Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

A promising bit of civil society in Nigeria

A determined political leader cannot make big changes all by him/herself. V2P looks promising as a small start.

The article was written by Temitope Fashola, who is governance manager for Christian Aid Nigeria, one of the sponsors of V2P, so the article might depict things through rose-colored glasses.

Keep your eyes open, speak out: we can fight the menace of corruption in Nigeria: A pioneering grassroots project in Anambra state is building confidence among local citizens to hold leaders to account over bribery and dishonesty

Transparency International and Afrobarometer published a poll last week of people’s experiences and perceptions of corruption in 28 African countries – People and Corruption: Africa Survey 2015.

The findings certainly make challenging reading. But in Nigeria there is also good reason for hope that the tide may be starting to turn, through grassroots voices and accountability programmes focused on participatory and responsive governance.

The Voice to the People (V2P) project in Anambra state, in south-eastern Nigeria, is working with poor and marginalised citizens by fostering a sense of potential, ownership and resolve to tackle issues like corruption head-on.

V2P, funded by the UK government’s Department for International Development and managed by Christian Aid and Nigerian civil society partners, is building the capacity and confidence of Anambrarians so that their voices can be heard and they can hold their leaders to account. There is no doubt that this, in turn, is helping to reduce the menace of corruption.

The People and Corruption survey found that in Nigeria bribery was most prevalent when it came to obtaining documents from government officials, including voters’ cards…

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