Kate Mamuno, Honourable member of the Adamawa State House of Assembly representing Demsa constituency, has been decorated as Connected Development (CODE)’s education ambassador following her expressed commitment to promoting gender equality and girl-child education in the State. 

The honourable member who is also the Chairman House Committee on Women Affairs and Social Development/ Finance, Appropriation and Budget, vowed to the cause during an official meeting with delegates from CODE, led by the Chief Executive and Malala Fund Education Champion, Hamzat Lawal, on August 24, at the Adamawa State House of Assembly. 

Commending her dedication to social development, Lawal in an introductory statement, acknowledged Mamuno for being a role model and a team player in advancing the rights of women and girls to education and a better life. 

In crowning her efforts and rewarding her reiterated commitment, Lawal, assisted by the project lead, Zaliha Lawal, honoured Mamuno with a sash indicating the dawn of her ambassadorship and a newly forged path towards improving the state of education in the North-East, focusing on Adamawa State.

During the peak of COVID-19, CODE conducted a study on the impact of the pandemic on Girl-child Education in the North-East and found a high prevalence of early girl-child marriage and out-of-school children in Adamawa state. This propelled the organization’s strategy and intervention towards developing the state of education as well as initiating policy to increase school re-enrollment, especially for the girl-child in the State. 

Plugging into the grind, Honourable Mamuno voiced her eagerness to serve and beckoned on the organization to not relent in ensuring every child is educated, adding that she would need all the help she can to develop an adoptable Child Rights Bill that guarantees the safety of the girl-child.

Notably, Mamuno, was instrumental to the domestication of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act in Adamawa, imprinting her commitment towards working to eradicate violence against women and children. In her new role as CODE’s ambassador, she looks to not only stop violence against women and girls but also ensure they are well-educated and are empowered to thrive in the society. 

CODE is a Non-Governmental Organization, on a mission to improve citizen’s access to credible information and empower local communities in Africa. It achieves this by amplifying their voices and building their capacity to hold their government accountable.

Its Follow The Money initiative advocates and tracks government/international aid spending in health, WASH, and education across grassroots rural communities to ensure and promote open government and service delivery. Since 2012, CODE has tracked an estimate of USD 307.6 million (in budgeted sums for projects) across 257 communities in Nigeria, improving over 4.8 million rural lives.

BeyGOOD Global Citizens Fellowship has appointed leading social accountability activist and one of Africa’s most influential leaders in youth development, Hamzat Lawal, on the advisory council for the 2021 Global Citizen Fellowship Program. 

The Global Citizen Fellowship Program, powered by the world renowned singer, Beyoncé Knowles Carter’s Charity, BeyGOOD, and financially supported by award-winning American actor and filmmaker, Tyler Perry, is an initiative aimed at unearthing the remarkable potential and talent within African Youths.

According to a statement on the Global Citizen website, “we’re happy to announce an advisory council made up of incredible young leaders from both Nigeria and South Africa whose experience and creativity will help to take the Fellowship Program to the next level. The Advisory Council board will assist in providing insights to break new ground and guide the execution team on meaningful pathways to develop the 2021-2022 Fellows”. 

Expressing excitement about the appointment, Lawal says; “I am truly honoured to be a member of the advisory council. My experience working with young people across Africa will enable me to guide and inspire the selected fellows to achieve the fellowship’s mission of empowering young people with skills that will help them shape policies that will alleviate poverty while being active citizens.”

The Advisory Council board which includes 2 Nigerian advocates— Hamzat Lawal and Aisha Yesufu and 3 South African youth advocates—Bonang Matheba, Charmaine Houvet, Nozipho Tshabalala and Tumi Sole;  will provide insights to break new ground and guide the execution team on meaningful pathways to develop the 2021-2022 Fellows. 

The Global Citizens Fellowship Program is committed to advancing innovations of black youth. Beyoncé has enrolled ten promising young South Africans and five Nigerians to the Global Citizen Fellowship Program. The Program is aligned to Global Citizen’s vision of eliminating extreme poverty by 2030.

In the wake of the recently passed Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) by the House of Senate, fiscal transparency CSOs, Connected Development (CODE) and OXFAM Nigeria, have raised concerns over key issues in the reviewed bill, especially the marginalization of host communities where oil is explored.

According to CODE, the reviewed PIB did not sufficiently address the grey areas affecting host communities and has stripped the oil regions of the management, governance and administration of issues that affect them directly. The bill suggests that the constitution of the host communities development trust shall contain provisions mandating the management committee to set up an advisory committee (“host community advisory committee”), which shall contain at least one member of each host community. CODE believes that this is grossly inadequate and advises that the membership of the host community advisory committee should have at least 50% representation from the host communities. 

CODE notes that the lack of adequate representation of the host communities in the advisory committee is an unfair approach that limits the ability of the Trust to fully develop needs assessment and development plans that can only be designed by the people in the community themselves. 

Expressing displeasure, CODE’s Lead on natural resource governance and the extractives, Dr Onyekachi Onuoha, noted that restricting host communities’ sense of ownership as pointed out in the gaps in the bill, would  fuel agitation in the region as it shows a blatant disregard for the needs and priorities of the people that are the worst hit by the impact of oil exploration. “The Senate is dashing the hopes of people directly affected by oil pollution, terminated livelihoods and underdevelopment caused by environmental degradation and other disasters occasioned by oil spills in the Niger-delta region,” Onyekachi added.

To worsen matters, the draft PIB proposed 2.5% of the annual operating expenditure of the Settlor (operator of an oil licence) to fund development in the area. Although the House of Representatives recommended 5% for settlors operating in the upstream and 2% for the settlors in the midstream and downstream sectors, lawmaker Sani Kaita from Katsina moved an amendment for it to be reduced to 3%, which the senate has adopted.

In addition to the call by the Deputy President of the Senate, Ovie Omo- Agege, for the funds from gas flaring penalties to be channelled towards developing affected communities, CODE & OXFAM urge the Senate to rethink the grey areas highlighted and promote a greater sense of ownership that is acceptable and fair to the host communities.

Connected Development [CODE] in partnership with OXFAM since 2018, have driven a campaign in the Niger-Delta region of Nigeria that raises awareness on improving accountability and transparency in the dealings between host communities, oil and gas companies, and the government, particularly to address challenges relating to the negative impact of the business operations of the extractive sector in these host communities, which usually has a causal relationship with conflict and fragility.

In a bid to provide African citizens with access to evidence on COVID resources, leading social accountability initiatives, Follow The Money and BudgIT, with learning partners Global Integrity, have launched a comprehensive user-friendly COVID-19 Fund Africa website as part of the COVID-19 Transparency & Accountability Project (CTAP).

The COVID Africa Tracking website has flexible navigation and functionality that allows visitors to access all data on COVID in Africa, including intervention resources, funds allocations, palliative distributions, accurate number of cases, data on COVID funds, vaccine management and government’s responsiveness.

“Our primary goal for designing the website is to improve citizens’ use of data for advocacy and government engagement in a manner that promotes transparency, accountability and open governance,” Follow The Money Founder, Hamzat Lawal, said.

The website currently displays information on $51.05B resources committed to COVID-19 across Africa, $5.08B In-Kind Donation as well as over 2,532 COVID Datasets across Africa. Published resources featured on the website analyse post-COVID economic environment and its impact on marginalized communities.

“In tracking government’s level of responsiveness,  we have shown, through data on the CTAP website, overarching issues such as discrepancies in palliatives and cash transfer distributions, substandard healthcare compounded by the pandemic, disintegration of COVID data, vague procurement processes and blatant corruption by government officials.” BudgIT’s Chief Executive, Gabriel Okeowo added.

The COVID tracking site also featured COVID analysis and research resources for seven focus countries: Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Cameroon and Nigeria. It highlights COVID status in these countries and also features knowledge centres on human angle stories curated from citizens across the countries. Built with a focus on user’s experience, the one-stop website (https://www.covidfund.africa/) has some of these attributes;

• Live Updates on COVID data on a daily basis from all over Africa.
• Data Display to provide face-level information on the total number of COVID fund allocation to Africa and COVID cases.
• Resource Filters which allows citizens to easily narrow down to the country or specific resource portfolio by clicking the African country they would like data on.
• Research and Papers on COVID tracking and government’s responsiveness in Africa.
• Rapid Response Functionality allowing the site to be compatible with all browsers and mobile devices.

Under CTAP, the 3 CSOs seek to advocate and collaborate with governments in Africa to provide and institute proper accountability measures for all financial and material donations received. Since it kicked off 8 months ago, the project has inspired increased citizen engagement with issues of government’s transparency and accountability and  a zero-tolerance for corruption in some countries. A case in point is the termination of public officials in Liberia for the misappropriation of COVID funds.

Overarching insights;

1. Weak transparency and poor government accountability impede the implementation of standard policies. This is evident in the inability of social accountability activists to access accurate data of funds received and disbursed by their government to tackle the pandemic.
2. Citizens’ apathy as a result of distrust in government. Citizen participation could have augmented the impact of certain relief packages such as the food packages which could have targeted the most vulnerable in society, including women, the disabled and the aged. Several sources at the local assembly level revealed to the CTAP team that the very poorest in their communities did not benefit from initiatives that were broadly distributed.
3. As a result of leveraging the media to amplify discoveries of misappropriations, embezzlements, and lack of preparedness by the government and institutions, there was an increased response to citizens’ demands for accountability.

In view of these highlights, the CSOs urge citizens to utilise the new COVIDAfrica platform to access data that they need to engage with their governments.

“We believe this is also an opportunity for African governments to improve communication with citizens and adopt progressive governance mechanisms in advancing transparency and accountability and regaining citizens’ trust”, Onigbinde added.

Social Accountability CSOs in these countries are aligning in their mission to hold their respective governments to account, mobilize citizens for social change, counter fake news and misinformation while using digital tools to engage with government accountability issues.

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Footnotes:

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Top findings from 7 African Countries;

Liberia

1. The research conducted in Margibi County on the stimulus package for private schools’ teachers revealed  that only 15% of teachers in the private schools received their shares of the $1 million, while 85% of the participants did not receive their shares of the $1 million budgetary allocation for private schools’ teachers in the 2020/2021 national budget.
2. The emergency standard operating procedure under sub-section seven (7) states that COVID-19 funds should be operated in dual currency and a separate bank account either at the central bank or commercial and will be managed under six (6) signatories from MOH & NPHIL Office. However, we observed that COVID-19 funds totaling USD750, 000 and a cash donation of USD246, 300 has been mixed up with the Ministry of Health’s operation account at the Central Bank of Liberia.

Nigeria:

1. Conditions of primary healthcare centres have further deteriorated during the pandemic. In a recent research conducted by the CTAP team in fifteen states, a significant number of PHCs fall below the minimum PHC standard set by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), with their grossly dilapidated infrastructure, poor and inadequate staffing, and incapacity to administer vaccines.
2. Corruption in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) that involved allocation of funds to combat COVID dated before COVID-19 happened.

Kenya

1. The Auditor General’s special report on Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (KEMSA), revealed that, the following procurement procedures and processes were violated:
2. Utilization of unbudgeted funds- according to the special report, Ksh.4.66 billion was allocated for Universal Health coverage (UHC) when actual cost should have been Ksh.2.9 billion.

• The Ministry of Health (MoH) allocated KEMSA Ksh. 13.04 billion and the actual expenditure amounted to Ksh.8.52 billion. However, the special audit report notes conflicting information as National treasury notes that Ksh.4.82 billion to MoH for Covid-19 related expenditure at KEMSA.

Cameroon

1. The FCFA 180 billion (US$335.24 million) granted to the National Solidarity Fund and the additional contributions, donations and financial gifts received by the Government are clouded by a hail of corruption allegations, as the health sector struggles to keep workers motivated and secure, and to grant access to COVID 19 related services to the public.
2. The government has not carried out any formal audits and there are no open contracting platforms. Access to information remains a challenge. In terms of overarching transparency architecture in Cameroon, the existence and use of military ordinances and decrees in administering funds casts a cloud of opacity and works to suppress public opinion formation on accountability

Sierra Leone

1. The Ministry of Health and Sanitation officials expended Le5.22m ($475), allocated for COVID-19 response on the procurement of personal gadgets such as Apple airpods, JBL Bluetooth Speakers and Headsets.
2. During the Audit exercise, we observed that Le2.1bn ($191,414 ) was paid to an unidentified NaCOVERC Staff/Consultants. Further, procurement carried out by some MDAs were not only highly inflated, but also awarded to middlemen who know nothing about the goods and services.

Ghana

1. Irregularities in the procurement of antigen testing kits which cost $150 per kit, to be conducted at the Kotoka International Airport. The contract between the Ghana Airport Company and Frontier Health Service stipulated that an amount of $10 would be paid to the former with the latter taking $140. This constituted an uncannily lucrative deal for the testing company especially since the company was incorporated just days before the contract was awarded and had not registered with the PPA. Furthermore, some state agencies were bypassed in the awarding of the contract.

Malawi

1. Lack of preparedness by the Department of Disaster Management affairs in the way they disbursed funds without proper orientation of controlling officers. The Malawian experience seems to have a core problem of not just transparency and accountability but also prioritisation and management, despite the existence of the procedures in writing.
2. Despite allocation of huge sums of money through the Ministry of Education and District Councils, there was less to show as to what the funds have been used for. The Malawian CTAP research documented evidence that COVID-19 funds were “marred by incidences of abuse, maladministration, fraud and misplaced priorities.

Infographics: Eighty Percent of PHCs in 15 States Do Not Meet NPHCDA Standard, Unfit for COVID19 Vaccination — CODE

As Nigeria continues to battle COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 166,730 cases and 2,117 deaths already recorded, only 20 percent of the Primary Health Care Centres in fifteen states are functional, research investigations and tracking conducted by leading Civil Society Organisation, CODE has revealed.

Nigeria’s health sector has struggled to meet up with modern standards in terms of quality, efficiency, and accessibility to its vast population. With the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, the wide devastating gaps in the health system became more pronounced, as citizens at rural and semi-urban communities particularly grappled with poor healthcare amidst a pandemic.

In March 2021, Nigeria received 3.92 million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines, the first trench of the expected 16 million doses, according to an announcement made by the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Faisal Shuaib.

Concerned by the condition of the Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) where average citizens receive treatment, and where COVID vaccines would be stored and administered, CODE through its social accountability initiative, Follow The Money, commenced tracking the distribution of these vaccines and assessed the preparedness as well as the quality of Primary Healthcare Centres across the country to receive and administer the vaccines at the community level.

This research was birthed as part of the objectives of the COVID-19 Transparency and Accountability project supported by Conrad Hilton Foundation and Skoll Foundation, currently being implemented by Follow The Money, BudgIT Foundation and Global Integrity across 7 African countries to assess government’s transparency & accountability in the management of COVID intervention funds and support to citizens.

Follow The Money champions in 15 states – Cross River, Yobe, Bauchi, Gombe, Taraba, Abia, Anambra, Imo, Ebonyi, Benue, Kogi, Nasarawa, Plateau, Kebbi, Osun – across the 6 geopolitical zones of Nigeria, assessed the readiness of 90 PHCs to receive, store and effectively administer vaccines with the purpose to equally drive quality standardisation of PHCs in Nigeria.

Download the full report.

State-of-PHC-in-Nigeria

CODE Holds Management Retreat to Enhance Corporate Vision

During its management retreat, CODE made deliberations and endorsed new policies to improve its internal structures and strengthen corporate vision.

The exercise, which held on Friday, May 21, 2021 during a four-day management and trustees meeting also witnessed the amendment and ratification of other relevant policies to realign with the mission of the organisation.

The assessment was conducted by the Lagos Business School (LBS), scrutinised the organisational structure including the relationship between the management and board members and reviewed corporate governance gaps and financial crisis that rocked the organisation in 2019, coupled with the impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that shutdown many socio-economic activity globally in 2020.

Papers were presented on the state and strategic plan of the organisation as well as the 21^st century role of non-profit board of trustees and management towards organisational efficiency, productivity and social impact.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CODE, Hamzat Lawal, while shedding light on some of these challenges that made his corporation to adopt the new policy, said the report revealed that there was need to reposition the corporate outlook of his establishment. “As much as we were excited about our work and we thought everything was fine,” Lawal said, “but that assessment and some of its key findings showed that we needed to fix some things if we have to scale-up and grow in our next phase.”

The group’s helmsman disclosed that the summit was organised to bring the management staffs and board members together to bond and brainstorm on how best to direct affairs of the organisation. He told the participants that the many setbacks that CODE faced in the past few years actually fortified and took the organisation to its current height of success and fulfilment.

“In 2019,” according to him, “we encountered serious governance issues and at that time for us we thought that would have been the end of our organisation because we were not operating with best practices.”

However, he clarified that with support from the LBS and commitment from board members who worked tirelessly in reshaping the organisational corporate policies, CODE was able to come back stronger with one of the best financial systems across the continent.

Acting chairman of the organisation, Anthony Agbor, while giving his remarks at the event, thanked the participants for their loyalty and commitment in engaging grass roots communities especially during the COVID-19 saga that almost crippled all human activities.

He urged the team to maintain its focus knowing that the future of Nigeria and the continent rest on the activities of the organisation. “We should not relent in our commitment to reach out to the grass roots and empower them to see reasons to rebuild the focus of this country and get us back on the part of glory,” Agbor submitted.

Insecurity, Child Abductions and the State of Education in Nigeria’s North

Following the rising cases of insecurity and abduction of school children, CODE, in partnership with the Malala Fund organises a webinar to discuss the threat of insecurity on girl-child education and solutions that can be charted.

Insecurity continues to be one of the deadly menaces plaguing Nigeria.

In recent times, there has been an increase in kidnapping and banditry, posing a grievous threat to national security and economic development. Not only has this adversely affected our National image but has also eaten deep into every fabric and segment of the Nation.

Not too far from this is the spate of abduction of school children in recent times. Mass kidnappings of school girls and boys at schools in the North-East & North-West Nigeria began 7 years ago and have become a frequent phenomenon in the past couple of months, carried out by acclaimed bandits who have turned this menace into money-making ventures. This form of brazen terrorism has unfortunately not been met with the level of aggression that is needed to address the severity of a recurring crime of this kind.

Since 2014, according to several news reports, there have been over a thousand student kidnappings. These crimes have been targeted at underaged school children who are often made vulnerable by poor security infrastructure and negligence on the part of the state and federal government. 

The Safe Schools Initiative: A Tale of Corruption and Incompetence

In recent times, the public has begun to recall the genesis of the spate of school kidnappings in the town of Chibok in north-eastern Borno state. 276 girls were kidnapped in April 2014 and 112 of them are still missing.

The Safe Schools Initiative (SSI), a $30m plan to improve security in schools, was launched in 2015 to bolster security at schools. The plan was backed by UK’s former Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, along with UN agencies, the Nigerian government and private business leaders.

However, SSI has failed to stop abductions and protect children and like many ambitious government projects, suffered the usual fate of corruption. After several years, 500 schools have not been protected, the classrooms have not been built and the Chibok school is still closed.

According to a BBC report, “a former high-ranking member of the government, Babachir Lawal, whose office had access to the SSI fund, is currently on trial for allegedly mismanaging 500m naira (£954,000; $1.3m) in contracts awarded for cutting grass. He denies the accusations.” More recently, the trend has accelerated with kidnappings occurring in Dapchi, in north-eastern Yobe state, in February 2018; Kankara, in north-western Katsina state, in December 2020; Kagara, north-central Niger state, in February 2021; Jangebe, north-western Zamfara state, in February 2021 and Kaduna in March 2021.

Matters Arising in Kaduna State

In Kaduna, thirty-nine students went missing after gunmen stormed the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization in Kaduna state overnight on March 11, 2021. At the time, it was the fourth school abduction in northern Nigeria since December. In an ironic turn of events, gunmen seized three teachers from a primary school in northern Nigeria’s Kaduna state in the same month. One can only wonder what is to come if the trend persists. These terrorists are becoming bolder.

The State Authorities assured of improving security infrastructure. Not long after, there were reports of security operatives reportedly foiling an attempt to capture students from a secondary school in the early hours of Sunday, March 15 on the outskirts of Kaduna’s Ikara town. Officials said that 180 students and staff abducted from a college in the state on Thursday were rescued by the army.

CODE Condemns this Menace, Urges Govt to Take Action

Connected Development [CODE] & Malala Fund have described as worrisome and an indictment on our democracy; the spate of abduction of school children in recent times. CODE strongly condemns these atrocious crimes and hereby calls on the government to urgently deploy measures to protect children and ensure schools are safe for learning.

“The psychological and social consequences on parents and guidance are too grievous to describe and the abducted children often have to live with the scar for the rest of their lives” -Hamzat Lawal, Chief Executive of CODE.

CODE continues to advocate for education for young Nigerians, especially the girl-child and through its works has significantly ensured that the number of out-of-school children is reduced.  The abduction of school children who now serve as pawns in the hands of their abductors is a challenge that drastically sets back the work of the government and many organisations to ensure children learn in schools.

The NGOs urge the government to re-strategise its security infrastructure and address the dearth of effective protection of lives and property. The authorities cannot continue to play to the tune of these culprits and reward them with ransoms. State governments and President Mohammadu Buhari must step up measures to tackle this notorious attack before it escalates.

Nigerians must continue to speak against this injustice until the government becomes responsive. The Nigerian Government must awaken to its responsibilities of protecting citizens lives and properties and combat this menace because the target on education is a target on the future of Nigeria.

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Connected Development (CODE) and the Canadian High Commission in Nigeria are calling for an end to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and domestic abuse by encouraging State governments to adopt the Violence against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act, specifically in Kano State. This follows the saddening reports made by the Inspector-General of the Nigerian Police, Mohammed Adamu, that 717 rape cases were recorded in 5 months across the country, marking a spike in SGBV.

The VAPP Act, which clearly outlines laws to tackle violence against women and girls in Nigeria, has still not been implemented in twenty States, five years after its enactment. Most citizens remain unaware of its laws and implications.

In Nigeria, 17% of girls and women between the ages of 15 and 49 have been subjected to sexual or physical violence at least once in their lives. Violence against women and girls has long-lasting and negative health, social and economic effects that can span generations, often leading to cycles of violence within families and communities. It is a pandemic that we must condemn and work towards ending.

According to Canada’s Acting High Commissioner, Nicolas Simard, “Beyond the policies, there is also action. Women do politics differently; women do business differently. If you want to create jobs, you need to create small and medium enterprises. Women participation is vital for every sector to develop.”

‘Although, Kano State has long battled the prevalence of child rape, it is commendable that the State House of Assembly has now passed the Child Rights Act awaiting assent by the Governor. Still, Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, needs to ensure the signing of the Child Rights Act and speedy passage of the VAPP Act and domesticate its policies- that’s a secure way to protect our women and girls from abuse and violence, Chief Executive of CODE, Mallam Hamzat Lawal stated.

CODE, with support from the Canadian High Commission in Nigeria, is working to support the empowerment of vulnerable and marginalized women in Kano State, including those living with disabilities, suffering from HIV/AIDS, and victims of SGBV, by helping them to be catalysts for change by building their capacity to advocate more effectively. This includes using technology platforms to promote respect for women’s rights, advocate for gender-responsiveness in public service delivery, and secure the adoption and implementation of the VAPP Act.

CODE and the Canadian High Commission urges the Nigerian government to establish a comprehensive policy and regulatory framework that guarantees the safety and security of our most vulnerable citizens across the Federation, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Crises can exacerbate existing vulnerabilities and risk factors, leading to an increase in SGBV.

Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy recognizes that supporting gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls is the best way to build a more peaceful, inclusive, and prosperous world. Preventing and responding to all forms of SGBV is a priority for Canada.

Caregivers in rural Adamawa are certain that the girls in their care will not be returning to school due to the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. This was contained in a study report on the Impact of COVID-19 on Girls’ Education in the North-East, recently launched by  Connected Development, in collaboration with the Malala Fund. 

While many of the girls interviewed had doubts that they would be allowed to continue their education, a percentage of girls were certain they would be getting married in a short while. In some cases, cultural and traditional barriers are preventing girls from returning to school: girls may be less preferred to return to school as opposed to their male counterparts due to the male-child preference system. Girls are also more at risk of being married off or undergo female genital mutilation (FGM). 

According to the Chief Executive of CODE and Malala Fund Education Champion, Hamzat Lawal, “The future of our world is a deliberate investment in the younger generation, particularly girls. To educate girls is to empower a nation.” He added that, “Government must proactively set up a gender-responsive plan for school resumption, in the wake of the pandemic.”

Gender-responsive measures include providing more funds for education and ensuring every community has a female secondary school, provision of handwashing points, other WASH facilities, and personal protective equipment. The government also needs to garner and mobilize the support of stakeholders: religious and traditional, community leaders as well as the media to increase sensitization on the importance of girls’ education, Lawal added.

The research further revealed that the pandemic exposed girls to increased shortcomings and challenges that already exist in the education system including sexual harassment linked to gender-based violence, child marriage, harmful norms, inadequate teachers and WASH facilities. These factors also kept a good number of girls out of school pre-COVID.

In assessing the effectiveness of the Learning from Home Programme (LHP), the study showed that only 60% of the teachers were in contact with their students for continuous learning post-pandemic. To worsen matters, only 48% Of the girls interviewed in Adamawa State were aware of the federal government’s LHP and the level of awareness amongst parents which was a meagre 15%. From respondents across Local Government Areas in Adamawa State, only 28% of the girls interviewed participated in the LHP.

Through these findings, the research hopes to advocate for policy adoptions in favour of continuous learning for girls’ amidst school closures. This begins with ensuring that the LHP is effective and inclusive; boosting recovery readiness by putting gender-responsive measures/standards in place for girls safe return to school when schools reopen; effective mechanisms to promote girl-child education; and approaches that should be considered for effective digital learning for girls. 

Other recommendations include tackling the impact of conflict and the insurgency in the region and enabling adequate inclusive planning for vulnerable groups (girls living with disabilities, and girls in internally displaced camps). Ultimately, the sustainable impact will comprise a free and compulsory 12-year education for the girl-child starting from Adamawa state and a reduction in the incidence of early and forced child marriage in focal communities leading to an increase in girls’ secondary education enrolment, retention and completion.

Connected Development (CODE), in collaboration with Ford Foundation, is supporting local leaders in  grassroots villages in Rivers State to demand greater accountability for resources allocated to them.

The campaign was borne out of a need to combat pervasive corruption, poor accountability and the negligence of community development all of which have amounted to years of under-development, exposure to hazardous health risks due to oil substance leakages into water supplies and sheer impact of these on livelihoods and the quality of life.

According to CODE’s Senior Programs Manager, Lucy Abagi-James, a huge percentage of Nigeria’s wealth is generated through the oil and gas sector, mainly explored in the Niger-Delta region, yet the condition in these communities is disheartening. The Federal government’s exploitation of natural resources combined with energy companies exploiting the extremely fragile infrastructures and laws has worsened the degradation and destruction of Ogoni land in Rivers State. The incompetence of the Niger-Delta Development Company is further exhibited in the deploring state of host communities.

Leveraging its expertise on community empowerment, grassroots community engagement, CODE will support and foster rural development in Ogoni, Ahoada East, Ahoada West, Onelga, Oyigbo and other local communities in Rivers State who have suffered severe environmental damage, health set-backs and terminated livelihoods as a result of negligence caused by oil exploration.

The civil society organisation will also mobilize community governance structures across the aforementioned communities through the Community Monitoring Teams (CMTs) vehicle and empower them to provide effective public oversight on government spending in their communities for effective service delivery in the education, health and WASH sectors. Through this, the project would facilitate increased citizens participation in government spending and enhanced social accountability in the region, thereby improving access to basic and essential social amenities for selected communities.