When we talk of projects, we talk about facilities that enhance the living standards of the people; we talk about the indices by which growth and development are measured, we talk about improvement to our socio economic life, we talk about those things that make us proud to belong to the area we have found ourselves. It follows from the foregoing that everybody should desire projects in whatsoever place he finds himself.
The fact that we are talking about it means that not much attention had gone into monitoring by the communities. The reason is simple government talk of providing facilities to the people without the people being involved in the project choice, conception, and definition execution. They are only involved at commissioning which most often than not are done with fanfare with the people being asked to mobilize the whole town to witness what has been done for them.
Permit me to recall a simple example of borehole projects conceived by an agency for a particular village where the villagers mostly women were used to going to the stream, walking long distances, to fetch water every morning. After about six months the agency that provided the facility summoned the villagers to explain the benefits of the borehole as cleaner water than the one from the stream, nearer to where they live, that they can send their young ones to fetch water whilst they busy themselves with other more important things.
The women spoke in one voice “You did not seek our opinion before embarking on the project. The early morning long walk was the time they had to gossip and gist themselves about happenings at home. If you had asked we would have asked for a market where we could meet often to gist.
That CDAs do not monitor projects provided them is therefore due to
(1) Lack of consultation between the providers and the people. The principle of “Never decide for the people what you think they need is abridged. It is a paternalistic approach. It is the Top-Bottom approach which most times is pushed down the throats of the perceived beneficiaries. The people cannot cherish what they never asked for.
(2) The principle upon which CDAs are formed is that of collective participation. If the people are not involved you are wasting your time and resources.
(3) The in-things today and as supported by democratic norms is Bottom-Top approach. The projects must be community driven. The people must identify their needs for you to provide
(4) Even when their needs are presented there is the assumption in formation of CDAs which presupposes that you tap resources from within first or engage their people in areas they can be useful in the project to save cost. This gives them the spirit of belonging, the belief that it is our project, we must maintain and sustain it.
Except I am contradicted, the pattern of approach of providing facilities, correlates with what has been described above.
Governor Akinwunmi Dapo Ambode seems to want to chat a new course when he promises the people an all-inclusive governance style in which every hand must be on deck. His Excellency cannot do everything himself and is thus surrounded by advisors. The question is how much of interface do these advisors have with the CDAs. Even with the governor’s magnanimity in recognizing the CDAs, how receptive are the administrators of local government to CDAs? Permit me cite the example of two roads per local government which have been awarded; what is the input of the people in the choice of the roads? From time immemorial local government chairmen and councilors have always monopolized this process. When you leave viable projects beneficial to the people to provide for your family members, girlfriends and ask me to monitor when substandard materials were used in the execution that must be a joke. Why is there the outcry that local governments do not have good roads.
Is it that roads were never constructed? What is being said here is that “The people must be involved in projects from conception, execution to completion.” There are no two ways to it if the CDAs are to monitor, they must be involved.
The political game to use and dump is outdated. People are now wiser. They have realized that politics is a game of numbers and every aspirant wants votes of the people. The calculus now is “If, I am inconsequential to you, you cannot attract my vote”
How much can we get out of a road constructed but which collapses within 3 months? What is the Local Government Auditor General doing to ensure we get value for our resources invested in moribund projects?
It is only the CDAs that can stem this fraud and this is the reason they are deliberately not being involved in project conception and execution.
Benefits of CDAs monitoring projects
- In the final analysis, the people as represented in the CDAs are the beneficiaries of these projects
- They help to improve their living conditions
- Give them a sense of belonging or participating in governance
- The beneficiaries will ensure value is given for public funds spent while projects last longer
- Make the people partners in progress
- Train the people on project determination, analysis and execution against when they want to handle their personal projects too
- CDA monitoring of projects is a tool for self-development
- Participating on project trains them in prioritizing community projects
- They give CDAs sense of discipline and organization.
What they lose if they do not monitor
- CDAs do injuries to themselves because they get substandard quality of job for what belongs to them
- Projects are executed at much exaggerated rates
- Facilities provided collapse more quickly than necessary
- They lose the benefit of participating in governance
- The benefits from training on the job are lost
- Lose the confidence of the government
What is the way out
- a) Hiccups hindering CDAs perform as expected have to be removed especially with the stance of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to have an all-inclusive governance in which projects are community driven. This means that Executive Secretaries have to adjust to the thinking of the governor.
- b) The FOI Act must be made to bear on local government administrators to be more open as they often lie about their allocations. A new consciousness must be created in political office holders.
- c) Community service is a thankless, selfless and unrewarding enterprise and populated by the aged and retired people. Provision must be made for the aged to keep them committed.
4(a) The government requires the political will to align Article 34 section 2 sub section (e) (1) of the constitution to the CDA Law 2008 because it has the tendency to create the necessary awareness in the people that they owe their communities some civic obligations for their own well-being.
This clause is an “Exception to the Right to Dignity”, it guarantees the ability of the communities i.e. CDAs tap the huge resources within the communities for executing and sustaining projects including monitoring of projects from time to time. This in itself is a form of empowerment to bring the people together to identify projects as their own which they must protect and sustain.