By Philip Yatai
Kaduna State Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources has expressed readiness to establish a dialogue platform with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to tackle climate change and environment issues.
The Commissioner, Mr Ja’afaru Sani made the pledge when members of the Network of Civil Society in Environment (NCSE) visited him in his office in Kaduna.
Sani said that the Kaduna state government had subscribed to Open Government Partnership, stressing that the doors of the ministry would be widely open for CSOs to contribute their quota.
“This is something that we have been waiting for because when I resumed office in October 2021, I noticed the absence of a robust interaction with members of the public.
“Although there was little engagement but not at the level that we want it to be.
“So now, we have open-up the ministry of environment and I want to assure you that the meeting with CSOs will be regular.
“Starting from now, we will either meet monthly or quarterly, but for now we can start meeting monthly in view of the enormous environment and climate change issues on ground,” he said.
He noted the serious issues of indiscriminate dumping of refuse and the general unhygienic practices among residents of the state amidst changing climatic conditions affecting the state.
He stressed the need to bring civil society on board to help the government to reach out to the communities and reverse the current poor environmental practices among the people.
Earlier, the Coordinator of NCSE who led the delegation, Ms Gloria Bulus, explained that the goal of the visit was to establish working synergy between government actors and CSOs in the sector.
Bulus said that the idea was to open a permanent dialogue mechanism between government actors and citizens, to jointly mitigate climate change and other environmental challenges in the state.
She explained that the NCSE, made of civil society organisations, academia and media, had been playing an important role in bringing emerging environmental issues to the attention of policy makers in the state.
She added that the network also engages in raising public awareness on climate change and other environmental issues and promoting innovative ideas and approaches to addressing them.
“This partnership will not only promote transparency and accountability in the delivery of environmental services but will also reinvigorate citizens’ support and attract development partners to support government efforts,” she said.
Also speaking, Mr Dangwa Martins of the Coalition of Associations for Leadership, Peace, Empowerment & Development, said that CSOs would help to mobilise citizens to support government efforts.
“You have supported the establishment of Kaduna Basic Education Accountability Mechanism that brings government and citizens to the discussion table on basic education while you were the commissioner for education.
“You have also supported the establishment of Local Government Accountability Mechanism when you were the commissioner for local government affairs.
“We are confident that with you as the current commissioner for environment and natural resources, citizens will have a voice in the decision-making process on environment and climate change issues,” Martins said.
NAN