Anambra plans to utilize ECID data for 2022 budget
By Covenant Oluchi Ikedinobi
The Anambra state Government has assured commitment to using data generated by Evidence for Inclusive Development, ECID, in the preparation of 2022 budget, www.odogwublog.com reports.
The Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Hon Mark Okoye, gave the assurance, recently, while unveiling the new data system by Christian Aid at the close out ceremony of the Evidence Collaboration and Inclusive Development (ECID) in Awka, the capital of Anambra State.
The Commissioner expressed appreciation for the efforts of Christian Aid at making collation of data easy and accessible and ensured that the data report will be used in the state Budget 2022.
He said, “we are currently running the state budget as we speak, I’m going to take that report and meet with the budget committee, critical agency, relevant NGO’s to see how we can address this issues”
Speaking at the event, the Country Director of the Christian Aid Nigeria, Sir Charles Usie, expressed profound gratitude and joy on the lives ECID has transformed.
Usie who at the event, acknowledged the selfless effort people render to make the project a success, said ECID do not pay people to work for them. ” In most of our work we don’t pay people to do it. We actually connect with the local agencies who live in this area and are affected, so on that basis we form partnership.
“We do not work with a set of people who insist we must pay them to come for a meeting about a certain issue that concerns them. Again, experience shows that people feel more committed when they are part of the problem and mobilize to be part of the Solution”.
Meanwhile, the Executive Director, Hope Givers Initiatives who partnered with Christian Aid, Mrs. Onyeka Okey- Udegbunam, reiterated that the ECID project has helped in facilitating data, thereby speeding the growth of their project.
She said, “when you do engagement with people, you do hearsay and their acceptance is slower than when you engage with data. ECID project is indeed an eye opener.”
Contributing, Dr Ben Nwosu who is a Senior Research Fellow of the Institute for Development Studies, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus expressed worry over the alarming population of out of school children in Anambra State.
He urged the state government to learn the strategy of implementation adopted by Kaduna state government to ensure inclusiveness in all sector. According to him, these among others could be in the area of education sensitization and identifying existing infrastructures in schools and other sectors.
