By Magnus Aluma
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Nigeria-State Accountability, Transparency and Effectiveness (State2State) Activity, has held its quarterly Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) dialogue with Ebonyi State Executive Council Members.
The 3-day event which took place at Nike Lake Resort Hotel during the weekend in Enugu, attracted top officials of Ebonyi State Government. Speaking on the essence of the workshop, the Ebonyi State Team Lead of the USAID Nigeria-State2State, Dr Sam Onyia, said it was to dialogue with Ebonyi State Executive Council Members on the extent of the implementation of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) framework developed in 2022 for the State.
“The essence of the workshop was to dialogue with the State Executive Council Members on the extent of implementation of the Monitoring and Evaluation framework developed for the State and the extent of the buy-in of the Political Office Holders in helping the technical people to implement the M&E framework work. The workshop has revealed the high political will of the political office holders in the State to support the process.
Barrister Onyia said the EXCO members were expected to go back to their various Ministries and follow up with the implementation of the M&E framework and deepen the buy-in they had demonstrated during the workshop.
“We expect them to go back to their various ministries and follow up with the implementation of the M&E framework and also deepen the buy-in that they have demonstrated here and the way they can do that is by following up with the Communique and the action plan that they developed here; and having developed the action plan, they have committed to implementing them.
“So, they need to go back and present it to the Chairman of EXCO and Governor of the State for his approval. Once the Governor approves it, it helps them to implement because it has to do with funds,” He explained.
In his presentation, a USAID Nigeria-State2State Consultant, Professor Daniel Ugwu advocated for effective Monitoring and Evaluation of the People’s Charter of Needs agenda using M&E tools to locate results.
Ugwu, who is a Lecturer at the Enugu State University of Science and Technology, stated that effective M&E support ensures that budget implementation and service delivery are effective, efficient, and impactful leading to improved development outcomes and better quality of life for citizens.
He, however, stated that implementation of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) in Ebonyi State had made progress, but the State needed to improve its M&E system and enhance the effectiveness of its programmes, and projects through sustained political will and implementation of the recommendations made during the workshop.
In her remarks, one of the participants and Secretary to Ebonyi State Government, Professor Grace Umezurike, commended USAID Nigeria-State2State for organizing the workshop which she described as impactful and educative.
“Let me begin by appreciating USAID Nigeria State2State for this workshop. It’s very impactful and educative. It’s giving a sense of direction to the policies of Ebonyi State Government and it’s our hope that everything we learnt here would be put into practice and that will help to push our Governor’s vision forward.
“You saw the presentation made about the People’s Charter of Needs and if all the contributions made here by all the participants are put into practice, you can see that it’s going to go along way in pushing the People’s Charter of Needs agenda of His Excellency in the right direction.
“So, we really appreciate what State2State is doing in the area of policy direction as it has to do with the government policies and implementation. We really appreciate their partnership, ” the SSG said.
The Head of Service of Ebonyi State, Dr Ritamary Okoro, in her remarks, noted that the workshop had given the participants the opportunity to have more insights about various sectors of governance in the State.
She said: “The workshop has given us the opportunity to have insights about the various sectors of governance in the State. All the ministries are represented here by their Chief Executives, and we were able to share views and thoughts about the workings of each Ministry, issues and challenges affecting each of them.
“The workshop has gone beyond achieving its objectives of just understanding the status of monitoring and evaluation within the state, and finding other ways of operationalizing and institutionalizing it in the State. It has gone quite beyond that. It has afforded us the opportunity for a very efficient and effective networking amongst ourselves.
“We don’t usually have this opportunity to discuss about the workings of each ministry and how we can synergize and achieve effective governance in the State.So, this workshop is going to go along way in consolidating the People’s Charter of Needs agenda.”
Other Participants who spoke including the Commissioner for Information and State Orientation, Engr Jude Chikadibia Okpor, described the workshop as expository and impactful, saying it has empowered him to make service delivery in his ministry more meaningful.
“The workshop was very expository, very insightful and I have been enriched better then I was before coming here. It has exposed me to how I can make service delivery in my ministry and by extension, to the State government more meaningful. And the core message of the training: Monitoring and Evaluation, opened my eyes to the old maxim that says, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. This is because monitoring and evaluating the policies and programmes of the Governor which is anchored on the People’s Charter of Needs is core to the achievements of the dreams and visions of this administration.
“There cannot be any other impetus the training has giving us than to be following up, on daily basis, the impact of the policies and programmes of the Governor, by monitoring and evaluating the input and output of the policies and programmes. I can’t thank State2State enough for this opportunity,” Okpor stated.
The workshop, however, witnessed the development of a new Action Plan for Ebonyi State and raising of a Communique containing resolutions made during the workshop to be presented to the State Governor and Chairman of EXCO for his approval.
