FollowThePromise Web & Mobile App Launch by ReadyToLeadAfrica

Thursday, 22nd February, 2024, Transcorp Hilton, Maitama, Abuja. Nigeria

ReadyToLeadAfrica a development-focused civic-tech organization dedicated to implementing transformative solutions and an active participant of the US White House Summit for Democracy/Youth Democratic Cohort (YDC) ecosystem, launched the long anticipated civic-Tech platform for government accountability and transparency through citizen engagement, called the FollowThePromises (FTP) Web & tech platform.

The launch of the FTP tech platform was held on Thursday the 22nd of February at the prestigious Transcorp Hilton in Abuja, Nigeria. This technology is geared towards promoting accountability in governance, advocating for citizen involvement in socio-economic development and providing transparency in public leadership. This innovation has been piloted across six states in Nigeria- Sokoto, Akwa Ibom, Plateau, Ekiti, Gombe and Ebonyi State.

At the venue of the launch, the ReadyToLeadAfrica (RTLA) team were on ground to welcome senior representatives from public and private agencies such as Palladium, ECOWAS Mission, NITDA, NYFF. Also, gracing the event were, distinguished guests, including Mr Zissimos Vergos (the deputy head of delegation of European Union) , Mr Peter Burba (Acting Cultural Affairs Officer, US Embassy), Ms. Rinsola Abiola (Senior Special Assistant to the President of Nigeria

on citizenship and Leadership), Miss Judy Melifonwu (SA to the Honorable Minister of Trade and Investment) amongst others.

The program of the event was layered with opening address, panel discussions, goodwill speeches and then the unveiling of the FolllowThePromises Web & Mobile App platform. To set the ball rolling, the event started with an opening address by the RTLA Global President, Mr Godbless Otubure.

In his address, he highlighted the aim of the FollowThePromises platform is to track the promises made to the people by governorship candidates during their election campaigns, vis a vis, their manifesto, after they are sworn into office. He also said, the factual data available on the platform, are received from promises-followers (ProFos). These ProFos are from the local communities, trained and deployed by RTLA team and are actively providing updates on projects from every Local Government Area in the six pilot states across the six geo-political zones.

This ushered in a commendation speech from the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) by the Executive Director, Dr. Ibrahima Adara. OSIWA, the funder of the FollowThePromises initiative, commended RTLA for their hard work and their innovative approach to tackling the challenges of accountability in African democracy. He concluded by encouraging key actors to collaborate and partner with RTLA on solution-driven initiatives, particularly, the FollowThePromises Web & Mobile App to foster accountability across the region.

After this session, the host of the event welcomed panelists on stage for the first panel discussion of the day.

The panel discussion, titled “improving public accountability through technology” , was anchored by Mr Godbless Otubure and had important members of public offices in Nigeria as moderators – Honourable Akin Alabi (Member Representing Egbeda/Ona-Ara Federal Constituency chairman, House committee on works), Honourable Obed Shehu (member representing Kaitungo/Shongun Federal constituency) and Ms. Josie Mudasiru (head of public relations women affairs Secretariat). It was indeed an unveiling and in depth discussion that further emphasized the role and importance of technology in democracy.

This was followed by Good-will speeches by Zissimos Vergos of the European Union delegation and Honourable Bassey Akiba, member representing calabar municipal/odukpani federal constituency, Cross River State. The audience listened to both speakers with rapt attention and they responded with enthusiastic applause.

The second panel discussion anchored by Mr Otutubuike of RTLA on “Youth and civic Responsibility:Leveraging FollowThePromises to drive Engagement” was marked by intense engagement and lively discourse

The panelists- Mr. Ikenna Ogbudimkpa (project lead NYFF, Ms. Lydia Odeh (chief of party, SCALE project, Palladium) and Ms. Rinsola Abiola (senior special Assistant to the President on citizenship and Leadership), delved into the importance of youth and citizen engagement in democracy, CSO collaboration and achieving maximum impact by taking advantage of FollowThePromises tech platform to advocate and drive for government accountability and transparency in Nigeria and beyond. It was a session characterized by vibrant emotions.

At this point of the event, the attendees were full of insight and foresight on the role of technology in preserving African democracy, civic-responsibility in fostering public development and how citizens can leverage on the FollowThePromises Tech platform to advocate for government accountability in Nigeria.

The President and CEO of the presidential precinct, Toyosi Ogunseye gave a congratulatory speech on behalf of the precinct and its global advisory council to Godbless Otubure and the ReadyToLeadAfrica team. In her speech, she said “…public accountability is the bedrock of good governance and we have no doubt that this platform is going to make a huge difference, not just in Nigeria but the rest of Africa and indeed, the whole world…”. She concluded by congratulating the RTLA team on the launch of their public accountability platform.

Then came the unveiling of the FollowThePromises Web & Mobile App civic tech platform. The Launch session was preceded by the chief launcher, Mr Peter Burba , the Acting Cultural Affairs Officer, US Embassy. He led the session by stating that the initiative is exceptional and expanding it to other states would go a long way to increasing transparency across all states of the nation.

The Global President, ReadyToLeadAfrica and other very important persons joined Mr Peter, to unveil and officially launch the FollowThePromises web and Mobile App platform.

Afterwards, a vote of thanks was rendered by RTLA’s communications and programs Lead, Treasure Okolo on behalf of the organizing team. The event ended on a high note as attendees left the event enthusiastic about the future impact of FollowThePromises web and mobile App on the political and socio-economic development in Nigeria and beyond.