Tinubu's Grassroots Push Tests Nigeria's Federal Architecture as States Chart Divergent Paths
President Bola Tinubu's call for governors to decentralize development comes as state governments pursue starkly different policy priorities, from rehabilitation programmes in conflict zones to transportation reforms in commercial hubs.
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President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's appeal to Nigeria's governors to take development beyond state capitals has thrown into sharp relief the widening policy divergence across Africa's most populous nation, as state governments grapple with challenges ranging from insurgency rehabilitation to urban transportation management.
At an interfaith breaking of fast ceremony on Monday night, Tinubu declared Nigeria "out of the dark tunnel of uncertainty" while urging the country's 36 governors to prioritize grassroots development. The presidential directive, according to The Nation Newspaper, represents an acknowledgment that federal reforms alone cannot address the development deficits plaguing rural communities across Nigeria's 774 local government areas.
The timing of Tinubu's appeal coincides with a moment of intense policy experimentation at the state level, where governors are implementing programmes that reflect their unique security, economic, and infrastructural realities. This decentralized approach to governance, while constitutionally enshrined, has produced a patchwork of initiatives that test the coherence of national development strategy.
Security and Rehabilitation: Benue's Controversial Gambit
In Nigeria's Middle Belt, the Benue State Government has moved to clarify its planned rehabilitation centre, insisting the facility will target youths forcibly recruited into criminal gangs rather than hardened terrorists. The distinction, reported by Vanguard News, addresses mounting criticism from security analysts and civil society groups who questioned the wisdom of de-radicalisation programmes in a state still reeling from farmer-herder violence.
"The planned rehabilitation centre targets youths forcibly recruited into criminal gangs, not hardened terrorists," a Benue State Government spokesperson told Vanguard, drawing a careful line between victims of circumstance and ideologically committed insurgents. The clarification reflects the delicate political terrain governors must navigate when addressing insecurity, particularly in regions where the boundaries between banditry, terrorism, and communal conflict have become increasingly blurred.
The Benue initiative represents a significant departure from traditional law enforcement approaches, signaling a recognition that military solutions alone cannot address the socioeconomic drivers of rural insecurity. However, the programme's success will depend on adequate funding, professional expertise, and community buy-in—resources that remain scarce across Nigeria's cash-strapped states.
Urban Governance: Lagos Doubles Down on Transportation Reform
Nearly 800 kilometers southwest, Lagos State has reaffirmed its restriction on mini buses, locally known as Korope, along the Lekki-Epe Corridor, describing the policy as essential to its broader transportation management strategy. The Lagos State Ministry of Transportation's insistence on the ban, as reported by The Nation Newspaper, underscores the state government's determination to impose order on a megacity where informal transport operators have long resisted regulation.
The Lekki-Epe Corridor, a critical artery connecting Lagos Island to the city's rapidly developing eastern suburbs, has become a testing ground for the state's vision of modern urban mobility. By restricting mini buses in favor of regulated Bus Rapid Transit services and ride-hailing platforms, Lagos authorities are attempting to reduce traffic congestion, improve safety standards, and formalize a transport sector that employs hundreds of thousands of informal workers.
Yet the policy has sparked resistance from transport unions and commuters who argue that the restriction increases travel costs and reduces accessibility for low-income residents. The tension between modernization and inclusivity remains a defining challenge for Lagos, a city where approximately 60 percent of the population lives in informal settlements.
The Federal-State Development Compact
Tinubu's grassroots development appeal, delivered alongside pledges of loyalty from governors including Imo State's Hope Uzodinma who hailed the president's economic reforms, reflects an attempt to forge a new compact between federal and state governments. The president's assertion that Nigeria has emerged from "the dark tunnel of uncertainty" suggests confidence in his administration's economic stabilization efforts, even as inflation and currency pressures continue to squeeze household incomes.
The challenge for Nigerian federalism lies in translating presidential vision into coordinated action across states with vastly different capacities, priorities, and political orientations. While Lagos pursues transportation modernization and Benue experiments with rehabilitation programmes, other states struggle with basic service delivery, salary payments, and infrastructure maintenance.
The interfaith dimension of Monday's gathering—bringing together Muslim and Christian leaders alongside political figures—also signals Tinubu's awareness that grassroots development must navigate Nigeria's complex religious and ethnic landscape. Development initiatives that ignore these sensitivities risk deepening the very divisions they seek to bridge.
Implementation Deficit
Nigeria's development challenge has never been a shortage of policy pronouncements or presidential directives. The country's archives overflow with development plans, reform programmes, and transformation agendas that foundered on weak institutions, corruption, and political instability. Tinubu's grassroots appeal will be judged not by its rhetorical force but by measurable improvements in rural infrastructure, agricultural productivity, healthcare access, and educational outcomes.
The divergent state-level initiatives in Benue and Lagos offer both hope and caution. They demonstrate that Nigerian governors can design context-specific interventions addressing local challenges. Yet they also reveal the absence of a coherent national framework that could facilitate knowledge transfer, resource pooling, and coordinated implementation across state boundaries.
As Nigeria approaches the midpoint of Tinubu's first term, the president's ability to translate grassroots development rhetoric into tangible outcomes will depend on strengthening the fiscal capacity of state governments, improving intergovernmental coordination mechanisms, and holding both federal and state officials accountable for results. Without these institutional foundations, even well-intentioned appeals risk joining the long list of unfulfilled promises that have characterized Nigerian governance for decades.