African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre LSD) has trained no fewer than 35 state and non-state actors in Gombe State on effective reportage on Open Governance activities in the state.
Speaking at the closing ceremony of the two-meeting in Gombe on Friday, Mr Lawal Amodu, the Programme Coordinator and the OGP focal person, Centre LSD said the training was to strengthen OGP structure in the state.
Amodu said since there was already an OGP structure in the state, his team’s visit was to build the capacity of members of the thematic group to know their roles, functions, what to do and when to report.
According to him, reporting on OGP is key for all stakeholders in Gombe State to track progress reports on the development and implementation of the OGP action plans when signed for implementation to in the state.
“Based on engagement with our partners in Gombe State, we discovered that one of the gaps needed to be filled is how to report on OGP.
“Now, there are several activities in the state action plan that need to be carried out so if you carry out those activities, there is need for a report.
“When you generate those reports from the level of thematic working group to the OGP steering committee in the state, you need to do the reportage into the steering committee.
“And the steering committee including the MDAs that are in charge of the thematic area: physical transparency, citizens engagement and improved service delivery has the duty to report back to the OGP.
“That this is what they have done at the level of OGP secretariat in the state.
“They report back to them and the secretariat takes that report also and report to OGP national secretariat.
“ If this is not done, reporting on the OGP has not been done and if reporting has not been done, it is as good as nothing has been done on the OGP.” he said.
He said for any state implementing OGP state action plan, it was important for the key actors to prioritise reportage on their activities and the level of progress or challenges as the case may be.
He commended the OGP administrative structure in the state for working to develop a State’s Action Plan (SAP), while urging Gov. Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State to sign the SAP document for implementation.
For his part, Dr Ishaku Babayo, Special Adviser to Gov Yahaya on Development Partners Coordination said open governance had long been embraced in Gombe under the leadership of Yahaya.
He said that the Gombe State Government is passionate about openness, and that is why the state is encouraging OGP.
Babayo stated that the state government had signed a letter for the inauguration and establishment of Open Government Policy to show the state government’s commitment to transparency and accountability in governance.
According to him, open governance and transparency are now the order of the day and a must for any government with the interest of the people at heart.
He said it was in view of the contribution of development partners to the developing of Gombe State, that it became imperative to sustain the OGP efforts for the wellbeing of citizens.
“Gombe State is at the top of ease of doing business and has become attractive to global partners in view of its open governance policy.”
He said that the state had developed an OGP Action Plan, which he expressed optimism that Gov. Yahaya would soon sign.
He commended Centre LSD for coming to empower the state and to entrench OGP in the state to improve transparency in governance as well as tackle corruption in the system.
For Malam Umar Ali-Goro, the Executive Director of Hope Foundation for the Disable, Gombe State said he had benefitted maximally from the meeting, stressing that it was eye-opening for him.
Ali-Goro said with the kind of knowledge he had acquired, he is now more empowered on how to effectively report issues on Open Governance as well as demand accountability from government on the wellbeing of his members across the state.
He thanked the Centre LSD and MacArthur Foundation for incorporating the disabled persons into their training, this he said had empowered his members in the state.
“All development partners who have been coming to engage the state government have really helped to improve the welfare of persons with disabilities.
“Today, many things like ramps and other facilities have been provided in public buildings because of these interventions with development partners.
“We are now being consulted during budget preparation to reflect our needs; so we are making progress and I thank Centre LSD, MacArthur Foundation and all development partners in Gombe State,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the training was organised by African Centre for Leadership Strategy and Development with funding from MacArthur Foundation.
