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Insight Initiative for Community and Social Development is a non-profit organisation committed to democratic and social development, media advancement, peace and security, and attainment of Sustainable Development Goals #SDGs.
With a focus on knowledge and impact, IICSD emphasises research, gathering information, data analysis, community needs assessment, and stakeholder engagement to drive positive change.
At IICSD, we are focused on achieving these set goals by;
Osun Open Local Government Project
The OsunOpenLG is a project aimed at complementing the government's efforts in making the council areas fulfill the developmental yearnings and aspirations of the people. It also aims to promote responsible leadership and development at the grassroots level, with its four cardinal goals of accountability, civic engagement, development, and entrenching good governance at the grassroots.
OsunOpenLG came from the fact of underutilisation and redirection of monies accrued to local government areas and the seeming secrecy in the budget of LGAs across the state. We are further inspired by the fact that the Supreme Court judgement on local government autonomy came at a time when we are promoting advocacy that seeks to open our local governments to further public scrutiny to ensure that the funds provided are judiciously utilised for the well- being of the masses. We hope that by the end of the day, we can further propagate transparency and accountability at the closest government to the grassroots beyond the shores of Osun State, in a way that will benefit the masses.
In May, 66 local government advocates who are carrying out the advocacy were carefully selected. At the close of application on May 15, about 148 Youths of Osun origin applied, 100 of those applications were successful, while 66 of these applicants selected through a rigorous process are going to start work. Out of the 66 advocates, six (6) of them are people living with disabilities (PWDs). Also, the team unveiled the Osun Open LG project to the media.
In June, the training of the 66 local government advocates happened. On the OsunOpenLG Project, the local government advocates are the ones propagating the gospel of transparency and accountability at the third tier of government in Nigeria. The advocates are on field engaging stakeholders including the government officials, traditional rulers, the general public, among others on how it is important to hold the local governments in Osun State accountable. The training sessions hinged on civic engagement, civic advocacy, communication, and development reporting have offered ideas to shape the thinking of advocates on the project.
Our media engagements were held on RAVE 91.7FM Osogbo and FRESH 104.9FM Osogbo in July and August where a 30-minute bilingual show (English & Yoruba) focused on the activities of the project so far and the milestones to reach. Feedback from the programme espoused the readiness of the people to receive the advocates.
In August, the much-anticipated stakeholders meeting was held with the full participation of all eggheads in matters related to local government and its functionality in Osun State. With the theme, “Local Government and Uniform Development at the Grassroots," the stakeholders, including the Speaker, Osun State House of Assembly, Hon. Adewale Egbedun, represented by Hon. Adewumi Adeyemi; Osun ICPC Resident Anti-Corruption Commissioner, Barr. Hassan Mohammed; OSSIEC Chairman, Barr. Hashim Abioye; and Chairman, Osun State Civil Societies Coalition, Comrade Waheed Lawal, canvassed the release of budgets of council areas to public scrutiny. Other speakers in Osun NAWOJ Chairperson, Abisola Ariwodola, Executive Director, Kimpact Development Initiative, Mr. Bukola Idowu, Programme Director, National Democratic Institute (NDI), Mr. Bem Aga, representatives of political parties, the media, nongovernmental organisations, as well as people living with disability (PWDs) hinged on a citizen-driven advocacy that will open up activities at the third-tier of government to the public, in a bid to ensure probity and good governance at the grassroots. They also called for full participation of the citizenry in the forthcoming local government elections in the state. The 66 local government advocates commissioned for the advocacy arm of the project were also provided their terms of reference to guide their activities.
After our highly successful stakeholder engagement in August, our 66 advocates began their grassroots engagement. As of October 2nd, about 65% of our advocates had submitted their monthly performance reports of some of the communities that have been reached so far. Some of the target audiences for the grassroots engagement arm of the project, which began over four weeks ago, are traditional rulers, market men and women associations, artisan forums and groups, community development associations, and landlord associations at the community levels, among other key categories of the multi-layered phase. So far so good, the reception has been outstanding, with very plausible feedback from the people.
The community leaders during several visits lauded the OsunOpenLG project, as some of the critical issues discussed have further opened their eyes to what important things they should demand as the 2025 local government election in Osun State approaches. In October, our local government advocates continued their progressive local government engagement, engaging at the deepest level of the grassroots. Traditional rulers, market men and women associations, artisan forums and groups, community development associations, and landlord associations at the local level are some of the target audiences that the advocates have so far reached in the last eight weeks and more. The project's grassroots engagement has received fantastic responses and people's comments are quite believable. During a number of visits, the community leaders praised the OsunOpenLG project since some of the significant topics raised have made them more aware of what they should demand as Osun State's local government election in 2025 draws near. The engagement has since continued.
In every project, there lies another project. The responses to our survey on budgetary and civic engagement showed that over 70% of residents are not aware of the budgeting of local government. We dug further to unravel the cause, and we discovered that a larger percentage of local government administrators lack the capacity to engage. Some do not see reasons for such. Once the current phase of the project is completed, different funding organisations would be needed to provide funding for a second phase that focuses on leadership training and governance education for elected local government officials, including chairpersons, councillors, and local government administrators in Osun State. The goal of this phase is to institutionalize good governance practices at the local level and ensure that newly elected officials are well-equipped to manage public resources responsibly and transparently, and most importantly, to run the government that engages with the people. A proposal shall be made to this effect. The training will also include local government media officers and media aides. We believe no one can give what he or she doesn’t have. Also, we wish to monitor/observe the local government elections in Osun State. We have started gathering data on political party candidates, campaign messages, and political atmosphere, and we wish to crown it by deploying men to the field on election day. This is in tandem with the belief that quality democratic leadership starts with credible elections.