What can we do?: The Story of an Emerging Policy Platform in Nigeria
By Tami Koroye
‘What can we do when there is nothing for us to do?’ can be interpreted as the general attitude of most working-class Nigerians to national policy debates. This sentiment is shared in drunken brawls and intellectual discourses, from ‘maami’ markets to lecture theatres, ultimately serving as a justification for the collective inability to contribute to the development of the country. It is a response visible through the actions, inactions and general attitude of citizens to pressing societal issues.
Mr Nwoke Chigozie Grant once shared this exact opinion, believing that the blame for the inefficiencies of the country can be solely dumped on the footstool of the Government. He, however, has recently changed his perception to the question of ‘what can we do’, with a positive response of ‘this is what I can do’. What did he do? He set up a Non-Profit dedicated to the provision of quality education, learning materials and mentorship opportunities to primary and secondary school students in remote communities. What then changed his perspective? In his own words, “my perspective changed when I attended the second session of The Policy Roundtable on Education”.
The Policy Roundtable (TPR), the protagonist of this article, is the brain-child of Mr Olubunmi Ayantunji, a young legal practitioner, who decided to tow a different path from the standard legal practice. With an innate desire to pursue a legislative career, Olubunmi realised a major problem plaguing the Nigerian youth was the lack of access to and interpretation of policies and laws. Through actively contacting and networking with his State representatives, Olubunmi was able to get access to the National Assembly as a legislative aide, and this made him realise that in some ways, his simple reservations towards certain actions of the Government were misplaced. This desire to not just criticise with sparse knowledge and opinions, but to create a public space where informed people can efficiently analyse and demystify public policies, led to the creation of TPR.
Policy forums are not a new concept in Nigeria, as they are formed with the intention of drawing either the Government or the public's attention to policies that do not support the well being of the citizens. With the growing numbers of policy forum platforms and the absence of evidence of influence on legislative processes, some of these forums are viewed as ‘Government support groups’. What then is different about TPR? What was it about TPR’s sessions that prompted Mr Grant, as well as numerous other youths in attendance, to fasten their belts and decide to contribute to State development? Firstly, TPR serves as a neutral platform for both parties, i.e. those involved in the policymaking process, as well as interested members of the public, to interact on Government policies affecting essential sectors such as education, finance, human rights and security. TPR sessions are conducted monthly, with industry/academic experts and public-office holders in attendance as guest speakers, to explicate policies affecting a specific industry. There is an audience, physically and virtually, as all sessions are shared live. The audience, which constitutes working-class Nigerians, is given the floor to ask questions and express how policies impact their lives, positively or otherwise. This makes TPR very distinct from other policy forums, as it gives an opportunity to policymakers/enactors to efficiently explain the ‘behind the curtain’ intent and benefits of policies; and to other guests and the general audience, a chance to share their opinions and experiences.
On TPR’s session on education, the Director-General of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) was invited to address the apparent lack of funding for most federal tertiary institutions, leading to dilapidated facilities and substandard teaching services. With an appreciation of how these issues affect the standard of education in the country, the Director-General highlighted the successes attained in his tenure, challenges faced, and the recommendations he has offered to the National assembly. Testimonials from this session, one of them being from Mr Grant, attested to the fact that the audience appreciated the diverse problems of the educational sector and the limitation of influences of policy enactors.
TPR’s mandate does not end on simply providing a platform though. It also works to bridge the communication gap between ordinary citizens and public officials. In that light, TPR produces manuscripts of all the recommendations from each session, which are presented to the necessary government parastatals and officials. For example, the astute recommendations made by the guest speakers and the audience in the session on the Electoral Reform Bill were compiled, edited and sent to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as well as the National Assembly as resolutions from informed citizens to be reviewed and adopted for electoral transparency. Currently, these recommendations are before the National Assembly for deliberations on the amendment of the electoral bill. Olubunmi’s vision does not end there. TPR is currently producing a book with compiled recommendations given in each session titled ‘The Minutes from the Roundtable’, to be deposited with government parastatals, in public libraries, universities as well as other public spaces. He dreams of TPR growing to become a ‘policy library’, and a quick stop for the Nigerian youths to educate themselves on various policy matters.
Of course, TPR’s activities and goals are awash with technical challenges, ranging from funding to the availability of spaces for the sessions to be conducted. A consistent challenge, however, is the issue of government bureaucracy, which sometimes influences the initial responses from invited public officials, and the inspection and possible adoption of the submitted recommendations. Often, members of TPR have to lobby with extra-human strength for invitation letters and resolution manuscripts to get to the appropriate executive offices. Sometimes they get lost in the maze. This also is a challenge for the recommendations submitted to the National Assembly. In addressing this issue, TPR collaborates with other watchdog nonprofits to weigh in on the lobbying process.
In conclusion, the question of ‘what can we do?’ cannot be comprehensively addressed in a complex society like Nigeria. The duties of the Government are, in no way, transformed to be the functions of ordinary citizens. Nevertheless, a simple answer of ‘this is what I can do’, can cause a ripple effect in any sector that can bring about much-needed change. Making such decisions begins from a place of information access and recognition of pertinent challenges. This is simply TPR’s objective, in her little contribution to making Nigeria a better place.
Tami Koroye is a licensed lawyer hailing from Nigeria. He holds an LLB from the University of Benin and a BL from the Nigerian Law School. He is also currently a PhD candidate at the university of Bradford where is focusing on digital currency for a monetary union.
Tami is passionate about the transformation of the financial technology sector and believes in the promotion of financial inclusion in Nigeria. As such, he is a member of various policy conversation panels that provide informed opinions to government organisations regulating the Fintech and Crypto services.
You can connect with him on Twitter @tammi_koroye