JDPC Nnewi, UK FCDO-Backed Fellowship Tackles PHIID Crisis at Anambra Local Governments

 

By: O'star Eze 

The Justice, Development and Peace Commission (JDPC) Nnewi, in partnership with the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room and with funding from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) through the ALGAF Project, has intensified its campaign to strengthen grassroots governance in Anambra State by equipping 45 specially selected fellows with the tools to demand accountability from local government chairmen.

The fellows;15, drawn from each of the state’s three senatorial zones, are being trained through a monthly leadership and governance workshop series designed to sharpen their advocacy, research, and engagement skills.

At the latest session held in Awka, Anambra State, participants were taken through two critical topics: “Human Rights Principles in Local Governance” facilitated by seasoned legal practitioner Mrs. Nkechi Nnoli, and “Budget Cycle and Public Procurement Processes” delivered by Mrs. Ugochi Freeman, Executive Director of Creative Minds and Youths Development Initiative.

Speaking at the event, Rev. Fr. Benedict Chima Okolo, Director of JDPC Nnewi, reiterated that the fellowship is not just another training programme but a deliberate strategy to birth a new crop of informed, courageous, and skilled citizen-leaders who will hold local government officials to account.

In his remarks, Mr. Onyekachi Ololo, ALGAF Project team member, revealed that the fellows were asked to identify the three most pressing challenges in their respective local government areas. 

After a painstaking analysis of their submissions, five recurring and interconnected issues emerged, which the fellows have now branded PHI ID: Poverty, Hunger, Inequality, Insecurity, and Diseases.

“These five monsters; Poverty, Hunger, Inequality, Insecurity, and Diseases, are feeding on one another and holding our people hostage,” Ololo told journalists. 

“They are deeply interlinked. You cannot solve hunger without tackling poverty; you cannot talk about health without addressing diseases that are largely preventable. Insecurity fuels inequality, and inequality breeds unrest. This is the reality in virtually every local government in Anambra State.”

The fellows, armed with the new knowledge from the workshop, have resolved to mount sustained advocacy for local government chairmen across the state to prioritize programmes that directly confront the PHIID crisis. They are also conducting community-level social research to generate empirical data that will strengthen their demands.

Previous sessions had exposed the fellows to Strategic Communication for Impact, Research Methodology, Disability Law and Inclusion Principles, as well as Democratic Participation and Inclusive Governance.

Mrs. Nkechi Nnoli charged the fellows to see human rights not as abstract concepts but as enforceable tools for demanding transparency, participation, and equity at the third tier of government. 

On her part, Mrs. Ugochi Freeman demystified the budget and procurement processes, showing how citizens can track public funds and expose sharp practices.

The ALGAF Project continues to gain traction as one of the most innovative civic interventions in Anambra State, with observers saying the emergence of the PHIID framework from the fellows themselves is proof that when citizens are empowered with knowledge and platforms, they can diagnose their own problems and proffer home-grown solutions.

As Anambra State prepares for another cycle of local government elections, the big question on everyone’s lips remains: Will the incoming and returning local government chairmen rise to the occasion and confront Poverty, Hunger, Inequality, Insecurity, and Diseases head-on, or will PHIID continue to devour the people?

For now, 45 trained and fired-up fellows are determined to ensure that the next set of council leaders have no hiding place.