By Tom Garba,Yola


The Northeast Humanitarian and Innovation Hub (NEHIH) has organized a town hall meeting on freedom of information (FOI) act domestication in Adamawa State.

The town hall meeting which drawn up critical stakeholders in the advocacy of freedom of information in the media organizations, civil organizations and non governmental organizations met in Northeast Innovation Campus, Jimeta and interacted on how to domesticate the FOI bill in the Adamawa.

The engagement is in collaboration with the Digital Rights and Information Partnership (DRIP) Cluster, aimed at achieving the objectives of the USAID Strengthening Civil Advocacy and Local Engagements (SCALE) project.

Adamawa State USAID-SCALE Project Focal Person and the NEHIH Centre and Program Manager, Vanessa Nyingifa-Williams on opening remarks said the engagement is strategic and the primary goal is to advocate for the passage of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act in Adamawa State, Nigeria.

Vanessa Further explained that the SCALE project is a five-year project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by Palladium through a cooperative agreement with USAID.

She said the project is to improve public accountability, transparency, and sustainable service delivery in Nigeria.

"The USAID SCALE project seeks to empower civil society organizations, local advocates, and communities to engage with local government structures, advocate for policy changes, and drive accountability in governance. NEHIH, in partnership with the DRIP cluster is tasked with implementing this project's objective for FOI domestication in Adamawa State. The Freedom of Information Act is a critical piece of legislation that empowers citizens to access information held by public authorities, promoting transparency and good governance.

"The NEHIH is a social innovation center, with an emphasis on the power of collaboration and community inclusion from ideation to implementation. As a social impact-driven innovation space, our differentiating marker is the ability to approach social challenges from an ‘out-of-box' approach, inspired by human-centered design thinking. Our goal as the State implementing partner is to lead activities and engagement initiatives in Adamawa State, pursuant to the FOI Bill." Vanessa said

The meeting which emphasized the need of “Empowering Citizens Through Information” and Raising awareness about the importance of the FOI Act and its potential benefits for citizens and governance in Adamawa State.

The stakeholders at the meeting discusses on FOI domestication and to Mobilized support and show commitment for the passage of the FOI Act in the State, and to Provide a platform for open dialogue and feedback between citizens and government representatives on the FOI Act.

Vanessa revealed that only two states in Nigeria, Imo and Ekiti have domesticated the bill and they are hoping that Adamawa State Will be the third to have the bill domesticated.

"So far we've not experience any hiccups in pursuing for its implementation in the State , we are praying all the relevant agencies will support and join in the FOI advocacy." She Said