From Sola Ojo, Kaduna
Following the success recorded so far in the implementation of the action plan of a global accountability platform called Open Government Partnership in Kaduna State, a group of young persons between the ages of 18 – 29 have resolved to engage the platform to ensure good governance in the State.
The Open Government Partnership (0GP)
Youth Innovation Hub, Kaduna, with support from the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) through Partnership to Engage, Reform and Lean (PERL) had over the weekend organised a one-day OGP youth strategy session: tagged “Age Is No Barrier, Building for the Future”.
Speaking on the theme of the event “Strategies for Implementing the OGP 2023-2028 Framework Kaduna State: Empowering Youth for Effective Participation in Governance’, Commissioner, Planning Commissioner Mukhtar Monrovia noted that since 2018 when the Kaduna State Government joined the OGP platform, remarkable feats and progress have been made.
“We have fully implemented our 2021 – 2023 Action Plan, the Second, and are earnestly preparing for the third one which I assure you will give teeth to an overall goal of the essence of open governance and all that it entails.
“The principles shall be continuously adhered to for the good, progress, and development of our communities”, the commissioner, who spoke represented by the Point Of Contact (POC) OGP, Kaduna State, Mr Tara Jeremiah, said.
The young persons who participated in the engagement expressed readiness to make their impact felt in the end product of government which is good governance.
One of the facilitators who is also a young person, Waniya Ilu said “The future of this country depends on young persons, “this is a great platform where we can interact as young Nigerians in such a way that we can make a great impact in the project Nigeria.
“This is my first time engaging in a gathering like this and it has been awesome. We have representatives of different civil society groups and students from various higher institutions in the State. It was a great moment which I make judicious use of”.
Another young facilitator at the event, Sumaya Abdullahi Rigasa said “We are happy we have a lot of young ladies showing interest in OGP and governance as a whole. This is interesting and it shows we are going forward.
“This will improve the idea of mainstreaming gender in all we do so we can progress without leaving anyone behind. It is our responsibility to know what the government is doing with our collective resources and it is even better if we get involved.”
To Mubarak Abdulganiyu Alamin, the gathering was all about how the State could see the emergence of young people’s willingness to participate in governance.
“If we are the highest in terms of population, then, we should also be a part of decisions that will affect us, especially in a democratic setting like ours.
“What this means is that we need more people to pay attention to governance than politics itself because governance is the key thing in terms of putting our collective resources together in education, health, and infrastructure services among others and that is why we are here this time around.
The OGP Youth Innovation Hub is a proactive initiative committed to amplifying the voices of young persons aged between 18 to 29 years, in the development and governance processes of Kaduna State.