Every year, Nigeria loses N18b to illegal movements of money or capital from the country– especially through the oil and gas industry, yet very little attention is paid to this illicit financial flow.

Illicit financial flows can be generated in a variety of ways that are not revealed in national accounts or balance of payments figures, including trade mispricing, bulk cash movements, and smuggling. This illegally earned money is transferred across the international border, usually aided by technology.

Despite the nation’s huge resources, which is now referred to as a curse, the Country’s inability to transform its resources as shared wealth and prosperity for all, is making it difficult to block financial leakages, as a large chunk of its earnings are being pocketed by a few and transferred illegally to other countries.

Guardian Newspaper records that Africa’s current losses to IFFs outweigh the continent’s aid and foreign direct investment as the prevailing development is further worsened by trade underpricing, mis-invoicing, oil theft and smuggling, weak regulations and enforcement.

Global Financial Integrity estimates that the annual value of trade-related IFFs in and out of developing countries has amounted to, on average, about 20 per cent of the value of their total trade with advanced economies. 

IFFs pose a huge challenge to political and economic security around the world, particularly to developing countries. Corruption, organized crime, illegal exploitation of natural resources, fraud in international trade and tax evasion are as harmful as the diversion of money from public projects.

It is for this reason, Connected Development [CODE], in collaboration with OXFAM Novib, is galvanizing Nigerian citizens against corruption. The fight against corruption is not just for government agencies but citizens must take this as an obligation for a better Nigeria. Civil Society Organisations also have a responsibility to speak against this misnomer, enhance citizens capacity and amplify issues of illicit financial flows till urgent action is taken to address it.

CODE will be leveraging its social accountability platform, “Follow The Money”, to amplify data, infographics and relevant information on illicit flow of funds by public officials. Having also realised the strengthening of the Federal Audit Service Commission Bill that ensures violating companies and individuals are held accountable for IFFs, CODE will also leverage media engagements to create awareness and urge the Nigerian President to assent to the bill. 

Assenting to the bill will reposition the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation and enhance the capability of the Office to execute its constitutional mandate of ensuring transparency, accountability and probity in the management of public funds; and establish an Audit Act in accordance with international best practice of other climes. 

These proposed outcomes, which will be achieved through strategic advocacy and multifaceted engagements with relevant public and private ‘CSOs/Media’ bodies, collaboration with anti-graft agencies (EFCC/ICPC) and social mobilization, would ensure that Ministries, Departments and Agencies submit their yearly audited financial accounts to the Auditor General of the Federation, hence preventing corruption, illicit financial flows, money laundering and mismanagement of public funds as reported in the Malabu and Dan Etete Case. 

Concerned by the marginalization of young people in governance structures, leading Non- Governmental Organization, Connected Development (CODE) in partnership with YouthHub Africa with support from Christain Aid has launched a nationwide Youth Challenge Fund that will provide Grant to young people to deliver innovative solutions to identified challenges within their communities. 

The project seeks to increase youth participation in community development and ensure youth become partners and leaders in development — where they are charged with creating a sustainable change that is measurable in their community. 

Speaking during the launch, Christian Aid Nigeria’s Country Director, Charles Usie said: “The fund is in recognition of the immense capacity of young people to address some of the growing developmental challenges across communities in Nigeria, if given the opportunity and required resources. We have therefore put this in place as part of our mandate to end poverty in Nigeria.” 

According to the Chief Executive of CODE, Hamzat Lawal, the government must understand the growing importance and potential of young people and consider their contribution to nation building. Lawal called for increased financing, education and technical support for Nigerian youth as this can greatly impact on the future of the country. 

He also urged the Federal Government to fulfil its obligation to the youth by increasing youth participation on all policies that affect young people.

Through funding from  Christian Aid, CODE will sub-grant the selected organisations with a total of Thirty thousand pounds (30,000) for their innovation to solve some of the difficult challenges limiting young people. While many projects of this nature seek to work with young people in the urban areas, the project will work with youths who are typically marginalised, excluded and who otherwise would have limited access to participation.

CODE’s project lead, Lucy James, stated that young people have some of the most promising solutions to contemporary problems and we hope to learn from this, especially from those in the grassroots who have the capacity to act, utilizing their skills and ability to improve their own lives.

The Sub-grantee Organisations:

Foundation for Equitable and Sustainable Human Advancement (FESHA) is a youth led disability inclusion organization focusing on Health, Advocacy, and economic empowerment. It seeks to empower people living with disabilities with information on the provisions of the law, rights and obligations of disabled persons as citizens.

Justice Development and Peace Caritas [JDPC] Nnewi is a Faith Based Organization that has Youth Empowerment and Development as one of the core thematic areas of its operation. It aims to strengthen participation of youths in Government policy implementation for Communal Development and Peace Building.

Women and children in support of community development initiative (WOCCI-Nig) is a national Non-Governmental Organization that seeks to provide community based programs that provide access to education, health, emotional and psychosocial services, and economic opportunities to vulnerable individuals and households. Increased resilience and sustainable livelihood of youths within project communities

Hope For Family Development Initiative (HFDI) is an initiative that seeks to improve the lives of marginalized and vulnerable groups. HFDI believes that marginalized and vulnerable groups are faced with unique issues and challenges which require empowerment, skills acquisition training and better community understanding for them to cope with their exceedingly difficult conditions.

Spotlight for Transparency and Accountability Initiative levitates standard of transparency and accountability in government (subnational governments) through citizen participation in governance. This project seeks to empower young people across 17 LGAs in Yobe State through multidimensional Capacity building on how to hold government to account for their spending using digital technology and improve service delivery on Health, Education and WASH

Access to Learning and School (ATLAS) Initiative is creating a platform called Enriching Lives Through Education (ELiTE) to empower young girls and boys in Ikorodu LGA, aged 17-25 with essential life skills, functional skills and access to platforms for learning – ensuring access to inclusive and equitable quality education.

ABOUT CONNECTED DEVELOPMENT (CODE)

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, initiative has tracked government and international aid in grassroots communities to the tune of USD 25 million (in budgeted sums for projects) in over 25 Nigerian States.

ABOUT CHRISTIAN AID

Christian Aid is an international non-governmental organisation that exists to create a world where everyone can live a full life, free from poverty. Christian Aid works in some of the poorest and hardest to reach areas in Nigeria, prioritising those most vulnerable and in need to ensure access to services and opportunities for improved wellbeing. Christian Aid works in the areas of good governance, health and humanitarian response. 

ABOUT YOUTHHUB AFRICA

Youth Foundation for Development, Education & Leadership (YouthhubAfrica) is a non-profit organization founded in 2011. YouthhubAfrica is a platform for young people in Africa involved in social change to interact, learn and collaborate in new, creative and easy ways. It was registered in Nigeria with the CAC in 2014. YHA is a youth advocacy and policy-oriented organization based in Abuja, Nigeria, but programming into Africa and beyond.

Anne Alagbe

There have been notable improvements in Nigeria concerning the treatment of women. More women are filling roles in public offices but not enough has been done to promote Gender Equality. The law for the prosecution of rape within marriages have still not been passed in court, foreign men cannot claim their wives Nigerian nationalities, and women still experience difficulties in using their documents to access opportunities without the help of their father or husbands (a nuisance I have experienced a number of times). 

Waiters still assume my husband is paying (despite the fact that I pay sometimes). They give him the bill without even giving me an ounce of eye contact. When he firmly and curtly comments to them saying, ‘ please give it to her’ the reaction is almost always the same! A mix of confusion and embarrassment on their part as they meekly give to me the bill. Now imagine, if for people to unlearn and de-condition their mindsets of basic behaviours such as ‘men always paying’ how much harder as a country will it be for gender equality to truly take place.

The truth is that women in Nigeria are not valued as they should be, they are seen as a commodity instead of an important necessity. Thank God we have some women seated in government roles to give us some hope but when you look at the amount, it’s enough to defuse your bubble all over again. It would be idealistic to think the government is responsible for this issue and they should fix it (although a part of it is true), when, honestly, we are all to be held accountable– an orientation that must  be unlearned by the Nigerian population. Citizens need to see women and their purpose differently, and not just as domestic beings. Fellow women need to start deconstructing years, centuries even, of conditioned gender roles and start paving their own paths for change. It’s quite unfortunate that there still are cases of women who are subject to and silent about sexual assault and also harassment at the workplace. Many women are marginalised and are not seen beyond their faces. One wonders  when this degradation will end. 

Beyond wishful thinking and short term feminist campaigns, it will take a complete unlearning of years of conditioned gender ideas and an acceptance from both men and women that, in order to achieve change, we must transform our attitude towards small basic things. Each for Equal is the responsibility of all.

Hyeladzira James Mshelia

Greenhouse gas emissions constantly pose significant threats to flora and fauna,  economic development, as well as environmental sustainability. From shifting weather patterns, to rising sea levels that increase the risk of catastrophic flooding, intense drought, storms, heat waves, warming oceans,  rising sea levels and melting glaciers. We do not need soothsayers to tell us the effect of and unprecedented scale of climate change and global warming.

 I remember having a conversation with a well-learned person on the dangers of leaving electric appliances on when not in use. He insisted he had no interest in matters of climate change because it was neither his concern nor did he believe in it. I thought that was sad. How can something so glaring and severe be easily shrugged off.

According to the NOAA 2019 Global Climate Summary, the combined land and ocean temperature has increased at an average rate of 0.07°C (0.13°F) per decade since 1880. This is alarming. In 2020, predictions of far warmer temperatures have been made, regardless of which carbon dioxide emissions pathway the world follows. 

As one of the world’s most densely populated countries  with a population of over 200 million people, half of which are considered to be in obsequious poverty, Nigeria is known to be vulnerable to climate change. The sunny days are extremely hot while the rainy days are extremely wet.  The Nigerian agricultural sector depends largely on rain and fair weather–from crop production to livestock rearing to fisheries name it all. How then do we intend to survive when  the rainy season fluctuations and the weather temperature that tends to be unbearable for livestocks? Research shows that livestock mortality has increased drastically. These impacts are already being felt and will increase in magnitude if action is not taken. Despite increasing awareness on the effect and dangers of climate change, scores of people still claim ignorance. Many are ignorant of their adverse contribution they are making to increase climate change and are very much oblivious to the moral significance of mitigating climate change.

No one is asking you to restore beach vegetation to shade marine turtle nests in the Caribbean or Secure access to fresh water for elephants during periods of drought yet. Instead, we need to ask: “what can we do? What little efforts we can make towards mitigating the effect of climate change. Proper education on the subject matter is crucial at this point.

 Healing the planet starts in your living room, kitchen and garages.  Limiting the use of fossil fuels such as oil, carbon and natural gas and replacing them with renewable and cleaner sources of energy. An attempt to switch  to a ‘green’ energy provider and change what you buy and eat, turning off electrical appliances when not in use; are important steps to reducing climate change.

Saater Brenda Ikpaahindi 

Walking up the stairs to Connected Development’s (CODE) office, I wasn’t sure what to expect.  The first thing that caught my attention as I reached the door was the graffiti and pictures sprawled on the wall that instantly told me this was going to be a cool place to work. As I sat across from Hamzat Lawal (Chief Executive of CODE) telling him why I wanted to volunteer with CODE, honestly, I was clueless about how I was going to be of help to the organisation. I knew I wanted to volunteer because at the time, I was newly out of a job and felt that I could do some pro-bono work for an organisation and I was referred to CODE. The conversation was at best awkward as I grappled with what to say.

I remember Hamzy (as he likes to be called) saying that the organisation needed someone to support the communications team, especially around social media. Wow! Social media was not really my thing I thought. Although I knew enough about social media, I hadn’t jumped on the bandwagon of using it daily and just caught up with it from time to time (I love technology but social media… let’s leave for another discussion). But, after much inner turmoil, I agreed. I was determined that I had something to give and determined that I would add value to the CODE team. And to be honest after seeing that cool graffiti, who wouldn’t want to work here? I had to be that ‘someone’!

On reaching home, I started to think about all the things I believed I could bring to the team. I listed all my strengths and how I thought these would benefit the organisation and so began my journey with CODE. I started off by working with the communications team at CODE, supporting the team to draft and edit documents. The programme’s team also asked me to support in drafting project proposals, from this, I was given the opportunity to lead an application for the 100 million & Change MacArthur grant. A task that not only challenged me but enhanced my perseverance and team skills.

Working at CODE also helped me to tap into my creative side. New ideas were welcomed and celebrated, and this was one of the best things I loved about volunteering with CODE. The air felt light. I was unaccustomed to the idea of an open-door and easy access policy with senior management in a workplace. I remember walking in on a Monday morning to pitch an idea to Hamzy and he said go run with it,  I was taken aback, but I ran with it. The focus here was not really on bureaucratic processes or not making mistakes, it was about how what we do can positively impact people’s lives across Nigeria and Africa.

At the heart of CODE’s work is a determination to bring social change to marginalized and vulnerable communities and this drives the people who work here. It was palpable, I felt it in the way each staff member worked, their drive, their passion, young people, who are determined that public funds work for the people; young people who are determined that Nigeria becomes a better place; young people who are ready to go to the most remote and hard-to-reach communities to empower them to demand for essential public services. Their words, their pictures, their videos of work in communities across Nigeria says it all and more. What they want, what they work for, what they fight for, what they envision is for every community in Nigeria to have access to quality schools, health care centres and WASH facilities in order to end extreme poverty and inequality.

One thing I realised from this experience is that, it is important to challenge yourself. You may be at the start or the pinnacle of your career but there is always something new to learn. It also reinforced in me that it is important to do what you love because your passion will drive you to excel and be excellent. Find you niche and slay at it.

For many young people out there, my advice is to actively seek out volunteer positions, not only do these roles help you gain new skills, help you to meet new people and expand your world, they can also be a pathway into an exciting career path. For organisations, I encourage you to take on volunteers. What many young people need especially in a country like Nigeria with a myriad of challenges is an opportunity. 

If given another opportunity, I will gladly volunteer for CODE again as I immensely enjoyed working with the organisation.

Although as they say in CODE, no one ever really leaves CODE, so, I’m still a CODER!

Kingsley Agu, Kaduna State Chapter Lead

Kingsley sensitizing head teacher, community & SBMC members in Fadan Kamatan, Zango Kataf LGA, Kaduna state.

In 2017, my team and I began tracking education projects in grassroots communities across four Local Government Areas (LGA) in Kaduna state, Nigeria. During the course of tracking, we adopted a more sustainable approach which was to get the community buy-in and collaboration. This means they take responsibility for ensuring these projects are implemented. We decided to review existing structures that address education issues at the community level.

Prior to this, we had heard a lot of discussions about how the community members cannot really comprehend and actualize development projects because of their technicalities. We identified this as a knowledge gap and devised strategies to empower the people by building their capacity on understanding these projects.

We chose the community structures because they are the direct beneficiaries of the work being done at the community level. They have children attending schools built at the community level; they receive healthcare from the Primary Healthcare Centres and because they are directly impacted by the outcomes of these projects, it is important that they own the tracking processes.

The task at hand was to track the construction of 70 schools within a frame of three years in four LGAs of Jema’a, Kudan, Kajuru and Zango kataf Local Government Areas, so that more children in marginalised communities can access basic education.

Since the Follow The Money team cannot be everywhere at a time,  we set up a structure made up of already existing Community Based Organizations (CBOs), School-Based Management Committee (SBMC), the Parents Teacher Association (PTA), Artisans, Community members (Youth and Women leaders) and Traditional rulers in some instances. These groups formed what we call the School Monitoring Team (SMT).

Kingsley sensitizing head teacher, community & SBMC members in Nisama, Jema’a LGA, Kaduna state.

We identified gaps in the capacity of the SMT, the quality of information and the amount of information they had access to regarding constructions or Projects going on in the communities. We discovered the gaps in the way and manner with which they implemented the guidelines for their associations. For example the SBMC has a guideline that empowers it to monitor schools in its local communities but the unit has not been optimal so our job was to empower and build the capacity of the  team.

To get them ready, we organised a series of training targeted at the gaps we observed. We also provided them with information needed to offer  oversight on education projects particularly the Universal Basic Education projects in their respective communities. We were able to access information (including the Bill of Quantity)  about the projects from Kaduna State Universal Basic Education Board (KAD-SUBEB) using the Freedom of Information act. We trained the SMT on how to interpret and make use of a Bill of Quantity (BOQ), how to effectively track, monitor and report their findings and how to carry out a Community Action to demand for accountability from respective government agencies in whatever project-education or healthcare-in their communities. By empowering their skills, we were giving them a voice to demand accountability from their government.  Together with these community members, we formed a formidable team. We attended meetings with Kaduna State Universal Basic Education Board, engaged them in tracking activities and tracked projects going on in 23 schools in the four local government Area worth over 1.5 million US Dollars in just a bit above one year.

Outcome of the capacity of these groups that we had built was that the community members independently petitioned the anti-graft agency, Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) to sanction SUBEB in Taban Sani to apologized to the Contractors for acting ignorantly in Kufana to the detailed Community members of Fadan Kamantan down to ever active Nisama Community members, they are the unsung heroes of our tracking Success. They understood their right from the onset that if these projects were not properly implemented, they would suffer for it. They knew that their livelihood depended on the success of these projects, they understood that they have a role to play in ensuring better service delivery at their respective communities and they delivered- the SMTs delivered!

Together with their delivery and our engagements with Kaduna State Universal Basic Education Board, the community members earned themselves a seat at the procurement table and tendering process of the board and will be part of the project pre-contract processes and KAD-SUBEB has also made a policy that no Contractor will ever go to any community to carry out any project without first informing the community, a policy we helped influence.

By Lucy Abagi James

‘My daughter forfeited her chance to study Engineering at the University of Port-Harcourt because she had compounded breathing problems caused by soot.  She is currently learning how to sew clothes and we are hopeful that by the next admission season, she will gain admission to study at another University’. – Anonymous

A lady (in her late 30’s) who lost her younger brother a year ago to cancer, believes his death was linked to environmental pollution’ of black soot. Sadly, these harrowing experiences are the daily realities of people living in Port-Harcourt, Nigeria. 

Many years ago,my grandmother journeyed from her village in Oron, in search of a ‘better life’ in Port-Harcourt. Her countless stories on her sojourn for a better life in Po-ta-kot (Pidgin) as she fondly called it, kept arousing my inquisitiveness to understudy Port- Harcourt. The city of PH as it called, is one of the boisterous in Nigeria,  and the capital of Rivers State, Nigeria. Through the benefits of the Nigerian Petroleum Industry, PH further developed, becoming commercially viable and attracting migrants from other States who sought better means of living.

The narrative has since changed. A city that was once the dream of a people has suddenly become their nightmare.  This situation is further worsened for the marginalized and deprived sub-sect.

People have not only lost their means of livelihood but also their lost loved ones to the clutches of the Black Soot. Some have had their health deteriorate, and have been diagnosed with cancer. Others have had to relocate to other cities for fear of the dreadful. The town covered in black, has now become a shadow of what it used to be. If you swipe a finger at a car glass, the colour on your thumb is black soot. Food, windows, beds, furniture, electronics, merchandise are all  smeared with soot. Children are deprived of the opportunity to explore their childhood because movements are restricted, still, in their small play areas, their feet are stained, and unknowingly the soot particles find their way into their homes creating more harm and unavoidable damages to their health.

Soot broke out in the city two years ago as a result of incomplete combustion of carbon, the burning of crude oil on both illegal refinery grounds or government confiscation policy. Experts estimate that about six (6) million residents of Port Harcourt are exposed to the risk of cancer since the emergence of SOOT in the city.

Black soot is the fine black particle, chiefly composed of carbon, produced by incomplete combustion of coal, oil, wood, or other fuels. Soot can consist of acids, chemicals, metals, soils, and dust. The common trait of soot particles is that they are extremely tiny – 2.5 micrometers or smaller in diameter. This is smaller than dust and mold, and is about 1/30 the diameter of a human hair’. 

As a result of this menace, Port Harcourt is now known as the Black City. Majority believe that the source of this black soot is due to incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons as well as asphalt processing, burning of barges used for oil bunkering and illegal artisanal refinery operations in some parts of the state. 

In a more humane clime, black soot would be called  a national disaster and a state of emergency declared. A saner government would have halted the insensitive activities of these Oil Companies, and evacuated citizens in most affected regions. It would have accelerated the  total clean-up of the region. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Little or low attention has been given to the effect of this environmental and climate conditions The tall buildings and white sparkling mansions are slowly losing their splendour. The town has gone sour and many like my grandmother have long lost faith of a better life in po-ta-kot. 

Clearly, as are many issues in Nigeria, soot is believed to be  hugely politicized, making allowance for roles to be shifted. The State Government points fingers at the Federal Government and vice versa. Painfully, the magnitude of the blast is yet to hit the State, although the menace is not getting any serious attention, most of the people affected still go about  their daily tasks. Experts still maintain that the presence of soot in the atmosphere is dangerous and carcinogenic and constant exposures can result in numerous and diverse respiratory diseases. 

After years of waiting, wailing and increased death toll in the black city, on Thursday 19 April 2018 the people of Po-ta-kot marched out in quantum to demand immediate action by the government. Connected Development holistically joined this march and KC Nwakalor, a distinctive and professional Photographer brushed up his magic camera to gather live images and experiences, so the voices of the residents can be amplified, and the oil rich state rescued from total environmental degradation. 

KC Nwakalor recounting his ground experience, and direct impact of SOOT on the masses, He opined that the black soot settles on everything and finds its way into the corners of living rooms no matter how hard people try to stop it. “Food items in Port Harcourt markets are not spared from getting mixed with these deadly black particles that are massively present everywhere.

Deeply concerned by this issue, should citizens carry placards before a serious attention is drawn to a case of environmental setback like this?  Be that as it may, this march elucidates citizens distrust in the government and lack of human empathy by the bourgeoisie in ensuring that a joint action is taken to support the marginalized and most affected populace of the state. 

Nwakalor further arbitrated that the mass turnout of people was to ensure that likely solutions and steps are taken by the government to stop the activities of Illegal refineries (a huge business venture enjoyed by certain political thugs and loyalists). The Federal and State Governments, security agencies as well as all agencies in charge of environment and other agencies handling related issues, should toe a defined and safe path in handling illegal oil vessels. “The government should constitute local councils into environmental councils to monitor their areas for any possible illegal refining of crude and other dangerous acts that are inimical to human existence.”

I am positive that some day, the tall, gigantic, stainless and sparkling white buildings of Po-ta-kot will return. Po-ta-kot will be scrubbed white and the present black city will receive its redemption and be polished in gold. Our children will explore the blessings of childhood, market women will display their goods in style, the hospitals will not be crowded with victims  and development will return to the Black City. 

“I am the voice of dying children, displaced women, and people suffering at the hands of the climate crisis created by rich countries…Voices from the global south deserve to be heard… we are humans who do not deserve to suffer a crisis that we did not create.” 

-Hilda Flavia Nakabuye, Ugandan Climate Activist.

After running-over an extra 48 hours, COP25 ended with a lack of any tangible results and instead highlighted the extreme disconnect between the governments of the largest polluting nations and the scientific and activist communities. This conference was supposed to be an opportunity for governments to raise their ambitions in response to the climate emergency, but instead allowed them to continue to evade the issue and stick their heads in the sand, leaving the big issues, such as carbon markets, for COP26 in Glasgow. With the devastating climate catastrophes currently happening, such as the bushfires in Australia, this is an extremely disappointing outcome. It highlights just how far we are from making significant progress in the climate discussion, with the largest countries showing no plans to increase their ambition.

Although being the continent that contributes the least to the emissions of greenhouse gases and carbon dioxide, Africa is the first to be severely impacted by the effects of climate change. In fact, Africa is already suffering from the consequences of climate change, from the burning of the Congo rainforest to the shrinking of Lake Chad. These, and other extreme weather events such as droughts and floods, are severely impacting Africa’s chances to grow by affecting crop yields and livestock production, leading to food insecurity, further exacerbating poverty and hunger. Moreover, it increases internal migration as places become inhabitable; water scarcity, which in turn could lead to higher instances of armed conflict due to competition for resources. It also increases health risks, such as malaria due to an increase in temperature, respiratory diseases such as asthma due to an increase in air pollution, and heat stress; and so much more, all of which will have a negative impact on the chances of achieving the SDGs. 

Despite these current issues, for many in the global south, climate change is often seen as a far-away problem, as western media focuses on issues that are not relatable, such as the melting of the icebergs. That is not to say these issues are not important and should not be discussed, but rather highlights the need for the amplification of localised crises caused by climate change, as only then will we be able to combat these crises effectively.

Although assistance from the global north is necessary to make tangible change, in order for these changes to be implemented, it is vital for national governments to take action and be more accountable. In Nigeria, there are no shortage of options for ways the government can respond to climate change, for example, making an investment in climate change research and supporting brilliant organisations like the National Agency for Great Green Wall (NAGGW), Establishment of the Climate Change Commission Bill (ECCC),  and other initiatives and deploy new solutions to problems society is currently facing. These investments can help eliminate the use of coal as an energy source and focus on renewable energy; enforce sustainable policies, especially in the energy sector; increase financing in health and education sectors and so much more. The failure of the largest and most guilty nations during this conference should not be an excuse to focus on one of the biggest issues threatening human existence. Instead, developing countries, such as Nigeria, should use this as an opportunity to lead by example. Organisations like Connected Development (CODE) are vital in order to apply pressure to the government to ensure it is doing everything in its power to respond appropriately to the climate emergency, especially in terms of transparency and financial accountability.

Despite its shortcomings, if COP25 showed us anything, it was that the youth and grassroots activists are not going anywhere anytime soon. Fridays For Future occupied the main plenary stage on the 11th and were commended for their efforts, highlighting the impact grassroots groups have on the climate movement. However, on the same day, Indigenous activists gathered to sing and chant as another form of protest, but these activists were treated aggressively by security, thrown out of the conference, and had their badges confiscated. This difference in treatment between the two groups highlights how indegnous and marginalised voices are still silenced and forcefully pushed out of climate conversations. As the continent with the younger population, Africa has so much potential for youth-led activism. CODE, as an organisation whose main goal is to amplify these voices, must continue to use its platform to bring awareness to these issues. 

Nigeria Health Watch and Connected Development launched a report on primary health care to advocate for improvements and greater accountability in the primary health care system in Nigeria.

In order to show primary health care provision at the State level, the report looked at primary health care service provision in Kano State as a case study, evaluating whether the state’s primary health care provision is in line with the minimum standards of primary health care as outlined by the Federal Ministry of Health. The monitoring of service delivery in Primary Healthcare Centres was designed to monitor progress in the implementation of primary health care services particularly maternal, newborn and child health services.

The assessment in 49 primary health centres (PHCs) across Local Government Areas (LGA) in Kano State was carried out using both qualitative and quantitative methods.

Speaking at the launch in Kano, Director of Programmes at Nigeria Health Watch, Vivianne Ihekweazu said, “Results reveal that all the PHCs assessed seem to lack some component of the basic requirements as outlined by the NPHCDA minimum standards for PHCs. Based on the minimum standards, some basic infrastructure and human resource are expected to be found in a PHC facility. This is essential in order to facilitate delivery of timely and efficient services to healthcare users.”

Receiving the report, the Executive Secretary of the Kano State Primary Health Care Management Board, Dr. Tijjani Hussaini said, “…

According to CODE’s Chief Executive, Hamzat Lawal, the report has provided greater clarity on the standards of PHCs in Kano State. Now is the time for Kano State NPHCDA and other statutory regulators to step up and put in place sustainable measures to strengthen the healthcare system. I must add that the gaps identified in this report are not unique to Kano alone. NPHCDA and the Ministry of Health should prioritize provision of the basic requirement that will ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all.

From the report, it is clear that there are gaps in service delivery and adherence to the minimum standards for primary health care. The resultant effect is poor health seeking behaviour among patients in the State. The consensus at the end of the launch of the report was that the local health authorities need to re-examine the services provided at PHCs  and re-equip them with necessary infrastructure and human resource to enhance their service quality and readiness, in order to achieve universal health coverage (UHC).

Other states in Nigeria should carry out a similar assessment of service delivery in their local primary healthcare centres.

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.