50 youths drawn from the 21 local government areas of Anambra State have begun a six-month training programme to monitor and document at least 100 public infrastructure projects across the state.
The initiative, known as the Anambra Youth Accountability Hub (AYAH), is being implemented by the Creative Minds Center for Youth and Community Development (CM-CYCD), with support from the Nigeria Youth Futures Fund (NYFF), to promote transparency, citizen participation and accountability in governance.
Speaking during the training in Awka, Executive Director of CM-CYCD and Project Lead of AYAH, Ugochi Freeman, said the fellows would be equipped with skills in public budget tracking, procurement monitoring, infrastructure assessment, the Freedom of Information Act, data collection, documentation and evidence-based advocacy.
Freeman explained that the initiative was designed to encourage constructive engagement between citizens and government rather than confront public officials or embarrass authorities.
She said young people should be recognised not merely as leaders of tomorrow but as active citizens capable of influencing governance and improving public service delivery.
She charged the fellows to prioritise credible evidence over rumours, dialogue over unnecessary confrontation and uphold integrity, impartiality, inclusion and confidentiality in their assignments.
In his remarks, Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Mr Chukwukadibia Okoye, described citizen participation as essential to ensuring that public resources addressed the actual needs of communities.
Okoye, represented by Rev. Dr Jude Nwadavid, said government planning and resource allocation could only produce meaningful results when citizens, particularly young people, were equipped to monitor project implementation and evaluate outcomes.
He explained that Anambra’s development blueprint, anchored on the state’s vision and annual budgets, was guided by citizens’ needs, available data and the medium-term development plan.
The commissioner identified health, education, infrastructure and youth empowerment as priority areas under the state’s development agenda, while describing the fellows as emerging budget champions and accountability ambassadors.
Also speaking, the Resident Anti-Corruption Commissioner of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in Anambra State, Mr Dio Emmanuel, stressed the importance of integrity and accountability in promoting good governance.
Emmanuel, represented by Superintendent Sanni Ohiare Samson, said young people had an important role in preventing corruption, promoting transparency and demanding accountability through lawful and constructive means.
He assured the fellows of the commission’s readiness to support their activities and encouraged them to monitor public projects and raise relevant questions responsibly.
Similarly, the State Director of the Project Evaluation, Monitoring and Supervision Unit (PEMSU), Prof. Ebuka Nwankwo, said the unit was committed to ensuring that government projects delivered their intended benefits to the people.
He said the unit’s mandate included tracking, assessing, evaluating and supervising public projects to ensure quality, value for money and timely delivery, adding that achieving the objectives required collaboration with citizens.
The fellows pledged their commitment to the initiative, while AYAH promised to provide them with practical opportunities to examine the relationship between government budgeting, project execution and service delivery at the community level.
