Some residents of Abuja on Thursday advocated inclusiveness of all categories of people in the governance of the country to address some of the social challenges facing the nation.
They made the call at the town hall meeting organised by African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), for the final validation of the Country Self Assessment Report (CSAR) of the Second Peer Review of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The overall process of APRM seeks to entrench good governance practices in participating states by deepening the principles of democracy, transparency, accountability, among others to create an enabling environment for sustainable development.
HRH, Dr Shaban Nizazo III (Etsu Kwali), a participant, said the traditional rulers and other citizens at the local levels had been neglected in some cases in the course of the nation’s governance processes.
Appreciating the organisers, Nizazo who is also the Chairman, Traditional Rulers, Kwali Area Council, said the meeting had created opportunity for the locals to air their views, based on the aim of the meeting.
“The meeting is very interesting, I thing this is the very great opportunities for various stakeholders to have attended this meeting because there are certain things that we need to bring them together for the proper growth of this country, ” he said.
Also, Mr Baba Othman, a Youth Leader, decried the violation of the country’s constitution in which some set of people were excluded in governance, hence it resulted to violence in the country.
“We need to make things right by adhering strictly to the country’s constitution and become a patriotic citizens. Youth forms 65 per cent of the population of this country, where is the place of youths in this country today, no where, ” he said.
In his comments, Mr Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), commended the APRM team for the successful CSAR process in Nigeria.
Represented by Mrs Victoria Agbor, Director International Organisation, Political and Economic Affairs, office of the SGF, said validation with relevant stakeholders in the Abuja, being the seat of government was very key in the CSAR process.
“The Town Hall Meeting is geared towards interacting with relevant stakeholders at all echelon grassroots with the view to gather inputs for a credible and error free report Country self Assessment Report
“APRM being the brain child of AUDA-NEPAD has the mandate to promote, monitor and assess the implementation of developmental programmes and policies for the enthronement of good governance, ” Mustapha said.
In her remarks, Princess Gloria Akobundu, National Coordinator, African Union Development Agency/New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA/NEPAD), explained that the exercise was the final process of APRM, to render account to President Muhammadu Buhari.
“This self assessment validation exercise is finally concluded and the next step is to take the report of the exercise to Mr President to see what we’ve done, the response of Nigerian people, contributions from all the sectors, public, private sectors, civil societies, the special citizens
“Every nook and cranny of the country was touched and by the grace of God, today’s programme, validating this document in the Federal Capital Territory is the last one,” she said.
