Civil society organizations have embarked on a public assessment project in Osun State.
The project targets about 30,000 respondents on governance in the state for the past eight years.
The rights groups said it was aimed at establishing deep public perception of the socio-political developments in the State in the last eight years.
The project is with the support of three rights groups, the Civil Society Coalition for Mandate Protection, the Nigerian Human Rights Community and the Green Peoples Environmental Rights Groups, a member of the International Alliance on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples of the Tropical Forest, based in Thailand.
The release was signed by Comrade Oluwole Suleiman, Uche Obiora and Oladimeji Fatunla.
In release by the groups on Wednesday, the coalition of several rights group stated that 10,000 questionnaires have been distributed to 500 volunteers picked across the 31 local government areas.
It said there is also an online version expected to reach a total of 20,000 people using Information Technology.
The project takes a look at cultural, socio-political and economic developments in the state from the perspectives of the people in the state.
The statement said: “We are adopting best practices in measuring good governance in Nigeria. Osun has been picked as a pilot project in Nigeria. We want the people to assess the government in the past 8 years in a reflective and comparative sense. Every social strata in Osun will participate in the questionnaire including civil servants, students, peasants and the general public.”
The groups stated that 10,000 questionnaires will be administered while the same assessment is being conducted online targeting a minimum of 20,000 people from Osun State.
It said that the civil society is organizing training for some of the key leaders of the survey in the three senatorial districts of the state.
The trainees will be responsible for administering the questionnaire to locals.
The target audience is not restricted to educated people alone.
The questionnaires have been designed to ensure unlettered people can participate through the assistance of the volunteers.
In all, 75 questions were listed ranging from levels of awareness of government policies and programmes, governance, education, health services, tourism, industrial development, women empowerment, state transformation and cultural revolution.
It said while each state government scores itself based on its own interests, the people who are the beneficiaries and end users of government policies have the obligation to express their own opinion based on the objective realities in their communities in the past eight years.
It said the assessment is driven by the people and will a true reflection of the standards of living the people have experienced in the past eight years.
It said the report of the assessment will be made available to all institutions in Osun State and relevant groups at home and abroad for a clearer understanding of what democracy means to Nigerians using the State as the mirror.
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