A Non Governmental Organisation, Peering Advocacy and Advancement Centre in Africa has told Akwa Ibom people at the grassroots to always monitor government activities and expenditures such as projects and interventions carried out in their various communities to ensure accountability and good governance.
The group stated this on Wednesday during a capacity building workshop aimed at deepening local oversight of government activities, budgets and projects, tagged, ‘Say no Campaign’ which was sponsored by MacArthur Foundation and held at Watbridge hotels and suites Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital.
The convener of the project, Ezenwa Nwagwu in his lecture entitled, ‘The place of community oversight in good governance’ said the idea behind the project was to engender community led anti corruption fight as the numerous abandoned and poorly executed projects are found in the communities.
He urged the people to take ownership or responsibilities of such projects, ask relevant questions on such issues that affect them directly in order to hold government accountable.
Nwagwu however regretted that people in the communities have not shown needed interest in those issues even with a full knowledge that the funds appropriated for public projects are their common patrimony and they should ensure that the projects are executed to the later.
According to him, “there are lots of abandoned projects littered in the country and those abandoned projects are in our various communities. Unfortunately, members of those communities are not even interested to know anything about those projects.
“It is high time we started asking questions right from the grassroots. The people in their different localities should first of all identify the contractor of the project and take ownership, they should know whether the project is completed and if yes, was it based on specifications, does the road has drainage?
“We should evoke public good in our consciousness. Also the Local government councils whether independent or not, should ensure that the allocations gotten are used to execute projects that would be beneficial to the people.”
Speaking earlier, the Commissioner of Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Akwa Ibom State, Shola Shidipo enjoined the people show more interest in monitoring constituency projects sited in their communities.
The Commissioner however disabused the notion that constituency projects were donations and gifts by political representatives to their communities stressing such projects were privileges provided and funded by the federal government through the representatives, therefore the projects belong to the people.
‘The aim is to spread development to all nooks and crannies of the country through the intervention of the people’s representatives in the Legislature who expectedly should be in tune with their areas of need’. He said.
Participants took turn to commend the organizers of the event and urged government agencies to make proposed projects public for easy followup adding that the programme has awoken their consciousness on monitoring projects sited in their communities.
