Report Of Workshop On Advocacy And Negotiation Orientation

A 2-day workshop on Advocacy and Negotiation orientation was organized by Publish What You Pay, Nigeria with the support of PACT, Nigeria. The event was held from 15^th through 16^th September 2011 at the Bayelsa Guest House, Central Business District, Abuja. There were 15 participants including PWYP Zonal coordinators, representatives of various NGOs such as CISLAC, Zero Corruption Coalition, GEO-science, as well as officials of NEITI and members of the media.

The workshop was interactive as it was conducted through lectures, group discussions and video session. There were 3 facilitators and resource persons who led the discussion during the various sessions.

(A)            ADVOCACY

Advocacy refers to the strategy people use to communicate their concerns to the decision maker or government. Advocacy is also a process to bring about change with respect to the practices of individuals or establishments.

There are 2 major types of advocacy: Individual Advocacy and System  Advocacy.

The type of advocacy that seeks to prevent a problem is referred to as pro-active advocacy while advocacy that is targeted at reducing a problem is reactive advocacy.

An aid to assist in knowing the various components of advocacy is presented below:

A = Action oriented activities.

D = Different strategies aimed at decision makers.

V =Voice, speaking on behalf of others.

O =others are involved to make a difference.

C = Changing policies, position and programmes

A = Answers and solution.

C = Communication

Y = You and me.

                                i.            Identifying the issue

                              ii.            Goals and objectives

                            iii.            Target Audience

                           iv.            Data collection

                             v.            Building support

                           vi.            Message development

                         vii.            Channels of communication

                       viii.            Funding raising

                            ix.            Implementation

                              x.            Monitoring and Evaluation.

The skills required in effective advocacy include the following:-

-         Communication  skills

-         Negotiation  skills

-         Lobbying

-         Networking

-         Mobilization

B)  NIGERIA EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRY TRANSPARENCY INITIATIVE

A paper was presented on the mandate and functions of NEITI. Extensive discussions were held after the presentation of the paper.

The ensuing deliberations focused on the Non-implementation of some key section or aspects of the NEITI Act .such as:-

        i.            Mandate of NEITI with respect to prosecution of companies that give false information or render false statements.

      ii.            Non-submission of annual reports to the Natural Assembly and the President.

    iii.            Irregular conduct of the Audit.

   iv.            There is no provision for the audit to the submitted to the Federal Executive Council and for seeking approval before the audit report is released to the public.

It was agreed that an Advocacy on the goal “Full Implementation of NEITI principles at all levels towards equitable distribution of the common wealth in Nigeria” should be embarked upon.

(C)   NEGOTIATION

A video tape on Negotiation was played. Negotiation refers to 2 or more individuals or groups holding discussions aimed at reaching a common ground. In negotiation, it is advisable to take note of the following:

·        Negotiate from a position of strength.

·        Do not agree to parts of an agreement without having a full picture.

·        Do not concede ground but embark on trade off

(D)  DOCUMENTS

Various documents were provided during the workshop including the following:

a)     NEITI Handbook

b)    NEITI Act  2007

c)     NGO’S Alternatives report on EITI Implementation in Nigeria

d)    Legislature Digest by CISLAC Vol.  5 Nos. 10 & 11 covering May to August 2011

e)     NEITI Open Audit covering June to August 2011.

(E)       RECOMMENDATIONS 

The follow-up action on an Advocacy on “Full Implementation of NEITI principles at all levels towards equitable distribution of the commonwealth in Nigeria” is to be further articulated and pursued.

An engagement with the Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative to achieve sub –National reporting is also to be followed up as an advocacy project

(F)       ACKNOWLEDGEMENT  

I wish to express immense appreciation to chair person and management of Publish You Pay, Nigeria for the unique opportunity to have participated in the workshop. The secretarial assistance from Ms Ann N. Nwosu is also gratefully acknowledged.

BABATUNDE ADEGBESAN

Director, GEO science

20^th September 2011

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