BRIDGE Train the Facilitator (TtF) Workshop In Nigeria

On April 8-19, 2021, IFES Nigeria in coordination with The Electoral Institute (TEI) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and with funding from USAID and FCDO, conducted a BRIDGE Train the Facilitator (TtF) for INEC training officers and IFES staff in Ikeja, the capital city of Lagos State.

Participants were 26 (10 females and 16 males, twenty drawn from TEI and the state offices of INEC, and six from IFES. The INEC TEI training officers are responsible for planning, managing, and administering electoral trainings and staff capacity building for the Commission.

The primary objective of the workshop is to enhance the capacity of INEC trainers with a view to strengthen its institutional sustainability. The overall aim was to achieve effective sustainable election administration through increasing the capacity of the INEC training officers.

The workshop was conducted by Seray Jah- Accrediting level facilitator, Obaje Oukeh-Workshop level facilitator, Victoria Eta Messi-Workshop level facilitator and Ifan in an in-person environment.

The thematic topics covered include: Background to BRIDGE Project, What makes a Good Facilitator, Facilitation Challenges & Facilitator’s Credibility, Common Training Techniques, Gender Awareness, Identity Circles, Cross Cutting Themes and Key Understandings (KU) & Learning Outcome (LOs), Curriculum writing skills, Developing an Agenda, Curriculum Customization and adaptation (Inclusion). The topics provided the useful background for participants first and second pair presentations that allowed them to “bridge” theory and practice as put forward in the words of one of the participants.

The 10-day intensive course provided a learning curve to the State Training Officers, TEI Headquarters Trainers and selected IFES Nigeria staff. The BRIDGE TtF training equipped participants with the knowledge and skills necessary to facilitate trainings using BRIDGE methodology and materials. Furthermore, it prepared INEC training officers for the onerous tasks of planning and managing staff trainings for the continuous voter registration and ultimately the 2023 general elections.

The participants expressed gratitude to IFES and their funding Partners for creating the enabling environment for the training and this could be elicited from their comments during the final workshop evaluation and workshop reflection sessions.

All participants completed their reintegration plan to indicate what, how and when they could apply the knowledge acquired during the training within a period of 3 months, 6 months and 12 months.