By Olugbilon Hawau Titilayo
In a recent radio program on SBS, Comrade Lanre Osho, Deputy Coordinator of Elites Network for Sustainable Development (ENetSuD), urged Kwara residents to actively monitor ongoing community projects to prevent abandonment.
ENetSuD, a Nigerian Civil Society Organization, focuses on promoting good governance, transparency, and accountability while ensuring public funds are utilized for the benefit of citizens.
He charged them to track public budgets and ensure responsible project execution in the public interest.
Comrade Lanre highlighted the issue of abandoned projects across the three districts of Kwara state: Kwara Central, Kwara South, and Kwara North. He stressed the importance of community leaders selecting representatives to engage with site engineers, who act as Ministry of Works representatives, and contractors to introduce themselves as project beneficiaries and express their intent to monitor progress.
He emphasized, “If the contractor fails to meet your expectations, you have the right to file a petition with the ministry. This is part of your civic duty as citizens; don’t rely solely on the government. Effective project monitoring will encourage contractors to perform well and prevent future project abandonment.”
Lanre further explained, “ENetSuD’s mission is to ensure no government in Kwara state leaves office without completing initiated projects, eliminating the problem of abandoned projects.”
He also added that there is an agreement with anti-corruption agencies, EFCC and ICPC, to intervene when under-construction projects exceed contract timelines, compelling contractors to fulfill their obligations.
