Improving Public Service Through Information Based Transparency And Open Government. By Sir Agabaidu Chukwuemeka Jideani

This movement towards a more open government is hinged on the idea that democratic governance should be founded on citizens’ participation, access to information, transparency & accountability and the utilization of technology to resolve issues of concern to the citizens. Two major drivers of this are government reforms and advancement in information technology that enhanced citizens’ capacity to source for and access information and records. These democratic principles of citizens’ participation in governance, freedom of expression, freedom of the press and an enhanced access to a marketplace of ideas are already enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution. The Nigerian Constitution 1999 in section 14(2) (a & c) declared that “Sovereignty belongs to the people of Nigeria from whom government through this Constitution derives all its powers and authority”; and that “the participation by the people in their government shall be ensured in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution” furthermore in sections 22 and 39 respectively the constitution provided for freedom of the press and citizens’ freedom of information and ideas. Furthermore a technology-driven, information-based transparency initiative for public engagement was given fillip with the enactment of the Freedom of Information Act 2011 by the Nigerian legislation. The Act provided for the use of technology to create, maintain, update and widely disseminate government information and records – in section 2(4) the Act provides as follows “A public institution shall ensure that information referred to in this section is widely disseminated and made readily available to members of the public through various means, including print, electronic and online sources, and at the offices of such public institutions”. Consequently it is safe to state that the Nigerian Constitution and Laws provided a foundation upon which an open government could be built. In 2016 Nigeria in a bid to deepen its anti-corruption reforms joined the Open Government Partnership (OGP) and developed a National Action Plan which implementation began in January 2017. The Nigerian OGP National Action Plan is anchored on four focal themes and had 14 commitments which address the challenges of Public Sector Transparency; Anti-Corruption; Citizens Access to Information; Citizens Engagement and Empowerment; and Utilization of Technology and Innovation to improve public service. A critical fulcrum in this National Action Plan is information based transparency. This requires the government to establish easy to use- low threshold technology platform to provide information and receive input and queries from the public. It has been noted that information-based transparency initiatives when used to promote open government provide a veritable avenue not only for improved service delivery but also to promote social and economic value through public use of government information. Transparency for our purposes should be viewed as a tool for public sector institutions to collaborate with their stakeholders to broaden participation and collaboration with citizens, enhance public trust and prevent corruption in order to deliver effective public service. Transparency initiatives serves a dual purpose, firstly it introduces the disinfecting rays of sunlight  by opening a window into governance to enable citizens see and understand how government works, make contributions to what government is doing and be in a position to hold public officials and agencies accountable. Secondly public access to and knowledge of government data, information and records enable businesses to take informed decisions to generate socio-economic value. In keeping with the above, Mr. Boss Mustapha – a lawyer and the Secretary to the Nigerian Federal Government on Monday 21st May 2018, launched a technology driven citizens’ engagement platform – http://www.osgf.gov.ng/ At the event held in Abuja, Mr. Mustapha stated that the platform was established in conformity with the open government process and the Nigerian Access to Information legislation to enhance openness, transparency and citizens’ participation in the governance process. A key feature of the platform as explained by Mr. Mustapha is the e-participation portal which will allow the citizens to:

1. Request for information from Government;
2. Submit an idea to Government;
3. Lodge complaints to Government;
4. Respond to Government;
5. Report issues to Government; and
6. Give compliments to Government.

In addition to the above platform launched by the Secretary to the Government of Nigeria (SGF) the Ministry of Communication is in the process of developing a national open data policy. Working with the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of justice and several civil society organizations the Ministry has held consultations and have engaged experts to help drive the process to meet global best practices. All these are aimed at achieving open government and improving public service delivery. Open Government ordinarily should result in greater collaboration between government and civil society –including other non-state actors stakeholders. This enables citizens to participate fully by contributing to decision making and policy formulation as well as in developing, monitoring and evaluating other government activities. Here the governed should be able to place their expertise, knowledge and proficiency at the disposal of government and this should be acknowledged and be seen to be put to use by government. This enhances the peoples taking ownership of the governance process and public trust in government. Laudable as this technology driven information based transparency initiative is there are challenges. A key challenge is ensuring that the data provided on these platforms are fit for purpose or fit for use by the general public. Information released must be such as businesses and private sector interests could harness to create economic value. Processes should be put in place to ensure the integrity of the information/data published. Corrupted information is not only useless but could be economically and socially harmful to the community. Government must maintain focus on engaging with the vast majority of citizens in the regions who have no access to the technology on which the platform is hosted. It is understood that internet service is not available to up to 100 million people in Nigeria. This large chunk of our population should not be excluded from participation and access to government information.  ]]>