Key Points

• OsunOpenLG 2.0 expands innovative tools to enhance grassroots transparency across communities.

• Amoye chatbot significantly strengthens OsunOpenLG 2.0 citizen engagement and accountability efforts.

• Advocacy network continues growing under the comprehensive OsunOpenLG 2.0 rollout program.

The second phase of the Insight Initiative for Community and Social Development’s transparency project, OsunOpenLG 2.0, has begun. It includes a digital tool that makes it easier to find information about local government.

At a press conference in Osogbo, the group showed off the Amoye AI Chatbot, which is based on WhatsApp. They said this was part of a new effort to improve communication between citizens and local authorities in Osun State.

The expanded platform, according to Executive Director Jare Tiamiyu, is meant to improve accountability at the local level, where people often have trouble getting basic information about budgets, allocations, and public services.

OsunOpenLG 2.0 makes it easier for more people to get involved in civic life

Tiamiyu said that the first phase of the project, which started in 2023 with help from the Nigerian Youth Futures Fund through LEAP Africa, trained 66 community advocates, including people with disabilities, to give residents information about how the government works. They worked in neighbourhoods, schools, markets, and places of worship to get feedback and share simple budget information.

The OsunOpenLG 2.0 chatbot Amoye increases its reach

With the new Amoye chatbot, people can ask questions in real time on WhatsApp about things like how much money the local government gets each month, where services are located, and how to get in touch with the council.

Tiamiyu said that the tool is made to answer practical questions right away, like “How much money did my council get this month?” or “Where is my LGA headquarters?” “Where is the headquarters of my LGA?” ”

The chatbot also lets councils send official updates directly to residents, which is meant to cut down on false information and build trust in the public.

What comes next for the rollout of OsunOpenLG 2.0

The Initiative wants to teach local government chairmen, senior officials, and media aides how to better explain what councils do with their money and how they make decisions.

The group will keep putting FAAC allocations and spending patterns on its website and add more tools for visualising data so that the public can keep track of them more easily.

According to Tiamiyu, OsunOpenLG 2.0 is a promise to make openness a “shared culture” in the state. He thanked community partners, civil society groups, and the media for keeping things going. He said that the new phase of the project shows how technology can change how people interact with their government at the local level.

He said, “Openness grows one conversation at a time.” “And with tools like Amoye, it’s getting easier to start those conversations.”