Lagos Island Connect, a youth-focused capacity-developed initiative by a coalition of non-profits including NNNGO, CSR-in-Action, NNF, Freedom Park and more, and Lagos State Government Office of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) & Investment trained young people for field work to carry out a needs assessment of residents of Lagos Island on Friday, 14 May 2021 at the Adeyemi Bero Hall, Alausa, Lagos. The one-day training designed to train youth volunteers on data enumeration and interviewing, led to a week-long field assessment with over 2000 Lagos Island residents and workers interviewed.
The training started with opening remarks from Mr. Lekan Fatodu, SA to the Governor on the SDGs who stressed the government’s commitment to making Lagos a better place for its residents. He alluded to the fact that this exercise is a starting point for this and will be the pilot program which will then be replicated in other local governments. Ms. Yemisi Ransome-Kuti, Co-Founder and Trustee of LIC, spoke next, introducing the survey and explaining the origins of the initiative. She stated that this program is geared towards organising a 2km rule for businesses, and an economic summit in Lagos Island for the youth to exhibit and display their ability and creativity for the benefit of Lagos Island. In planning for the future of young people in Lagos, only accurate and correct data will yield the best strategies.
Ms.Ransome-Kuti further stated that this needs assessment is the foundation of how to plan for the youth, to find out what the youth want. A technical training on the survey and best practices was held by Mr. Segun Augustine Dare for about 30 minutes. This was a presentation on what a survey is, what an enumerator should wear and further details about the survey in question. This session was followed by another technical training by Mr. Rasheed Lawal form the Lagos Bureau of Statistics. This session was interactive and saw the volunteers role playing as enumerator and respondent. This session gave the volunteers a touch of what they might encounter on the field.
There was also room for questions, answers and suggestions. The vote of thanks was given by Mrs Olusola Oyebode who is the Head, Monitoring & Evaluation Unit of the office of SDGs. The field work held from May 17th 2021 to May 22nd 2021 in Lagos Island. The result of the field work will be used to further achieve the goals of the Lagos Island Connect to attain inclusive development on the Island. The dignitaries in attendance included SSA (OSDG&I) Mr. Lekan Fatodu, Assistant director (LBS) Mr. Lawal R.O, Mr Segun Dare, Ms Yemisi Ransome-Kuti, Head Monitoring and Evaluation unit (OSDG&I) Mrs. Olusola Oyebode and Ms Tarere Eyimina Lead Research & Development (CSR-in-Action) representing Mrs Bekeme Masade-Olowola.
During the next week starting Monday, 17 May 2021, over 50 volunteers and enumerators went out onto the streets of Lagos Island to interview its residents and workers. Ten supervisors were selected who would oversee the exercise, volunteers were split into different wards and streets on Lagos Island. The exercise commenced at 8am each morning of the week and concluded at 5pm. Volunteers spoke to an average of 15 respondents per day, although some were able to engage more respondents. Below are pictures of the enumerators on the field:
Other partners of the LIC include Lagos Chamber of Commerce, Women’s Consortium of Nigeria (WOCON), Lagos State Youth Ambassadors, AIESEC, Vibrant Girls Development Initiative, Qamarh Foundation, Onikan Youth Association and Lagos Gist, amongst others. One of its key initiatives is the transformation of the Onikan Youth Center into an ultra-modern, equipped facility for youth to engage in compelling discussions on issues that are pressing to society. Upon success of the Onikan Youth Center project, there is the expectation that there would be a cascading effect leading to the reformation of other youth centers on the Island and other parts of Lagos