– to recruit youth transparency champions in LGAs
Sola POPOOLA
In it’s sustained effort to fostering youth engagement and deepening accountability in public procurement ,a non governmental organization,Inspiration Care and Development Centre (ICDC) has launched the second edition of it’s accountability project ,christened Beta Government 2.0 in Ekiti State.
The proposed project, “Fostering Youth Engagement and Strengthening Accountability in Public Procurement in Ekiti State,” with support from Nigeria Youth Future Fund.(NYFF), aims at empowering youth to play active role in monitoring and advocating for deeper transparency and accountability.
Briefing journalists in Ado -Ekiti,the Executive Director(ICDC) ,Olowolayemo Lawrence disclosed that no fewer than 30 youth -led Fiscal Transparency Champions would be recruited from across the 16 Local Government areas of the state .
He explained that the champions would be saddled with responsibility of monitoring and evaluating government projects in the select sectors such as ; Education,Agriculture ,Health; Community intervention projects and activities . They are to ensure transparency by reporting any irregularities discovered .
Olowolayemo added that part of the arrangements will be the recruitment of three Youth-led organizations to serve as Senatorial Coordinators for the project and overseeing the activities of the FCTs .
According to him ,the Fiscal Transparency Champions will be trained on the application of Artificial Intelligence tools to track government projects in the Open Contracting Portal of the Ekiti State.
While commenting the Ekiti State Government for its willingness to promote openness and embrace constructive feedback across multiple platforms of engagement, Olowolayemo urged the government sustained the tempo!.
He said , “in Nigeria, young people have emerged as passionate advocates for change. The Beta
“Government initiative aims to amplify youth voices in the pursuit of these crucial values. Our vision is to foster a government that works for all, prioritising citizen engagement, advocacy, capacity building, tech-driven approaches, and research.
“Ekiti State, Nigeria, like many others states, faces challenges related to transparency and accountability in public procurement processes. Corruption in government public procurement is a deeply entrenched issue that affects nations worldwide, hindering economic development, eroding public trust, and impeding the effective delivery of public services. This occurs when public officials abuse their positions to gain personal benefits, manipulate procurement processes, inflate costs, or diverts resources away from essential services. Such practices directly harm the well-being of the citizens who rely on these services.
“During the Beta Government 1.0 Project, some of the youth trained in fiscal transparency tracked government projects in Ekiti State. Their findings revealed commendable progress, particularly the timely publication of government contracts with contractor details on the State’s Open Contracting Data Portal, the first of its kind among the South-West states. We also commend the State Government for its willingness to promote openness and embrace constructive feedback across multiple platforms of engagement.
“However, it is disturbing to note that some of our findings during the tracking phase also revealed instances where certain local contractors failed to complete projects, particularly school renovation projects in hard-to-reach locations. These failures led to project delays and, in some cases, complete abandonment. Such actions not only hinder development but also erode people’s trust in government, thereby worsening the state of our communities.
The good government advocate noted that for the people to actually enjoy the full dividends of democracy, they must be interested in government activities and take ownership of projects in their respective communities.
Olowolayemo therefore the organization wil up it’s public awareness campaigns through press briefings ,radio programmes,and digital media platforms.. In addition, there shall be regular Town Hall meetings to engage the citizens on open discussions about transparency and accountability.