Clement Isong Foundation partners Actionaid, trains youths on Social Audit, FOI
…calls for domestication of FOI in Akwa Ibom
By Imó Etim
Clement Isong Foundation (CIF), in conjunction with Actionaid, organized a 2-day capacity building for young people on Social Audit and Freedom of Information Act in Uyo.
The training which was held at Aliz Ambruz hotel in Uyo lasted from Tuesday 30 to Wednesday 31, August 2022, with participants from Etinan, Ikot Ekpene, Ibeno, and Oron coupled with representatives from Civil Society Organizations and the media.
Elkana Oluyori, Director of the Clement Isong Foundation, in his opening remarks shed light on the need to engage young minds to be more aware of the Social Audit and Freedom of Information Act.
He said: “Young people are the agents of change in every society, they have power of imagination, they have ideas, innovation and strength. Like they say, they are no longer the future of tomorrow but starting with today. Usually the questions we ask is, if not now, when ? and if not me, who? We believe that young people are tools for transformation in society, the same way politicians use them as tools for violence during elections. We try to make use of them to better the society.
“We believe that this training will equip them with the knowledge to ask the right questions. We also believe that young people between the ages of 18 – 35 are the ages of responsibility, they are the age to ask questions, track the budget and build on it. We want them to learn how to impact society positively.”
“We believe that the contributions of Clement Isong who contributed immensely for Nigeria can be built upon. We believe in his virtues, having done so well, because to have his face on the N1000 note, means he was a notable figure, having done so well as the then Governor of Cross River State and Central Bank of Nigeria. We see the need to sustain his legacies through impacting young people to be agents of social change in the society,” Elkana stressed.
A representative of Actionaid Nigeria, Blessing Ifemenam, in her remarks expressed delight for such a collaboration. She described partnership with CIF to train young people on Social Audit and Freedom of Information Act as fulfilling. Ifemenam noted that Actionaid, apart from fighting social injustices against young people, women, men and even those living with disability in the society strongly believes that poverty can be eradicated because poverty is usually a man-made issue that does affect people of all ages.
Ifemenam also noted that Actionaid apart from engaging in many programmes, is very biased over women matters putting into cognizance the fact that women are the most disadvantaged in most societal issues.
Mr Mfon Gabriel from Policy Alert, one of the resource persons who took participants on “Using Social Audit to Promote Youth-led Accountability in the Management of Public resources in Akwa Ibom State”, highlighted that although public agencies are given mandates, their performances are not properly assessed and suitable action is not taken to hold them accountable.
Mr Gabriel cited low participation of citizens especially young people in the economic activities of the state, stating that Akwa Ibom is rated in the top five states in unemployment rating in Nigeria.
Mr Ubong Ekpe and Justin Columbus, who equally took participants on Freedom of Information Act, the nature of public institutions in providing information and exemption under the FOIA highlighted common reasons people do not write FOI to include; ignorance, negligence, apathy and fear.
Justin Columbus also stated the need for Akwa Ibom State to domesticate the FOIA 2011 as a law in Akwa Ibom noting that it will give room for more accountability of public office holders while promoting responsible leadership in government.
“ It is important for a lot of persons to be trained on the FOI, because the Act has not been passed as a law in Akwa Ibom. One cannot overemphasize the role of information. It is important for a lot of people to be trained in this regard because it helps to check the activities of the government.” He also called on the state House of Assembly to see the need to pass the FOIA into law as it was since assented to by the Goodluck Jonathan administration in May 2011.
The training had representatives from the Akwa Ibom ministry of Environment, represented by Mrs Ini Umoh, Director Climate Change and some from the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
One of the participants, Blessing Ufia, expressed delight for the knowledge garnered from the training through lectures, group works and interactive sessions, describing it as revealing.
Groups are expected to converge and give rundowns on follow ups of assigned responsibilities in their next meeting.