A Non-governmental Organisation, Connected Development (CODE) has conducted a sensitization program for students of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti(FUOYE) in its bid to raise awareness for transparency and accountability from public office holders towards ending the scourge of corruption in the system.
The group under its FollowTheMoney initiative which was supported by MacArthur Foundation said the program was necessary to expose the students on how best to monitor government projects in their communities and report to appropriate authorities for effective service delivery.
Speaking at the event, the Chief Executive Officer of CODE, Hamzat Lawal who was represented by the head, democracy and governance, Njoku Emmanuel explained that the choice of the university environment for the anti-corruption drive was necessitated so as to encourage youths participation in governance most importantly in the area of government spending across all sectors.
He added that there was a need for the citizens, especially youths to track government’s budget and ensure the full implementation by following the process towards putting an end to misappropriations and other corrupt practices in the country.
Njoku who reiterated the organisations’ readiness to replicate the awareness program across the nation’s higher institutions, lamented the increasing corrupt practices in government spending with an assurance that the sensitization will make the students aware of projects in their domains and follow it through for the betterment of the society.
According to him, “ In our organization, there is a project we called FollowTheMoney, which is basically to focus on government spending across rural communities on health, education and other areas. Our goal is to get every citizen of Nigeria to be able to follow projects going on in their rural communities.
“We believe that our students who are young people and leaders of today should be involved in governance, which we make us achieve more results. Our aim here in the university is to raise awareness, to get them involved in governance by tracking projects.
“You will hear a lot of projects in Abuja that has been awarded as constituency projects and mostly these projects are not executed or abandoned. So, when people are aware of these projects, they will be able to ask relevant questions and we believe these students are representing constituencies in this state and beyond. They can be champions of accountability and transparency in government projects and spending. What we are doing now is to recruit more activists and advocates for a better society.”
He expressed optimism that political leaders would be responsible and take citizens serious, “ when they notice that people at the grassroots especially our youths are aware of their rights and ready to follow it up” adding that this would in no small measure bring about the needed socio-economic changes in the country.
Also, a partner of CODE, community life project team leader, Francis Onagho advised the students to take advantage of the ongoing continuous voters’ registration by the Independent National Electoral Commission to enrol for their permanent voter’s card to participate actively ahead of the 2023 elections.
He noted that they were determined to expose the students and the youth population to happenings around them especially relating to government spending on major infrastructures such as roads, schools and hospitals.
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Group sensitizes FUOYE students on anti-corruption drive. Group sensitizes FUOYE students on anti-corruption drive.