Kaduna bags int’l Award of Excellence for participatory governance

From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

Governor Uba Sani led government of Kaduna State, has bagged an International Award of Excellence for running an excellent participatory government.
The Kaduna State citizens participation platform, known as Eyes and Ears, earned the State the Award from Sharjah International Government Forum, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Presenting the Award to Governor Uba Sani on Thursday, the Commissioner for Planning and Budget, Hon. Mukhtar Ahmed, said Kaduna State emerged the first among 40 other entities from across the World during the award event that had over 4,000 participants in attendance in Sharjah, UAE.
According to him, “This award was won by Kaduna State because of the popular program, ‘Eyes and Ears,’ a platform that allows participation of citizens in governance.
“Kaduna State Government through the Eyes and Ears program is an initiative of the Kaduna State Government, whereby the participation of citizens in governance is in action. Because of this program, the Kaduna State Government was nominated for this international award by the Sharjah Government.
“It is an internationally recognized award, and Kaduna state was recognized among 40 participating entities for good communication, and we won the award.
“The Eyes Ears Programme is being run under an application called CITIFEED application, which is a citizens’ feedback application. The program started around 2017 when citizens identified projects within a 2 2-kilometer radius, and from their feedback, the government gets information and corrects any anomalies if there is in the project or makes requests for adjustments to the project.
“The application has been there, but what made us win this award is that His Excellency Governor Uba Sani has, since his assumption of office as the Governor, allowed us to upgrade the platform to the level that it has earned this award. The Governor approved through budgetary allocation for the upgrade of this program, and it got noticed by the international community,” he said.