History
In the aftermath of a prolonged struggle against political authoritarianism in Nigeria, the annulment of the 1993 election results and the reinstitution of a military junta that ultimately oversaw the death of the popularly elected candidate, Chief Moshood Abiola while in state custody, it became clear that in Nigeria as in other parts of Africa, there was a desperate need for effective means of consolidating and sustaining the process of democratic empowerment, and of social and economic change. The Alliance for Community Transformation (ACT) and its component programs, were founded on the belief that the struggle to prevent the re-militarization of the political terrain would have to be reinforced at the most critical level: the socio-economic empowerment of the population and the capacity to reclaim popular voice and rights at the local level.
The vision birthed in 1997 by ACT founder, Peyi Soyinka-Airewele was gradually consolidated through the collaborative efforts of ACT co-directors, Moremi Onijala, and Aloja Airewele. Support came from several local and international institutions including the CASE program at Rutgers University under the direction of Professor Michael Shafer and the Community Service program of the University of Michigan-Flint. Despite the avid interest in creating a town and gown compact at Ile-Ife, Modakeke and surrounding towns in Nigeria, the violence in that area had delayed full implementation of the program till recently. Today, it is a pleasure to note that one of our component programs, the Partnership of the Academy and Community (PACT) has been initiated at the Obafemi Awolowo University, through the support of many individuals including a core team of OAU faculty, Dr Abimbola Soriyan and the University's Vice-Chancellor, Professor Makanjuola. The OAU program is presently coordinated locally by Dr. Abimbola Soriyan and Olatokunbo Osasona.
A Unique Contribution- Localizing Partnerships for Change: While much attention has recently been focused on the notion of empowering local communities to address critical development issues that pertain to them, ACT is somewhat unusual in its insistence that the notion of “communities” must be redefined to embrace the range of diverse populations and institutions that co-exist in particular locales. In particular, it has refused to ignore the fact that the realities of impoverishment and communal disintegration in many African communities clearly indicate that the revitalization of community life cannot be borne by the poorest communities without considerable inputs from other domestic actors, such as the local academic and corporate institutions that co-exist with and within these impoverished communities and are serviced by them.
While we have been involved in emergency response initiatives, it must be emphasized that ACT does not advocate a charitable donation of skills and resources from a set of haves to have-nots. Perhaps one of the most important aspects of our approach to social transformation is our emphasis on the re-envisioning of joint membership and investment in a shared space by all community members, rich and poor alike. Thus we facilitate mutually beneficial, respectful and equitable communally based partnerships that transform the economic, social, political and legal conditions of the currently powerless, that base action on the institution of internal democratic practices including community participation in project development, that generate creativity in knowing and responding to local needs, and that utilize available manpower, skills, energies and resources in transformative social, democratic and economic action.
ACT is a sharp departure from the elitist, exclusive notion of NGO power and know-how that typically defines capacity building initiatives. Rather, we mark our success through the effectiveness of our facilitation of an ethos of broad and inclusive community based concerns and willingness to work collaboratively on critical problems. Our programs are structured around participants who may bring a range of professional competencies to bear on the needs of their community, but who share a more compelling value: a demonstrable personal commitment to working together against social, legal and economic injustice, authoritarianism, violence, ill health, impoverishment and other debilitations that threaten the wellbeing of their communities.
