Federalism Only Works When Every Tier Works, by Otunba Segun Showunmi

One of the greatest misconceptions in Nigeria is the belief that development is the sole responsibility of the President or the Governor. It is a convenient excuse that allows too many public officials at other levels of government to escape scrutiny while citizens focus all their hopes, frustrations, praise, and anger on Abuja and the state capitals.

That is not how a federal system is supposed to work.

The genius of federalism is that responsibility is distributed. Every rung of the administrative ladder has constitutional duties, financial resources, and developmental obligations. The Federal Government has its responsibilities. The State Government has its responsibilities. The Local Government has its responsibilities.

When all three work, development accelerates.

When one fails, progress slows.

When two fail, society stagnates.

When only one is working, citizens become frustrated because the burden becomes too heavy for a single tier of government to carry.

This is why the recently published allocations to Ogun State’s twenty local governments for April 2026 deserve serious attention.

These figures are not pocket money. They are not ceremonial allocations. They represent substantial public resources entrusted to elected local government administrations on behalf of the people.

Ado-Odo/Ota received over ₦860 million.

Remo North received over ₦784 million.

Several local governments received between ₦400 million and ₦600 million.

Collectively, billions of naira were placed in the hands of local authorities in a single month.

The question therefore becomes unavoidable: what exactly are the people getting in return?

Where are the roads?

Where are the functioning primary healthcare centres?

Where are the modernized markets?

Where are the drainage systems?

Where are the sanitation programmes?

Where are the agricultural extension services?

Where are the youth empowerment initiatives tied to measurable economic outcomes?

Where are the community development projects?

These are not hostile questions. They are democratic questions.

For too long, local government administration has operated beneath the radar of public accountability. Citizens know the President. They know the Governor. Many do not even know the name of their local government chairman, let alone understand how much money enters their local government treasury every month.

That must change.

The era in which local government officials could hide behind Governors must end.

The era in which Governors could hide behind Presidents must end.

Every elected official must carry the burden of accountability attached to the office they sought and obtained.

If a local government receives hundreds of millions of naira every month, citizens have a right to demand project updates. They have a right to request development plans. They have a right to ask for performance metrics. They have a right to know what has been achieved in their wards and communities.

This is not opposition politics.

This is citizenship.

Indeed, one of the reasons many countries have successfully leapfrogged into higher levels of development is because they understood that national progress is not delivered from a single office. It is achieved when every institution performs its role and every layer of government contributes to a shared developmental objective.

No serious federation leaves development solely to the centre.

The local government is not merely an administrative convenience. It is the government closest to the people. It should be the first responder to many of the everyday challenges citizens face. It should be the most visible face of governance. It should be the most accessible tier of government. It should be the laboratory where development is most directly experienced.

Unfortunately, in many cases across Nigeria, local governments have become the least discussed despite controlling significant resources.

That contradiction must be corrected.

As Ogun State continues its developmental journey, citizens should pay as much attention to local government performance as they do to activities at Oke-Mosan and Aso Rock. Development is too important to be outsourced to one tier of government.

The publication of these allocations should therefore serve as more than a financial disclosure. It should become an instrument of democratic engagement.

Every ward should ask questions.

Every community should seek updates.

Every chairman should publish achievements.

Every councillor should provide reports.

Every local government should establish measurable targets against which citizens can assess performance.

Federalism only works when every tier works.

Development only succeeds when every constitutional actor performs.

And accountability only becomes meaningful when citizens know who holds the purse strings and insist on seeing the results.

The money has been allocated.

The constitutional responsibilities are clear.

The people are watching.

Now let the performance speak.

Otunba Segun Showunmi 

The Alternative.