Civil society experts have thrown their weight behind President Bola Tinubu’s assertion that Nigeria’s worsening insecurity is closely linked to the weakening of grassroots governance, arguing that genuine local government autonomy remains a crucial step toward restoring security and accelerating development across the country.

The experts, who spoke in separate interviews in Kaduna, said ineffective local government administration has created governance gaps that have allowed criminal activities to flourish in many communities.

Their comments followed recent remarks by President Tinubu, who blamed the country’s security challenges in part on the decline of effective local government governance, stressing that strong and functional councils are essential to national development and stability.

Comrade Bako Usman, the fourth National President of the Campaign for Democracy (CD), said local governments have been unable to effectively tackle community-level challenges because they lack full financial and administrative independence.

According to him, councils are constitutionally positioned as the closest level of government to the people and should therefore be equipped with the authority and resources needed to respond swiftly to local issues.

Usman noted that when local governments are unable to directly access and manage their funds, critical services such as community policing, vigilante operations, healthcare delivery, road maintenance and education suffer.

He explained that many council chairmen have limited authority to recruit personnel, deploy resources or adequately support local security initiatives because major decisions often require approval from state governments.

“This weakens early warning mechanisms and creates governance vacuums that criminal elements readily exploit,” he said.

Usman warned that communities lacking visible government presence often become hotspots for banditry, kidnapping and other security threats.

While advocating greater autonomy for local governments, he stressed that financial independence alone would not solve the problem unless accompanied by transparency, accountability and active citizen participation.

“Autonomy without accountability will fail, just as accountability without capacity will also fail. Local governments must be empowered with resources, skills and authority while remaining answerable to the people,” he said.

He called for regular publication of council budgets, allocations and expenditure reports through public notice boards, radio stations, television platforms and official websites to strengthen public trust and oversight.

Usman also linked weak grassroots governance to a range of developmental challenges, including deteriorating primary healthcare services, inadequate staffing, shortages of essential medicines, poor educational infrastructure, dilapidated rural roads, limited access to clean water and insufficient support for agriculture.

Similarly, the Executive Director of the Civic Impact for Sustainable Development Foundation, Yusuf Goje, described the relationship between weak local governance and insecurity as direct and undeniable.

According to him, local governments play a vital role in community engagement, conflict resolution, intelligence gathering and human capital development—functions that are essential for preventing insecurity before it escalates.

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“When governance breaks down at the grassroots, communities become breeding grounds for unemployed, uneducated and frustrated youths who can easily be drawn into criminal activities,” he said.

Goje argued that many security challenges begin as unresolved local disputes fueled by poverty, exclusion and poor governance, warning that state and federal authorities are often too distant to detect such warning signs early.

Although he acknowledged that local government autonomy is not a silver bullet, he maintained that it would address many of the root causes of insecurity by improving service delivery and strengthening governance at the community level.

The development expert expressed concern over poor human development indicators in rural areas, pointing to the growing number of out-of-school children, high maternal and child mortality rates, inadequate healthcare services, youth unemployment and declining agricultural productivity.

“Anyone who visits many rural primary healthcare centres and basic schools will immediately understand why development remains slow. Poor service delivery fuels frustration, deepens poverty and creates conditions that encourage insecurity,” he said.

Goje further emphasized that increased financial independence for local governments must be matched by stronger accountability measures.

He urged citizens to take a more active role in monitoring public spending by tracking budgets, procurement processes and project implementation.

According to him, transparency should go beyond publishing budgets to include details of contracts, procurement decisions and project specifications.

He also called for greater capacity building for citizens and civil society organisations to strengthen oversight of local government finances and ensure public resources are properly managed.

To improve governance outcomes, Goje recommended reforms in public financial management, better budgeting systems, stronger monitoring and evaluation frameworks, improved welfare for local government workers and the development of long-term strategic plans for councils.

He said such measures would help guarantee value for money, improve service delivery and rebuild public confidence in grassroots institutions.

The experts expressed optimism that a combination of genuine local government autonomy, transparency, accountability and active citizen participation would not only improve security but also drive sustainable development and enhance living standards in rural communities.

Attempts to obtain comments from officials of the Kaduna State chapters of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) and the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) were unsuccessful at the time of filing this report.