Developing Good Governance

Developing Good Governance in the Niger Delta...

Living Earth Nigeria Foundation is currently implementing its 'Developing Good Governance in the Niger Delta' programme. This five year programme is funded by DFID's Global Transparency Fund and will run from 2008 to 2013.

The aim of the programme is to encourage collaboration between government and civil society in the Niger Delta in order to improve governance and transparency in the region and by so doing, improve the delivery of basic services critical to the reduction of poverty. The programme will focus on six local government authorities in the three core Delta States of Bayelsa, Rivers and Delta.

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Project Background
The programme draws on the commitment and expertise of three Nigerian NGOs with a wealth of experience of working in the Delta:

Working in collaboration, these NGOs have a unique opportunity to engage government, civil society and the private sector in bringing about the huge changes that are necessary for sustainable development to succeed.

The project will complement Living Earth’s Leading Sustainable Development for Local Government Officials training programme. This training programme, which is currently being implemented in Delta State, demonstrates that given the right skills and confidence, local government officials can be effective and enthusiastic actors in bringing about positive and sustainable change.

Project Activities:

Develop trisector partnerships between local government, NGOs, communities and oil companies working in the Niger Delta. Partnerships will be nurtured by the three NGOs who will use their unique interface between government and industry to broker partnership projects.

Support the Nigerian government’s current SEEDS and LEEDS (State/Local Economic Empowerment Development Strategies) reforms. Through a participatory process involving a broad based stakeholder group, specific aspects of these reforms will be identified, prioritised and then implemented.

Facilitate the implementation of pilot projects, to be informed by the participatory review of SEEDS/LEEDS, in order to demonstrate best practice approaches. The local government authorities will be both supported in the implementation of these projects and encouraged to demonstrate a high degree of transparency in communicating their plans to the public.

Build the capacity of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to question bad practice and to demand better governance. This will be enhanced through their close involvement in the pilot projects; CSOs will be encouraged to monitor the projects, ensuring that the government is held to account.

Engage the wider public in the Niger Delta as a whole to identify the principles of governance and transparency with their own traditional core values. A series of events designed to engage people’s imagination will be carried out including literary competitions, plays and a series of radio dramas. All of these events will focus on the key issues of transparency and governance and encourage debate and attention on these issues.

The traditional core values of the Niger Delta embrace transparency and good governance and these values are undermined by prevailing bad practice in government and across the sectors. This programme seeks to give a voice to local communities, encouraging them to demand accountability from their government and to work with governments and CSOs to translate development policies into action on the ground in the Niger Delta.

The programme seeks to empower local communities to hold government to
account for their actions.

To find out more about this programme, contact Living Earth Nigeria Foundation.