From Grassroots Evidence to Effective Governance

By Dr. Kayode Elusoji

I have watched something remarkable happen in Osun State. In Ile-Ife, my hometown, new infrastructure has emerged in communities that waited for years. The same is true in the state capital, Osogbo, and in towns across the state. Under Governor Ademola Adeleke, virtually every Local Government in Osun has benefited from projects that residents can see and use.

That experience has taught me what a Governor can mean to a state. A State Government determines, more than almost any other institution, whether a road gets built, a clinic gets equipped or a classroom gets a proper roof. It has also taught me that when a Governor delivers, citizens have a responsibility to acknowledge that performance. Recognition must be based on results, not political affiliation or personal connections. Silence in the face of delivery can be as damaging as silence in the face of failure.

More importantly, I have learned that development reaching every Local Government does not happen by accident. Before a project reaches the Governor’s desk, the need exists somewhere on a particular street, in a particular ward and within a particular Local Government. If our states are to function effectively, our Local Governments must work too.

Today, on Day 4 of our series, I address Nigeria’s 36 State Governors, the authorities of the Federal Capital Territory and their Commissioners, as well as the Chairmen, Councillors and officials of our 774 Local Government Areas.

My message is simple: the GNA Coverage Area Administrator (CAA) Governance Model is not a challenge to your authority. It is an offer of partnership.

The Question Every Governor and Chairman Must Answer

A Governor is responsible for education, healthcare, infrastructure, agriculture and security across an entire state. A Local Government Chairman has responsibility for services closest to the people, including primary healthcare, primary schools, rural roads, markets and drainage.

Behind these responsibilities lies one fundamental question: How can any government effectively address the needs of its communities without having a complete, continuously updated and independently documented picture of those needs?

Some communities are easy to reach and politically visible. Others are remote, underserved and rarely visited by government officials. Reports may come through Commissioners, council officials and political associates, but they do not always reflect the realities ordinary citizens experience daily. When political considerations or simple neglect interfere, communities without influence can disappear from the government’s attention altogether.

“The location or political influence of a community should never determine whether its genuine needs are recognised.”

A Ready-Made Partner at Every Level

No Governor needs to engage hundreds of community structures individually, and no Local Government Chairman needs to build an entirely new monitoring system from scratch.

The GNA CAA Governance Model provides an organised structure connecting communities to government through clearly defined levels:

The State Implementation Team: Includes representation from every Local Government and is coordinated by a nine-member committee that reports to the Nigerian Implementation Team.
The Local Government CAA Committee: Coordinates the Model at the local level, working alongside the Advisory Council, normally chaired by the paramount ruler, and the Local Government’s political office holders.
Special Development Committees: Bring professional expertise in infrastructure, healthcare, agriculture, security and youth education.
Ward Managers and Certified Citizen Reporters (CCRs): Three Ward Managers in every ward support grassroots coordination, while CCRs document community needs on the ground.
Responsible Parties: Government agencies, public office holders and voluntary partners are engaged to respond to verified community needs.

This is organised cooperation, not another layer of government bureaucracy.

How the Model Strengthens State Governments

1. Reliable Grassroots Information

Certified Citizen Reporters document deteriorating roads, damaged classrooms, non-functional health centres and failed water schemes using photographs, videos, GPS locations and condition assessments. Each report undergoes verification by the relevant Special Development Committee before publication.

This information complements, rather than replaces, official government statistics. The first step towards solving a problem is knowing that it exists.

2. Visibility for Neglected Communities

No community should remain neglected simply because it lacks political connections. Verified reports bring underserved communities into view and provide State Governments with reliable information to support fairer and more inclusive development planning.

3. Better Budgets and Priorities

Verified grassroots evidence helps identify communities without functional health centres, roads disrupting agricultural transportation and other pressing infrastructure gaps.

CAA reports do not determine government budgets, but budgetary decisions informed by actual community needs are more likely to produce meaningful results.

4. Monitoring That Goes Beyond Commissioning

Every documented asset is graded on a scale from Level 0 (missing) to Level 5 (meets standard). This allows governments to monitor the condition of public facilities, identify deterioration and determine where maintenance or intervention is required.

Development should not be measured only by the number of projects commissioned, but also by whether those projects continue to serve the people.

5. Youth Empowerment at Scale

The journey towards training one million Certified Citizen Reporters across all 774 Local Government Areas has already begun.

Governors can partner with GNA on CCR training and mentorship, complementing existing state youth programmes while creating pathways into artificial intelligence, data management, cybersecurity, agriculture and healthcare.

6. Recognition Based on Evidence

The GNA Record of Performance recognises verified and completed interventions, crediting the Responsible Parties involved, including government agencies and public office holders, irrespective of political affiliation.

This creates an opportunity for responsible leadership to receive recognition based on measurable contributions to community development.

The Local Government: Where the Model Lives

If the State Government is the engine of development, the Local Government is where the wheels meet the road. It is also where the GNA CAA Governance Model operates most directly.

Every CAA Committee, Ward Manager and Certified Citizen Reporter belongs to a specific Local Government. Therefore, when we speak about onboarding Nigeria, we mean onboarding 774 Local Government Areas, one at a time.

For too long, many Nigerians have treated Local Government as an invisible tier of government, one they rarely see, question or acknowledge. That situation is changing. Federal allocations now go directly to Local Governments, while the President’s directive to the EFCC has brought greater attention to how public funds allocated to these councils are utilised.

A Local Government that delivers results now has even greater reason to ensure that its work is properly documented.

“The Local Government is the government most Nigerians meet first. It should be the government whose work they can see most clearly.”

How the Model Strengthens Local Governments

1. A Ward-by-Ward Picture

With three Ward Managers in every ward and CCRs drawn from the Local Government itself, councils can develop an updated record of primary healthcare centres, schools, feeder roads, markets, boreholes and drainage channels.

These public assets are documented and graded using the same Level 0–5 assessment scale, giving councils a clearer understanding of their communities’ infrastructure needs.

2. A Fairer Distribution of Development

Every ward is represented in the CAA Committee. Verified evidence helps a Chairman demonstrate how development is distributed across the Local Government while ensuring that underserved wards have an opportunity to be heard without resorting to political confrontation or public protests.

3. Skills and Opportunities for Local Youth

CCRs operate only within the Local Government where they reside or from which they originate. Every CCR trained is a young person connected to the community, equipped with practical skills in documentation, digital reporting and civic engagement, with opportunities to pursue further certifications.

4. Sons and Daughters at Home and Abroad, Organised

Every Local Government has professionals and indigenes living in cities such as Lagos and Abuja, as well as abroad in London, Houston and Toronto. Many want to contribute to their communities but do not always know where assistance is most needed.

The Model connects these individuals to verified community needs and provides transparent reporting on contributions and interventions.

5. Projects the Local Government Can Own

Onboarded Local Governments can initiate, manage and fund their own continuous development projects under GNA procedures. GNA Global serves in an advisory capacity, helping to promote accountability, prevent corruption and ensure that projects deliver meaningful benefits to communities.

6. Recognition for What the Council Delivers

Verified projects are credited to the relevant councils and their office holders through the GNA Record of Performance.

At the 2025 GNA Global Pacesetter Awards, we recognised Hon. Alabi Kolade David of Bariga as our Local Government Chairman of the Year.

I want every Local Government Chairman in Nigeria to have the same opportunity to earn recognition through documented performance and measurable results.

7. Peace and Local Problem-Solving

Every Local Government has its own Pacesetter Committee and Conflict Resolution Committee to encourage local problem-solving and help resolve disputes within communities.

GNA does not involve itself in tribal or political quarrels. Our commitment is to peace, unity and constructive community development.

Transparency Is an Opportunity, Not an Attack

I recently commended the President’s directive to the EFCC to monitor how States and Local Governments utilise their federal allocations, alongside transparent disclosure of the amounts received by each tier.

This is a welcome development. However, financial disclosure is only part of the accountability process. Once citizens know what government has received, they will naturally want to know what has been delivered.

The GNA CAA Governance Model gives responsive Governors and Local Government Chairmen an opportunity to answer that question with evidence: a facility documented before intervention, its progress recorded and its completion verified.

When GNA named Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State our Governor of the Year at the 2025 GNA Global Pacesetter Awards, it was because his performance could be documented and verified.

I want every Governor and Local Government Chairman in Nigeria to have that same opportunity.

It is important to clarify that CAA reporting does not replace procurement oversight, engineering certification, financial audits or the work of anti-corruption agencies. CCRs and CAA officials have no policing or enforcement powers.

The Model is strictly non-partisan. Its ultimate beneficiary must always be the people, not any political party.

How State and Local Governments Can Partner with GNA

For State Governments:

Establish an official communication channel with the State Implementation Team and its nine-member coordinating committee.
Review verified community needs from participating Local Governments through the relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
Support Local Government onboarding and CCR training through public awareness, mobilisation and youth development partnerships.

For Local Governments:

Onboard your Local Government through gnacaa.com/lg-onboarding⁠, working with traditional rulers, community leaders and sons and daughters at home and abroad.
Nominate young people from every ward for CCR training to establish the grassroots coverage required for approval.
Register council departments as Responsible Parties so that every verified project completed by the council can be credited to its Record of Performance.

Stronger States Begin with Stronger Local Governments

A state’s development cannot be measured only by the projects commissioned in its capital. It must also be reflected in the condition of schools, healthcare centres, roads and water schemes across every Local Government.

In my forthcoming book, Stop Waiting, Start Building: A Citizen’s Blueprint for Nigeria and the Rise of the Fourth Tier, I describe organised citizens as a Fourth Tier standing alongside the Federal, State and Local Governments.

Cover of Dr. Kayode Elusoji’s forthcoming book, Stop Waiting, Start Building: A Citizen’s Blueprint for Nigeria and the Rise of the Fourth Tier.

For every Governor and Local Government Chairman, this Fourth Tier should be seen as an ally: millions of eyes and hands ready to help government identify needs, improve planning and support effective service delivery.

To every Governor and Chairman, my message is straightforward: a responsive government should welcome credible information about the needs of its people, even when that information is uncomfortable.

Where you have performed, the evidence will show it. Where communities remain underserved, their needs will reach you. And where available resources are insufficient, development partners and citizens can help bridge the gap.

“A better Nigeria cannot be built through national policy alone. It must be built through stronger states, functional Local Governments and empowered communities.”

Stop Waiting. Start Building. A New Nigeria Starts With YOU!

Read Day 3 Article Here

• GN (Dr.) Kayode Elusoji

Executive Director, Great Nigerian Assembly (GNA)

Chairman, GNA TV & News · GNA Weekly · GNA

Global Pacesetter

Email: kayode.elusoji@greatnigerian.org