By Joseph Edegbo
Abuja (Nigeria) – Participants of an ongoing 5-Day workshop on budget tracking in Abuja have called on Nigerian government to make budgets transparent and simple for citizens to comprehend. They observe that most budgets in the country were technical in content, and too diffficult for citizens to comprehend.
Organised by Pathfinder International for members of Family Health Advocates in Nigeria Initiative (FHANI), the workshop is aimed at empowering the civil society organisation to engage Kaduna state officials on budget, through advocacy for effective funding of child spacing in the state.
Participants are being oriented on the budget process and advocacy entry points, as well as using data for advocacy and how to develop budget performance score card.
Speaking on budget process, a resource person, Dr. Aminu Magashi tasked FHANI to focus on “tracking of budget from approval to release, and cash backing, as well as how it was utilised and by who”.
Government budget, he emphasized, must be “comprehensive and transparent to allow citizens to hold government accountable for managing public funds”.
Magashi also stressed the need for CSOs to work in synergy with the State House of Assembly, such as holding regular interactions and wooing them to undertake oversight functions, while at the other hand, cause policy makers to hold briefings.
Declaring the workshop open, Country Representative of Pathfinder International, Dr. Farouk Jega, lauded the robust partnership between Kaduna State Primary Healthcare Development Agency and FHANI, for which the workshop was organized.
Jega also commended FHANI for advancing so far to the present level of growth and advised participants to learn from the resource persons who he said, are versed with national and international budget matters.
Earlier, the Acting Secretary of FHANI, Iliya Kure said the CSO was carrying out its avowed commitment to family health care services through passion in order to have a better society .
Kure thanked Pathfinder International for chosing FHANI to implement its project in Kaduna,, assuring that the oragnisation would keep the flag flying.
AFRICA PRIME NEWS reports that some of the success stories of FHANI were the advocacies for the creation of child spacing budget lines at the local government and State government levels, as well as improved funding for maternal health at the local government level and the Kaduna State Ministry for Health.
https://www.africaprimenews.com/2018/02/07/governance/nigeria-kaduna-legislature-okays-contributory-health-insurance-scheme-in-the-state/
