NGO Tasks Citizens, Governments On Abandoned infrastructure projects

A Non-Governmental Organization in Nigeria, Wadata media and advocacy center (WAMAC), has tasked citizens, Community leaders,  professional Bodies, religious groups and trade unions to demand accountability from national and subnational Governments in Nigeria by joining forces with the media and civil society organizations to promote greater public accountability and good governance with a view to stemming corrupt practices in the award and execution of public projects.

This was the highlight of the town hall meeting organized by WAMAC in Kogi state held on Saturday, October 14th, 2023 at the Reverton hotel, Lokoja, Kogi state.

The meeting themed, “Abandoned public infrastructure projects in Kogi state: the need for evaluation and accountability,” had in attendance religious bodies, civil society organizations, media, national orientation agency and Nigeria’s anti-graft agency, the ICPC among other critical stakeholders in the state.

WAMAC leads citizens in the campaign against Corruption and the public demand for accountability in contract award and execution in Nigeria, with the series of town hall meetings held in the six geopolitical zones, escalating the anti-corruption message in major Nigerian languages.

Executive Director and Project Manager of WAMAC Mr. Zubair Abdurra’uf Idris, says, “successive administrations in Nigeria made little or no efforts to fast-track the road project that is vital in linking the northern and southern part of Nigeria.

“The road is yet to be completed, while many portions of the reconstructed road has failed or the lifespan of the road has elapsed. Since 2006 when the Obasanjo administration awarded the contract for dualization of the Abuja-Lokoja highway to three companies with a completion period of 36 months, the road project remains uncompleted till date.”

Mr. Idris said the precarious experience of motorists on the road had led to the killings of many Nigerians in road crashes on the popular Abuja-Lokoja highway hence, the town hall meeting supported by the MacArthur foundation.

He said WAMAC and MacArthur Foundation town hall meetings aims at creating awareness on the danger of corruption to national development as corruption deprives the citizens of comfort and development particularly in the confluence state of Kogi, where a lot of abandoned infrastructure projects are begging for completion.

According to Abdurra’uf, the poor state of infrastructure both at federal and state levels, were due to the monumental corruption in the execution of several projects abandoned. He attributed the development to bad governance and corrupt practices by the political leaders in the country.

“The town hall meeting therefore held to discuss with other stakeholders the menace of corruption and how it affects the governance and well-being of Nigerians,” he said.

“The theme was chosen to consolidate on the findings of our partner radio station, Grace FM, Lokoja on the serious negation of accountability in project management, which had led to the abandonment of the various projects in Kogi state.

“We therefore urge Community leaders and Non-Governmental organizations to cooperate with Journalists in the production of investigative reports on corruption to sustain the fight against corrupt practices. Community members and radio listeners will be engaged in anti-corruption dialogue to achieve maximum results as we advocate to citizens to own the fight against corruption by reporting cases of corruption to EFCC, ICPC and other anti-corruption agencies in Nigeria.”

Mr. Zubair Abdurra’uf urged the public, journalists and CSOs to embrace the freedom of information act (FOI), which promotes participatory democracy, promotion of transparency, and accountability in the conduct of government business.

The resource person, Mr. Idris Miliki, who spoke on the spate of abandoned public infrastructure projects in Kogi state, called for a stronger project evaluation mechanism by the anti-corruption agencies in the country.

A communique at the end of the town hall meeting, was raised and adopted by the participants.

The various participants comprising the Media, civil society organizations, religious bodies, NURTW and others stressed on the need to hold governments accountable to ensure continuity in government programs and projects in the interest of the country and citizens, in order to achieve good governance and sustainable development of public infrastructure in Kogi state and Nigeria as a whole.