Governance Under Fire: Nigerian Officials Face Questions Over Inclusivity and Administrative Neglect
From unpaid immigration attachés abroad to allegations of political marginalisation in Kaduna, Nigeria's governance structures face mounting scrutiny over accountability and the treatment of citizens and civil servants alike.
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The fabric of Nigeria's political governance is showing visible strain as multiple fronts reveal a troubling pattern: officials disconnected from the citizens they serve, civil servants abandoned by the institutions they represent, and political processes that exclude rather than embrace.
For more than 15 months, Nigerian immigration attachés stationed at diplomatic missions worldwide have worked without salaries, according to an investigation by Sahara Reporters. These officers—responsible for visa processing, passport services, and immigration documentation for both Nigerians and foreign nationals—have been forced to send their families back home as they grapple with mounting debts and financial ruin in expensive foreign capitals. The House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora Affairs has now queried the Nigerian Immigration Service over the protracted salary crisis, which has left officers handling sensitive national functions in states of personal emergency.
The situation illuminates a broader administrative failure. These are not peripheral employees but frontline representatives of the Nigerian state, managing critical touchpoints between the country and its diaspora. Their abandonment raises questions about the priorities of a government that deploys personnel abroad yet fails to provide the most basic employment obligation: remuneration. One can only imagine the diplomatic embarrassment when officers responsible for Nigeria's image overseas cannot afford their own rent or children's school fees.
Meanwhile, within Nigeria's political machinery, different battles over representation are unfolding. In Kaduna State, stakeholders from a federal constituency have raised concerns about alleged marginalisation during the All Progressives Congress (APC) ward congress. According to Peoples Gazette, these stakeholders emphasised that their constituency commands significant population and voting strength, yet they claim to have been sidelined in party processes. The complaint speaks to a recurring theme in Nigerian politics: the gap between democratic rhetoric and democratic practice, where party structures meant to aggregate interests instead concentrate power.
These are not isolated administrative hiccups. They represent systemic governance failures that corrode public trust. When civil servants abroad are left unpaid for over a year, it signals that accountability mechanisms within government ministries have collapsed or been deliberately ignored. When political constituencies with substantial voting populations feel excluded from party congresses, it suggests that internal democracy within political parties remains aspirational rather than actual.
Yet amid these governance deficits, some political figures are attempting to redirect attention toward civic renewal. Senator Tokunbo Abiru, representing Lagos East, recently emphasised that young people are key to sustainable national development and must recognise the power of their civic participation ahead of the 2027 elections, as reported by Peoples Gazette. The statement, while well-intentioned, lands in a context where youth participation confronts structural barriers: from exclusionary party processes to a civil service that cannot pay its own workers.
The challenge facing Nigeria's political class is not merely technical but moral. Governance requires more than policy documents and legislative sessions; it demands a fundamental commitment to the welfare of those who serve the state and the inclusion of those who constitute its democratic base. The immigration attachés working without pay and the Kaduna stakeholders claiming marginalisation are symptoms of the same disease: a political culture that treats accountability as optional and inclusivity as inconvenient.
As Nigeria approaches another electoral cycle, these governance failures will not remain abstract concerns. They shape the lived experience of citizens—from diaspora Nigerians encountering distressed consular staff to party members discovering that their numbers matter only on election day. The question is whether political leaders will address these systemic deficiencies or continue managing crises only when they threaten immediate political survival.
The House of Representatives' intervention on the immigration salary crisis offers a glimmer of legislative oversight, but oversight after 15 months of unpaid wages is accountability delayed to the point of irrelevance. Real governance reform requires proactive systems that prevent such failures rather than reactive inquiries that document them after the damage is done. Until Nigeria's political institutions prioritise the basic obligations of government—paying workers, including constituents, maintaining administrative integrity—calls for civic participation will ring hollow against the reality of governance by neglect.