Board of Trustees
Sets the organisation's direction, protects its public purpose, and provides independent oversight.
Accountability and stewardship
Who we are
About COMSSI
A Kano-based nonprofit helping disadvantaged communities know their rights and hold public institutions to account.
Our story
COMSSI was formed by a group of like-minded people with a background and experience in development work. We are a nonprofit, nongovernmental and nonpartisan organisation, and our name is approved by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC/IT/NO81968).
We saw that many people from disadvantaged groups are victims of neglect, mostly caused by corruption. That neglect pushes them toward political thuggery, mass migration from rural areas, human trafficking, school dropout and youth restiveness.
Our answer is education, information and justice: helping people gain the right to quality education, the confidence to speak up, and the means to hold public institutions accountable.
Our mandate
To encourage people from all walks of life to share information and help create solutions to poverty and development problems through social accountability.
Our mission
Creating awareness to provide knowledge of self-ability and empower through social accountability.
Our vision
A society where disadvantaged groups have access to quality, affordable education, justice and self-esteem for sustainable development.
Our objectives
What we set out to achieve.
- Strengthen the role of communities and non-state actors in demanding government transparency on budget, expenditure and programmes.
- Increase citizens' awareness and understanding of laws, rights, budgets and policies.
- Increase citizen participation in collective action, including mobilising broader advocacy to government.
- Advocate for enabling laws and a favourable environment for reproductive health and adolescent physical and mental health initiatives.
- Design and deliver strategic communication programmes for social and behaviour change.
- Promote rural agribusiness by helping agricultural commodity groups adopt sustainable, climate-smart technologies.
How we work
We aim for measurable results in four pillars of governance: transparency, representation and voice, accountability, and learning for improved results.
We see the accountability of institutions as a key pillar for empowering poor people, and we know the demand side of governance cannot be ignored.
Approaches we support
- Budget literacy campaigns
- Citizen charters and citizen report cards
- Community scorecards and community oversight
- Community contracting
- Grievance redress mechanisms
- Independent budget analysis
- Participatory budgeting
Governance and team
COMSSI is governed by a Board of Trustees of Nigerians committed to the socio-economic advancement of men, women and youths. The Executive Council and full-time programme staff run the organisation day to day.
Executive management
The Executive Director and management team turn the strategy into programmes, partnerships, and measurable results.
Strategy into actionProgramme delivery
Principal Development Officer, Project Officers, Monitoring and Evaluation, Research and Documentation.
Operations
Administration, secretarial coordination, and day-to-day systems that keep projects moving.
Finance and audit
Accounting, records, internal controls, and responsible use of programme resources.
Extended team
Consultants and volunteers bring specialist knowledge and community reach when each programme needs it.
Expertise for hire
Our project team has experts in environment education, health, gender, community mobilisation and enterprise development. We serve as resource persons and consultants to donor agencies, NGOs, CBOs and women's groups.
Membership
Members of COMSSI come from all professional backgrounds. They bring resources, ideas and skills to help develop disadvantaged people in society.