Socio-economic and political challenges in Nigeria such as insecurity, bad leadership, corruption, misgovernance, abuse of human rights, nepotism, among others have been attributed to lack of patriotism among the citizens of the nation.
This was disclosed by members of Civil Society Organizations, CSOs, Lawmakers, media practitioners, among other critical stakeholders in Imo State, in a one-day multi stakeholders senatorial townhall meeting on, “The Role of Citizens Participation in Good Governance, Transparency and Accountability”, organised by Alliance for Africa, AfA, an African feminist non-governmental organisation in conjunction with Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, CISLAC and MacArthur Foundation, held in Owerri.
The Imo stakeholders stated that the inability of Nigeria citizens to unite and fight the common course of the nation would continually enhance the ills in the country instead of combating them for the general well-being of the citizens and the nation at large.
According to them, “until every Nigerian think and act beyond tribalistic and religious sentiments; prioritize nation’s unity, peace and development over personal gains and fearlessly speak truth to power, efforts to get Nigeria of our collective dream, will continue to remain a mirage.”
They also identified the absence of the rule of law, insensitivity on the part of the nation’s leaders to citizens plight, individual’s greed and selfishness, sharp decline in morality of citizens and bad parenting as equally the contributory factors inhibiting the growth and progress of the country.
The stakeholders alongside the AfA Executive Director, Ms. Iheoma Obibi, represented by the group’s Programme Manager, Mrs. Blessing Duru as well as Mrs. Rejoice Wobilor-Agua, Ms. Adaeze Ekpunobi among other facilitators of the meeting stressed on the need for the citizens to always engage, participate or actively support efforts that promote transparency and accountability in government, enhance good governance, peace and unity of the nation, in other to achieve, “a viable Nigeria.”
They equally tasked government at all levels and other concerned stakeholders in the country to put in place policies and programmes that would continually challenge the citizens to become agents of positive change in the society as well as to always contribute meaningfully for the overall good of the nation.
Earlier, Mrs. Nnennaya Eneremmadu, in her speech on, “Understanding the Importance of Citizens Participation in Good Governance”, opined that to mitigate the Nigeria’s woes, cogent efforts must be made to promote civic education, accountability and participatory decision-making processes; enhance transparency and access to information; foster inclusive governance structures; combat corruption; support grassroots initiatives and community engagement; and ensure legal protection and human rights.
She insisted that to ensure good governance, digital transformation; open government initiatives; decentralization and local governance independence; gender inclusive governance; partnerships and multi-stakeholder collaboration; data-driven decision making; ethical leadership and integrity; resilience and crisis management strategies among others must be in place and sustained.
