Int’l Day for Universal Access to Information: Obaseki links Edo’s growing investor, voter confidence to open governance

The Edo State Governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki, has said that there is a correlation between his administration’s open governance model and the growing investor and voter confidence in the state.

Obaseki said this on the occasion of the celebration of the International Day for Universal Access to Information, marked on September 28, each year.

He explained that “as a matter of policy, we publish all our reforms across the various sectors of the state and their outcomes online, for potential investors and the public to know what we are doing to develop the state.”

The governor noted that “information and communication technology and the information super highway have made it easy to communicate governance to members of the public.

“We place huge premium on transparency and accountability and the efforts we have made in pension reform, health, education, job creation and other key sectors are in public domain. They can be accessed online.

Commending the United Nations for setting aside a special day to celebrate universal access to information, Obaseki said information explosion remains a remarkable achievement in the 21stcentury, and urged global leaders to take advantage of the information superhighway and the new technologies to guarantee unfettered and unencumbered access to information, revolutionise governance and carry the electorates along on government processes, procedures, achievements and challenges.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), said that “since 2016 it has marked the International Day for Universal Access to Information (IDUAI), following the adoption of a resolution (38 C/70) declaring 28 September of every year as International Day for Universal Access to Information (IDUAI).

“IDUAI has particular relevance with the new 2030 Development Agenda, and in particular with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 16.10  which calls for ensuring public access to information and protection of fundamental freedoms.”

UNESCO said it hopes that the event will encourage more countries to adopt Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation, develop policies for multilingualism and cultural diversity in the cyberspace, and ensure that women and men with disabilities are integrated.

“These steps will further strengthen progress towards the 2030 Development agenda and pave the way for the creation of knowledge societies worldwide.”