Palladium, NSUK sign MoU on Organisational Development

The collaboration is in relation to the Organisational Development Marketplace Training Programme of the USAID-funded Strengthening Civic Advocacy and Local Engagement Activity (SCALE), geared towards strengthening the financial, management and advocacy capacity of local civil society organisations.

In a bid to strengthen the capacity of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Nigeria, Palladium Group, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the launch of a postgraduate course for Organisational Development (OD) with the Nasarawa State University, Keffi (NSUK).

Signed on Tuesday in Abuja, the MoU, through Palladium’s Strengthening Civic Advocacy for Local Engagement (SCALE) initiative, aims to improve the capacity of local CSOs’ to be responsible and productive change agents in Nigeria.

In partnership with Nigeria Resource Partners (RPS), including other local Partners and funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the 5-year project is implemented by Palladium (October 2020 – October 2025). Additionally, as a SCALE partner and the organisation implementing the GIFT (Growth Initiative for Fiscal Transparency) and the VOTER (Validating the Office of the Electorate on Representation) Projects, OrderPaper Advocacy Initiative; Nigeria’s foremost parliamentary monitoring organisation and policy think-tank participated in the event through media support.

Speaking at the event on Monday in Abuja, Lydia Odeh, SCALE’s Chief of Party, said: “The goal of the project is to improve public accountability, transparency and sustainable service delivery in Nigeria. This is by strengthening the managerial, financial and advocacy capacity of civil society to engage citizens to influence the government of Nigeria in key development reforms at national, state and local levels.

The SCALE project support CSOs, including Business Membership Organisations (BMOs), with a basket of managerial, financial and advocacy capacity-strengthening interventions aimed at advancing their sustainability and effectiveness. We also provide CSOs with targeted grants to advance key policy reform priorities. A curriculum on Organisation Development (OD) has been developed for the programme.

Through these discussions, the university has decided to commence a Post Graduate Degree training in Ordinary Diploma to help support the availability of resource experts in system strengthening in Nigeria. The MoU with Palladium and NSUK formalises the partnership by Palladium and the University to work together to foster and develop a cooperative relationship toward the takeoff of the programme by the university,” she added.

According to Prof. Suleiman Mohammed, Vice Chancellor of NSUK, the training would develop the capacity of the targeted group. Represented by Prof. Saadatu Liman, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC) Administration, NSUK, Mohammed said that the two programmes envisaged for the realisation of SCALE are Ordinary Diploma.

“This collaboration which is in relation to the Organisational Development Marketplace Training Programme of the USAID-funded on Strengthening Civic Advocacy and Local Engagement Activity (SCALE), geared towards strengthening the financial, management and advocacy capacity of local civil society organisations.

The two programmes envisaged for the realisation of this goal are:

Organisational development which is a planned, systematic change in the values or operations of employees to create overall growth in a company or organisation administratively, financially and otherwise.
Advocacy which helps people and organisations to become more involved in important decisions about their life and development, and it can be a lifeline for many.

Bearing this in mind, there’s no doubt that this training will develop the capacity of the target group, and this will create a more accountable, transparent, peaceful and democratic Nigeria with more effective and efficient public service. Your choice of the Institute of Governance and Development Studies to host the programme is commendable. This is because it offers a platform for multidisciplinary scholarship in leadership and corporate governance,” he said.

“Nasarawa State University is a young but promising university with great potential in so many areas of academic endeavour. Through Institute of Governance and Development Studies (IGDS), NSUK will provide the necessary services this collaboration is seeking to achieve.

I will like to thank USAID and PALLADIUM for giving us this opportunity to play our role towards improving the organisational performance of Civil Societies, Private and Public Sectors through the training of their staff at various levels of Postgraduate Programs. And I assure you of our utmost dedication to the course of this collaboration. We have the expertise and we will work hard to groom Nigerians as they embrace this,” the NSUK Vice Chancellor added.

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