ISDMG rewards performing public institutions

Independent Service Delivery Monitoring Group (ISDMG), over the weekend handsomely rewarded public institutions that have lived upto expectations in the course of carrying out their statutory mandate.
The event which took place at the International Conference Centre in Abuja, saw the emergence of the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) while the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, (TETFund) emerged the second Most Outstanding Public Institution in Nigeria for 2012-2013,
While speaking at the occasion, Executive Director of ISDMG, Dr. Chima Amadi, disclosed that the civil society coalition, ISDMG, explored the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act to scrutinise over 300 public institutions on their service delivery process.
Dr Amadi emphasized that, over 300 institutions were appraised by Nigerians during the exercise consequent upon which he said only 19 were adjudged outstanding through the process he described as ‘rigorous’.
He noted that the 2013 Service Delivery Report, which was unveiled at the event, was a comprehensive report on activities of the participating Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). According to him, the report provided information about their performances, innovations, quality of service delivery, probity and accountability.
AS the Federal Government continues to seek how to get its university teachers back to the classrooms, Chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT) of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Dr. Musa Babayo, disclosed that government had spent about N300 billion on infrastructure in universities and other public tertiary institutions through the agency.
According to him, “the agency, in line with its mandate, had introduced some innovations in the last four years, including support for National Research Fund with a seed grant of N5 billion, National Book Development Fund with a seed grant of N2 billion as well as Special High Impact Project.
“Under the Academic Staff Training and Development initiative of the agency, over 7,000 lecturers have been sponsored for their post-graduate studies (Masters and PhDs), both locally and abroad.”
He revealed that TETFund has become a continental brand as countries such as Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Ghana have understudied and made it a model for their education intervention agencies.
Other most outstanding public institutions in various categories are: Bank of Industry, Bauchi State Universal Basic Education Board, Federal Roads Maintenance Agency,  Federal Ministry of Power, Federal Mortgage Bank,  Federal Road Safety Commission, Infrastructure
Concession Regulatory Commission, Legal Aid Council, National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons, National Directorate of Employment, National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, Nigeria Airspace Management Agency, Nigeria Communications Commission, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, Raw Materials Research and Development
Council, Rivers State Traffic Management Authority, Teachers Registration Council and Tertiary Education Trust Fund.