Dataphyte Foundation has concluded the 2-day training on “Driving Subnational Accountability in Nigeria with Data”. The third in a series of trainings scheduled for all six geopolitical zones in Nigeria is supported by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) and the MacArthur Foundation.
The classes are designed to provide journalists, civic society organisations, and community-based actors with the necessary skills to effectively use data for promoting transparency and accountability at the sub-national level.
Overall, the training was a significant step towards promoting accountability and transparency in Nigeria’s sub-national regions.
The training session was held in Owerri, Imo State in Nigeria in July 2023. The training participants were made of 20 civic actors comprising of journalists, representatives of civil society organisations and community-based organisations selected from over 200 applications received from the south-east region. The training focused on fiscal transparency, accountability, data story ideation, and analysis. Experienced facilitators led the session, providing attendees with valuable insights and practical knowledge.
As part of the training, there was a data hackathon where participants came up with data-driven story ideas about development issues in the southeast region. After the training, the participants will receive mini-grants to help them track and report on projects throughout the South-East zone.
Charles Mbah, the program manager at Dataphyte, outlined the necessity for civic actors to use all the data in the fiscal transparency and accountability value chain to hold important government actors accountable and promote constructive social change. He noted that Dataphyte, with assistance from its partners, is providing this training for civic actors because of the demand for increased transparency and accountability of public funds and evidence of the success of using fiscal transparency and accountability value chain data in delivering development outcomes to the citizens.
“It is crucial that the debate on accountability and transparency go beyond the national stage. We, therefore, anticipate that when journalists and other civic actors, particularly community-based organisations at subnational levels, learn about the use of fiscal data for advocacy and put what they have learned to use, service delivery to the public will improve at the grassroots.”
Paul Emoghene, a broadcast journalist with Correct FM 102.9 Enugu State, said the training helped him to better understand how to use data for impactful storytelling. He stated that rather than boring his audience with excessive numbers in his story or data-driven broadcast, he has learned to tell stories that provide a human perspective on socioeconomic data to give voice to the underserved who are suffering from ineffective service delivery as a result of corruption in the transparency and accountability value chain. He continued by saying that he will teach his coworkers at the workplace how to effectively use data for storytelling as the Program Manager of Correct FM 102.9 Enugu.
Chiamara Nwafor, the program coordinator at the Civil Resource Development and Documentation Center (CIRDDOC) in the Anambra state, praised the Dataphyte training for having helped her see new ways to use data to tell stories, tell them from various perspectives, and consider how they affect people. She continued by stating that she had learned the benefit of directing the advocacy at specific/appropriate public office holders within the transparency and accountability value chain rather than the entire government.
Chukwuemerie Victory Ezuma, a civil society actor with Probity & Accountability Watch Initiative in Enugu state, said, “The training made me realise how important it is to work with the government as a partner in the cause of transparency and accountability.” Additionally, I have learned how to craft FOI requests referencing the FOI act in a way that forces the government to react.”
Assumpta Nwakanma, a member of the Abia state civil society organisation Initiative For Women Empowerment & Development (IWED), said the training increased her knowledge of data-driven accountability mechanisms and tactics for involving public institutions in the fight for accountability and transparency.
Another participant, Emmanuel Nnaji, a journalist at Blaze 91.5 FM in Imo state, said the training gave him greater knowledge about where to find fiscal data like; budget and procurement data and how to best analyse and understand it. “Before the training, I believed that data journalism for investigative reporting was all about telling stories with a lot of data and charts. However, I have come to the realisation that it is more crucial to concentrate on using data to tell the lived experiences of those in the subnational who lack a voice.
Similar training sessions have been held for journalists, members of civil society organisations, and representatives of community-based organisations in the North-Central and South-West zones, and trained participants have published data-driven reports that have been used to hold the government accountable and to increase the number of investigative reports that give voice to the underserved at the subnational level.
Dataphyte Foundation will conduct similar training across other geographical regions in an effort to advance the use of data-powered journalism for promoting subnational transparency and accountability.