Experts have  called on the government to utilise  social cohesion data to enhance national policies and programmes to address critical development issues across the country  and  promote national development.

The experts made this call on Tuesday at a  Capacity Building Workshop organised by  Africa Polling Institute (API), an independent, non-profit  opinion research think-tank.

The workshop tagged is “The Use of Social Cohesion Data in Enhancing National Policies and Programmes and Promoting Effective Media Reportage”.

Prof.Bell Ihua,  Executive Director API,  said the  workshop supported by Ford Foundation was to ensure that the Nigeria Social Cohesion data did not stay on the shelves.He said from the findings of the research carried out across the country by API the indicators of lack of social cohesion which was the bane of development include  issues of trust, social justice, gender inequality,  security issues among others.

 “So it’s for us to make use of this data we share with the government so that the government can begin to do what it needs to do.

“We want the social cohesion data to permeate the society, such that public institutions are integrating it in their policy and programme planning,  and media practitioners are engaging in socially-cohesive news reportage.

“One of the first major finding API noted  is the fact that citizens  have very little trust for the government,  governors and  public institutions.
“The second big issue we found is now that citizens are united in a shared struggle. You know, we didn’t used to have this before, but the data shows that citizens are united in shared struggle.
“We want the government to be aware because by being aware, they can now use this data for their policy and planning,” Ihua said.

A member of the Board of Trustees of API, Dr Soji Adeniyi, on his part said  the goal of the training was to  bring together people that are involved in managing social cohesion in the country.

“The goal is for us to begin to tackle the issue of social cohesion from an understanding of data perspective.

“It’s not enough for us as a country to think that perception is everything. Perception has its place and scientific data has its place.

“We’ve  been gathering this data since 2019  and it has been changing year after year based on the perception of what is going on within the country.
“We felt it is time to start sharing this data so that those institutions that the government constitutionally has put together to address those challenges will rise up to the challenge.”

Also speaking at the workshop, Dr Steve Ogidan, CEO, Successory Nigeria Ltd, said the government in making use of social cohesion data must be intentional in integrating youths, women and the marginalised in the society.

He added that prioritising budgets based on performance would translate to social investments policies targeted interventions for enhanced cohesion.

Mrs Amina Zemo, a participant, said the workshop was enlightening, highlighting the need to have national cohesion within the country and the need to use the data available to address issues facing the country.

She added that the government had to build trust of the people  and with the use of accurate data the government would find out actually what citizens need and give it to them.

our correspondent reports that the workshop had the  National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), National Orientation Agency (NOA), National Sports Commission (NSC) among others.

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