Alimosho-Lagos Communities Urged To Engage With Duty Bearers For Development

Community leaders have been asked to engage with duty bearers and monitor activities to ensure development in their various localities.

The call was made yesterday in Alimosho, Lagos State by Mr. Ayo Aluko-Olokun who was a facilitator at the workshop titled ‘Rights based approach Advocacy Training For Community Stakeholders’ Engagement with duty bears on priority development issues’.

The program supported by the British Council through funding by the European Union was implemented by  Lagos based NGO, International Press Centre (IPC) to enable community stakeholders know how to engage with duty bearers on development issues.

According to Aluko-Olokun, members of the communities must know the duties of their various duty bearers because if they are ignorant of such, there would be no development.

“We must know our councilors for instance, they are the closest to the communities. We must demand to have their telephone numbers,” Aluko-Olokun.

He also mentioned why some councilors don’t give their numbers to members of their communities. “A lot of the councilors don’t want their numbers known because of what our people will be asking. The people would be calling for unreasonable things and that is why these local government officials often want to hide,” he explained.

“It is rare to find councilors reside outside the communities where they serve; most of them live within their communities. Their constituents who should go to them should be people who have interest. A lot of people do not have interest, they only want personal benefits,” he said, enjoining community leaders to learn how to engage their duty bearers.

Aluko-Olokun also enlightened the participants about participating in budget planning.

“There is what they call ‘public hearing’ when they want to plan the annual budget. They always paste the notice in the local government offices.

“If you are that citizen that has interest, you will go there and ask questions when the public hearing would take place, you will be there and you will make your input, you must be attentive to these little things,” he said

Participants were also enjoined to make use of the social media in engaging their duty bearers. “Another tool you can use in engaging them is the social media. Now that twitter is back, tag them, sometimes you don’t need anybody, create a social media account for your community, tag your duty bearers and they would read your concerns,” Aluko-Olokun said.

Program Officer for IPC on the project, Abiodun Adeleke at the event also tasked the participants drawn from Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State to keep asking questions from the duty bearers who would perform if properly engaged.

“We need to ask our councilors what project they have facilitated in the community where they serve. We are always laid back and that is what politicians like, we need to engage them skillfully.

“If we do, they will perform their duties. This program has brought about results in some communities, there have been results and testimonies but this won’t happen if we don’t ask questions. If we don’t engage with our duty bearers on issues, nothing will be done,” he said.

Participants from Ayobo area of Alimosho complained about the burial ground located in their community. According to them, the Local Government owns the burial ground and they need it to be fenced.

Pa Emmanuel Awodiya is a community leader in the vicinity who said, “The community had complained severally without response from the government. Many prospective tenants on seeing the unfenced burial ground, leave for other communities and won’t want to rent our property.

“The government should come to fence this burial ground before ritualists take advantage,” he said.