JDPC Nnewi Partners UNIZIK to Drive Accountability, Local Governance Reform
Lawrence Ndubeze, Awka
The Justice, Development and Peace Caritas (JDPC) Nnewi has partnered with the Department of Psychology, Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka, to enhance local government accountability in Anambra State through the Anambra Local Government Accountability Fellowship (ALGAF).
The partnership was sealed during an advocacy visit by the ALGAF project team to the Department of Psychology on September 18, 2025.
The team was led by Onyekachi Ololo, who stressed the critical role of psychology in social engineering and mindset shift, emphasizing that the Department of Psychology is a “bank of knowledge” indispensable to driving behavioral change and sustaining governance reforms.
The ALGAF initiative is an eight-month good governance program designed to interrogate the efficiency of the local government system in Anambra State.
The program aims to train and mentor 45 civic change agents across nine local government areas, strengthen citizen awareness of local government roles and functions, and design a sustainable model for effective local government-citizen interaction.
The Head of Department, Prof. Chidozie Nwafor, commended the ALGAF initiative, recognizing its timeliness and relevance in addressing local governance inefficiencies.
He emphasized the importance of mindset shift training, introducing the Knowledge-Attitude-Practice (KAP) model and the Bridging Communication-Contingency-Evocative (BCE) leadership framework as valuable tools for achieving sustainable results.
The partnership will see the Department of Psychology provide resource support, particularly in mindset shift and social change, while ALGAF will adopt the KAP model and BCE leadership framework into its curriculum.
Also, a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed to formalize the collaboration between the two parties.
The ALGAF project is funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and technically supported by the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room.
