Group trains Osun council chairmen on transparency, civil engagement

By Shina Abubakar Osogbo

Following autonomy granted local government administration in Nigeria, council chairmen in Osun State on Friday were trained on capacity building on implementing transparent policy in grassroots administration.

The Chairmen drawn from all the 30 Local Government Councils and the Local Council Development Areas were trained on deploying technology for ease of administration and civil engagement to open the council administration to the people.

The Executive Director of the advocacy group, Insight Initiative for Community and Social Development, Jare Tiamiyu, while speaking at the in Osogbo, disclosed that the group believed it was necessary to ensure political leaders at the grassroots be trained on ensuring not just transparency but to also carry people along in the administration of the local government.

His words, “We realized that we need to strengthen the local government’s governance and most especially we realized that the people leading at the grassroots need a lot of capacity to comply with the 21st century governance and that is why we have taken it upon ourselves to actually organize this capacity training for local government chairmen in Osun State to equip them on procurement process, participatory budgeting, civic engagement and how to run the affairs in compliance with digital tools among others”.

Fielding questions from newsmen, the Secretary, Association of Local Government of Nigeria, ALGON chapter, Barrister Olubisi Oladosu, said the workshop has open their eyes to methods of ensuring transparency in governance at the grassroots in the interest of the masses.

“What we have learnt here today will go a long way to ensure quality service delivery and also ensure that the people get service for every bit of tax they pay. At the ALGON level, the chairmen would begin to works towards civil engagement in the delivery of governance. It would ensure that the people are at the central of project delivery”, he added.

Also speaking, the Chairman, Obokun Local Government, Engr. Abdul Maruf Ogundipe said the workshop did not just expose them to transparency and open governance but also stressed the importance of digital footprint for the council and the political heads.

He conceded that project delivery is not adequate without community engagement to make the people owned the project, as well as ensure digital presence for the councils and several governmental activities.

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