensions of sustainable development – economic, social and environmental. Now in its 75th year, it is regarded as “the central platform for fostering debate and innovative thinking, forging consensus on ways forward, and coordinating efforts to achieve internationally agreed goals.”

It all started with a little discomfort in my chest which then grew into an excruciating pain over a few days. I woke up one Wednesday morning and I couldn’t bear it any longer. The pain in my chest had spread to my left upper body making that part go numb, it even became painful to breathe! This made my whole being scream for oxygen while I trusted the Almighty to keep me alive.

I was up at 5 am to fix my children for school. I was able to whip up breakfast and prepare their school lunch bag. 7 am saw me driving my pain-ridden self to the clinic. I got to the clinic at a quarter to 8 am. I managed to walk up to the entrance, only to be given a tally number with 21 on it and was asked to wait. 

In my painful state, I gently explained to the security guard at the door that it was an emergency and I needed to see a doctor as I couldn’t breathe properly. He politely answered that he was following instructions not to let a patient in until 8 am and I needed to go join the queue  (with numbers 1 to 20) at the waiting cubicle beside the building. Sadly, I looked at my wristband that showed 7:48 am and decided to sit by the stairway. 

My guy (security man) pleaded with me not to sit there and that I should go join the rest in the waiting cubicle. I pleaded with him in return, tears streaming down my face. I explained that I was in pain and wouldn’t be able to make it to the cubicle and back to the entrance. I promised not to get in his way. I guess we are all human because he looked at me, said OK, and told me he was sorry about the pain.

I sat there and watched the clock ticking, some people with express permits (e.g Clinic staff, visitors with food baskets) walked past me and the electronic door parted for them revealing the inside of the reception I longed to get into. 

At 7:56 am, I informed the security guys that it would be a good time to start calling us in. My new friend said not until 8 am on the dot and I had to swallow my pain, sit and continue watching time tick by. By 8:05 am, a man in a black suit and tie walked up to us. By this time, everyone in the waiting cubicle had assembled right in front of the stairway waiting to be called. I was lucky number 21 and was called during the first batch.

Getting through the card desk and checking my vitals at the nursing station took another 10 minutes and I was told to see the doctor in Room 6. Between me being in pain, running out of breath, crying, and explaining my symptoms to the doctor who was staring at me “one kind” perhaps thinking I was overreacting. He was trying to downplay my symptoms to bad sleeping posture. He then said he was going to give me something for the pain. I asked him if he wouldn’t do a chest scan to check what was going on inside of me because my upper body was in turmoil. I felt like all my organs had dropped into my stomach. 

He said he would rather have an X-ray and also invite a senior colleague of his to check me out. He stepped out and in a minute returned with another doctor who examined me and said they should place me on admission for observation and a series of tests would be carried out to determine what was causing the discomfort. I was immediately taken to the female ward, placed on admission, and treatment began.

Twenty-two hours down the line, a concrete diagnosis was yet to be made and I was still in this excruciating pain that I thought was about to take my life. The doctors and nurses kept coming in and going out of the room having managed conversations with me, needles jabbing into me from all angles, drips passing through my veins into my body. Still, I felt no comfort. Finally, a CT scan was done and a diagnosis was made. There was a decision to transfer me to a pulmonologist so I could get the proper treatment I needed. By 12:40 pm on Thursday, I met with the specialist and by 2:15 pm I was checked into Room 412 which would be my place of recovery for the next 7 days.

My experience with the Nigerian health care system has not always been something to write home about. Our lack of emergency response to serious life threatening situations and even situations that seem not too serious can be heartbreaking and have a negative impact on the mental state of the person in need of help. Oftentimes, this leads to avoidable fatal outcomes. A few healthcare centres have picked up the pace in their response to emergencies but a lot more needs to be done to address the nonchalant attitude expressed towards dire conditions that some people find themselves in. 

Looking back, Room 412 wasn’t only full of pains, needles, and medication but it availed me a space to be alone with myself, time to reflect, sleep and rest, and a pseudo-vacation where I was pampered by great doctors and a lovely nurse, wonderful hospital staff, family, colleagues,  and friends. I will surely miss my 7 days in room 412 and I will miss the nice people I met whilst recuperating.

I am dedicating this piece to doctors and nurses and all health workers in Nigeria doing their best to help the sick find healing and comfort. 

Svend-Jonas Schelhorn was one of the first members of the Board of Trustees of CODE in 2013, as he navigated providing expert advice and guidance for the Organisation in eight years. 

Jonas exited the board in 2020, having contributed to CODE’s achievements. In his time as board member, Follow the Money evolved from a group of 5 to over 7000 social accountability activists who are tracking government spending and impacting lives in their communities across Africa.

Speaking of his early memories of joining the board, Jonas commented, “I wanted to support the organization, because I believe in its values, work and vision. When I joined, I was a budding humanitarian activist. It is certain that youthful exuberance was crucial in sustaining the CODE energy.” Jonas currently works as an Information Management Officer for JIPS, an inter-agency service based in Geneva, offering support to governments and international and local organisations to find durable solutions for internally displaced persons. He is also providing support for teams and individuals in Non-Violent Communication.

How would you describe your experience as a Board Member?

(Chuckles) It has been eye-opening, actually. I joined the board when I met Oludotun Babayemi, the co-founder of CODE,  through an online network, the Standby Volunteer Task Force, where people connected to support humanitarian organizations with social media analysis in humanitarian crises. We did some work together and he and Hamzat Lawal deemed it fit to recommend me for the board position.

In the succeeding years, I followed CODE’s work and witnessed the growth of the organization, its success stories and the big impacts. I observed the growth keenly, witnessed the process and gave mild advice where necessary. 

What do you think of the Organisation’s culture? 

CODE is driven by passionate young people. I think this is admirable. I had the impression that the organization is living off a very strong vision and passion for what they do. 

I have experienced this in my own organization. What I notice is that if you live by a very strong vision and passion, you will have a very big impact in a short time. A shortfall here is that the Organisation may not have historical and background experience that people who have worked in the field for twenty to thirty years have. As a consequence, you learn as you go. That also counts for what it means to lead a growing NGO. 

If you were a board chair, what would you do differently?

First, I would provide a social cohesion mechanism between the organization and the board so that there’s no divide between both. I say that because in my experience, it is essential that the vision is clear to anyone who is working with that organization and that the vision is carried by all members of staff.

Second, I would try to build a functional Organisational structure such that all departments are in synergy. I know this is in existence but I would prioritise enhancing the structure and ensure a functional human resources structure as well. 

The third is fund-raising. Is there a proper fund-raising strategy in place that helps to project for the organization? What are we doing now to prepare us for the next five years? How much money do we need to stay functional. The last thing would be to support the organization to function in a humane way so that people feel good about working for the organization and that the organization has a very good communications structure between the team members to identify and resolve bottlenecks. To be fair, these are in existence at CODE. I will only be reinforcing these mechanisms and ensuring that policies are reviewed frequently. I think the heart of an organization is its employees or the people who work for an organization. It is essential that everybody feels valued and a contributing member to the team. 

Did you feel prepared for your board responsibility?

When I joined the board, I thought the idea of creating CODE with its vision was amazing. I still think it’s amazing and admire the impactful work that’s being done so far. 

I was not particularly ready at the time. I was young and growing. When I realised the obligations that came with being a member of the board, I tried to meet up with the energy while I was a member. It was an honour (laughs). 

How would you suggest CODE improves its board processes?

I think the recruitment of a board is, from my perspective, like the recruitment of an employee of an organization. You have to identify the people who are right for your organization. The candidate must have a clear vision of the responsibilities and expectations.

If I were to think about the future structure of a board and who should be on it, I would first think, What skills should a person have? What is their personality? A high-level of experience comes in handy. A specialist who has worked for decades and understands how the civil society space functions, what growth projection can be and how to access fundings. It is a huge responsibility so we will be getting experienced hands. The board is there to provide mentorship and leadership to all members of Staff.

Thank you for sharing your experience with us, Jonas. One last question, how would you like to stay involved with CODE?

Yes, I would be happy to stay connected because I am very passionate about leadership and establishing strategies for organizations. I think that’s exciting and also an area I would like to develop. 

My journey with CODE has been nothing short of fulfilling. Watching the Organisation grow significant impacts, it felt like  I grew simultaneously. Beyond work, I made lifelong friends.

Follow The Money is strategically decentralizing its operational structures to allow zonal champions to own the vision and encourage massive volunteer recruitment at the community level. To achieve this, the management of CODE organized a one day “zonal convening” for its FTM state leads in the 6 geo-political zones in Nigeria.

The sessions were designed to review challenges of lack of access to information and other issues that are peculiar to each region, compile success stories and develop strategic plans. These are efforts to strengthen the capacity of regional/state leads and FTM champions to be able to drive the vision of the initiative and achieve needed results with focus on FTM’s Theory of Change. 

The Capacity-building session with CODE’s Community Engagement Director, Busayo Morakinyo, set the tone for understanding CODE’s value and service delivery to her constituencies. “One of the goals of the organization is to strengthen the capacity of her state and local champions and help them grow to be able to demand transparency and accountability from the government.” Mr Morakinyo also emphasised the importance of participatory community mobilization and facilitating information sharing through community champions.

Topics on government data-mining, budget reviews and policy formulations were also discussed. The need for strong collaboration and partnership with community-based associations, youth groups, and community leaders using advocacy, to strengthen community engagement.

Participants also learnt about funding, idea generation, using social media as an advocacy tool to drive change and mobilising citizens.

By Shakir Akorede

It’s no more news—one in every five of the world’s out-of-school children is in Nigeria.

If that is appalling, generally speaking, the case of the northern part of the country is even scarier. In northern Nigeria, Only 61% of 6–11 year-olds regularly attend primary school, while only 35.6% of children aged 36–59 months receive early childhood education, as revealed by the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).

Nigeria’s education crisis is blamed on many factors most commonly economic barriers, ill socio-cultural practices and, recently, security challenges. But one prime factor is often ignored—corruption. According to Transparency International, more than half of Nigeria’s education budget is lost to corruption. Sadly, this robs the sector of resources needed to get poor children in urban and rural communities in school so they have equal access to education.

Although Nigeria is known for its low education budget, corruption is yet responsible for poor funding and thus abysmal infrastructures, inadequacy of classrooms and quality teachers as well as poor learning environment—all which contribute to Nigeria’s 10.5 million out-of-school children.

Arguably, war against corruption in the education sector seems the most vital step to reverse the dangerous trend.

This explains why Follow The Money, supported by the MacArthur Foundation, deployed its advocacy and project monitoring arsenal to ensure the delivery of $1.5 million (570 million Naira) in education infrastructure across four local governments in Kaduna State, playing a tripartite role: community engagement, project tracking and assurance of quality service delivery, and taking pupils off the street.

“Our work was important in Kaduna State because the state had signed up on the Open Government Partnership (OGP) – the first Nigerian state to do so,” said Hamzat Lawal, founder and CEO of Follow The Money. However, being an OGP member isn’t a silver bullet to good governance and accountability. “For democracy to really work in Nigeria, we must take citizen engagement very seriously,” added Hamzat.

And that proves to be true. “Before the coming of Follow The Money, the community was in the dark. We didn’t know what the government was doing to us,” Yohanna Zuberu, a community member in Jema’a, opens up in a documentary. His assertion would be affirmed by an official of the Kaduna State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB). “There’s been a gap in the interaction with the community members,” the official, Mubarak Muhammed, said, adding however, “With the constant advocacy by Follow The Money, we are able to say that community members are more aware of what is happening around them. There’s this renewed effort to ensure that for every new project we must inform the people of what is to come and what the expectations should be.”

As of January 2020, Follow The Money’s civic action in Kaduna has facilitated the construction and rehabilitation of 23 primary schools in the four local governments of Jema’a, Kajuru, Kudan, and Zangon Kataf, with an impressive enrollment of over 200,000 children in those schools and other existing ones.

Interestingly, this effort would trigger unexpected results in Kaduna State. By September 2019, the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) had launched an extensive campaign, going far beyond the four local governments, to enrol 145,000 children in school. In a news report, the board’s Social Mobilisation Acting Director, Ibrahim Aminu said that the policy was targeted at all categories of out-of-school children with the aim to enrol 727,764 out-of-school children in the next five years.

Making the Impossible Possible

Children education is one of the most intractable social challenges in Northern Nigeria. No surprise Follow The Money is seen to be moving mountains.

“The strategy used in Kaduna to decrease the number of out-of-school children was to get the community members and the educational sector to work together. First we created School Monitoring Teams (SMTs) teams, which is a mixture of all the community governance structures to be able to track the implementation of school projects across board” explains Kingsley Agu, Follow The Money project officer.

Expatiating on that model, Hamzat Lawal notes, “Follow The Money bottom-up and top-bottom approach is taking data needs assessment from the community input, putting it into government development plans and taking government commitment down to the people to collect feedback.” On the Kaduna education project, he adds with stern commitment on his face, “Follow The Money would help ensure the acceleration and implementation of this important policy commitment from the government, creating an environment where citizens can give feedback and where they can hold their government to account on public expenditure.”

On rebuilding primary education infrastructure in Kaduna State, Follow the Money is not only strengthening accountability and delivery of public goods to the most vulnerable section of the society, it is improving access to education, creating new hopes for a better future.

“We have recorded a considerable amount of success in project implementation, especially in terms of transparency. Gone are the days where projects are being awarded and not being delivered even when monies have been paid,” a SUBEB official says.

‘Kevwe P. Oghide

A growing group of young Nigerians are demanding that the government accounts for the $8.9 billion dollars donated by international agencies, corporate organisations and individuals to tackle the Coronavirus pandemic and secure the country’s failing healthcare and economic infrastructure.

Follow the Money is holding Nigerian Government to Transparency Standards

A social accountability initiative, Follow the Money, largely driven by youths who are holding government to accountable standards and ensuring they deliver on improving public services have expressed deep concerns about government’s responsiveness to battling COVID. At the time when the first donation for COVID was announced late March 2020, young Follow the Money activists began trailing and tracking the funds closely, asking pertinent accountability questions and following the money to ensure proper allocations and spending to fight the pandemic.

The young activists tracking COVID funds were not backing down during the lockdown, they deployed online tools to monitor spending, drive conversation to spark actions and advocate for a transparent and inclusive approach, urging government stakeholders to make public all funds released for the fight against COVID and its implementation plans. They are collectively challenging their federal and state government to be more responsive to requests for detailed reports on COVID spending.

Over 60% of Nigerians distrust the government—given a history of inherent corruption and financial leakages, coupled with the widening inequality gap and its poor economic performance. Governance has also been marked by a lack of transparency, poor accountability, careless leadership, opaque budget systems and lack of civic involvement.

Already, over 4000 Follow the Money activists across the 36 States of Nigeria, including the Federal Capital Territory, are tracking funds, documenting procurement processes distribution of palliatives, cash transfer programs and amplifying voices of people in marginalised communities who are not beneficiaries of COVID palliatives. One of the beneficiaries 53-year old retiree turned cab driver, John Usegwu who lives in a rural area in Inyanya part of the country’s capital, Abuja. Usegwu noted that although he is glad the government gave them palliatives, it is insufficient to feed his family of 6 , especially as this is a one-time support . As a cab driver, Usegwu’s means of livelihood was hampered due to the lockdown enforcement.

Using online and Off-line Advocacy tools during pandemic lockdown reveals how Government spent $8.9 billion dollars on COVID

The influx of huge donations, cumulating to $8.9 billion dollars, was impressive at the beginning but to date details about spending have been patchy, confirming fears that the donations would end up in personal pockets. Official statements on COVID supplies surveillance, palliatives distribution, isolation centers and capacity building were often evasive. In the early stage when the Follow the Money activists started tracking donations and spending, the founder of the initiative, Hamzat Lawal took to Twitter to ask the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari, for details of $28.8 million claimed to be donated by the NNPC and 30 partners. Kyari responded that “all donations will be in kind.” Similar vague responses by the government, makes it difficult for citizens to hold any public institution to transparency standards.

Some officials have been responsive to Follow The Money’s request for information on how COVID funds are being utilized. The Accountant-General of the Federation in a response to Follow The Money’s freedom of Information (FoI) request, compiled a breakdown of how it dispensed 84% of N36 Billion it received to tackle COVID. It revealed that it gave $57.8 million to the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 and distributed $18.4 million to support COVID-19 initiatives in the 36 States of the country. $2.3 billion was given to the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) for the deployment of assets in support of COVID-19 operations; while the Nigeria Police received $1.3million on personal protective equipment and $47 was paid as bank charges.”

Follow The Money sent 57 FoI request letters, received by 27 State Government agencies, requesting details of COVID19 funds and the distribution of palliatives. Of the 6 States that responded, Ondo State revealed that it spent $6.3m on medical services and food distribution to the vulnerable and $150,000 on face masks and medical supplies while Oyo State reported its spending of $5.3 million to tackle COVID. The other 4 provided sparse information, assuring that palliatives were distributed accordingly, even though there were no details of distribution and evidence of the same. It was no surprise when palliative hideouts were stormed by hungry Nigerians—who have had to endure a deplorable economic situation and poverty level worsened by the impact of the coronavirus. The discovery of the hideouts further exposes the rot and persistent corruption in leadership.

Vague Procurement Processes means Follow the Money and BudgIT must carry out a Social Audit in Africa

On a larger scale, unclear procurement processes are drivers of corruption in implementing government projects. The national emergency procurement policies were updated only after Follow the Money activists demanded, during a webinar on Emergency Procurement to fight a Pandemic, that the Bureau of Public Procurement and the Central Bank update their emergency policies in the wake of COVID. The call stated that a transparent procurement platform and an open-data approach can promote accountability, strengthen due diligence and prevent financial leakages and corruption. Shortly after, government agencies paid attention: the BPP, the Accountant-General of the Federation, Ministry of Finance and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission published guidelines for the management of COVID-19 donation funds.

Still, weak transparency and poor accountability often impede the implementation of standard policies. Despite the promise of the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Budget and National Planning to be more Freedom of Information (FoI)-compliant, citizens are yet to receive the total sum of donations by international bodies, private organisations, individuals and institutions to fight the pandemic.

Although BudgIT, a social accountability organisation, recently demanded a breakdown of the 8.9 billion spent by CBN on COVID19 response, accessing information on palliatives distribution and COVID interventions has proven to be an uphill task.

The issue in Nigeria is no different from many African countries. To further combat the menace of poor government transparency and accountability in public finance in Africa, CODE and BudgIT, in collaboration with Global Integrity, have now launched the COVID-19 Transparency and Accountability Project (CTAP), an initiative that will spearhead a social audit of COVID-19 intervention funds in Kenya, Malawi, Cameroun, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.

The response to pandemics should prioritize the participation of citizens, including needs assessments and provision of palliatives, procurement and delivery of items, thus, the primary aim of this project will be to drive citizens’ engagement using innovative tech tools, creating an interactive portal to publish COVID data and fact-checking public institutions activities on spending to combat the pandemic.

CTAP will also address the threat of lack of accountability and the effects of COVID-19 on socio-economic development. It will strengthen existing tools and build new ones where necessary to match citizens’ needs in the current emergency response and use technology platforms as a means to drive accountability on the importance of optimising public resources in an emergency situation.

Although poor access to information and secrecy in government have proven to be challenges, Follow the Money and Tracka are unrelenting in their mission to promote fiscal transparency and hold governments to transparency standards. Citizens must be alert, demanding that government agencies and institutions provide civil society groups and the media, acting as watchdogs in this crucial time, with accurate and timely information.

By Charles E. Uche Esq & Hyeladzira J. Mshelia

In the view of Socrates, intellectualism allows that “one will do what is right or best just as soon as one truly understands what is right or best.” The virtue is a purely intellectual matter, since virtue and knowledge are familial relatives, which a person accrues and improves with dedication to reason.

Thus, the aim of this article is to make people understand what is right and best, so they can be better in respect to the “gender problem”.

I, recently, read a piquant novella by Chimamanda N. Adichie “We Should All Be Feminists”. With instrumentality of the book, I mirrored our society, cultures, laws, and so forth, as well as my relationship with women and found institutionalised and inherent flaws. These flaws usually require a consciousness to be conspicuous or be noticed. A consciousness which many men fail to have because of “male privilege”. An ignorant privilege.

Just a few weeks ago, a Northern representative in the House of Representatives Chamber, ignorantly commented that women should be allowed to succeed, given opportunities, but not too much and his wife depends on him. As he said this, I anxiously waited for the Speaker of the House to call him to order for the comment. I was disappointed when he let it pass. Albeit, the disappointment was short-lived as soon as I remembered the sad reality that Nigeria is a nation that mostly regards women in general as chattels; and whose laws and cultural practises are oppressive to the feminine gender. A typical example is section 55 (1)(d) of the Penal Code which permits a husband to beat his wife for the purpose of correcting her. Interestingly, the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act of 2015 prohibits and penalize spousal battery, but not spousal rape. 

The relationship between gender and violence is intricate. Different roles and behaviours of females and males, children as well as adults, are shaped and reinforced by gender norms within society. Often gender inequalities increase the tendency of women to be susceptible to violence and abuses. For instance, traditional beliefs and social norms portray that men have a right to control women and unfortunately, this  preconditioning also hinders the ability of affected women to come out of abusive situations or seek support. It’s interesting to see a wide range of bilateral, multilateral, philanthropic, and civil society actors – such as Connected Development [CODE] – working towards tackling barbaric social norms that deny girls of the right to education, women of the right to ambition and rape culture. CODE is also advocating for an end to Gender Based Violence in Nigeria.

I had in mind to write an elaborate appraisal of Ms. Adichie’s work vis-à-vis other contemporary issues affecting the female gender in Nigeria, and demonstrating how I am occasionally guilty of this “ignorant bias” as a young male.

In addition to reading Adichie’s “Dear Ijeawele or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions”, I’ll attempt to make a much more succinct article on the entire issue.

Without much ado, here are ten (10) points from the book that need imbibing:

1. Feminism arises from a “consciousness” of being; and Men can be feminists too.
2. In the quest for equality, men who adopt a hands-off approach; who bask in the comfort of “male privilege” are tacitly promoting misogyny, patriarchy and androcentrism.
3. Men (and women) must be “actively” thinking about, noticing and discussing gender problems (in the family, work place, cultures, laws, etc) with hopes of devising solutions to them.
4. The reorientation of the mind, especially in the upbringing of our kids is crucial to tackling the gender problem. To decry gender-specific roles and expectations, we cannot raise boys to be hard and stoic in order to be a “Man” and girls to be soft and courteous.
5. The fact that males have more testosterone level and thus, are physically stronger than females does not make females the “weaker vessels”.
6. We don’t live in the stone “survivor of the fittest” age anymore where the physically-stronger exercises dominance over the less physically-stronger. Women don’t need the “protection” or “approval” of men.
7. A person’s qualifications, ability to be innovative, creative, intelligent and hard-working should be largely instrumental to constructing his/her way to success(regardless of sex).
8. Bottom/seductive power is not true power. It is just having the “free road” to the person who wields true power. Women must seek to develop themselves and wield that true power.
9. Women should be true to themselves, challenge themselves, aim above Mt. Everest (there’s nothing like being “too successful/intimidating) and never be afraid of shattering the fragile ego and bloated self-worth of ignorant weak men.
10. We should all be Feminists. In its undiluted, unadulterated, egalitarianism sense as it pertains to social, political and economic status of sexes.

And to conclude, while Chimamanda’s views on equality and feminism may not necessarily be the standard or all-embracing, she, however, raised and discussed solid points which both sexes must reflect upon as we seek to establish a society where no one is a “Second Class citizen”, as Buchi Emecheta wrote. Hence, we (men and women, alike) must all unlearn the centuries-long gender bias we’ve internalized while growing up; and seek to learn proper sex relations in the path to equality of sexes.

This piece was first published on 22nd March, 2018

by Mukhtar Modibbo Halilu

The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic has not only revealed the poor state of infrastructure and facilities in the health sector of  Nigeria but has also revealed the reality of the dilapidation and poor funding of the education sector. Aside from the health sector, no other area has suffered the impact of COVID-19 like education.

While many countries have easily adapted and switched to virtual classes, in Nigeria, it is not only difficult but also impossible to open our schools virtually due to lack of facilities necessary to operate virtual classes, poor provision of internet network,  unstable power supply, high cost of mobile data and other challenges. Many children were out of school even before the pandemic, and even more have dropped out due to the pandemic. CODE’s research on the impact of COVID on Girls’ Education revealed that a significant number of guardians and parents in Nigeria’s North-East were certain that their girls will not be returning to school.

The learn from home teaching method introduced by the Nigerian Ministry of Education to teach through radio and television is not yielding the desired results. The electricity supply in the nation is below average and the majority of Nigerians are living below the poverty line and cannot afford televisions or radios.

The need to Protect Education Budgets

The need to protect education budgets has never been more urgent. Records show that for the past ten years, the Nigerian education sector allocation has not reached the UNESCO recommended 10 to 15% of budget in developing countries. This has led to teachers’ strikes at all levels of education in Nigeria,  with other calamities that have reduced the once proud education sector into a puppet and a complete laughing stock in international education rating standards.

In Nigeria, basic education is financed through concurrent financing from the three tiers of government—Federal, State and Local Government Authority, with distinct financing mandates and responsibilities for each tier. The Federal Government provides 50% and the State and local government as 30% and 20% respectively.

As a result, state investment in education is heavily reliant on the federal account allocation,  making its educational goals susceptible to challenges of national resource mobilization (COVID-19, International Oil Price Fluctuation) and expenditure management.

The Federal Government of Nigeria allocated the sum of 568 billion Naira (approx. USD 1.5 billion) to education in 2020. However as a result of COVID this allocation was reduced to 509 billion Naira (approx. USD 1.34 billion). This has pressured public schools into dismissing hundreds of temporary staff members, and skyrocketed student school fees in various institutions, thereby increasing the inequality in education. 

In addition, the attacks on education facilities in Northeast Nigeria have destroyed infrastructure worth billions of Naira and resulted in the deaths of countless students and teachers.  This destruction requires funding to rebuild and to employ more teachers, as well as strengthen the security to assure the safety of teachers and learners.

Nigeria’s Debt Status

As of March 31, 2020, Nigeria’s debt was at 28.6 trillion Naira (USD79.3 billion). As the country addresses this debt burden, funding to social sectors, especially education, is likely to pay the price. Lack of support for education will affect wider development issues including health, poverty and economic growth, as well as the empowerment of women and young people. This will thereby have a lasting impact on the nation’s economy, safety, literacy and equality. Education provides the platform to improve the quality of life and continuous  regeneration of knowledge, capacity and skill in the society for continuous productivity and development. 

Recommendation

Now is the time for education leaders to step up their investment in education and increase enrollment to schools, especially for girls. All stakeholders must double their efforts to sustain the recorded achievement and contribute to the realization of SDG 4.

To increase enrolment and improve the security of students, we must ensure adequate financing for education and protect education budgets during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.  Education must be accessible to all without any form of discrimination. 

Connected Development’s (CODE) Follow the Money initiative, with the support of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, helped improve the delivery of $1.5 million of education funds in Kaduna state in Nigeria, under the universal basic education spend. The project engaged communities and kept them informed on government projects and resources, and it helped them advocate for accountability with contractors and officials. According to a case study and documentary video on the initiative, Follow the Money improved access to education, strengthened accountability, and resulted in delivery of public goods across sectors to neglected communities. A comic strip that pairs with the study tells the story of a family, local media advocacy, and community meetings ultimately achieving better conditions at their school.

While communities are entitled to many services, often the delivery can be hampered by corruption. MacArthur grantee CODE helps give communities the tools to advocate for their priorities and find achievable targets for change. The case study shares take-aways for similar contexts, including supporting local leaders, focusing on near-term successes before long-term change, using holistic monitoring to see multiple measures of success.

Via MacArthur Foundation