NGO sets up advocacy club in Benue

A Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), AIDS Healthcare Foundation, (AHF) Nigeria has established an advocacy club known as “Power Voices” in Adaka Community, Makurdi Local Government Area of Benue state.

The initiative is to empower community members to identify challenges confronting them to be able to support them.

The Advocacy and Marketing Manager of AHF Nigeria, Steve Aborisade described the support as an initiative of the African Bureau of the Organization.

The club which was inaugurated at the weekend is to be established in seven states of its operation in Nigeria.

According to Aborisade, “It is vital because for you to achieve anything you have to start from the community where we all came from.

“It is their initiative that we should initiate Community Advocacy clubs called the Power Voices. The sole purpose is to empower communities so that, on their own, they can identify the challenges that they are facing and be able to advocate and solve these problems by themselves.

“So what AHF is doing is to build their capacity to know what advocacy entails and the processes involved for a successful advocacy. We will also help them to bring in the needed partnerships to address the challenges that they have identified.

“We are also building their capacity to be able to implement some health awareness activities in the community, especially in HIV education, sexual and reproductive health education, Tuberculosis among others.”

“The communities have been neglected and this is our way to tag them along. So we are building their capacity to know that this is the problem and also know how to rally themselves for solutions,” he said.

While appreciating the leader of the community, Chief Daniel Uzo for mobilizing members of his community for the advocacy meeting, Aborisade promised that the organization would work with the club executives to support
in tackling some of the critical issues they have identified that are affecting their community.

He also expressed joy that after the first training, the executives were already demonstrating some knowledge of advocacy to build others up and make a mark in the lives of the community.

Speaking earlier, the State Adherence Counselor for AHF Nigeria, Kenneth Ode, explained to members the importance of the advocacy club, which according to him is to ensure that every community has a voice to bring up their challenges and peculiar issues which is not out there in the society.

He said the club which comprised of 25 members will stand as a voice of the community to the larger society.

“It’s a community-owned club and AHF will be collaborating and guiding them while they work. We have started this in Akwa Ibom, Nasarawa, Anambra, Kogi, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and for Benue, this Adaka Community in Makurdi is privileged because we are flagging off this idea in their domain.”

Responding, leader of Adaka Community, Chief Daniel Uzo, commenced AHF for its interest in Adaka community.

Uzo identified three major challenges of the community which he listed to include said “lack of water, healthcare facility and insecurity occasion by armed herders invasion.

He also appreciated the organisation for it’s promise to tackle the challenges.

Uzo said, “I am very happy because they came to encourage and support my community to be involved in development activities. We will ensure that when these things are done for us we will take possession and protect them like our personal property.

Chairman of the newly inaugurated Advocacy Club in Adaka community, Moses Usue, lauded the organization for bringing the initiative to the area.

Usue lamented that the community had been facing a lot of issues but expressed hope that the initiative will help them to voice out their challenges.

Usue who collaborated the chief of the community identified scarcity of portable water, lack of health facilities, issues of early marriages, youths indulging in drugs, displacements of families especially women and children, increasing number of out of school children, poverty among others as major challenges of the community.

He therefore appealed for support just as he pledged to mobilize his people to ensure that the club achieve it’s aims.

The Assistant Secretary of Advocacy Club Adaka, Priscilla Tule, who also spoke at the event reiterated the submission of Usue as she identified water and health issues as part of the challenges confronting the community.

She however called for the establishment of entrepreneurship and skill acquisition centers to enable them get trainings that would make them self reliant.