The Federal Government has launched a new ward development programme aimed at identifying economic opportunities, social conditions, and development gaps across communities nationwide as part of efforts to improve grassroots governance and social protection.
Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Bagudu, announced the initiative during a stakeholders’ engagement with Local Government Chairmen organised by the National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office (NASSCO) in Abuja.
According to Bagudu, the programme is designed to help wards and local governments properly identify development priorities, existing interventions, economic opportunities, and critical service gaps within their communities.
He explained that the initiative would also improve coordination among federal, state, and local government projects operating within different wards across the country.
“The programme aims to ensure that all interventions within a ward communicate and co-ordinate effectively,” the minister said.
Bagudu noted that many intervention programmes currently operate independently without proper alignment, leading to duplication of projects, waste of resources, and poor delivery of services to citizens.
He said the new programme would strengthen collaboration between government institutions, development partners, humanitarian organisations, civil society groups, and community stakeholders to improve development outcomes at the grassroots level.
The minister urged local government chairmen to take greater responsibility for development programmes within their councils, describing local governments as the closest level of government to ordinary Nigerians.
“Local government chairmen, as the chief executives of their councils, must take ownership of development outcomes within their jurisdictions,” he stated.
Bagudu added that local government leadership should move beyond depending mainly on federal allocations and begin to focus on identifying economic opportunities within their communities that can drive growth and improve living standards.
According to him, many local governments across Nigeria have untapped economic potential that can support prosperity and inclusion if properly harnessed through collaboration with state and federal authorities.
He reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to strengthening social protection systems and ensuring that economic reforms translate into real benefits for Nigerians at the grassroots level.
The minister acknowledged that many Nigerians continue to face economic hardship despite working hard in sectors such as farming, trading, fishing, and small-scale businesses.
“We must recognise that many hardworking Nigerians, farmers, fishermen, herders, traders, and small business owners, often do not receive returns commensurate with their effort. This makes social protection and inclusive governance necessary,” Bagudu said.
He further stressed that achieving effective social protection requires what he described as a “whole-of-government and whole-of-society” approach involving federal, state, and local governments alongside development partners and community stakeholders.
Bagudu also referenced Section 13 of the Nigerian Constitution, which mandates government authorities to work together in achieving national development goals and improving citizens’ welfare.
The minister explained that the 2017 National Social Protection Policy had already established key intervention structures and programmes including NASSCO, N-Power, and the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme.
He added that President Bola Tinubu remains committed to inclusive development policies and grassroots-driven reforms aimed at improving economic opportunities and living conditions across Nigerian communities.
