Nigeria, July 13 -- Introduction

Your local government is supposed to fix that bad road, pay the health worker at your clinic, and keep the market running smoothly. But across Nigeria, most LGs have become ghost institutions-underfunded, unelected, and invisible. What was meant to bring government closer to the people has been hijacked by political convenience. The collapse of local governance isn't mere neglect-it's a quiet strategy. And while communities suffer, someone is winning. The question is: who?

The Grassroots Dream: What Local Governments Were Designed to Do

Local governments in Nigeria were created to bring governance closer to the people. Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution tasks them with basic but vital responsibilities: ...