by Christiana Gokyo, Jos
A HomeGroup NGO, known as ‘YIAGA Africa,’ has launched its project, tagged “People’s Assembly,” in Jos North of Plateau State. The project is supported by Open Society Foundations, an NGO, aimed at promoting participatory democracy at the rural levels.
Senior Programme Officer of the Organisation, Miss Antonia Onda, said the People’s Assembly is a form of deliberative democracy where citizens come together to deliberate on issues that concern them and present resolutions to the government for possible action.
According to her, they have established this in local government areas across 12 states in Nigeria, two per geo-political zones each.
She stated that, the essence is to get citizens to take charge of their governance processes by identifying their pressing issues and seeking accountability from government officials through follow-ups and advocacies.
“This initiative will teach the people how to bring up their challenges and present them to government in an order of preference,” she stated.
The Programme Officer urged residents of Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau to actively participate in the governance processes in their localities.
She said that initiative would enable the citizens attract maximum benefits and dividends of democracy to their communities.
Also speaking, Councillor representing Jenta Adamu Ward of Jos North, Mr John Kele, commended YIAGA Africa for the initiative, insisting that active citizen participation in governance would benefit both the people and the leaders.
While commending YIAGA Africa for this initiative, the councillor stressed that “It will further enlighten the citizens on their rights to good governance. This is going to impact positively on the general governance in Jos North and other parts where this initiative has been established.
“As leaders, we will also try to partner with the citizens and see how good governance will reach the lower levels,” John Kele stated.