By Anietie Akpan
Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) have commenced advocacy on electoral reforms with various political stakeholders in the country to enhance enduring democratic processes.
To this end, the CSOs have undertaken various initiatives to engage critical stakeholders such as the country’s lawmakers at the National Assembly with regards to the implementation of much needed electoral reforms for the advancement of the democratization process in the country.
The leadership of two important Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), the National Democratic Institute (NDI) of the United States, and its Nigerian partner, Kimpact Developmental initiative, (KDI), made this disclosure on Tuesday May 20, when they paid a courtesy visit to the National Secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, (NUJ), Abuja.
The National Secretariat was represented by the President of the Union, Comrade Alhassan Yahya and had the National Secretary, Achike Chude in attendance as well as the Assistant National Secretaries, Korede Opeyemi, and Tita Onyebuchi.
In a press release by the Union, the Program Director of the KDI, Sannom Sarki accompanied by Gbemisola Adebowale, Senior Program officer, said besides the engagement of the critical stakeholders such as the country’s lawmakers at the National Assembly on electoral reforms, KDI has been collating feedbacks from its engagements across the six geopolitical zones.
Sarki stated that part of this engagements included “a national survey of over 4,000 youths across the country which focused on the youths evaluation and assessments of key aspects of the country’s electoral processes which has the ultimate goal of promoting electoral reform and effective governance”.
She therefore solicited the support and collaboration of the NUJ in achieving these objectives, emphasizing the importance of enhanced relationship between the two organizations.
On his part, the Programs Director of the NDI, Nigeria who led the delegation, said the visit was aimed at strengthening the existing collaborative relationship between the organizations and exploring ways of discovering new frontiers especially in the area of electoral reforms.
He expressed his organisation’s readiness to work closely with the Alhassan-led administration to achieve shared collective goals.
He also emphasized the importance of the mutual relationship between the NDI and the NUJ and stressed the need to further strengthen this partnership to achieve greater mutual objectives.
Mr Aga also underscored the significance of the developmental initiatives being undertaken through its partnership with KDI which is aimed at orientating Nigerian youths towards participating actively in the democratic governance of the country.
In his response, the NUJ National President, who warmly welcomed the KDI and NDI delegations pledged to work closely with the two organizations.
Comrade Yahya assured Lady Sarki and Mr Aga that NUJ would do all it can to fully collaborate with NDI and KDI, leveraging on the Union’s structures across the 36 States of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory.
He also extended an invitation to the NDI and KDI to the oncoming National Executive Council (NEC), of the Union for the purpose of making a presentation.
The highpoints of the occasion included the presentation of mobilization materials and the Union expressed the hope that the successful visit would mark the beginning of a renewed partnership between the NUJ, NDI, and KDI as it is expected that the renewed collaboration will yield positive outcomes, particularly in the areas of governance, youth development, and robust media engagements.
