CODE EMOC Review Identifies Social Infrastructure Gaps in Oil-Rich Communities

… Health Commissioner Promises Govt Intervention in PHCs
By Paul Williams “Oil-producing communities are key to Nigeria's economic development. By bearing the brunt of oil extraction - loss of diversity and other natural productive assets, they should benefit from strategic infrastructural developments to compensate for manifest and latent consequences of oil exploration.” “Contrastingly,” according to the chief executive officer of Connected Development (CODE), Hamzat Lawal, “this is not so.” An attempt, therefore, to take stock of social infrastructure in oil-producing communities in Rivers State, with a view to determining their felt-needs for policy intervention, thus formed the backdrop of a project tagged ‘Empowering Oil-Producing Communities (EMOC),' initiated by CODE, with support from the Ford Foundation. Taking a survey of social infrastructures schools, PHCs (primary health centres) and WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) facilities in the communities, EMOC also sought to build the capacity of leaders in oil-rich communities to seek for accountability in the implementation of resources and projects allocated to them. The ‘Performance Review’ of the EMOC project, after three years of its implementation, was presented last Friday in Port Harcourt before a gathering of community representatives, media and civil society actors, and government officials, which included the Rivers State commissioner for Health, Dr. Adaeze Chidinma Oreh, and the executive chairman, Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Ven Dr. Fyneface Akeh. CODE’s communications manager, Stephen Akinfala, standing in for the chief operations officer, Ijeoma Oforka, said "the project seeks to empower community people to hold their government accountable, for them to provide the service that is needed for their community. Evelyn Williams, CODE’s state lead, said "We've been implementing this project for the past three years, and we've engaged communities in 10 local government areas. We've strengthened the capacity of the community monitoring teams (CMTs) to effectively demand for accountability." Read more: https://phmundial.com/codes-review-identifies-social-infrastructure-gaps-in-oil-rich-communities/

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