Access Nigeria: Connecting Citizens To the Government Using Technology hosted by BudgIT Nigeria

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February 23, 2016 3:14 PM

Mr. Abayomi Shogunle spoke on the establishment of the Citizen Response Unit (CRU) of the Nigerian Police Force

Social Media Week Day 2

Social Media Week Lagos continues today and government agencies continue to make appearances geared towards sensitization of the Nigerian citizenry on the activities which the government and its agencies undertake via technology.

At a panel themed Access Nigeria: Connecting Citizens To the Government Using Technology hosted by BudgITNigeria, panelists including a representative from the EFCC and the Head, Police Complaint Response Unit, Mr. Abayomi Shogunle, and a representative of BudgIT Nigeria, discussed the many ways in which the crime-fighting organizations were engaging the citizens via technology.

The panel was moderated by Ugochi Ekpeme, a representative of a Civil Society Organisation (CSO) based out of Abuja.

The BudgIT representative who identified himself as Stanley, revealed that the organization wants to collaborate with government and is already collaborating with the government in certain key areas.

He further went on to explain that Access Nigeria is a group of civil society organizations that aim to bridge the gap between the citizenry and the government in terms of keeping track of the activities of the government and provide the public with the necessary information.

Mr. Abayomi Shogunle spoke on the establishment of the Citizen Response Unit (CRU) of the Nigerian Police Force revealing that the CRU is the first of its kind in sub-saharan Africa, adding that more than 3,000 cases were reported and handled by the CRU in the first 60 days.

Shogunle further revealed that the Police was actively finding ways to communicate with the public better via all possible channels including telephone calls, WhatsApp, BBM, Twitter and so on.

The session came to a close after the Q&A segment with the audience. You can follow Pulse Tech's coverage of the 2016 edition of the Social Media Week Lagos here or on all social media platforms via the hashtag #SMWLagos/#SMWLPulse.

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