The U.S. government has pledged to continuously support Nigeria’s journey toward a more democratic, developed, and inclusive society through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
Angela Martin, Country Director of USAID Nigeria Peace, Democracy and Governance Office, pledged on Wednesday in Abuja at the closeout ceremony of the agency’s four-year project, SCALE.
SCALE, which stands for “Strengthening Civic Advocacy and Legal Engagement,” is a USAID-funded project designed to support Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Nigeria in influencing policies and reforms.
Unveiled in October 2020 and implemented by Palladium, the SCALE project aims to strengthen civil society and development. It has achieved numerous policy actions across federal, state, and local sectors.
Martin said that over the past four years, USAID has improved the organizational and advocacy capacities of local CSOs and business membership organizations (BMOs) in the 36 states and Abuja.
“USAID, through the Strengthening Civic Advocacy and Local Engagement (SCALE) activity in Nigeria, trained 215 CSOs and BMOs and supported more than 1,000 organizations to drive policy reforms addressing development challenges.
“These challenges include poverty, education, healthcare, corruption, service delivery, citizen participation in governance, and gender equality.
“USAID remains committed to supporting Nigeria’s journey towards a more inclusive, developed and democratic society,” she said.
The country director explained that CSO partners were supported through training, mentoring, coaching, and enhancing their sustainability.
She said the support also led to more than 8.4 million dollars in grants won by SCALE partners from donor agencies, improving resource diversification.
Martin said USAID also supported the inauguration of four postgraduate organizational development and advocacy programmes at the Nasarawa State University, Keffi.
“Our other achievements include support for a nationwide CSO self-regulation consultation, resulting in a CSO self-regulation council, which identified six regulatory frameworks and addressed issues of corruption, money laundering, and terrorist financing.
“Integration of perspectives from women, youth, and people with disabilities into civic space dialogues with the government.
“Engagement with security agencies, traditional, religious, and community leaders to address trafficking, sexual and gender-based violence, and child marriage, leading to 28 investigated trafficking cases, etc,” she said.
Earlier in her opening remarks, Oiza Nicholson, the Country Director of Palladium Nigeria, described her organisation as the facilitator of SCALE’s locally led development and catalyst for speed and enduring change.
She said all their achievements were made possible by partnership and collaboration, adding that the strong relationships built with partners were the driving force behind the successes.
Also speaking, Lydia Odeh, the SCALE Project’s Chief of Party, recalled that the SCALE project was designed against the backdrop of some challenges confronting the country four years ago.
“We saw that Nigeria was facing complex social problems, including poverty, inequality, poor education, lack of quality healthcare, terrorism, banditry, food security, gender-based violence, inequality and exclusion that was very, very prominent.
“The voices of women, young persons with disabilities, and other socially excluded groups were often overlooked in both governments and business membership organizations.
“We were mandated to strengthen their financial capacity, management and advocacy capacity,” she said.
Delivering a keynote address on the theme: Future of CSOs in Nigeria; Opportunities and Challenges, Dr Otive Igbuzor of the Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development said partnership among government, the private sector and CSOs was crucial for development.
He expressed confidence that with the right strategies and partnerships, Nigeria would overcome its challenges and achieve its dream aspirations.
“A prosperous future for Nigeria will depend on the capacity and quality of civil society that we can build.
“The future of Nigeria’s democracy depends on the strength and vitality of the civil society,” he said.
Rep. Victor Obuzor, Chairman of the Committee on CSOs and Development, in a goodwill message, said the National Assembly would provide an effective legislative framework for a more prosperous, just, and equitable Nigeria.
Gov. Kefas Agbu of Taraba, also in a goodwill message, said the state government had enacted a Counter Trafficking in Persons Law to ensure the implementation of laws protecting vulnerable persons.
