The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) on Sunday said it had begun to train directors of budget, research and statistics from the 16 local government councils of Taraba on ways of conducting survey on good governance.
Mr Dauda Marafa, the Taraba Coordinator of the partnership, who stated this on Sunday in Jalingo during one of the trainings, added that it was also held at other locations in the state.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the training was conducted separately for the three senatorial zones with directors from Southern zone, receiving training at Wukari, Central zone at Mutumbiyu and Northern Zone in Jalingo.
Addressing the participants in Jalingo, Marafa said that they had been identified by the Federal Givernment as the focal points for the implementation of NEPAD activities in the 774 local government councils in the country.
According to him, the training is anchored on four thematic areas of Africa Peer Review Mechanism, which he described as a self assessment process.
He said that the thematic areas are: Democracy and political governance, Economic Governance and Management and Socio-E-economic development and Corporate Governance.
“The questionnaires given to you at this training are to be taken to your various local government areas and to be distributed to various categories of people: the poor, rich, educated, uneducated and others.
“They are meant to assess the President, governors of the 36 states in the country and the 774 council chairmen across the nation.
“You can guide those that may not understand how to fill them but do not inject your opinions into what they will say,” he advised them.
The coordinator explained that the main objective of the programme was to eradicate poverty, ensure women empowerment, and tackle illiteracy.
Alhaji Abdul-Nasir Bobboji, the Chairman of Jalingo Local Government Council, who was a guest at the occasion, expressed hope that NEPAD’s activities would promote good governance in the country.
Bobboji pledged the support of the council to the success of NEPAD’s peer review mechanism in the state.(NAN)
