By Saheed Abiola
A one-day round table discussion on constituency projects, organized by Stallion Times Media Services, aimed to call for increased citizen participation in planning and implementation of constituency projects in Kano State.
The event, held at City Center Hotel in Kano, was part of the “Get Involved, Dialogue, and Improve (G-DRIP)” initiative, a three-year participatory governance and media literacy project implemented by Stallion Times in collaboration with the Wole Soyinka Center for Investigative Journalism.
The project, supported by the MacArthur Foundation, aims to promote transparency and quality service delivery in Kano and Kogi states.
The round table monitored by our reporter brought together key stakeholders, including civil society organizations, faith-based groups, women’s organizations, people with disabilities, Kano State Open Government Partnership (OGP) representatives, state actors, and the media.
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Participants raised lack of community awareness, absence of a legal framework, inadequate public information, gender exclusion, and the need for coordination as key factors impending the public’s inclusiveness in participating in Kano state constituency projects.
In the same vein, participants made several key resolutions, like advocacy for the establishment of legal frameworks that ensure gender-inclusive constituency projects; public awareness campaigns; inclusive participation of women, youth, and people with disabilities (PWDs); and the elderlies active involvement in the identification and implementation of constituency projects.
Other resolutions made during the discussion include; tracking of constituency projects on different platforms; setting up community-level committees to ensure timely execution of projects; and citizens’ rights. Awareness and promotion of transparency through online portals, such as [kanotracker.com] (http://kanotracker.com) and [tracka.ng] (http://tracka.ng), which provide access to information on project details, budget amounts, and project scope.
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Legislative engagement, which mandates legislators to establish constituency offices and create opportunities for regular interaction with their constituents, is also recommended by participants.
Stakeholders therefore called on the government, legislators, and other relevant authorities to adopt the resolutions in order to foster better service delivery and community development in Kano State and beyond.