Kogi reiterates commitment to accountability, transparency among youths

By Friday Idachaba, Lokoja.

KOGI State Government has reiterated its dedication to fostering a culture of accountability, transparency, and civic engagement among the youths as fundamental to their socio political engagement in the State.

The State Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, Hon. Monday Anyebe, disclosed this while declaring open, a two-day Youth Social Accountability Lab Training for Young Changemakers in Lokoja.

The training was organized by Youth Development and Empowerment Initiative (LYDEI) under the auspices of the Youth Upright Accountability Project (YUA-P) with support from LEAP Africa and Nigeria Youth Futures Fund.

Anyebe said that government had taken due recognition of the fact that development of the state remained intrinsically linked to the engagement and empowerment of the young people.

He said that the Youth Ministry was actively seeking to cultivate a vibrant youth sector in Kogi State with a promise to promote collaboration among youth organisations to foster collective action and building a network of young changemakers across the state.

“That is why we are delighted to support the Youth Upright Accountability Project (YUA-P), being implemented by the Youth Development and Empowerment Initiative (LYDEI).

“This training is a crucial step in ensuring that our youths are not just passive beneficiaries of government programmes but active participants in shaping policies and holding leaders accountable”, Anyebe said.

Hon. Asema Baba Haruna, member representing Adavi Constituency at the state House of Assembly in his speech, commended organisers of the training and urged the youths to be committed to doing things right.

He urged the youths to always critically plan towards attaining meaningful positions to enable them lead saying that the Assembly would always give priority attention to issues that concern youths, their lives and ambitions.

In his opening remarks, Comrade Aminu Okwutepa, Executive Director, LYDEI, said the Youth Social Accountability Lab Training for Young Changemakers was a call for action and a beacon of hope.

He said that the training was designed to equip the young change makers with the skills and knowledge needed for active participation in governance processes.

Okwutepa hinted that one of the key objectives of the training was to build the capacity of Youths to promote accountability and Open Governance through Budget Tracking and Monitoring of implementation at the State and Local Governments’ levels.

Okwutepa underscored the importance of cultivating a personal culture of accountability and transparency among the Youths as essential for fostering ethical governance.

He said said that the training was aimed at developing strategic leadership, project management, resource mobilization, and proposal writing skills among the youths.

Dr Funmilayo Oyefusi, a Consultant and Lead Facilitator for the training said the leadership for the Social Accountability Lab would enable building of capacity of the youths to know how to be socially accountable and hold leaders to account.

She urged the youths to set manageable goals for themselves and as innovative leaders, improve on themselves, be willing to adapt to changes, not to be scared of failure and be persistent.

“So, we’ve shared today about how they can be strategic leaders in their own right, how they need to lead themselves first before leading others, and how they can make others to be accountable, and also how to become an innovative leader”, Dr Oyefusi said.

In his goodwill message, Chairman of Kogi State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Comrade Seidu Ademu Haruna said LYDEI shared common mandate with the Union in holding leaders accountable.

He urged them to, like the journalists, hold duty bearers accountable as he encouraged the them to make maximum use of the training to impact their communities and organisations. (Ends)