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

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

Hamzat Lawal tops finalist for World Leading Sustainability Award in Sweden

Anti-corruption activist and Founder of Follow The Money, Hamzat Lawal, has emerged a finalist in the Sweden WIN WIN Gothenburg Sustainability Award, alongside Icelandic whistleblower, Jóhannes Stefánsson, Integrity Watch Afghanistan (IWA), and Italy’s lead prosecutor, Nicola Gratteri.

Lawal and the other finalists were selected “after the jury carefully reviewed 64 nominations from 34 countries around the world, who actively oppose corruption and thus strengthen our opportunities for a sustainable future,” Chairperson of the WIN WIN award jury Emma Dalvag, announced.

USD4 billion is lost every year to corruption across the globe, an enormous figure, which can be compared with the USD2.9 billion financial gap that needs to be filled in order for the world to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Fighting corruption often involves risks and requires courage. We are very proud to present a wide range of finalists who, in different ways and in different parts of the world, fight for a fairer and more sustainable world, Dalvag added.” 

Expressing delight about the recognition, Hamzat Lawal says that“the work of Follow The Money is tackling corruption in government’s funding and ensuring that everyone, even in the remote areas, has equal access to basic needs. More importantly, during this COVID pandemic where our lives have been changed and altered, building back better should be the ultimate goal. I am honoured that the Gothenburg Sustainability Award recognises our efforts in this regard.”

In the past few months, the world-leading sustainability award has sought nominations from individuals and organisations that actively combat corruption and thereby improve the opportunities for the world’s countries to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. 

Hamzat Lawal founded Follow The Money, a Pan-African grassroots data-driven movement and leads a team of technology & innovation driven campaigners to amplify the voices of marginalized grassroots communities in promoting accountability as regards the utilization of public funds focusing on specific communities across Africa. His Follow The Money initiative won the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Mobilizer 2019 Award and the Council of Europe’s 2019 Democracy Innovation Award. Lawal was also recognised as one of the world’s 100 most influential people in digital government by Apolitical in 2018 and 2019. He has also been ranked as one of the 100 most influential Africans along with Amina J. Mohammed, Aliko Dangote and Chimamanda Adichie.

By Taiba Habeeb

I remember being asked during my interview for the position of an Executive Assistant to the  Chief Executive Officer of Connected Development;  “Can you be an assistant to a sedulous, diligent and functional boss?’ Being the self assured person I am, I thought to myself  ‘how difficult can it be?’ So I answered YES! With my full chest. Boy, did I know what was in front of me.

My first days at CODE were anxiety and insha allah. As a reserved person, being around mostly boisterous, energetic and passionate young people was overwhelming. At some point, I felt like a misfit, greatly judged for my reserved nature, which caused more anxiety and detachment on my part.

 I remember saying to myself “ these guys missed out on a key requirement of being a part of the organisation during my interview; outgoing”. I’m not going to lie, I struggled trying to be up to par. It was not that I was incapable, but that I lacked information. 

My past experiences helped with my surface knowledge of the NGO sector, but this one was different. At CODE, I began to consciously understanding my colleagues as people who could help me relate easier with them, understanding my boss as a person, and his role as the Chief Executive, the organization’s mission; integrating all three to better understand my role. Doing this created a pattern in my mind that eased my anxiety and detachment.

I’ve been 4 months but I can tell CODE is an organization that believes highly in the resourcefulness of people. Investing in its people is one of her core values and it is truly admirable. Our work, though challenging, allows individuals to freely express themselves; no idea is too silly to be brought to the table. This is an encouraging work culture because staff feel acknowledged and valued.

Do I still feel overwhelmed? Yes, sometimes. Do I understand the system better? Yes, faster than I envisaged. Am I less reserved? Not exactly. Introversion is my inherent nature, it is not a disability and as a regard does not limit my ability to work with the team, except I work a little more quietly. LOL!

CODE is a youth-led Organisation with vibrant a team, irrespective backgrounds, experiences and personalities, who are willing and committed to contributing their own part to achieving the mission of the organisation.

Overall, my experience is one with no destination. Be it four months or two years, my CODEd experience is one that will definitely serve a continual purpose. My boss once told me to “always explore the best of everything life offers you.” That is exactly what I’m doing; EXPLORING!

Impact Assessment: Tracking N569M UBE Spending in Kaduna State

In an effort to address the increasing number of out-of-school children in Nigeria and poor citizen’s participation in government spending, Follow The Money (FTM), recently completed the 3-year project, of Tracking UBE Spending in Kaduna State. FTM ensured that 569 million naira Universal Basic Education funds earmarked for the construction and rehabilitation of facilities in 23 basic schools in Kaduna State was effectively expended. The initiative also enhanced open government in basic education spending.

The project which was supported by the John D and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation under its ON Nigeria project, monitored the implementation of school projects in Kudan, Kajuru, Zangon Kataf and Jema’a Local Government Areas (LGA) of the State, and strengthened the capacity of School Monitoring Teams (SMTs) to effectively provide oversight on basic education spending in the state.

More highlights:

• Tracked NGN 569,579,737.83 (USD 1.5 million)
• Strengthened the capacity of school monitoring agents
• Monitored project implementation across 23 schools in 20 communities.
• Presented the needs assessment report conducted for 609 schools in Kaduna to the Acting Governor of Kaduna, Dr. Balarabe.Channeled project implementation reports to Kaduna SUBEB (Kad-SUBEB) for redressal.
• Enhanced citizens’ engagement in basic education spending 
• Over 200,000 lives impacted and 1.4 million media reach.

Click here to download the full report.

Tracking-UBE-Spending-in-Kaduna

By Kevwe Oghide

The Dawn of a New Day

On the 23^rd of September 2020, the women of Obodo-Ugwa, Delta State, took their seats comfortably for the first time at the Community Development Committee (CDC) meeting where issues of rural governance and development were deliberated.

Up until that day, men dominated these meetings and made social & economic decisions on behalf of women. The culture and tradition forbade women from joining meetings that men presided over. If women had concerns, they were expected to tell their husbands or male representatives in the household. Discussing these concerns at community development meetings now comes at the discretion of the male representatives, otherwise women’s opinions and challenges never saw the light of day.

Profiling Obodo-Ugwa

Obodo Ugwa Ogume is a small village with a population of about 4000 people in Ndokwa West Local Government Area of Delta State that produces oil, making it an attraction to Oil and Gas companies. Since it is an oil exploration site, it goes without saying that it’s also a location where gas is flared—a menace that has heightened environmental degradation, caused ill health, poisoned water, polluted farm crops and worse, adversely impacted the fragile phenomenon of the village.

Not only is the livelihood of villagers thwarted but despite being a huge contributor to the Nigerian Economy and an enricher of the pockets of Oil & Gas executives, Obodo- Ugwa has also been denied structural development.

The people of Obodo-Ugwa can be classified as marginalised, vulnerable people whose voices have been ignored and their human rights violated.

Conflict & Fragility Issues: How OXFAM and CODE are changing the status quo

OXFAM Nigeria and Connected Development, two not-for-profit Organisations, kicked-off a Conflict and Fragility Project in the Oil region of Delta State to advocate for the responsiveness of Oil companies to host communities. The campaign addressed the risks associated with the lack of adherence to business principles of operations by actors in the Oil & Gas value chain while engaging with host communities in the Niger-Delta. This often results in conflict and fragility issues. 

The campaign envisioned an improved adherence to business principles as contained in the United Nations Guiding Principles [UNGP]. This adherence seeks to improve human rights practices and corporate social responsibility of operators in the oil and gas sector towards their host communities. It urges commodity traders to operate in an accountable, transparent and human-rights-sensitive manner. This can significantly ensure that a mutually beneficial relationship between oil firms and host communities exists.

One of the outcomes of the campaign was to stimulate gender inclusion in local extractive governance to spur an inclusive and effective community development. CODE & OXFAM, known for their advancement of the causes of women’s rights, accelerated action to advocate for gender inclusion in Obodo-Ugwa.

Women Participation and Community Development

Things are starting to look up for Obodo-Ugwa. OXFAM and CODE, on different occasions, organised town hall meetings and advocacy calls where key stakeholders from the Oil & Gas sector such as regulators and oil explorers and community chiefs and leaders deliberated on a way forward.

Recognising the importance of promoting inclusiveness, CODE and OXFAM further intensified efforts to advocate gender inclusion and gender-responsive public services in the community so that women can have a place in local governance structures. Gender inclusion and women participation in communities should be beyond primitive gender role of caring for just the home and family. Women should be empowered to actively participate in politics, economy, social and cultural aspects of life. For women to be able to fully exercise their human rights, gender perspectives have to be mainstreamed in all inclusive social policies.

2 weeks before the inauguration of a new community development committee, CODE’s Programs Associate, Onyekachi Onuoha received a call from the Chairman of the CDC, inviting CODE to witness the result of its advocacy. Community elders now seek to include women in CDC meetings and have women take up executive roles.

Here we are at Obodo-Ugwa witnessing a first-of-its-kind where there is a female vice president of the CDC and a female Finance head. The recognition of women’s participation will have far-reaching impacts in building the community into an inclusive society.

Although traditional norms and value systems in rural areas especially are still limiting the participation of women in community development, CODE, during its advocacy activities in grassroots communities often mainstreams gender-responsiveness and gender equality in its interactions and engagements to ensure communities are informed of the importance of including women in decision-making processes.

Testimonies

“Women do not sit with men at village meetings except when they are summoned. This is a dream come true! Seeing my fellow women as not just members but executives on the Community Development Committee gives me joy! Ehn ehn, now we can say what our needs are without discussing first with our husbands. The village market that they are building was because women complained of long-distance travel to buy food items. I am glad this happened in my time.,” Obodo Ugwa resident, Veronica Obi, beamed.

“This is the first time in the history of the Obodo Ugwa CDC that women will be allowed to participate- not only that- quantum progress has been recorded because 3 women were also added to the CDC executive board- a vice president, a women leader and the CDC Secretary.” – CDC Chairman, Anslem Oyibo.

“Women have now been given management roles. They will oversee the market building and the school completion. They get to make decisions on behalf of the village. This has never happened. I am glad to witness it.” — Community Chief, Chief Friday Okoro.

“We are happy about this development. Look around, women and men were equally represented in this committee. We now have to prove our responsibility. I have plans to request the provision of loan and grants to support women’s initiative. I hope to see that happen. There is so much we can do and conquer.” CDC Vice chairman, Patricia Oluomo stated.

-Onyekachi Onuoha PhD

Nigeria has explored oil resources for over six decades. Petroleum resources provide over 90% of Nigeria’s export revenue and has remained the largest industry of the economy in terms of revenue generation. Apparently, the indicators of the Nigerian budget are predominantly drawn from the anticipated cost of a barrel of crude oil and our production capacity. A number of laws and regulations exist in different dimensions to regulate what happens in the industry, though many of them are now very obsolete. It is interesting to note that there is no robust, comprehensive and omnibus Act in the Petroleum sector to provide the requisite regulation of the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors of the petroleum industry. This is the gap that  the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) seeks to achieve. The Bill addresses regulatory loopholes in the industry, allowing for improved governance and regulation spectrum, improved exploration environment also beneficial to host communities, infrastructural development of these communities, and enhanced fiscal returns, among others. 

The passage of the PIB is expected to drive reforms by strengthening governance institutions, establish a strong regulatory framework, ensure transparency and accountability in oil and gas resource management and promote sustainable development. Amazingly, the PIB has been one of the longest existing bills in the Nigerian legislative history as it has been an ongoing conversation in the last 20 years. In the 8th national Assembly the bill was disaggregated into four bills. Three of the four were not passed by the National Assembly while only one which was the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill was passed but  denied assent by President Muhammadu Buhari. 

The long delay in the passage of the bill is caused by the vested interest of various stakeholders including the regulators (powers and responsibility), operators and oil marketers (Royalty and fiscal issues), host and impacted communities (environmental issues, developmental funding, etc). It must be noted that these differences cannot be holistically settled, a stakeholder parley is essential for finding a common ground. A further delay of the passage of the PIB is far from being an option as the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) had stated that Nigeria recorded losses to the tune of $200 billion for failing to pass the bill. 

In view of the overarching benefits of the bill, a number of civil society organizations including Connected Development (CODE), FOSTER, OXFAM, BudgIT, CISLAC, Centre LSD among others have increased advocacy for the reintroduction of the bill and recently the bill has now been reintroduced into the national Assembly as an executive bill following this advocacy that seeks a participatory and speedy process. In order to make the process more participatory, a public hearing on the bill was scheduled for the 27th and 28th of January, 2021 for cogent inputs by all stakeholder.  

In the midst of the expectation of passage and assent to the bill, there are clear observations;

The Expectations of the Petroleum Industry Bill

The Petroleum Industry Bill is expected to repeal upto 17 Acts and provide a new framework for natural resource governance especially in the petroleum industry.  The bill proposes the creation of the Nigeria Upstream Regulatory Commission (The Commission) which will act as the regulator of the upstream sector and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (The Authority) functioning as the regulator of the midstream and downstream sectors of the petroleum industry. It is anticipated that the creation of the Commission and the Authority will provide better enforcement of standards to streamline inter agencies’ responsibility. 

The recommended replacement of NNPC with NNPC Limited seems to be a good step to make it more efficient strictly as an operator with no form of regulatory role directly or indirectly. The introduction of Environmental Remediation Fund as a condition for the grant of license and prior to the approval of environmental Management plan is very commendable, though the approach is not inclusive of host communities.

The prohibition of flaring or venting of natural gas with fines not subject to tax deduction appear attractive to discourage gas flaring however there are stipulated exceptions for condoling gas flaring. The Host Community Development Trust requires oil operators (settlers) to contribute 2.5% of their actual operating expenditure yet this has been defaulted, worse, host communities have become mere spectators. 

It is very interesting to note that the price fixing powers of the Minister of Petroleum Resources no longer exist under the PIB 2020 which suggests a progressive move towards full and honest deregulation of the downstream sector. The powers of the minister to grant and revoke prospecting licences and Mining Leases exercisable solely by the Minister can only be done under the PIB by the recommendation of the Commission. This has the tendency of promoting due process and forestalling corrupt practices similar to the Malabu Scandal.

Effect of the Passage of the PIB on the Petroleum Downstream Sector

The PIB will have a far reaching effect on the downstream sector.

1. The removal of the powers of the Minister of Petroleum Resources in the PIB from fixing prices of petroleum products suggests an end to at least petroleum import subsidy regime. 

2. The PIB passage is likely to provide the much needed legislative framework for a compressive deregulation of the petroleum downstream sector.

3. The PIB will increase the appetite of oil marketers  to invest in the digitalisation of their vital downstream assets.

4. In line with the proposed establishment of “The Authority” to take charge of the regulation of only the midstream and downstream sector, “The Authority” should be more responsive in discharging its duties and strengthening regulations.

Concerns of the Petroleum Industry Bill 

There are several concerns of the Petroleum Industry Bill which have been highlighted by various stakeholders. These areas of concerns include;

Host Community Development Trust: In establishing and registering the Trust, there is no reference at all to communities. The job of identifying who a host community is, lies with the oil company (Settlor). Why not the federal and state government? This has a potential for conflict?

The Holder (oil and Gas Company) selects members of the Board of Trustees (There is no provision or requirement for appointing locals or members of the host communities which means the lack of participation). The implication of this is that it places the power and the mandate for the development of oil producing communities in the hands of the oil companies, allowing the government to abdicate their responsibility. This could create additional grounds for conflict.

The Board of Trustees establishes a Management Committee which is required to have only one community representative who shall be a non-executive member of the management committee. This is gross under-representation for the host community

Forfeiture of contribution to the Host Community Trust Fund: Section 257 (2)- forfeiture of contribution to the Host Community Trust Fund as a result of vandalism, sabotage or other civil unrest. There should be a clause to indicate that such vandalism, sabotage or other civil unrest were caused by the host community as established by the commission. It should therefore be re-written thus;

“Where in any year, an act of vandalism, sabotage or other civil unrest caused by the host community as established by the commission which occurs that causes damage to petroleum and designated facilities or disrupts production activities within the host community, the community shall forfeit its entitlement to the extent of the cost of repairs of the damage that resulted from the activity with respect to the provisions of this Act within that financial year”.

Application of the New Fiscal regime: The new fiscal regime would not apply to the companies already in operation until the renewal of the existing Oil mining Leases (OMLs) and Oil Production Licenses (OPL) or the execution of a new one. The state of affairs in the country requires that the current licenses would be made subject to the PIB when passed rather than remaining under the obsolete PPT Act.

Host Community Needs Assessment: The holder (Oil and gas Company) carries out needs assessment of needs for communities. This is a recipe for conflict especially where there are conflicting needs.  While the needs assessment is required to have an ‘environmental perspective’ the details show only interest in benefit transfers and not environmental protection.

Flare Gas Data Log: The PIB as it is, does not necessarily recommend commensurate punishment for flare gas data log offenders. It merely recommends a fine of extra $2.50(US Dollars) per 28.317 standard cubic meters for an offender who is found guilty of supplying false data or fails to supply such data. This recommended fine is by all standards marginally low.

Gas Flaring: The provision for gas flaring in the bill is still very small when compared to the impact of the offence on the environment and lives of people. This implies that the provision prefers the payment of fines to a demand to end flaring. Obviously, the operators will still prefer to flare gas and factor in the penalty as a component of their operating cost as it were. 

Licence and Lease: A licence or lease may be granted under this Act only to a company incorporated and validly existing in Nigeria under the Companies and Allied Matters Act. We need to add here that; companies who sub-let such rights or contract to other non-registered companies in any of its value chain will be liable to forfeiture of their licenses.

Gas Utilisation Incentive: Companies operating in this sector should be ineligible for pioneers status incentives (PSI), which confers the benefits of a tax holiday (amongst others), the associated cost and administrative inconvenience of processing the PSI may make the Gas Utilisation Incentive (GUI) more attractive.

CSOs must take the responsibility of critically studying the PIB to identify all the areas of concerns of all the stakeholders so that their expectations are aptly captured in the PIB and all stakeholders have commitment to the bill. Although many CSOs have worked tirelessly on the PIB and t have been stretched over the years especially because of the delay of the bill, we must find new strength; we all need to see it passed. We must stay focused and follow the bill through at the National Assembly so that we don’t sacrifice quality at the altar of speed.

The passage of the bill is a great step in the right direction for the requisite reform of the petroleum industry, however when it is passed and assented to, ensuring comprehensive implementation is imperative to take care of the governance spectrum, environmental issues and fiscal matters in the industry.

Onuoha, Onyekachi Chibueze PhD

Reflecting on the Resilience and Impact of Our Grassroots Community Champions

Dear CODE and Follow The Money Friends

As we close the curtain on 2020, I have been reflecting on what can only be described as a historic year, tested in many ways, filled with anxiety and certainly unimaginable. 
 

Resilience

Since my communication with you in March about tackling the pandemic, our grassroots champions have continued to step up on behalf of the communities we serve. The Follow The Money team seeks to strengthen accountability measures for N187 million COVID-19 intervention funds, despite the vagueness of the government on emergency procurement processes. Some highlights of our #FollowCOVID19Money campaign are; 

• Increased citizens participation in demanding government accountability
• Government’s immediate response to update emergency procurement policies
• Increased public awareness of confirmed COVID-19 donations amongst citizens
• Increased citizen-government interaction through social media

Although rejected and threatened, our grassroots champions remained dogged in tracking COVID palliatives distribution across Local Governments Areas in Nigeria, Liberia, The Gambia, Kenya, Cameroon, South Sudan and Malawi observing how food items and relief materials got to the most poorest and vulnerable while reporting irregularities in the distribution patterns to the authorities and the public. In the midst of our work, some of the staff and I came down with the virus and defeated it. I do not assure that the pandemic will, by some miracle, vanish in a few weeks, months and even years, but resilience is a key ingredient that each one of us will need to thrive in 2021.

Commitment

Our commitment to ensure grassroots communities access basic amenities fuels our passion to deliver on this vision. During the course of the year, we saw all our engagements through the lens of COVID-19, structuring our work to tackle financial leakages, mismanagement of funds and advocating for social justice in fragile communities so these people can access clean water, timely education, proper healthcare and all-round improved public services.

We were certain that the current COVID-19 health emergency was worsening gender inequalities with longer-term gender impacts. Our team demanded an end to sexual and gender-based violence, and assessed the impact of COVID19 on girls’ education in Nigeria. We were glad women at Obodo-Ugwa, Delta State, can not only sit at the table but also lead, following our call for gender equality. In the same vein, CODE joined millions of Nigerian youths to decry and protest police brutality, and advocated that the anti-social media bill be tossed.  

Commitment to the work that we do will continue to be a driving force in achieving a more just and safe world.
 

Hope

When I look back at how extraordinary 2020 has been, the most important thing for me as Chief Executive, is the validation of the powerful culture here at CODE, an Organization I founded in 2012 driven by the compelling vision and rigour of young people to change the world. On a personal level, I am expanding my  focus on building a broader fiscal accountability mechanism across Africa working closely with allies who believe in this important vision, as we must now leave a legacy of an independent fiscal accountability infrastructure, that will outlive us, and also when I am no longer an active player in the civil society space.

This year, we completed the 3-year tracking of $1.3million education spending in Kaduna State, significantly reducing the number of out-of-school children in the State. We were elated to see that the Niger State Government assented to the WASH bill that would ensure residents can assess better water & sanitation services. The Follow The Money team also kicked off Freedom of Information (FOI) Drive, fostering strategic partnerships for sustained development and strengthened capacities of community stakeholders, government officials to better increase trust in public institutions.
 

These remarkable results continue to give me hope in our collective strength and power to defeat the challenges that the pandemic may have posed. This year has witnessed immeasurable loss and although recovery will be slow, we remain hopeful that with the abundance of creativity and passion that exists within the development space, I trust that we will discover great opportunities to combat the seeming challenge for a lasting positive change. We have equally seen these optimism demonstrated in our daily interactions with communities and our friends at the grassroots.

We march on to 2021 with good cheers, as we  take lessons learnt and best practices to strengthen our work, build robust systems and enhance our processes for trustees, management and staff. 

I thank our donors: ActionAid Nigeria, Canadian High Commission, ChristianAid, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, OXFAM Nigeria, Malala Fund, USAID EWASH,  OXFAM Novib, Heinrich Bolls Foundation, Ford Foundation, Luminate, UN Women (UN Spotlight Initiative), Skoll Foundation, and many other helpful institutions and YOU our community for your unswerving support in empowering grassroots rural communities in Nigeria and Africa. I thank the amazing CODE & Follow The Money team for their resilience, commitment and hope all through the year.

May 2021 bring better possibilities, good health and fortune.
Sincerely,
Hamzat Lawal
Founder, CODE & Follow The Money