Broken Foundations: Local government collapse and Nigeria’s insecurity crisis, by Hassan Ahmad
For far too long, Nigeria’s leaders have played politics with the very foundation of national development — the local government system. Once conceived as the closest tier of governance to the people, the local government areas (LGAs) have now become graveyards of unfulfilled promises, ghost workers, stolen allocations, and abandoned responsibilities. This decay is not accidental — it is designed, orchestrated, and sustained by the ruling elites across party lines.
Today, as Nigerians continue to cry under the weight of insecurity — from the banditry-ravaged North to the kidnapping epidemic in the South — we must confront a bitter truth: we cannot defeat insecurity without rebuilding local governance.
The Silent Collapse
Local governments are no longer functioning in most parts of the country. Council chairmen are handpicked by governors and treated like personal aides. Monthly federal allocations meant to serve millions at the grassroots are hijacked by state governments in the name of joint accounts. What remains is a hollow shell — no development, no security presence, no functional primary healthcare, no working public schools, and no local intelligence network.
In the past, local government chairmen, traditional rulers, and community elders formed strong grassroots security structures. Today, all that is gone. Vigilante systems are either underfunded or politicised. Local police stations are poorly equipped, and DSS offices at the LGA level lack real-time intelligence on rural threats. Why? Because the grassroots governance system that feeds them is dead.
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Insecurity Feeds on Vacuum
The result is clear. Criminals have filled the vacuum. Bandits in Zamfara, Katsina, and Sokoto. Terrorists in Borno and Yobe. Kidnappers in the South-East. Cultists in the South-South. Armed robbers in the South-West. And in all these cases, the communities themselves are too weak to resist. The state cannot be everywhere. When the local government fails, the entire national security architecture is undermined.
Even the Federal Government’s efforts through the military and security agencies are weakened by the lack of grassroots collaboration. No meaningful intelligence can be gathered in places where there is no functioning local governance or trust between citizens and the state.
The Hypocrisy of Political Elites
While this tragedy unfolds, our political elites are busy sharing appointments, lobbying for 2027, building billion-naira campaign structures, and trading insults on television. Nobody is talking about reviving the local government system. Nobody is pushing for full autonomy. Nobody is demanding financial accountability at the grassroots. Why? Because local government dysfunction serves their interests.
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When people are poor, uneducated, and insecure, they are easier to manipulate. A hungry and frightened electorate is more likely to sell its vote. So, the local government is left to rot — deliberately — as a strategy of elite control.
The Way Forward
If President Bola Ahmed Tinubu truly wants to leave a legacy, he must push for a constitutional amendment that guarantees full local government autonomy — financial, political, and administrative. Let local elections be conducted by INEC, not compromised state electoral commissions. Let local governments receive their funds directly. Let traditional rulers be formally empowered as part of local governance. And most importantly, let citizens be given the tools to hold their LGAs accountable.
Nigeria cannot be secured from Abuja or state capitals alone. Security must begin from the ward, the village, the community. And that means rebuilding local governance structures.
A Final Word
Our future depends on the boldness of our reforms. As we look toward 2027, let the cry of the masses remind us of where true power lies — in the forgotten corners of Nigeria where the people have been abandoned. If we fail to restore the local government system, then all the noise about security, development, and democracy is a lie.
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It is time to return power to the grassroots. Not in theory. Not in party manifestos. But in law, in practice, and in truth.
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