Television Nigerian

By Wisdom Okoh

Soon, Nigerians will rollout drums to celebrate one unique agency of the federal government which has distinguished itself outstandingly in public leadership.

TheLeaderNG, an online media platform and, high profile experts in development journalism, who are the publishers of the www.theleaderng.com will celebrate the North East Development Commission (NEDC) for its iconic footprints in public space.

The commission, newly established by the FGN is mandated to cushion the effects of insurgency in the Northeast region. The NEDC has discharged this onerous responsibility with an uncommon zeal, determination and explosively, which has earned it, the rare award soon to be conferred on it by TheLeaderNG in the next few days.

A letter communicating this cheering news to the NEDC management, signed by Mr. Mohammed Basah, the innovative media platform stated that its “Diligence Council” unanimously voted the NEDC as the “Public Agency of the Year,” for the assessment Year 2021 because it impressively and astoundingly delivered on its mandate to the people.

The letter of award transmitted to the commission read in part, “…the North East Development Commission (NEDC) under your able watch in the face of a seemingly insurmountable charge by President Muhammadu Buhari, and how you have gone about the task with surgical precision to exceed reasonable expectations of stakeholders, has been adjudged as an exemplary performer in delivering public and services. Our assessment of the NEDC against others showed that the NEDC over all, has been an exemplary model of transparency and probity, while building a world class intervention agency with visible and measurable impact on the citizenry.”

Very many Nigerians are unaware that the country bask in over 500 Ministries, Agencies and Departments (MDAs) of Government mandated with various responsibilities to make life more meaningful for Nigerians or serve as a bridge between the masses and the government.

But to assert that countless MDAs hardly make impacts on public challenges is stating the obvious. Most often, those mandated to lead these MDAs turn themselves into siphoning pipes for personal enrichment. The chief executives or heads of some of these agencies of government even dread accountability or cringe at the mere mention of anti-graft agencies or oversight functions by national parliamentarians.

Therefore, many of them exists only for the purpose of expending national resources unrewardingly. In spite of this subsisting challenge, heads of some of these MDAs have really distinguished themselves in public leadership. A notable example is the newly established North East Development Commission (NEDC), merely above two years of existence.

The operations of the NEDC fully commenced in 2019. And in slightly above two years, the NEDC has demonstrated itself as an agency which has overpowered the Nigeria’s regressive cancer and exculpated itself from the cultured setbacks of non-performing federal agencies.

No one in Nigeria can dispute that nursing an agency of government from scratch to fruition and to the extent of registering bold imprints in its sphere of jurisdiction is a herculean task. Nigerians have experienced such federal government intervention agencies in the country and the mess some of them have posted in national psyche. That’s why national development competitively eludes the citizenry on a broad scale.

However, the shining example of the NEDC is a reference point in Nigeria’s recent history. As an agency charged with the humanitarian-inclined responsibility of bringing succour to the distraught, distressed and traumatized people in the Northeast region, ravaged by Boko Haram insurgency for over a decade, all eyes were set on the agency to assess its positive manifestations. Some with sinister intentions even threw maliciously distractive and bruising darts at the NEDC management.

But it never deterred the commission’s management which is always conscious of its supreme mandate mainly as reducing or completely eradicating the impact of the multi-faceted humanitarian crises in the Northeast generated by the multi-dimensional destructions of public infrastructures, orchestrated and sustained by insurgency. The commission also recognized itself as pillar of the peace-building, reconciliation and de-radicalization agenda of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s Government in complementary roles of fighting the final blight of terrorism in the region.

Nonetheless, and in spite of the initial public skepticisms, the NEDC’s Managing Director, Alhaji Mohammed Goni Alkali and his management team have surprised Nigerians. NEDC operations commenced in 2019, with the initial grant of a paltry N10 billion from the FGN. And in less than a year of its operations, the global coronavirus pandemic struck and Nigeria was adversely affected by it, and the commission inclusive.

But pleasurably, the NEDC has effectively executed its mandate in mollifying ambiences to the people. More exciting, its exemplary performance has caught the attention of the international bodies, including the World Bank which have are already partnering with the commission in bettering the humanitarian crisis in the Northeast region.

And despite the hard hit on the economy, NEDC pulled itself from such entanglements to reach out to distraught people in the 112 LGAs and 1,028 council wards of the Northeast region. It’s a rare feat, especially, if gleaned from the reality that the NEDC management refused to be tethered to the obstacles and leeches of take-off, as peculiar with most new national establishments, as known in Nigeria.

And today, Nigerians particularly, the targeted population in the Northeast is beaming with smiles of a better life because NEDC has through specialized training, tutored the people on how to detonate terrorists discreetly planted and unexploded landmines in their communities. It is no longer a job abandoned to the Nigerian Military alone, which is grimly fighting to blight the final fires of the cursed jihadists bloody campaigners in the region.

Through, the commission’s ambitious policy of Multisectoral Crisis Recovery Project (MCRP), actively backed by the World Bank, the NEDC is vigorously pursuing its agenda of sponsorship of education for youths of the region. It has berthed it through yearly scholarship grants in diverse areas of academic studies from first to doctor of philosophy (Ph.D) degrees under the Education Endowment Fund project in the region.

The NEDC has also impacted in the areas of drinking water and sanitation facilities in states of the Northeast and other humanitarian reliefs projects ensconced in the “Rapid Response Intervention’s” (RRI) supportive schemes in the region. Through it, the commission has boldly deployed its relief weapons in agriculture, resolving the challenge of massive hunger and starvation in states of the Northeast ravaged by Boko Haram terrorism.

Therefore, its “Integrated Agriculture Programme,’ (IAP) supplies agricultural machinery or equipment, agrochemicals, fertilizers, seeds and extension service logistics vehicles to boost all categories of agricultural activities. And from every indication, soonest, the Northeast would overcome the problem of hunger/starvation caused by insurgency through investments in the farming skills of individual families at the expense of the commission’s funds.

The entire world has become digital and its one of the empowerments of humanity opposed by the ideology of Boko Haram. To splash mud on the faces of insurgents and their sponsors, NEDC has introduced and upgraded training and updating of Information Communication Technology (ICT) talents of young Nigerian Northeasterners to explore the globe.

NEDC is also actively assisting the Nigerian military in its operations with operational vehicles and logistics. The commission has also keyed into the De-radicalization, Rehabilitation and Reintegration (DRR) Programme of the Nigerian Military tagged “Operation Safe Corridor” (OSC) domiciled at Malam-Sidi, in Gombe State.

With this surfeit of accomplishments, TheLeaderNG’s boss Mr. Basah exclaimed in utter amazement, the continuously resonated glories of the NEDC thus; “This award puts the NEDC on a pedestal as a model for other public institutions to emulate in building a new Nigeria of our dreams with a diversified economic base away from the overdependence….”

No doubt and even to the blind, the NEDC has been able to enthrone good governance in line with its mandate, by radiantly invading the humanitarian segment of crises in Nigeria’s public domain. The NEDC truly deserves this converted and highly priced award from TheLeaderNG.

Wisdom Okoh wrote this piece from
Abuja.

Beyond being mandatory for the advancement of career prospects after graduation from university, completing the national youth service is a thing of pride for many Nigerian graduates. The process is so important that some Nigerians who complete their undergraduate studies in other countries return home to participate in it. Failing to complete the national service, executed by the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), often means that young people are unable to secure certain jobs, or further their education or careers in the country. However, like many sectors of the economy, COVID-19 threatened this exercise.

The National Youth Service starts with a three-week orientation in camps located across all 36 Nigerian States and the FCT. Following this, corps members are deployed to both public- and private- sector organisations to work for another 11 months. When COVID-19 broke out, the exercise could not take place due to restrictions on movement and fear of the health risks to corps members. Christian Chiedozie experienced first-hand the impact of the camp closure, as his deployment was delayed for three months following his graduation from university.

Safety first

As the COVID-19 outbreak continued to spread across the country in 2020, orientation camps were forced to close as a proactive measure to ensure “safety first” said Brigadier General Shuaibu Ibrahim, Director General of the NYSC, in a TV interview. The phased reopening of the economy, months later, provided an opportunity to start a conversation around resuming orientation camps, said Dr Oyeladun Okunromade, Deputy Director, Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC). The NYSC leadership then approached the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 (now the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19) to put strategies in place for the resumption of their activities. Dr Okunromade was asked to lead the process.

She said that first on the agenda of the committee which comprised mostly of NYSC and NCDC staff was to “look at strategies that will ensure the safety of corps members when they are in camp to ensure that we keep building trust of the entire country, especially their guardians.”

The team carried out a readiness and needs assessment, using a checklist, in all 37 camps in the country to ensure they were prepared to host corps members. As some of the camps were used as temporary isolation centres, it was important to ensure they were fit for the purpose of hosting orientation exercises. Once completed, they provided a checklist of things the camps must put in place before they could reopen.

Working with existing response infrastructure set up by the NCDC helped the process. The Disease Surveillance and Notification Officers (DSNOs) working with state epidemiologists and the Surveillance Outbreak Response Management and Analysis System (SORMAS) were leveraged to monitor and report activities of public health importance in the camps.

They also divided the graduates into streams to ensure no more than 800 were mobilised to be in camps at once. This is in contrast to the usual 10,000 to 20,000 before the pandemic. To further control the crowd, they were also assigned specific days to report to camp.

Technology played a key role in managing the process. Before accessing and printing their call up letters, the intending corps members were required to read NYSC guidelines developed by the NCDC and then acknowledge their willingness to adhere to them and other infection, prevention and control (IPC) guidelines, including being tested for COVID-19, before being admitted to the camps. After which they visited the SORMAS page to provide their travel history, medical history and now, their COVID-19 vaccination status. A unique code was then generated which they printed and presented at the gate, along with their call up letters.

Before being accepted into the camp, they were screened for COVID-19 using a rapid diagnostic test (RDT). Upon receiving a negative test result, corps members were able to proceed with registration while the surveillance team conducted a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test to confirm positive cases.

Dr. Okunromade said this coincided with the World Health Organisation’s approval of emergency use of antigen based RDTs. So, they leveraged the opportunity to validate the test kits and subsequently developed the NCDC guideline for RDT use in congregate settings.

With Zoom meetings and virtual events already popular because of lockdowns, corps members joined webinars where they interacted with officials of NYSC and NCDC to have their questions addressed.

Did it work?

Onyinye Oranezi is a corps member working with a non-profit for her service year. Her orientation was in May 2021 and while at camp, she said she was confident that the strategies put in place were enough to protect her and others. For her, the experience was worthwhile, and she was glad COVID-19 didn’t lead to continued suspension of the exercise. Chiedozie also completed his orientation and is now working at his place of primary assignment.

As of March 2021, when the project team from NYSC and NCDC met to review their efforts, three streams of corps members totaling over 98,000 had passed through the orientation camps. All of them got screened for COVID-19. To make the process easier, NCDC trained 15 corps members in each state to support the laboratory team.

The ability to collaborate with the right people is one reason why these efforts have achieved the desired results. According to Dr. Okunromade, “You can have fantastic ideas and plans, but if you don’t have the cooperation of the people that are supposed to drive it, there is little you can achieve.” For example, corps members were barely signing up for the pre-camp webinars. Working with the NYSC team, they came up with a strategy of tying participation to accessing call up letters. Registration jumped from 1000 to over 40,000 at the last webinar with over 3000 attending via Zoom, maxing out their meeting room capacity. The rest, over 9000, joined via Youtube.

Learning, adapting, and sustaining gains

The SORMAS structure is now maintained as a public health strategy to capture potential disease outbreaks in camps. Corps members are trained to support data capture and transmission to the server which is accessed at the NCDC headquarters. There are also IPC vanguards who have the mandate to ensure compliance to non-pharmaceutical prevention guidelines among fellow corps members in camp.

The community development service initiative, where corps members belong to groups with different focus areas now has risk communication and IPC clubs. This way, the NYSC can contribute to the national public health and infectious disease response structure of the country, said Okunromade. Before taking risk communication messages to their host communities across the country, they started in camp after their inauguration to disseminate COVID-19 related information using the public address systems.

These efforts don’t come without their fair share of challenges. The corps members trained to support the laboratory are not used in subsequent batches. This results in multiple training and resource waste. The waste generated from some of the testing exercises is not properly disposed of in some of the camps and this can lead to infections, annulling some of the gains made with IPC strategies.

“But these challenges also present opportunities,” said Brigadier Ibrahim. There’s no entity that doesn’t have challenges. What’s important is turning these challenges to opportunities.

So, beyond the official mandate of the service scheme, which is fostering unity and national integration, these lessons have revealed that the NYSC scheme can contribute to the country’s public health architecture by leveraging on the distribution of corps members of different disciplines and abilities across the country. It’s important not to waste this opportunity. Rather, further investment must be made to improve on and expand it, because quick detection and reporting of events of public health concern can make a world of difference in a country’s response to and managing of disease outbreaks.

Nigeria Health Watch