Stephen Enoch
Civil Society Organisation for Conflict Resolution in Nigeria, (CS-CRIN) has commenced a coaching and mentorship project for three Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Kano state with funding support from EU-ACT programme in Nigeria being implemented by the British Council.
CS-CRIN is envisioned to build the capacity and enhance the skills of NGOs, Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) Youth and Women groups, and Traditional/Religious leaders, amongst others.
The commencement of the coaching and mentorship project was made known in a community visibility meeting with CSOs and the media, under the project “Building and Strengthening Organizational Capacity through Hands-On Coaching and Mentoring Organizational Development Capacity Support for 3 CSOs in Kano State.” With funding support from EU-ACT.
In his opening remarks, the Executive Director of CS-CRIN, Mr. Adeniyi Aremu said the organization has commenced a coaching and mentoring project on “Organisational Strategy” for the three CSOs in Kano state in order to enhance the capacity of the organizations to meet the demands and requirements to deliver on their goals and objectives as Civil Society. The coaching and mentoring project is as the result of capacity development support CS-CRIN received from the EU-ACT training, coaching and peer-learning activities during the first phase of EU-ACT capacity development support programme for CSOs in Nigeria.
He stated that the coaching and mentorship for the CSOs are essential because the organizations are credible and have the capacity to hold the government accountable, adding that they go beyond the government’s reach to positively impact the lives of people in the local communities and in different sectors.
“We are doing this to support the government’s work because they cannot do everything, and this is where the role of the CSOs come in so that they can affect lives positively, especially at the grassroots.
“We are doing great work to support the activities of the government and we expect that the organizations that are being coached and mentored, to carry out their work with sincerity, credibility, accountability, and be efficient and effective with areas of their work.
“In our last project, Strengthening Community engagement towards peacebuilding and Conflict Resolution in Kano State” with financial support from the EU-ACT we mentored 15 organizations and in this phase of project titled “Building and Strengthening Organizational Capacity through Hands-on Coaching and Mentoring OD capacity development Support for 3 CSOs in Kano State” only 3 CSOs will be coached and mentored Aremu added.
Save a Life Cancer Foundation is among the previous beneficiaries of CS-CRIN’s mentorship and coaching. The founder of the organization, Hauwa Kakudi, expressed her gratitude to CS-CRIN and the EU-ACT for the positive impact recorded in her organisation.
“My organization started in 2016 and before I came in contact with CS-CRIN the organization did not have a structure and activities were done haphazardly but with the coaching and mentorship that CS-CRIN gave us, everything changed.
“Under CS-CRIN’s tutelage, we got our first international funding and they ensured that at every point, we were made to follow the right steps in the execution of our project from inception to completion.
“With the mentorship of CS-CRIN, we were exposed to a lot of opportunities and we are now well structured as a CSO should be. I can confidently say that any organization that comes under the guidance of CS-CRIN will have a positive outcome,” she said.
Rukayya Tofa, the founder of Positive Pathways Initiatives (PPI) is among the three organizations that are currently undergoing coaching and mentorship under CS-CRIN: a project with financial support from EU-ACT She said.
She said: “After establishing the organization and having a physical location for the office, there was no structure, record keeping, and a consistent system for running the organization but after the OCA, I approached Mr. Aremu, he has been coaching me on ways to enhance the capacity of PPI.
“After about a month of being under the tutelage of CS-CRIN, I have seen great development in the operation of PPI.
“The organization has also been enriched with productivity and it now has a better vision, mission, goals, core values and objective statements in place within a short time.
“I am really grateful to EU-ACT that my organization is among the selected individual ORGANISATION to be tutored under CS-CRIN.”
