The Chairman of the Senate Committee On Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organizations, Distinguished Senator Victor Umeh, on Tuesday, charged the civil society organizations in Nigeria to wake up to their responsibilities of keeping the political leaders on their toes, insisting that the country is heavily challenged, and so many things are going wrong.
The Senator, representing Anambra central in the upper legislative chamber, gave the charge at the opening ceremony of a two-day 3rd National Organizational Development Summit with the theme: ‘Driving Change and Innovation for Resilience and Performance’ held in Abuja.
Umeh declared that the civil society organizations operating in the country are not heard, challenging them to make some organized noise to put the country on the path of a sustainable future.
“This morning, I would to say that civil society organizations, aside from the organizational development which you need to empower yourself for the task ahead, I want to say here that the civil society organizations are not being heard effectively in Nigeria today. There are so many things going wrong here that I had thought that civil society organizations should mobilize themselves and drive the proactive things we need to do to be able to hold the government accountable.
“All of the things happen here and we gloss over them, the organized noise not just any type of noise, which we need to ask relevant questions and be able to put leaders on their toes, we are not hearing much of it.
“Nigeria is heavily challenging and I have this sincere conviction that the Civil Society is in the best position to activate efforts to make the government know that people are watching,” he said.
Also speaking during the event, Victoria Ibezim-Ohaeri, the Executive Director, of Spaces for Change, said the annual summit is a platform to re-examine the prospects and challenges facing the civil society in the country to reposition for effective operations.
The Spaces for Change boss said: “The Organizational Development (O.D.) Summit presents an unparalleled platform for donors to gain a comprehensive understanding of the strategic positioning and operational capabilities of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in executing impactful activities that advance societal welfare.
“A critical issue facing many donors is the availability of substantial financial resources without a clear framework for deploying these funds towards objectives that generate meaningful societal benefits. This often results in the misallocation of resources, where funds are directed towards initiatives that do not align with the core needs of the community or fail to achieve the intended philanthropic outcomes.
“The O.D. Summit seeks to address this disconnect by fostering a collaborative environment where CSOs can gain insights into effective positioning and operational strategies to enhance their appeal to donors. Simultaneously, donors will receive guidance on the optimal allocation of their resources to ensure that their contributions are channeled into initiatives with the highest potential for societal impact”.
