General News
AN NGO, Stallion Times, has reiterated its commitment to build the capacities of Journalists and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) for effective performance.
The Project Coordinator, Mr Isiyaku Ahmed, made the pronouncement at the end of a two-day training workshop for journalists and CSOs in Lokoja.
Ahmed said the group, in conjunction with Mac Arthur Foundation, had drawn up a three-year capacity building plan for the media and CSOs across the federation.
The coordinator said that the just concluded workshop was the third and the last to be held in the first year for journalists and CSOs in Kogi.
He said the essence was to equip the media and CSOs with the requisite skills and knowledge to track constituency projects by both national and state legislators.
”We have to support our communities by sniffing around to identify both abandoned and ongoing constituency projects.
”We also need to show resilience in our services to the community by ensuring that such projects are completed,” he said.
Mr Henry Omokhaye, a resource person from Budget Foundation, urged the media and CSOs to make adequate use of the Freedom Of Information Act in seeking information about constituency projects.
Omokhaye said that a thorough analysis of government budgets and performance was necessary to hold officials accountable in the interest of the public.
”It is part of our duties to ensure that public funds are used for the purposes they were budgeted.
”The media and CSOs should be in the forefront to track budget performance. They should follow constituency projects up to completion,” he said.(NAN)
A.I
Tags: Mac Arthur Foundation Mr Henry Omokhaye Mr Isiyaku Ahmed Stallion Times
