Growth rarely happens in isolation. It takes deliberate investment — in people, systems, and shared knowledge — to build organisations that can sustain meaningful change. That conviction was on full display recently when civil society organisations across Benue State gathered for a high-impact training on organisational growth and sustainability, convened by the Civil Society Organisations of Benue State (CSO-B).
The Onah Adeyi International Disability Center (OAIDC) was proud to be among the participating organisations, represented at the event with the goal of bringing back practical skills to strengthen our work in disability inclusion and sustainable development.
“Beyond the sessions, the networking with fellow changemakers was priceless.”
The training wasted no time getting to substance. Four core thematic areas formed the backbone of the day’s sessions, each one directly relevant to the operational realities that civil society organisations in Nigeria navigate every day.
Governance & Administration: Strengthening organisational structures, policies, records, and risk management frameworks.
Project Design & Management: Designing and managing projects that deliver measurable, real-world change.
Financial Management & Budgeting: Ensuring full accountability of every naira received and spent.
Procurement Best Practices: Upholding transparency and fairness from procurement planning through to delivery.
The session on Governance and Administration challenged participants to take a hard look at the internal systems that keep an organisation running — structures, record-keeping, policy frameworks, and risk management. For a disability-focused organisation like OAIDC, strong governance isn’t just a technical requirement; it’s what allows us to remain accountable to the communities we serve.
Project Design and Management offered frameworks for thinking through how interventions are conceived from the outset — ensuring that projects are not only well-intentioned but structured to produce outcomes that last. This aligns directly with OAIDC’s commitment to programming that genuinely advances inclusion rather than simply ticking boxes.
The modules on Financial Management and Budgeting reinforced the importance of treating every naira as a resource entrusted by donors, partners, and the public. Transparent stewardship is, ultimately, how civil society organisations earn and maintain the credibility needed to grow. Similarly, the Procurement Best Practices session brought clarity on how to structure fair and transparent processes from start to finish — a concern that touches every programmatic decision we make.
But perhaps equally as valuable as the formal sessions was the opportunity to connect with representatives from other civil society organisations working across Benue State. In a space like this, shared challenges become shared solutions. New partnerships take shape over conversations between sessions, and the sense of collective mission — of people choosing, day after day, to work toward a more equitable society — is genuinely energising.
OAIDC returns from this training equipped with sharper tools and renewed momentum. The work of advancing disability inclusion and sustainable development in Benue State is long-term work. Events like this remind us that we are not doing it alone — and that the ecosystem of civil society in this state is stronger, and more capable, than it sometimes appears.
We extend our sincere appreciation to CSO-B for organising such a well-structured and practically grounded training, and to all the facilitators and fellow participants who made the day so rich.
The Onah Adeyi International Disability Center (OAIDC) works to advance inclusion and the rights of persons with disabilities in Benue State and beyond.
