By Daily Hope24 News Desk
The Centre for Community Awareness and Youth Empowerment Initiative (CAYEI) has launched a new project Promoting Citizens engagement to enhancing accountability and participation through digital platform for sustainable development aimed at improving communication between grassroots communities and government authorities in four local government areas of Borno State.
The Programme Director of CAYEI, Yahuza Ismail, disclosed this shortly after an inception meeting held with stakeholders from Jere, Maiduguri Metropolitan Council (MMC), Konduga and Mafa.
Speaking on the purpose of the intervention, Ismail said the project was designed to respond to long standing complaints from communities who often feel excluded from government planning and decision making.
“There is a persistent gap between citizens and the government,” he explained. “Government agencies carry out different activities and projects, but communities continue to say their real needs are not captured and they are not involved in the plan in government priorities.
This project is meant to bridge that gap.”Ismail said the initiative will cover 16 communities and will address what he described as the “five basic needs” affecting people at the grassroots education, health, youth empowerment, infrastructure, and issues relating to Environment.
According to him, the project will rely heavily on digital tools to ensure communities can convey their needs directly to relevant authorities.
He said a new platform known as the Citizens’ Needs Tracker would allow residents to upload concerns and priority needs, which government officials can access in real time.
“At the end of the project, we want a situation where the needs of the citizens can be directly received by stakeholders through digital devices,” he said.
“The information submitted on our tracker will be available to government authorities, and it will help in ensuring that community needs are considered in budget formulation and other decision-making processes.”
Ismail described the intervention as part of CAYEI’s broader mission to strengthen communities, empower young people and promote sustainable development.
He said the organization works in areas such as women and youth development, humanitarian response and environmental protection.
The Programme Director also confirmed that the initiative is supported and funded by the Nigerian Youth Future Fund (NYFF), adding that 50 participants took part in the inception meeting.
He said the meeting marked the beginning of what CAYEI hopes will become a more accountable and responsive system of engagement between duty bearers and the people they serve.
“Our goal is simple,” he said. “We want a process where community needs are heard, documented and acted upon. When citizens and the government work together, development becomes meaningful and sustainable.”
