IT’S A WRAP : THE PERL CLOSE OUT EVENT

BY EDEDET NYONG

Every good thing they say must come to an end. For PERL, an acronym for Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn that day did come on Tuesday, September 26th 2024. After eight years of partnering, engaging, reforming as well as learning, a solemn, yet salivating converge on the expansive bowels of the Congress Hall, Transcorp Hilton hotel, Abuja was a fitting swan song for the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development office (FCDO) funded programme. And with all the partners, stakeholders, beneficiaries and lots more in attendance to witness this uniquely packaged last dance, the PERL CLOSE OUT AND DISSEMINATION EVENT, tagged, Lasting Legacies: Eight Years of Elevating Governance for a Sustainable Future.

To set the context for the Close Out session, the National Team Leader, PERL-ECP, Mr John Mutu was invited for his opening remarks. He listed the many achievements of the programme over the past eight years in enhancing policymaking, planning, budgeting, agriculture, education, project monitoring and accountability in its partner states of Kaduna, Kano and Jigawa as well as in its regional hubs of North East, South West and South East. The National Team Leader charged the partners and beneficiaries to always maintain the excellence PERL is noted for in all their activities, even as the programme bows out after eight highly successful years. “PERL’s exit does not mean you should let go all that you’ve learnt,” he said.

Up next to address the august converge in september was the Senior Governance Adviser, FCDO, Mr Chris Okeke. He gave an overview of  FCDO funded programmes in the country since the millennium year 2000, going down memory lane to recapture the concept, architecture and delivery of each of them. He then delved into the specifics of the PERL programmme starting from inception in May 2016 to its conclusion in September 2024, saying, “its footprints are indelible especially in core governance issues” and pledged on behalf of his organization that a successor programme was in the wings to build on the marvelous works of PERL.

The PERL Close Out event then went into a panel discussion session on the topic, “Governance Reform in Nigeria : Challenges, Opportunities and Solutions.” The highly celebral and vastly experienced set of panelists which included the Special Adviser to the President on Policy coordination, Hadiza Bala Usman, the fmr. Head of civil service of the federation, Mrs Folashade Yemi Esan, the fmr. Director General,  Budget Office of the Federation, Mr Ben Akabueze, fmr. Member of the House of Representatives, Rt Hon. Sam Ikon, among others shared their experiences on topic. Scholarly submissions like the need for constitutional provisions to strengthen  the budgeting process, rejigging the recurrent to capital expenditure ratio in the budget, sustaining and increasing the social intervention programmmes as other countries have used this to take large portions of its population off the poverty index, citizen delivery tracker designed for the citizens to access budget performance, the recruitment process of getting people into political offices, among other such issues were placed on the table and admirably dissected. The panelists submitted that the solution lies in having an enlightened leadership and an active citizenry working in tandem for optimal results.

The time was then nigh for the optimal results PERL has achieved over the past eight years to be showcased to the world in the voices of the beneficiaries. The first voice to proclaim the actions of PERL was the governor of Jigawa state. Malam Umar Namadi. He praised the good works of PERL in upscaling the budgeting framework in his state, a process he says has seen Jigawa state consistently ranked number one in budget performance in the country by the Budget office of the Federation. The soft spoken state chief executive further listed other institutional reforms in key areas like education, agriculture, health insurance, public policy that PERL has introduced in the north eastern state, admitting publicly that “PERL is synonymous with everything good in Jigawa state.” He also charged the sponsors of the programme to keep it alive.”PERL is too good to end.” The fact that I’m here in person says it all,” the governor submitted.

Other voices who brought action to PERLs programmes albeit through another panel discussion were the National President, Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, NULGE, Mr Hakeem Ambali, a rtd deputy clerk, senate in the National Assembly, Mallam Yusuf Goje, a representative of the auditor general of the federation, Mr Abe Oworerobo, the speaker, Oyo State House of Assembly and chairman, conference of speakers in the country, Rt Hon. Adebo Ogundoyin, among others. One after another, the panelists regaled the audience on the impact of PERL in budget tracking, community development charter, upscaling advocacy for local government autonomy, technical assistance in auditing legislation, agriculture, and lots more. It was indeed an eye opener  to the enormity of interventions as PERLs actions in the various sectors were voiced out by the benefitting partners.

Another set of benefitting partners also took turns to share their real experiences from the UK’s FCDO funded programme and the real results therefrom. A school principal from Kaduna state, government secondary school, GSS, Bunkure, to be precise spoke on PERLs intervention in the school’s infrastructure, a student from the same school told a story of how PERLs intervention checkmated her parents from marrying her off in JSS 3, a director in the federal ministry of finance, specially in charge of budget and economic policy, Dr Gloria Ahmed spoke on how PERLSeptember 26th 2024 opened their eyes to budget tracking and new economic policy modules, while the permanent secretary, Ogun state bureau for public sector reforms, Mr Adebowole Oyeneye described the programmme as “godsend to us for public sector reforms.” To Dr Nnena Chikezie, chairman, Abia state planning commission, “PERL is too laudable to come to an end”, as their involvement helped conceptualize an effective development master plan for the state, while to Dr Nura Ibrahim, executive secretary, Jigawa state Health Insurance scheme,  PERL is the group that helped them digitalize and operationalize its operations and “it’s a pity that such an impactful group is no more,”  he lamented . From amazing harvest of encomiums on the eight year programmme, it is evident that PERL has carved a niche for itself in the hearts of not a few.

Sitting in the exquisite congress hall of Transcorp Hilton hotel, Abuja and listening to the equally exquisite submissions by the erudite speakers on the massive impact of PERL,  I was awestruck with the quantum and quality of impact one programme could have on the lives of a people in such vast and diverse sectors. From health insurance to mechanized agriculture, from public policy modules to public sector reforms, from local government autonomy to community development charter, from budget tracking to auditing legislation, from human resource development to capacity building, among others, PERL has for the past eight years elevated governance for a sustainable future with visible lasting legacies in all its partner states and regional hubs. Perhaps, my only low point was that the south south region of the country was not covered by the PERL programmme.

And as the National Programme Manager of PERL, Mr Ifeanyi Peters remarked in his vote of thanks, PERL had not only achieved over 1,000 project marks, it has consistently scored A+ ratings in all its annual reviews, a feat which according to him is a testament to the work ethic, intellectual acumen and leadership suave of the national team leader and his team. He thanked the sponsors, partners, stakeholders, beneficiaries and staffers, revealing that, “it was indeed reveling partnering, engaging, reforming and learning alongside with them these past eight years.”

As PERL winds down, it is obvious that a glaring lacuna has been created. However, the assurances from the FCDO senior government adviser that a successor programme to PERL is in the wings is very soothing.

PERL was such a huge success. Its CLOSE OUT and DISSEMINATION SESSION at the Congress Hall, Transcorp Hilton hotel, Abuja was even more successful.
Indeed, PERL will be missed.

It’s a wrap!

To God be the Glory!!