More photos from 'Making Local Governance Work ' photo exhibition

Some Images from the' Making Local Governance Work ' Photo Exhibition 29th & 30th of November 2009

OST PRESS RELEASE NOVEMBER 2009

THE ORDERLY SOCIETY TRUST HOSTS PHOTO EXHIBITION – MAKING LOCAL GOVERNANCE WORK FOR THE POOR
In February 2009, the Orderly Society Trust began a nationwide survey on local governance in the six geo political zones in Nigeria. The purpose of the research is to examine the existing framework of local governments in Nigeria, identify challenges at the local level and capture examples of good local government practice.
Not only did OST capture data, they also captured the most riveting images of life in local governments in Nigeria. In tow with the research team were three ground breaking photographers: Jide Alakija, Edore Onomakpome and Seun Otolorin who brought back frozen moments of time from pockets of local governments across the country.
OST presents a body of photographs in a photo exhibition called Making Local Governance Work for the Poor. The collection of photos will showcase images of local communities throughout Nigeria in which the survey and civic education was conducted. It will provide an insight into the state of local governance and life in local communities throughout the country
The show begins at 3pm on 29 November 2009 in partnership with Terra Kulture and the Centre for Contemporary Art, Lagos.
OST’s photo exhibition will continue at the Centre for Contemporary Art, Lagos on 30 November.
For further enquiries on the exhibition and OSTs’ projects, please contact: Lanre Shasore or Nkeiru Aduba at The Orderly Society Trust, 4a, Ademola Street, Ikoyi; Tel: 07034170400, 01-2793453; e-mail: info@orderlysocietytrust.org

-OST

A Big Push...............

Like every other bureaucratic system in Nigeria, local governments have become so complacent with their ineffectiveness, while the citizens are accustomed to expecting nothing more than the inadequate services being offered. We could blame the decay of the system on a million and one things but the underlying reason local governments continue to churn out boreholes and implement unsustainable projects is clear - the citizens’ lack of action to back their enthusiasm for change. The citizens have not shown themselves to be capable of communicating or engaging effectively with local government officials, and most often than not they are denied access. For the privileged few that have access, they pursue their own personal agenda and not that of the community as a whole.
As major stakeholders in local governance, civil society has a responsibility to speak as collective unit to mobilize citizens to demand good governance and access to social goods. Rural communities that have recorded impressive economic growth have had civil society work as the ‘big push’ for good governance. Coalitions of civil society organisations and community based organisations pushing for greater involvement in local governance, especially in decision making processes is a key strategy to stimulating local development.

- Hadiza.

Scrambling for crumbs

In the past weeks, OST has conducted town hall meetings in Agura community Ikorodu, Lagos state, Oredo Local government area in Edo state and Okigwe in Imo state. The town hall meetings are aimed at sensitizing the people on the role of local governments and encouraging genuine civic participation. The town halls have been quite successful as most attendees showed interest in the subject matter but are either unaware of how to demand accountability from those who govern them or are simply not ready to participate actively in local governance.
A common factor of all these town hall meetings with the exception of Oredo was the mad scramble for souvenirs – t-shirts, jotters, pens after the meeting, which makes one wonder why we are so caught up with instant gratification and not the long term benefits to be gained from a functioning local government. It is fair to say that we, the governed have not woken up to our responsibilities.

- Nkeiru

Advocacy Town Hall in Agura

The first in our series of town hall meetings took place last Saturday in Agura in Ikorodu, which was also a research site during the fact finding survey in April this year. Agura is a small settlement in what appeared to be the very end of Ikorodu town. The meeting took place in the school field of the Methodist Primary School. The initially sparse turnout swelled as the drama sketch, the first activity on the agenda, unfolded. Members of the Agura Community Development Association, leaders of Market Women’s Associations, were present as well as members of the community. The twenty minute sketch which was to provide ‘edutainment’ on local government issues to the crowd created a lot of interest and hopefully drove home a lot of points we wanted to make on budgeting, the role of local government and councillors and the duty of the public to participate. After the sketch sessions on these topics were conducted reinforcing the points made in the sketch and then we opened the floor for comments and questions. Members of the community were invited to share their concerns or issues which were common to the community and on which we could provide support in raising with the local government. A number of issues were raised including the poor drainage, no power (although we did mention that this is not a constitutional role of local governments) and limited access to potable water. All of which was very helpful as we plan to continue to work with community based organizations in the long term, especially the Community Development Associations to engage effectively with local government.
The next destination on the town hall route is Oredo, Edo State.

- Lanre.

OST Press Release Sept '09

‘MAKING LOCAL GOVERNANCE WORK’- Advocacy Campaign
As part of its Making Local Governance Work project, OST will be embarking on an advocacy campaign in September which will involve town hall meetings in various communities in some of the states previously visited during the survey. These town hall meetings are aimed at creating awareness on local governance issues including the functions of local government, local councillors, and the rights of citizens to participate in governance. The town hall meetings will also educate the public on ways to get involved in the budgeting process of their local government areas and also on the need to pay taxes to the government as a means of securing development. The meetings are a step towards galvanizing the public to demand a better government.

Face off in Adiyan

So the residents of Adiyan Local Government in Ogun State are taking the local government authorities there to task (see The Sunday Guardian of 13 September). Members of the community have complained about the poor state of roads in their area despite their own efforts to undertake manual repairs to the road with shovels and hoes. The Community Development Association (CDA) has added its voice to these complaints and has decided to stop implementing community projects until the local government authorities take their responsibility to work in the community seriously. CDAs were originally established to implement community projects with the support of the local government, not to supplant the role of the local government administration. I’ve often thought that having CDAs simply burns the candle at both ends, if people pay their rates and dues to the local authorities, have councillors to represent their interests within the council, why should they be the sole funders of development projects? It’s a bit of double jeopardy and means that the public has to take on the additional role of administering local government despite having elected representatives. In this situation it seems that the CDA fully recognizes its role as an institution of support and not one which replaces the local government. Let’s see who will blink first.

- Lanre

Lessons on Local Governance.

During the OST nationwide survey which covered 13 states in the six geo-political zones in Nigeria, a recurring complaint made by the people was that the Local Government officials executed projects without consulting the people on their most pressing needs. One is forced to ask why the officials take up projects without involving the people they govern.
One of the advantages of a democratic system of government is that there is increased civic participation in the sense that the people play a key role in determining what projects are necessary, any governing body that carries out projects without consultation in most cases incurs the anger and disgruntlement of its people. Aniri Local council of Enugu state is a perfect example of this where according to the Guardian Sunday, August 9th 2009 the roads are in serious disrepair, there is poor provision of health care services and no water supply. The projects embarked on by the council chairman include building a corpers lodge and public toilets which according to the people is not what is important. It is evident that there is a disconnect in communication or are the officials being dictatorial? Regardless of what the situation is in Aniri Local council, local councils in Nigeria need to be a lot more responsive to the people’s needs and provide services efficiently and effectively.

- Nkeiru.

A bumpy ride.

According to the Guardian Sunday, August 9 2009, the representative of Mushin constituency I in the Lagos state House of Assembly, Mr. Kako Are has provided the children in Mushin with free transportation to school. The representative has purchased trucks to convey children to school every morning, free of charge. However, from the pictures in the Guardian the truck is obviously filled to capacity with young children, the truck is said to take up to 300 children per trip. Healthy? Not too sure, but it certainly seems to do the job of getting the kids to school on time, reducing the financial burden on parents who can barely afford to pay the transport fares of their children and ensuring that a higher number of children are able to go to school. The effort of this representative is fair and should be supported by other members of the community so that the ride is made more comfortable. This new practice of conveying children to school free of charge should be replicated by all other constituencies.
Improving the livelihood of the people in a community is the responsibility of the local government, representatives at the state house of assembly and also the people themselves who should make demands from their representatives and come up with strategies to secure a better life.

- Nkeiru

Oshiomhole Gets 48-Hour Ultimatum from Edo PDP

Some more on the suspension of the Oredo Local Government Chairman. The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo South senatorial district of Edo state, has given Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, 48-hour ultimatum to reverse his decision to suspend the Chairman of Oredo Local Government Council, Mr Mike Ehima or face the wrath of members of the party. The allegations made by members of the public during our research were not farfetched. They alleged the chairman was imposed on them by the PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) and did not bother to challenge him especially as he was (evidently)) well connected in Edo State politics.
I can only imagine the people’s relief when the Governor finally stepped in by suspending him for two months, following allegations of impropriety levelled against him by the councillors in the locality. However, let’s not lose sight of the constitutional implications - the leadership in the Edo State House of Assembly wrote a letter to the governor describing his action as illegal and urged him to properly look at the relevant local government laws and reverse his decision. According to section 20 of the 2006 law, it is the sole prerogative of the State House of Assembly to approve the suspension of a council chairman after the Governor must have written to them requesting for the suspension. In this case, the Governor only wrote to the House on the 27th of July and the House explained that the matter will be treated when they resume plenary on the 7th of September. The governor went on to suspend the chairman and swore in the Vice Chairman which has been deemed illegal by all parties.
In my opinion, it was an act of desperation by the governor who was sure the PDP law makers in the house would frustrate any effort to suspend the chairman because of party allegiances. But does this justify the governor’s action (of not following due process) and creating a scenario, where the chairman could be returned to office and the people are made to put up with their ineffective chairman for a tad longer than necessary?

- Hadiza.

Oshiomole suspends council boss.

Last Friday’s This Day reported that the Edo state governor, Adams Oshiomhole, suspended the chairman of Oredo local government, Mr. Mike Ehiman, following allegations of impropriety levelled against him by the councillors in the locality. During the Fact Finding Survey conducted by OST in April, we visited Oredo local government and the responses from members of the community indicated that his performance in delivering community development projects was less than perfect. According to the respondents, during his two terms in office (a total of four), the chairman had carried out only two projects, the renovation of a primary school (which was constantly flooded and had broken-down gates) and a borehole (that barely worked after installation).
Most of the infrastructure in Oredo is decaying due to negligence by the local government, the roads are a narrative of poor maintenance, and even the standard practice of filling a few potholes here and there doesn’t happen in Oredo. The lack of any proper drainage system means the area is prone to flooding and homes could be lost to erosion due to the drainage problem. When we asked why they did not raise these issues with the chairman, they said they had no access to him despite the fact that he lives amongst them, the security guards at his gate turn them back every time they have been over to see him at home. Protesting against the chairman, we were told, is not an option as he is well connected in Edo politics and had the unflagging support of his political party (PDP).

- Hadiza















The views of the author are not neccessarily the views of OST.

Accountable Government

A common feature in daily newspapers is local government councils presenting their budget to the public but what we never see the revenue and expenditure account of the local government. Without accurate financial information, delivered regularly, in an accessible format, citizens lack the knowledge they need to secure their rights and discharge their duties. In this regard, a lack of government accountability and transparency undermines democracy and gives rise to cynicism and mistrust.
This result is reflected in our survey, which revealed deep dissatisfaction among the public with both the unavailability of local government financial information and their usual reluctance to provide such information. Much of this dissatisfaction has to do with issues of trust and a gap between what the public expects and what is actually delivered. {The visit of the elected officials to the EFCC would be dramatically reduced (as it was in Warri South), if unlimited accessibility to financial information is granted to stakeholders in the local government council}

- Hadiza

Civic Participation

All around the world, local government councils are using civic participation strategies to inform policy decision, build stronger communities and create more effective governance. In Nigeria, we need to strengthen representative’s democracy; we need to get the people more involved in local governance especially in the budgetary process. The elected officials have few methods of knowing what the ordinary, unaffiliated citizens feel about issues, for example, during focus group discussions; the people repeatedly complained that the elected officials don’t consult with the people on their immediate needs when planning development projects. Instead they listen to their ‘godfathers’ or political touts who are always around the elected officials and who are primarily concerned with pursuing their personal interest. Collectively, ordinary, unaffiliated citizens have the capacity to make better judgements for the public than the usual suspects. The elected officials are indebted to their party and funders, so they don’t enjoy the freedom to care for the good of all. We need to think up better ways to convene people into meaningful deliberation that inform our elected officials about what the public wants.

- Hadiza

Taxation

Taxation should be something we view as a necessary civic duty, as part of living in a country in which if someone gets sick they can go to a hospital, if someone's homeless we can find them basic accommodation, if some child's parents can't or won't send them to a decent school we'll make sure they have the opportunity of a good education. So am I obliged to pay my taxes as a Nigerian? The local government officials are of the opinion that people should only have a right to demand responsibility from their council, if they pay their taxes. What do you think?

- Hadiza

HKT Boys

Who are they?
They are the men that run the Ajeronmi-ifelodun local government aka Ajegunle. They are they backbone of the newly appointed chairman, Hon. Kunle Taiwo hence the HKT. It came to my understanding that it won’t have been possible for the new chairman to reach his status without greasing the palms of these young men. Regardless of any level of political position in Nigeria, you would always find your faithful political thugs. If you please them then you please “the people". Morally and politically, this is wrong but that is where we find our Nigerian democracy today. Do we need a change? I believe so!

-Teleola

Are Town Hall Meetings effective?

To the understanding of those that came for the town hall meetings, it was an avenue to speak their mind about what the government needed to provide for them. Of these basic amenities that need provision include electricity, water, schools, all of which doesn’t elude the government. In response to the plight of the people concerning their present problems, the Speaker spent must of the time praising his Governor, their party and the initiative of the town hall meetings. This said, it would not be fair to tag town hall meetings as a negative event but a gathering that was to achieve some level of positivity. Nevertheless, every aspect of Nigerian lifestyle is pervaded by corruption and I really could not expect anything else from this meeting. As explained below, gifts were given in exchange for people’s presence at the meetings. People are not fully aware of what it is that their government is supposed to do for them and even those that know do not see anything being done. Maybe all hope is lost but I would say that the mentality at this meeting was: “You (the politicians) eat government money, now I want my share of the national cake.” Lets all exploit ourselves!

-Teleola

Gift-giving has invaded Nigerian politics (Town Hall Meetings).

At these town hall meetings, gifts were handed out in the form of t-shirts and note-pads. Trusting Nigerians, they were hustling , rushing and pushing to get these bags. The programs were not left out of the hoarding and hustling, many of these people in attendance are not able to read these programs but I guess it would be something to take home in the bags with the rest of their goodies. Food was also given out to a certain crowd and this was also rushed by some people.
For every politician that was in attendance, a bunch of 20 men dressed in uniform t-shirts surrounded him in the quest for a little change to take home. They prevent the men from entering their cars until money is given. The men then find themselves in a corner violently and loudly dividing the money. A group of women in Aso Ebi were also present to sing praises of both the speaker and deputy speaker of the house of Assembly. I am of the belief that these people would not come there without getting some form of compensation. My question therefore is what did these people get out of the town hall meeting? Not much I presume, since to be a part of the event, they had to get a level of compensation for their time and effort.

-Teleola

Town Hall Meetings- Avenues of exploitation?

The Town hall meeting held in the Mushin constituencies was met with a large crowd of people in attendance all cramped in the exorbitant canopy carefully decorated with drapes and chandeliers. Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon Ikuforiji and Hon. Mrs Adefunmilayo Tejuoso, the representative of the Mushin constituency 1 who is also the Deputy Speaker of the Lagos House of Assembly, amongst many other politicians were present. Hon. Mrs Tejuoso in her speech explained that these town hall meetings were borne out of the demand of the people to get involved in the process of governance and in doing so leaders in these local governments with great ideas can come and express their views, ask questions and proffer solutions which will form the bedrock of planning and legislation. No doubt, leaders of the various groups came up with what they needed the state government to do for them some of which include roads, schools, drainage and many more of such issues. This initiative of the State government is a great one but i would like to believe that many of those in attendance were there because they could get something out of this gathering.

-Teleola

People Power?

Earlier this year we conducted a survey of 40 local governments in 13 states across the country. In two weeks our research teams interviewed over 1,000 respondents in local communities and local government offices, holding focus group discussions and meeting local government officials. Finding local government officials to speak to was challenging in some places (as expected) and not as much in others. Local people were quite happy to answer questions and talk about the difficulties posed by a lack of decent social services, but their cynicism was overwhelming. In response to broad questions about whether they were involved in planning for local government development, citizens said that they had not been involved in planning for development projects nor for the local government budget. A number of them said they did not complain to their local government about issues affecting their community because they felt that even if they did, it would not yield any results. It’s quite clear that a key issue we need to address is civic education for citizens as a means of civic empowerment. We need to recognize the strength of the power that we hold and how that power can change the way that we live.

-Lanre

AIYETORO LOCAL COUNCIL, OGUN STATE: Totally broken down.

The living conditions of residents in the farming community of Ijeoun Isenjo In Yewa North, Aiyetoro Local Council, of Ogun state as described in The Sunday Guardian of 5th July 2009 where there are no basic social amenities especially where the only source of water is Idi River which also doubles as a dump for all types of refuse is appalling. The Local Government Chairman is definitely missing in action (M.I.A.) ,provision of pipe borne water is one of the duties of the Local Government. The community also lacks health care facilities. The strange illness where the children of the community have stunted growth and pass blood as urine is extremely worrisome. This has been linked to drinking water from the Idi River, urgent action needs to be taken now by the local government chairman and the people. It is safe to say that most local government councils need to play their constitutional roles as active service providers in their communities. In addition, people need to constantly demand accountability from their local government officials and not wait until the public service delivery has completely collapsed or there is a crisis to raise an alarm about a non functional local government.

-Nkeiru

Lagos StateTown Hall Meetings

The Lagos State House Assembly is currently holding Town Hall meetings with citizens in each of the 20 original Local Government areas in Lagos State. At these meetings, Local Government Associations (LGA) and Local Council Development (LCDA) chair persons will be in attendance and people in the various local governments will get a chance to talk directly to their law makers and ask questions concerning governance. Encouraging civil society and public participation.

The schedule for these meetings which would hold later this week include:
Wednesday 01/07/09 - Badagry
Thursday 02/07/09 - Ibeju-Lekki
Friday 03/07/09 - Amuwo-Odofin
Monday 06/07/09- Ajeromi/Ifelodun
Tuesday 07/07/09- Mushin
Wednesday 08/07/09- Epe

Other Local Government Councils where these meetings have been held include Alimosho, Apapa, Agege, Eti-Osa, Ifako-Ijaiye, Ikeja, Ikorodu, Kosofe, Lagos Island, Lagos Mainland, Ojo, Oshodi-Isolo, Somolu and Surulere.

Programmes

Making Local Governance Work

The local government is probably the most neglected tier of government in Nigeria today despite its constitutional responsibility for the provision of basic services to the public. Local governments possess a unique capacity to address the core needs of local communities due to their proximity and ability to understand the local context and its specific needs. Ongoing reform for accountability at the state and federal levels of government will have little or no impact if local governments are not enabled to operate transparently, and to provide efficient service delivery to their citizens.
To support the third tier of government in its delivery of services to local communities, OST, in partnership with the Ford Foundation, is conducting a critical study of local governance processes and practices in Nigeria to identify governance challenges at the local level and disseminate examples of good practices of local governments. This study will also examine current local government management and practice on ground. In addition, to strengthen the development of a body of knowledge on local governance, good practices of outstanding local government performers will be publicised and used to inform institutional policy development on local governance strategies.

The OST Local Governance Programme is focused on three objectives:
Systematically identify the top-three performing local governments in each geo-political zone using clearly defined criteria;
Rigorously document good local governance practice in Nigeria which provides pro-poor service delivery and fosters accountability;
Use the insights generated in the course of the above activities aimed at raising the profile of Nigerian local governments within the country's democratic system and stimulate public discourse on local governance reform.

The Orderly Society Trust

ABOUT US

The Orderly Society Trust was founded in 2007 by Yemi and Dolapo Osinbajo to honour the memories of Isaac Opeolu Osinbajo (1919 – 1996) and Oluwatoyin Osinbajo (1962 – 2006) for whom various aspects of the organisation’s aims was a passion.
OST seeks to assist in overcoming the challenges of creating an orderly society by promoting initiatives which support:
The Rule of Law - By recognising and celebrating in creative ways, judicial courage and resourcefulness, promote research and ideas on speedier and fairer justice delivery, and judicial independence.
Transparency and Accountability - OST will support public and private anti-corruption initiatives, assist in the building of capacity to fight corruption, promote ideas and research on enhancing transparency in government procurement and services, and strategies for to establish accountability in systems and processes.
The dissemination of ethics of integrity, patriotism, respect for civic obligation and etiquette.