By B. B. Adisa
KADUNA (Nigeria) – People of Kaduna State, Northwest Nigeria have scored their government low in the area of governance and service delivery.
This was the result of a survey sponsored by UK’s Department for International Development, (DFID) covering health, education, service delivery, infrastructure and security conducted in ten states of Nigeria.
The survey tagged “Kaduna Citizens’ Perceptions of Service Delivery: Health and Education” conducted by the Independence Monitoring and Evaluation Project, IMEP, in Kaduna shows that residents perception in the aspect of governance, infrastructure and security was low.
The survey also reveals that the respondents gave positive ratings to public primary education service delivery and are also largely satisfied with health service delivery in the state.
In a presentation, Chinelo Ezeobi said a total of 1,200 households were engaged in Kaduna during the survey – 67% of the sampled population were males and 33% females. 19% reside in the urban areas while 81% were from rural parts of the state.
The report reveals “On Education service delivery, respondents give positive ratings to public primary education service delivery. Roughly two-thirds of respondents rate the affordability of primary school and competence of teachers as good. 67% rate the quality of public primary education in the state as good. 54% rate the adequacy of classrooms, toilets and teaching materials as good. 71% rate school safety while 69% rates school affordability very good.
“On health service delivery, respondents are largely satisfied with this aspect. 69% of respondents attend the closest government clinic. Of those using the closest government health facilities, 75% say that medicines are available, 74% say that medicines are affordable while 40% think that the treatment at a nearby government health facility is good.
“On governance, infrastructure and security, respondents have less positive perceptions. Nearly half of respondents feel that the government keeps them safe. Respondents feel that infrastructure is not well addressed by the government and less than a quarter of the respondents feel that the government works well or very well to solve their problems.
“44% says government keeps their community safe (security), 22% says government works to solve their problem while 26% say government decides which of their needs to spend money on. 35% say government provides access to a clean supply of water while 39% say government maintains the road.
“On voice and accountability, respondents give good ratings to freedom of expression but poor rating to government accountability and citizens participation. 90% of respondents feel able to freely express their views but less than a quarter feel that their inputs are regularly requested by the government. Less than a third feel that government officials are accountable to the legislature and about a quarter of the respondents feel that the government informs them of how money is spent.
“In 2015 we aim to conduct this survey again in order to observe trends in perceptions of the citizens,” the report reads.
Meanwhile speaking during the dissemination of the survey report for study and deliberation in the state, the Executive Chairman of Kaduna SUBEB Ishaya Dare Akau described the survey outcome as an eye opener on the areas and what service the people require.
“It is not as if we have done a perfect job but it is an eye opener on what area does the people need services.
“the survey is a step in the right direction and will help us reshape our policies and determine exactly what services the people require. It will also be good for every organization and even political parties to carry out such exercises so that decisions of what to do for citizens will rather be based on facts,” he said.
The event however brought together representatives of both the Health and Education sectors; the Executive Chairman of Kaduna SUBEB, a representative of the Commissioner for Health, representatives of Unicef, SAVI, Civil Societies, Education Secretaries and a representative of the State House of Assembly.
