Open Data and Social Welfare in Nigeria: A Way Forward
Imagine if Nigerians have unrestricted access to data/information relating to public finance expenditure; it would be much easier to hold any government or entity accountable and collectively seek value for money.
For instance, the Enugu/Port Harcourt express road. This has overtime become an accident prone zone, wherein for over four (4) years, the reconstruction and maintenance of the road has been awarded to several contractors, yet not even 20% of the work has been done.
According to Budgit, the Federal Executive Council of the former administration in 2013 awarded this said dual carriageway to two different companies, SETRACO Nigeria Limited and ARAB Contractors at the cost of N39,548, 900,597. 79 and N50,892, 770, 722. 04 respectively still the road is still in a deplorable state.
This is very sad because this road, tends to serve as a major route for traders who go from other parts of the country to the north to buy their food crops and fruits such as yam, beans, tomatoes, watermelon amongst others; and due to the nature of the road, there have been so many cases of trucks falling and people losing all their goods and in some extreme cases, their lives, and this in turn affects the prices of the goods; whereas other road users are ambushed by armed robbers and kidnappers.
There is this need for people to be aware and be carried along on the existence of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), irrespective of their status. And more importantly, TIMELY AVAILABILITY/ACCESSIBILITY of contracting information or data related to government policies and infrastructural development in a way that people can understand will also improve the chain of public accountability
Citizens need detailed and accurate data and information on the activities of the government to help them contribute meaningfully to the debate on appropriate strategies for socio-economic planning, growth and development. People cannot play their full part in society without access to information. They cannot exercise their rights and claim their entitlements without information, nor can they participate fully in democratic processes.
