To reinvigorate the people’s interest in the public sector, various civic organisations are leveraging technology to create awareness about government spending across multiple projects.
By Michael Akuchie
Have you ever wondered how much was allocated and then disbursed to the road project in your community? Or do you have questions about the ultramodern hospital being constructed by the state government that has taken more than five years to complete but still lingers in the roofing stage? When the federal government says it has proposed a budget worth trillions of naira to the National Assembly, do you wish it was possible to get a breakdown of how the money will be used in each sector?
In a country where democracy is the system of government, the people play a major role in determining the leaders that come into power. Public opinion is also seen as gauging citizens’ approval of new policies and initiatives. After all, a huge chunk of government resources is generated from taxpayers.
By gaining insights into how funds in the public sector are utilised, citizens can truly feel like a part of the government. When activities in the public sector are publicised, it sends a positive signal to the people, increasing trust in the system.
Over the years, the Nigerian government has struggled to make its public sector transparent enough for the people. Each year, there are reports of ghost projects being padded into the country’s budget. For clarity, budget padding is the intentional addition of a nonexistent project or cause into a nation’s budget so that the money earmarked for the aforementioned project will be redirected for personal use.
For example, N1 billion can be included in the budget for the construction of twenty boreholes in a community, but upon assent, the funds are instantly diverted to a politician’s secret account. Beyond budget padding, there are also concerns about the diversion of funds intended for projects.
Two months ago, the Nigerian Minister of Women Affairs Uju Kennedy-Ohaneye was summoned by the Josie Committee on Women Affairs regarding a probe into the alleged diversion of N1.5 billion designated for contractors’ payments.
Despite citizens’ constitutional right to be aware of how the government spends its resources, it often feels like they have been shut out. It should be noted that the more citizens feel disengaged from the affairs of their rulers, the more apathetic they become towards politics, and that defeats the purpose of democracy. To reinvigorate the people’s interest in the public sector, various civic organisations are leveraging technology to create awareness about government spending across multiple projects.
In 2012, following the removal of subsidy on petroleum by former president Goodluck Jonathan, the country was thrown into chaos as protests soon rocked major cities because of the policy’s sudden introduction.
While it is remembered as a dark period for Nigeria, it was also a period in which more and more citizens became interested in government spending and how funds are used to actualise projects ranging from the solar borehole in a village to a superhighway connecting two regions in the country.
To whet the growing appetite for knowledge about government spending, the BudgIT Foundation built a mobile application called “Budget Cut” which recorded 4,000 new users within 60 hours. The app became a tool for citizens to fact-check the country’s budgetary allocation and spending. Following the success of the “Budget Cut” app, BudgIT then created Tracka–a sister platform–whose primary focus would be to monitor the implementation of government projects across the country.
Today, curious citizens can keep a close eye on Nigeria’s public sector through a variety of tools. For instance, The Tracka mobile app allows people to report and view projects in their community, giving them much-needed access to the details of government spending. By gaining awareness of the projects implemented in their community, citizens can identify the ones at risk of being abandoned and redirect attention there.
Govspend, another interactive website, allows people to track the funds released by the government to ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs). The website also allows people to monitor the recipients of government funds such as contractors and the exact amounts deposited into their accounts.
In Nigeria, access to standard public healthcare is severely limited especially in rural areas due to factors such as poor road networks and ill-equipped primary healthcare centres (PHCs). Seeing as the primary healthcare centres are the first point of healthcare access at the grassroots, PHC Tracka is another tool that citizens can use to gauge the condition of a PHC in their area. Beyond this, people can also indicate a certain primary healthcare need or needs in their community which Tracka will then lobby the government to implement.
Data analysis comes in handy for civic organisations as it helps break down complex financial documents, simplifying the facts for the average citizen. With increased awareness of government spending and projects, citizens can make their rulers more accountable. Additionally, it makes governance feel more transparent than it should be.
It is worth mentioning that while the efforts of civic organisations to make the public sector activities more straightforward are laudable, there are some obstacles. Although people can access civic tools to increase their engagement with the government, these tools require a stable internet connection.
Despite the launch of the 5G network in Nigeria, many regions, particularly the rural ones, still suffer from poor connectivity. This means that a lot of citizens are still in the dark regarding these platforms and the numerous benefits they promise.
Similarly, not every Nigerian is digitally literate. This means that civic organisations will need to host town hall meetings and other means for gathering the public so that they can be enlightened on the importance of monitoring government projects and budgetary allocation.
It is also worth noting that civic organisations can push for an aspect of the budget that is made public, but the power to grant or deny such a request rests on the government. The government can push against the efforts of civic groups, especially when there are corruption allegations.
Governance should involve leaders and the people. Citizens are entitled to information regarding public spending and the overall state of affairs. When access to the aforementioned areas is made available, it increases the citizens’ trust in the government and increases integrity.
Although civic organisations have taken it upon themselves to advocate for transparency in the public sector, it is the government’s responsibility to make its activities public. They owe it to the people that voted them into power. The role of technology can not be understated as it demonstrates yet again how innovations such as websites, apps, and interactive graphs can help citizens demand positive change.
Michael Akuchie is a tech journalist with four years of experience covering cybersecurity, AI, automotive trends, and startups. He reads human-angle stories in his spare time. He’s on X (fka Twitter) as @Michael_Akuchie & michael_akuchie on Instagram.