Iloke Egbe

The Coordinator, National Social Safety-Nets Coordination Office, Abuja, Dr. Mrs. Funmi Olotu has charged Information, Education and Communication Specialists in the State Coordination Units SOCU across the 36 States and Abuja to communicate the values and benefits the national social register holds for individuals, households, and the nation at large, for the systematic and comprehensive development of Nigeria.

She stated this while declaring open a 2-day Information, Education and Communication Specialists and Grievance Redress Managers workshop held at Dover Hotel, Lekki Phase One, Lagos State. She affirmed that the role of communication officers in the project's success is very important.

She admitted that there is a lot of information that many Nigerians don't have about the national social safety-nets coordinating office, Abuja, the national social register, and the State operations coordinating units, adding that it is the responsibility of the communication specialists to educate Nigerians timely and effective.

She informed that NASSCO is ready to work with Grievance Redress Managers to address all the unresolved grievances received in respect of Cash transfers and payment made to children instead of the head of the household, while advising participants to be open during interactions and speak out what their challenges are as the objectives of the workshop is to promote the spirit of collaboration amongst the different departments and units to enhance efficient service delivery.

Earlier, the head of the national social register at NASSCO Mallam Mohammed Dikko Bala, informed that given the importance of the national social register in development, NASSCO wants communication officers to communicate to the public about the NSR in a unified manner. From the project feedback mechanism, there is a clear indication that there is poor communication, which has affected the deliveries and efforts made in the project. Therefore, in the redesign of the project, communication specialists are expected to play their roles as professionals in the implementation process.

Highlights of the event were paper presentations, question and answer sessions, breakout sessions for group work, and a group photograph. In attendance were representatives from the World Bank, officials from NASSCO, Information, Education, and Communication Specialists from the 36 States, and Abuja.