By Kachi Okezie, Esq
Nigeria is at a crossroads again. As election season approaches, the drums of citizen participation and grassroots mobilisation will sound in every ward, village, and market square. Politicians will come with promises, with bags of rice and branded face caps.
But after the votes are counted, one question will remain: Who will do the hard work of turning those promises into roads, clinics, jobs, and peace in our communities?
That, it would appear, was the thinking behind President Bola Tinubu’s appointment of Special Advisers on Community Development immediately on assuming office. It is the recognition of a truth we have ignored for too long, namely, that governance fails or succeeds at the community level. And community engagement cannot be left to chance, to party boys, or to goodwill. It must be practiced with professionalism.
For too long in Nigeria, “community development” has been treated as an afterthought. It is what we do when we want to win votes. It is what NGOs do with “donor” (international development partner) money. It is what a youth corper does for three weeks in the place of primary assignment (PPA). It is not what we train for, certify for or build a career in.
This must change, because the biggest problems and the biggest opportunities in Nigeria reside within local communities.
Those communities are littered with all manner of problems needing to be solved. Just look around. The borehole that was commissioned but broke down in three months. The classroom that has no teachers. The youth empowerment programme that gave twenty people POS machines and disappeared. The security vote that never made any community safer.
Why do these projects fail? Not because there is no money. But because there was no process. No one asked the community what they actually needed. No one trained locals to maintain it. No one created a structure for accountability.
We keep applying Abuja solutions to Tudun Wada problems. And it is not working. At the same time, the pressure on our democracy is growing.
Citizens are angry. Trust in government is low. Voter apathy is high. And yet, elections will still be won and lost at the polling unit. The power to mobilise, to calm tension, to deliver projects, still rests with community structures: Non-governmental organisations (NGOs), Civil society organisations (CDAs), Host Community Development Associations (HCDAs). Or, indeed, women leaders, youth leaders, faith leaders and traditional rulers.
This eclectic mix of people inspired by their shared vision of a better community and propelled by their passion to make it happen can only go so far, sadly. If we leave the task to amateurs, we will only keep obtaining amateur results. The case for professionalising Community Development is therefore profoundly persuasive.
A profession has three elements: knowledge, ethics, and tools. A doctor studies anatomy. A lawyer studies law. A community development practitioner should study people, power, planning, and participation.
What would this look like? First, it gives us a language and a method. Instead of “let’s do a town hall”, a trained practitioner knows how to do a participatory needs assessment. Instead of “let’s empower youth”, they know how to design a livelihood programme with market linkage. Instead of “let’s give them money”, they know how to do co-financing so the community owns the project.
Second, it creates a culture of accountability. When you have certified professionals, you can hold them to a code of ethics. You can measure their work. You can say: this LGA chairman recruited three certified Community Development practitioners and here are the ten projects they delivered with the community.
Third, in the case of Nigeria under President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, it aligns with the President’s vision. The appointment of Special Advisers on Community Development only makes sense if those advisers are equipped with much more than political loyalty. They need skills in conflict mediation, project management, data collection, and stakeholder engagement. Otherwise we have just created another political office.
What is missing is a mastery of Community Development for Nigeria. Mastery turns mobilisation from a campaign gimmick into a governance strategy.
For political change agents, it means building a base that is not bought with money but built with trust. When you let a community choose three projects and you deliver them, they will defend you in the next election without you sharing a kobo.
For activists, it means moving from protest to proposition. Instead of only saying “government has failed”, you can walk in with a community development plan, a budget, and 200 signatures.
For government at all levels, it means better service delivery. Participatory budgeting reduces corruption. Community project committees reduce project abandonment. Mapping local assets reduces waste.
Countries that have done this well, like Rwanda, Brazil, South Korea, did not do it by accident. They invested in people who understand how communities work. Nigeria can follow suit. To do so, we must do three things urgently:
First, we must institutionalise training. Universities, polytechnics, and the NBA, NMA, and other professional bodies should offer certification in Community Development Practice. The National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) should have a Community Development track.
Secondly, we must create career paths. The Federal and State Ministries of Special Duties and LGA Departments should recruit certified Community Development Officers and make their jobs measurable with KPIs, not a favour.
Thirdly, we must introduce “fund and measure”. For example, 5% of LGA allocation should go to community-led projects, managed by trained Community Development practitioners and monitored with data.
The President’s advisers can be the pilot. But the goal must be bigger: a generation of Nigerian professionals whose job is to make sure democracy works in the place where people actually live. Afterall, Nigerians don’t live in “the economy”. They live on Allen Avenue. They live in Makurdi. They live in Bichi.
If we want to deliver real governance impact at the most local level, we must stop treating community development as politics and start approaching it as a profession.
The next election will test our ability to mobilise. But the 4 years after will test our ability to develop. Let us prepare for both.
Kachi Okezie, Esq is a Nigerian lawyer and management consultant with a passion for community development. He is a member of the International Association for Community Development (IACD).
