The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Non-Governmental Organization

  • NGO tracking N500m UBEC projects in 32 Kaduna schools 

    A Non-Governmental Organization, the Civil Society Action Coalition on Education for All, (CSACEFA) said it has commenced investigation on N501.4 million Universal Basic Education Commission’s (UBEC) spending in 32 basic schools in Kaduna State.

    The organisation with the support of MacArthur Foundation said it would track the spending of the funds under the 2014 and 2015 UBEC intervention projects in three local government areas namely Lere, Jaba and Kaduna North.

    Mrs Ahanonu Odinakachi, CSACEFA’s Administration Officer, who stated this on Thursday in Kaduna at a Town Hall Meeting organised by the NGO to interact with relevant stakeholders in Kaduna North Local Government Area of the state said that the main goal of tracking UBEC projects in the state was to increase community’s voice in demanding for accountability to ensure efficient use of government’s resources.

    According to her, the Work Plan from UBEC, N186.6 million was allocated for various projects in 10 schools in Kaduna North, N165.4 for 11 schools in Jaba and N149.3 also for 11 schools in Lere LGAs.

    “Our mission is to engage the citizens on effective monitoring and tracking the utilisation of the funds in ensuring that every child have access to quality basic education.

    “This is crucial because the community members have stake in UBEC spending in their areas, hence the need to carry them along to ensure sustainability,” she said.

    She said that the meeting was organised to build a synergy for community accountability and transparency.

    “The meeting was organised to discuss issues around UBEC projects in the communities and build synergy among stakeholders for effective implementation of the projects.

    “This will create the needed common ground where community members and duty bearers can collaborate during implementation of UBE projects,” she said.

    Mr Taye Lukas, CSACEFA Secretary, Kaduna Office, said that the on-the-spot monitoring and assessment of projects revealed that in most cases, projects were undertaken in communities without the knowledge of community members.

    “We were at Jaba for a similar meeting on Tuesday and the community leaders confirmed that they are not being carried along in the implementation of the projects.

    “They equally confirmed our findings that most of the projects were poorly executed because of poor monitoring,” Lukas said.

    CSACEFA Coordinator in the state, Mrs. Theresa Biniyat, stressed the need for needs assessment before a project is decided to give community the chance to identify what they need.

    In the course of the meeting, Malam Umar Aliyu, the Education Secretary, Kaduna North LGA, also confirmed that he was not aware of most projects being executed in his area.

    Similarly, Jibril Abdullahi, the School-Based Management Committee (SBMC) Chairman in the state, also said that the contractors often times move to site without consulting members of the community.

    Responding, Mrs. Esther Jibji, Principal Social Mobilisation Officer in the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), promised that the board would ensure that the contractors, community leaders and relevant stakeholders are carried along.

    Read Also: Kaduna secondary school teachers to write competence test soon – El-Rufai

  • WaterAid advocates allocation for menstrual hygiene in schools

    An international non-governmental organization, WaterAid Nigeria, has advocated for budgetary allocation for menstrual and sanitary hygiene in schools so as to help girls remain in school all through the year.

    The agency said this would allow the girls to not skip school because they are on their menstrual period.

    The Acting West African Regional Advocate for     CIbrahim Musa stated this in Abuja during a Menstrual Hygiene Management Dissemination and Training Workshop for WaterAid West Africa staff and partners.

    Musa said although menstrual hygiene had been domesticated in some school curriculum in Ghana, some teachers, he said; do not have the right knowledge and materials to teach the students.

    He said their appeal to the government is to give budgetary allocation to ministry of Education and Health in Nigeria to support re-training of teachers to have appropriate knowledge on menstrual hygiene management.

    Musa further stressed the need for more budget provision to the core northern areas where there are myths on menstrual management, adding that there is also need to carry along the religious leaders to interpret the issues surrounding menstruation correctly.

    He also appealed to the male teachers to provide physiological support to girls during their menstrual period and not see it as women talk.

    Musa said: “Our riding point is to ensure that menstruation is seen as a biological process just like defecation or urination and maintaining hygiene during menses is important for women and girls’ well being, mobility and dignity as there is need to manage menstruation hygienically.”

    He further stressed the need for women and girls to have access to water and adequate sanitation, noting that is why menstrual hygiene management is important when considering women’s participation in the development process because it is fundamental dignity of women and girls.

    He said a study was carried out in Ghana, Niger, Nigeria and Mali while Benin, Cote D’ivore, Guinea and some West Africa countries were selected for advocacy for the project work and it was discovered that Menstrual Hygiene Management is a culturally vexed subject, and approached with different lenses in academic literature due to modernity.

    Musa said it was discovered that there was little adherence and reference to some international conventions on non-discrimination against women and girls.

    “For instance, the convention on elimination all forms discrimination against women, the Dakar framework on education for all these policies frown at stigma and discrimination which is still practiced against women and girls,” he stated.

    The study also discovered that knowledge management in some communities had created a huge gap.

    According to the study, serious education and sensitization efforts to fill sanitation and hygiene facilities do not generally incorporate accessible use for girls and women during menses, especially school-attending girls.

    The Water Aid official maintained that if MHM is seen as both a development and health issue it would receive the needed policy and funding attention

    He also stressed the need to use religious bodies and structures especially mosques to influence the perception about MHM in Nigeria.

     

  • PDP candidate Ize-Iyamu gets more adoptions

    PDP candidate Ize-Iyamu gets more adoptions

    The Edo State League of Professionals, non-Governmental Organization, at its meeting held on recently Abuja, was briefed by members on the upcoming gubernatorial election in Edo State.

    The League congratulated all the political parties that have fielded candidates for the gubernatorial election which have set the stage for a keen contest. It also availed the people of Edo State the opportunity to freely choose the candidate of their choice.

    The League also noted the preparations underway by INEC to conduct a free and fair election acceptable to the electorates. The League, therefore, encourage INEC to remain unbiased and avoid anything that is capable of derailing the process.

    The League recalled how development have eluded Edo State as a result of lack of selfless and visionary leaders. The League also noted the lack of political consciousness among the best brains in the state, thereby leaving the stage for self-centered politicians to ruin our dear state.

    The League took note of the two leading gubernatorial candidates in the upcoming gubernatorial election; Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu of the PDP and Mr. Godwin Obaseki of the APC. Both candidates were painstakingly analyzed and evaluated, taking into consideration whose victory at the poll will bring the much expected development to our state.

    The League also underscored the imperative of supporting a candidate who is accessible; will not be trapped in the old patterns of politics of misrepresentation and distortion; will close the door on the old economics that has written off the poor and left the Civil Servants poorer and less secure which the PDP gubernatorial candidate epitomized. Therefore, the League unanimously adopted the PDP gubernatorial candidate, Pastor Ize-Iyamu as the candidate of its choice to be the next Governor of Edo State. He is a candidate who offers a strategy for prosperity and lit a spark of hope amid the state of despair as clearly exemplified in his manifestos’ document called the “SIMPLE AGENDA”.

    The League call on all the good people of Edo state to support and vote overwhelmingly for the PDP to ensure Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu’s victory in the coming election.

    In another development, the Ebelle Development Union, Port Harcourt Branch under the Chairmanship of Mr. Patrick Ebhoma, has also adopted the PDP candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu as its candidate to be voted and supported for the Edo State gubernatorial election scheduled for September 10th.

    Again after fruitful interactions between Edo State League of Professionals and the Akoko-Edo Patriots on August 20th in Benin-City, the later also adopted Ize-Iyamu as its gubernatorial Candidate to be voted as the next Governor of Edo State.

  • Insurgency: NGO empowers 1,000 Borno families

    Over 1000 families and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the northeast part of the country have benefited from the philanthropic gesture of a Non-Governmental Organization, Peace Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Initiative (PRRI)

    The gesture, according to the Executive Secretary of the group, Dr Sam Ode, is targeted at providing a source of livelihood for the returning families whose communities have been ravaged by the Boko Haram insurgency.

    He revealed that the group visited Biu Local Govt and gave raw cash support of N10m and food stuffs worth over N10m. Other communities also visited include, Buratai, Sabon Gari, Kwajafa, Shaffa, Biu IDP camps were assistance were given to some corporative societies.

    He added that the organisation has resolved to give improved seedlings procured from IITA, Ibadan to help the farmers boost their yields in the coming years.

    Ode said agriculture is key to the development of any nation and it remains the first line of any action plan to deliver people from economic hardships.

    He said PRRI is keen to see that the returning families are empowered.

    According to him, the PRRI team is moving to Yobe and Adamawa State where the teams have identified some villages and the inhabitants have fully returned home as a result of military operations which have restored normalcy to the area.

    The Executive Secretary of the organization while briefing news men in his office in Abuja said it was quite challenging as no government or individual can completely rebuild what was destroyed by the insurgents but a through the concerted efforts of all stakeholders including the once displaced persons.

    While recalling their experience during the tour and distribution of farming materials, he said some communities have not received a grain of rice or corn from any government or organization which is very pathetic and added that while waiting for the Federal Government to reach out to the IDPs, well spirited individuals must be encouraged to support the IDPs particularly those who have returned to their communities with food, money and farming facilities to help them totally recover.

    Ode who was full of praises for President Muhammadu Buhari and the military, informed newsmen that the level of devastation suffered in the north east before military interventions to reclaim those lost territories cannot be quantified in material terms and commended the Nigerian military for restoring law and order to these communities.

    The PRRI, led by the Executive Secretary, Ode said it has now given over 40 million naira as part of its philanthropic gesture to the various communities it has visited in Borno State.