CODE’s Chief Executive and Follow the Money Founder, Hamzat Lawal, will be joining thought leaders in Europe to discuss policy formulation, international dependency and solidarity, and vulnerabilities through intersectionality at the 2020 Annual Lisbon Forum.
The event organised by the Council of Europe and tagged Learning from Our Global Challenges: Rebuilding Solidarity, is a distinctive platform for policy makers and activists to deliberate on how the global community can enhance international solidarity so that it becomes an effective tool to overcome the challenges the world is facing currently and to set the basis for a more sustainable and unified future.
Lawal will be speaking alongside the High Representative of the UN Alliance of Civilisations, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, President of the Parliamentary Assembly, Council of Europe, and the Director-General of Democracy, Council of Europe, Snežana Samardžić-Marković, on Thursday 2nd December 2020.
Recall that Follow The Money, emerged winner of the 2019 Council of Europe’s Democracy Innovation Award and was recognised by the Council of Europe as one of the leading ground-breaking initiatives in the world, that are promoting democratic principles.
The award which was presented by the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić, and received by CODE’s Communications Director, Kevwe Oghide in Strasbourg, France, won against 27 brilliant initiatives from across the world. In her remark, Burić noted that Follow The Money had shown exemplary leadership in advancing democratic governance, despite that Nigeria was not a member State of the Council.
Delta state, like neighbouring states in the Niger- Delta riverine region, has had more than its fair share of contention with one of its most contumacious problems: Open Defecation (OD) due to lack of toilets and poor access to clean water. Unfortunately the state government has followed the steps of its predecessors by assuring prompt actions to address the situation, but slow to back up its promises with sustainable solutions.
Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State
In 2019, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa inaugurated the Steering Committee for the Water Supply, Sanitation & Hygiene and passed the State WASH bill to law, but the State WASH System has recorded slow progress in implementing the policies entrenched in the law. Despite an acknowledgement of the deplorable condition of WASH facilities in Delta state by the Deputy Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Hon. Ochor Chris Ochor, no significant step has been taken to improve the quality of access to clean water for thelife of residents in Delta State, especially the rural areas.
A 2018 Water, Sanitation and Hygiene National Outcome Routine Mapping (WASHNORM) data provided by the United Nations reveals that 68 percent of the Nigerian population have access to basic water supply, and progress towards achievement of universal and equitable access to this water supply has been slow. Only 19 per cent of the national population use safely managed sanitation services, 24 per cent are still practicing OD in Nigeria and 30 per cent in rural areas. The minimal access to clean water, Open Defecation and consequently poor hygiene causes diarrhoea that kills children yearly and puts women at precarious health risks.
On the 5th of February 2020, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) signed a $60.4 million Memorandum of Understanding with Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State to improve the management and delivery of Effective Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Services” (E-WASH) services to help residents live healthier lives through reliable access to clean water. The project, closely supervised by Connected Development (CODE), a social accountability Non Governmental organisation will ensure access to clean water and reduce water borne diseases by “strengthening their Water Boards’ capacity to make solid investment decisions, improve billing and collection systems, and ensure greater responsiveness to customer concerns.” (Culled from the US Embassy to Nigeria website).
This partnership is critical as the geographical terrain of the Niger- Delta consists of creeks, rivers and large water bodies. The people of the Niger- Delta and Delta State particularly have built their lives around their physical environment; engaging in commercial activities like fishing; accessing water for household use from the river, and defecating in the same water with hopes that the river carries the faeces away. This thought pattern is quite excusable as the education levels are low with 65% having achieved at most primary education, and income levels correspondingly low. It is estimated that between 50 and 65% live below the poverty level. The complex social environment which has toilet spaces hanging directly above water bodies so that the fecal waste is emptied directly into the river has facilitated an unusually high rate of Open Defecation leading to extreme environmental degradation. Residents who can afford functional water closets are not entirely free from these challenges as the high water level and frequent flooding have the tendency to contaminate their supposedly clean water, making it good enough for only flushing.
Women, Girls, Children and Disabled people are the worst hit when hygiene is not prioritised. Children are exposed to diarrhoea due to unsafe water, while girls and women are not able to fully carry out their daily activities (being in school and going to the workplace especially), as they are forced to stay only in locations where they are most comfortable during their periods, this is usually the home. The disabled are also stuck while trying to use public toilet facilities that were not created with consideration for them.
Addressing the Problem of poor Hygiene through Improved Sanitation Measures and Accountability
Every reform must start from the top, and then cascaded to the people at the grassroot; in the same light, the onus is on the government to put effective measures in place that ensures the availability of functional and clean public toilets, potable water, and hygiene education of its citizens. State WASH apparatus, Rural Water and Sanitation Supply Agency (RUWASSA), LGA WASH departments and units, and community Water Supply, Sanitation And Hygiene Committee (WASHCOMs) must be clearly established and work towards one goal – To sustain better access to Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH).
To show the government’s commitment to partner with the citizens, Community Led Total Sanitation must be prioritised. While this sanitation strategy is broadly used in Nigeria, strengthening it will enable the system to yield maximum dividends. Trained WASH specialists should also be tasked with the coordination of educating communities and capacity-building in the most prone regions, with the purpose of driving behavioural change and hygiene consciousness. Educating members of the community (especially riverine areas) on the dangers of open defecation; and supporting them with adequate facilities and knowledge sharing that encourages them to take the maintenance of the public toilets as their personal responsibility will not only promote the well being of the people, it fosters unity and cooperation among them.
Directly engaging policy makers and stakeholders like USAID and UNICEF and updating civil society organizations (CSOs) like CODE, which is currently tracking the eradication of Open Defecation in Delta State, on the progress recorded on the use of allocated funds will ensure that funds released to tackle poor hygiene are well disbursed.
Prioritising young girls women, children and the disabled while restructuring plans are drafted will address gender parity, increase income opportunities for women, contribute to the overall well being of the family, ensure a progressive girls education, and make for an inclusive society.
A protester holds a placard in front of Nigeria’s National Assembly during a protest on the Hate Speech Bill and Social Media Bill in AbujaCredit: Kola Suleiman/AFP
The current review of the proposed social media bill, sections 5, 12, 13, 24 and 33 reveal a blatant affront by the government to gag citizens and prevent future democratic protests. This development came as a fall-out from the recent #ENDSARS demonstrations that campaigned for the dissolution of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), an end to police brutality, justice for victims of police brutality and accountability of police officers found culpable.
The proposed law is an attempt to undermine the country’s fledgling democracy, one where citizens freely exercise fundamental rights to freedom of expression, speech and the press; freedom of thought, conscience and religion, right to peaceful assembly and association, right to access to justice, and so on. Its adoption will criminalise these rights and empower the Law Enforcement Departments and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to prosecute dissenting voices at will.
If passed into law, the bill will grant the executive arm of the government the discretion to determine what can be termed “false news”. It will criminalise “false” declarations and statements of fact; and sections 3 (iv) and (v) prohibit the transmission of statements that may influence the outcome of an election and diminish public confidence in a public office, respectively. This is alarming considering the fact that we live in a country where facts are easily branded false news by the government.
In addition, the bill will clamp down on fundraising activities that may promote false declarations of facts via an online location. Not only is this particular item vague, it could effectively prevent future public protests from mobilising funds as seen in the #ENDSARS protests where funds were raised to provide food, water, legal, medical and other aid to protesters and victims of undue police clampdowns.
More alarming is section 12 which grants the LED access to order an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to block/disable end-user internet access to an online location or platform. This would effectively end C-governance (citizen-led governance) and E-governance seeing that the internet has been a medium for mobilising voices and executing online protests against unfavourable public policies. Besides that, Social media has been a forum for public opinions and poll taking for policy formulation and/or influencing.
The autocratic elements of the proposed law rely on its arbitrary elements for its enforcement which will be largely dependent on what the executive arm of government deems to be right or opines to be false. In order for us to sustain our democracy, we must not allow our country become one where communication and expression of opinions are criminalised.
The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on girls’ education have posed some concerns-from the potential of an early marriage, to early pregnancy, susceptibility to gender-based violence and sexual harassment- there are numerous and diverse impacts of the pandemic directly or indirectly affecting the girl-child’s education and their overall well being.
CODE, with the support of Malala Fund, has now carried out a research on the implication of these effects on girls in Nigeria’s North-East, specifically Adamawa State, and what must be done to remedy the situation.
Connected Development recently marked its 8th year of empowering marginalized communities across Africa; providing citizens, especially grassroots communities with access to credible information and building their knowledge on how to demand improved services from elected representatives.
Over the past eight years, CODE has showcased consistency and doggedness in promoting government’s transparency and accountability. The team deployed innovative strategies and global best practices in empowering citizens to demand for improved services in healthcare, water, education and development infrastructures, from their governments. On the other hand, CODE petitioned the government on gaining citizens’ trust in public institutions and governance. The civil society organisation’s advocacy influenced government policies for the acceleration of socio-economic development.
Since inception, CODE’s social accountability initiative, Follow The Money, has tracked over USD 10 million dollars and ensured timely intervention for improved first-mile health infrastructure, school construction and reconstruction, as well clean water for communities that lack, impacting over 6 million lives.
The Founder and Chief Executive, Hamzat Lawal, says the Organisation carries out its mission with independence and integrity with the sole purpose of engineering social and economic progress. “We are committed to enhancing fiscal transparency in government, especially at a time when the COVID19 pandemic revealed the severe gaps in government’s responsiveness prompting us to kick off #FollowCOVID19Money.”
Lawal and his Board recently appointed Ms Dorcas Onuh, a social activist who bags over 10 years’ experience leading various projects in Education, Policy Development, National Defence and Healthcare, will bring her wealth of experience to manage the operations of CODE and its network across Africa. The Board also promoted Mr Busayo Morakinyo to the position of Community Engagement Director overseeing and managing Follow The Money representatives across the 36 States of Nigeria and 7 Countries in Africa. Ms Kevwe Oghide who leads Communications is now the Communications Director, charged with overseeing strategic communications and advocacy activities of CODE and Follow The Money.
According to Lawal, CODE is breeding a generation of young leaders who are passionate to see a better Nigeria in governance and leadership. “With the unswerving commitments of our partners and supports from our donors, we are forging significant partnerships, innovating better ways to hold the government accountable and advocating best policies in favour of marginalised communities,” he added.
It is a sad reality that in most parts of developing countries, the girl child is seen as a commodity rather than someone worth investing in. This is manifested through the intrinsic role that traditional and social beliefs play and the disregard of the girl child’s education. The issue of young girls being married off at a tender age is still prevalent in many rural communities. Girls are made to forfeit education and fend for the family. They are sent to hawk on the street in order to generate some income for their household.
School girls in Adamawa State.
According to a 2013 research by UNICEF, over 10 million children in Nigeria are not in school (despite the Government’s declaration that primary education is free and compulsory). Unfortunately, girls make up this rather large proportion of out-of-school children.
Despite a number of barriers being set up against girls in regards to them not having access to good quality education, girls who are able to go to school have their education hindered due to poor WASH facilities in these schools.
Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) facilities are instrumental to protecting people from WASH-related illnesses. Clean sufficient water and soap for hand-washing are necessary for the management of menstrual hygiene, unfortunately, these are not readily available in rural and even urban areas, increasing open defecation.
The unavailability of basic hygiene facilities leaves some girls, especially those who are menstruating, unable to concentrate during their lessons and at times, unable to use the lavatory altogether due to its poor state and lack of hygiene measures. Not only does the lack of WASH facilities pose a massive health risk to young girls exposing them to a range of different sanitary related illnesses, but their safety is also put in jeopardy with many girls, unfortunately, falling victim to Sexual gender-based violence when in search for an appropriate lavatory to use.
These practices in schools can help promote proper hygiene for girls;
At least a make-shift toilet with clean water and soap.
Ensure that these resources are topped up regularly.
Provide a small bin for the female students to be able to dispose of their sanitary towels hygienically and appropriately.
Ensure that all the toilets, sinks, floor and door handles are disinfected and bins emptied regularly.
These are a few measures that schools can take to ensure that the lavatories are at a sufficient standard where students can comfortably use them. If these are effected, girls will be encouraged to go to school.
BudgIT Foundation and Connected Development (CODE), two prominent civic-tech non-governmental organizations spearheading the advocacy for openness, transparency and accountability in public finance in Africa, have launched the COVID-19 Transparency and Accountability Project (CTAP), an initiative that seeks to promote accountability and transparency through the tracking of COVID-19 intervention funds across 7 African countries. Both organizations will be leveraging their Tracka and Follow The Money platforms, as well as international chapters in other six focus African countries to activate a Pan-African tracking system for all COVID-19 funds received and donated to these countries.
Follow The Money Staff interviewing a COVID19 Palliatives Beneficiary
“Retrospectively, our experience with tracking COVID19 funds has shown a deeply rooted systemic profiteering culture, especially in an environment that lacks accountability and civic engagement.” said Oluseun Onigbinde, BudgIT’s Director and Co-founder. “We also observed that there is an increasing mistrust from citizens on the delivery of palliative care in Nigeria, Kenya and Liberia due to representatives who abuse the process and the absence of comprehensive citizen data” he added.
CODE’s Founder and Chief Executive, Hamzat Lawal, stated that “as nations of the world tackle the plague of coronavirus, with funding for African countries amassing in millions of dollars, it has become expedient to block financial leakages and ensure funds do not end up in personal pockets.”
“With CTAP, BudgIT and CODE will advocate for accountability, transparency, and open governance while strengthening civic awareness and ensuring that targeted governments use COVID-19 intervention funds effectively. The project will address the threat of lack of accountability and the effects of COVID-19 on socio-economic development” Lawal added.
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 as well as innovative capabilities of tech tools to develop an interactive portal on data relevant to COVID-19, and use these data to enable collaboration between citizen fact-checking programs and public institutions.
Beyond the engagement sessions with focus non-profits and frontline leaders, the project will visualize and disseminate the contribution of stakeholders to the COVID-19 Relief Fund and other related programs. More importantly, requests of citizens in vulnerable areas will be itemized while both organizations’ sms-to-web platform will be leveraged to deliver relevant data to the government and other stakeholders based on citizens’ requests. The project will also curate stories of COVID-19 case management, palliative measures and its impact on the citizens.
BudgIT and CODE are committed to working with relevant partners to understand the current transparency and accountability frameworks in focus countries; and devise strategies that combine citizen tracking and advocacy for reforms. Both organizations will promote collaboration and learning among local partners so they can be more effective and share lessons about accessing data, mobilizing citizens, and engaging governments.
Our plan is to strengthen existing tools and build new ones where necessary. These tools must match citizens’ needs in the current emergency response and use this platform as a means to drive accountability on the importance of optimising public resources in an emergency situation. This project will be supported by the Global Integrity who will design a learning framework that allows for rapid scale while initial funding is provided by Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and Skoll Foundation.
Following the discovery of government storehouses for COVID19 palliatives and the looting spree of these food and material resources across the country, leading social accountability initiative, Follow The Money, has called for the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCCC) to investigate Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) responsible for the acquisition and distribution of COVID-19 palliative relief materials.
It should be recalled that in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic early this year, the Follow The Money team across the 36 States has been tracking intervention funds and materials disbursed to State Governments to cushion the impact of the pandemic. A total of 57 Freedom of Information letters were received by 27 State Government agencies, requesting details of COVID19 funds and the distribution of palliatives— only 6 States responded, assuring that palliatives were distributed accordingly, even though they refused to provide details of distribution and evidence of the same.
Nigerians trying to access COVID Palliatives. Photo: Reuters
According to Follow The Money Founder, Hamzat Lawal, the discovery of palliatives hideouts further indicates a systemic failure in governance and a distrust in leadership. There is no reason why the distribution of these items should have been delayed—knowing that the coronavirus pandemic worsened the country’s economic situation and increased poverty level. This discovery further exposes the rot and persistent corruption in the Nigerian system.
The Nigerian government continues to thwart the possibility of gaining the trust of its citizens, especially with its opacity and poor accountability, which has now materialised in a mob action and heavy looting of COVID19 palliatives.
There is an urgent need for the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 to prioritise addressing the lapses identified—from operational mistakes to gross mismanagement of logistics, leading to the mob action of palliatives looting. The EFCC and the ICPC must thoroughly investigate procurement fraud and mishandling of COVID19 related funding and resources and all culprits must be indicted. The National Assembly must also hold public hearings on the Palliatives looting and citizens properly briefed on outcomes. Public officials must be held accountable for the lapses in efficiency- this is the beginning of rethinking governance in Nigeria. Citizens deserve better.
For Media Enquiries:
Kevwe Oghide; Communications Director kevwe@connecteddevelopment.org
Consultancy: Youth Guide to Advocating for Gender Justice
Background:
Despite the Nigerian Government’s response/effort to improve its institutional and policy framework which have not yielded the desired result. The situation of the country’s GBV has even worsened with the Coronavirus pandemic which has led to more increase in the rate of gender based violence across Nigeria. More cases of rape, sexual violence, and abuse of girls and women’s rights have been recorded during this Covid-19 and the subsequent lockdown in Nigeria. The Need to advocate for appropriate measures are put in place to ensure no one is victimised and gender inequality is brought to fore in every discussion, planning and national or state strategy implementations. It is important for stakeholders which include development partners, local authorities, nonprofit as well as civil society organisations to work together to raise awareness and provide platforms for citizens engagement, advocacies and demand for gender justice in Nigeria.
Connected Development (CODE) and YouthHubAfrica with support from ChristianAid will carry out a series of activities in Kaduna and Plateau State that include capacity building of gender justice youth advocates to ensure that the VAPP Act, Child Rights Act and other policies protecting the rights of women in the state are implemented and given adequate advocacy campaign for people to become informed. Doing this will not only reduce the incidences of violence against women and girls but will also ensure that adequate sanctions are meted on the perpetrators of these crimes. Forming this coalition of youth advocates on gender justice becomes necessary because of the incidences of GBV/VAWG/HP that are higher in the north with at least 3 of 10 girls experiencing one or more forms of GBV by the age of 15(NDHS 2013).
Scope of work: (Description of services, activities, or outputs)
Key deliverable:
Assist with preparation, management, and updating as required of the training curriculum and Agenda
Develop the youth guide to advocating for Gender Justice
Duration and working schedule: 5 Days
Location: Nigeria
Duration: 18th November to 22nd November, 2020
Monitoring and progress control, including reporting requirements, periodicity format, and deadline:
Expected travel: None
Required expertise, qualifications, and competencies, including language requirements:
At least 5 years of relevant experience as a GBV expert
Previous engagements, volunteer, or work experience with an organisation that supports the gender equality movement.
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities
Responds positively to critical feedback and differing points of view during the development of the guide to advocating for gender justice.
Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of The CA Gender justice and Youth Engagement Strategy.
Excellent communication abilities (oral, written and the ability to understand and be understood, diplomatic skills, drafting skills)
Fluency in English
Strong attention to detail
Organizational, task management and strong analytical skills
The under-signed Civil Society Organisations in Nigeria have expressed disappointment that the Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari, failed to acknowledge the attacks and killings of unarmed peaceful protesters at the Lekki toll gate, Lagos, during his National Speech two days ago.
The President showed neither empathy or remorse, after alleged members of the Nigerian Army were reported to have opened fire on unassuming citizens during the protest. Not only is this worrisome but a mockery of democratic practices.
Over the last two weeks, scores have died as thousands of protesters hit the streets all across Nigeria to demand an end to the assaults and unjust killings of the youths by the rogue Police Unit-Special Anti-Robbery Squad— but peaceful demonstrations against police brutality were cracked down on with aggressive response and shootings unleashed by the same security officials accused of heavy-handedness.
Peaceful protests across cities in Nigeria have been met with more assaults by security operatives. More horrifying is the brazen killing of dozens of innocent unarmed youths by alleged staff of the Nigerian Army. The CSO coalition strongly condemns these undemocratic, heinous and barbaric acts against humanity. It is quite unfortunate that the President has not displayed the political will and courage to remedy these problems.
The #EndSARS social movement is demanding justice for the victims of police brutality, rape, torture and extrajudicial killings by SARS-people are fighting for the right to lives, yet peaceful protests were disrupted by police violence, mass arrests, targeted shooting and the criminalisation of the protests itself. We demand that perpetrators of the police/SARS brutality and extrajudicial killings face the wrath of the law and are held accountable, especially leading up to those peaceful protesters who were either shot or killed during this recent protest.
This coalition calls on the International Criminal court (ICC) to promptly investigate and prosecute public officials (political, military and police leadership) found to have sponsored the violence against the peaceful #EndSARS Protesters which fall within the “Crimes Against Humanity” pursuant to the Rome Statute.
Without further delay, President Buhari must call for an inquiry and order the attorney general to sack/ prosecute those officers who are responsible for the killings or set up/institute a committee to investigate. The National Assembly must also order the investigation of these atrocious killings perpetrated by state actors against her citizens in lieu of the #EndSARS Protest.
Security is one of the prevalent challenges confronting the nation’s growth despite having more than 370,000 police officers in Nigeria and a police-to-citizen ratio of 1 to 400, which more than meets the United Nation’s recommended figure, the nation’s security challenges continue to worsen. Although President Buhari’s assented to a new Police Bill in September 2020, replacing the Police Act of 1943, this indicates how the Nigerian citizenry have been poorly-served. Still, the Bill contained no details of the timeline for reforming units such as SARS.
The embodiment of the Security force must rethink the lame strategy of overburdening security agencies and vigilante groups and invest in adequate training and capacity building. This will reduce overhead and operational costs, efficiently improve the security expenditure and expose the inherent corruption in the system. The apparent lack of transparency and opaque budget and procurement practices in the management and utilization of security funds in Nigeria has contributed to its operational shortcomings and frequent misconduct.
We are aggrieved by all that has happened recently in Nigeria and stand in solidarity with our fellow Nigerians. We commend the resilience of citizens who took to the streets to protest and decry alarming police brutality, assaults and wanton killing SARS. At this time, as the nation heals, we urge citizens to please be calm, observe the curfew imposed by the government and be safe. We will continue to demand justice and will not rest until perpetrators face the wrath of the law.
Signed:
Connected Development (CODE)
TechHerNG
The Interactive Initiative for Social Impact (Dataphyte)
