Why community feedback matters to Tinubu’s government — Essiet, presidential aide

President Bola Tinubu’s administration is increasingly taking community feedback to the heart of governance, according to his Senior Special Assistant on Community Engagement for the North Central, Dr Abiodun Essiet. In this interview on Channels Television’s News Night, monitored by David Lawani, Essiet explains how her office gathers grassroots intelligence, responds to insecurity, tracks federal interventions and helps communities understand the responsibilities of the three tiers of government

What is your mandate as SSA on Community Engagement for North Central?

Being an SSA to Mr President is about assisting him in engaging different communities in our region. We have six SSAs managing Community Engagement, one for each region, and I manage the North Central. Our work is to communicate the concerns and feedback of different communities to Mr President so that he understands the issues affecting them. These include geographical communities, communities of interest and people from different backgrounds. We do not communicate only with the President. We also share feedback from communities on federal government interventions with members of the Federal Executive Council. For instance, we received feedback about the Abuja-Lokoja road and the gridlock there. I communicated this to the Minister of Works so that he would understand that something needed to be done. The Minister’s feedback is also communicated back to the people. That is how we promote efficiency and effectiveness in public service.

What do you mean by “community”?

Because our office has a geographical mandate, community engagement for the North Central means engaging people living within the region. It is not limited to individuals. We engage associations, traditional leaders, government agencies, community leaders and other stakeholders. We also engage farmers’ associations, herders’ associations, market women and other groups within the region. So, anything concerning communities, geographical locations or diverse interests in the North Central is within my focus. It is important to note that this engagement is not just about federal government interventions. For instance, if there is a federal government grant and people are having difficulty applying for it, we receive that feedback. There was also a time when the Ministry of Interior advertised job opportunities, and one local government in Kogi State was omitted. We raised the issue and, within 24 hours, it was reactivated.

How are people responding to the removal of fuel subsidy?

We go out, conduct surveys and obtain feedback from the people. We communicate those views to the government. A lot of people do not know that Mr President has invested in this feedback mechanism. Before a candidate or politician says he is going to a community, we may already have been there, collected feedback and communicated it directly to Mr President. We also have quarterly meetings with Mr President, apart from our regular reports. During these meetings, we tell him directly what is happening in our communities and what he needs to know.

Does the President really know what people are going through?

Every time we write a report, we call it a community report. Since this administration began, my office has written more than 200 community reports detailing the feedback we have received from people. We also educate our people. About 70 per cent of the reports I have received from the North Central have been related to insecurity. This has expanded the scope of my office to include security issues, intelligence gathering and related matters. Once you receive feedback from a community, you begin to understand the real issues people are facing. Security agencies cannot be everywhere, so they depend on people within communities for information. When a community is affected by insecurity, we prioritise the issue and ensure that the appropriate agencies receive the information.

What makes up the remaining 30 per cent?

The other issues include infrastructure and federal government projects. One thing I have realised is that many people do not understand the different responsibilities of the federal, state and local governments. They simply bring everything to you, including issues that the local government chairman should handle. When we realised this, we started what we call the Citizens Assembly. We have volunteers, mainly young people, who work with our office. They engage community stakeholders, traditional leaders and youth leaders, obtain feedback and communicate it to us. At the same time, we educate them about intelligence gathering, accountability and the roles of the three tiers of government. Initially, people would approach us saying, “We don’t have a borehole,” or “There is no road on our street.” I would tell them that some of these are local government responsibilities. We also educate them about what Mr President is doing regarding local government autonomy. This is the first time, to my knowledge, that a president has taken the issue of local government autonomy to court, demanding greater accountability and independence for local governments. The problem is that many people do not even know their local government chairman or councillor. So, when something happens, they say, “Report it to Mr President.” We have to explain that this is not necessarily a federal responsibility and help them engage their local government.

Do economic challenges also feature in your feedback?

Yes, the economy is part of it. People tell us what has gone wrong and what they are facing. The government has also tried to provide palliatives and interventions. For instance, we have distributed trailers of fertiliser to farmers. Sometimes people tell us they saw such interventions being distributed under a political party’s logo. We also receive that kind of feedback. Based on these reports, we have been incorporated into monitoring federal government interventions to ensure they get to the grassroots. We are also adding NIN to the records of vulnerable people so that beneficiaries can be identified and tracked. If the government says it has given assistance to 25 million people, we need to know who those people are. Everybody participating in our social intervention programmes should have a NIN so that federal government interventions and programmes can be properly tracked. Beyond insecurity, therefore, our work covers infrastructure, federal projects and social interventions. Most importantly, we sensitise people about what government is doing in their communities. I personally move with the Minister of Works to inspect federal projects and communicate with communities about the projects, their expectations and the challenges they face. Because communities have reported insecurity around some roads, we have also incorporated CCTV, solar lighting and security checkpoints on some roads. For instance, the Kababuno road from this area towards Kogi has been a major flashpoint where criminals and bandits attack people because of the poor condition of the road. Mr President is already working on about 263 kilometres of that road.

How does the Citizens Assembly work?

We have volunteers within communities because democracy goes beyond voting. It is not about saying, “In 2023, we voted for Mr President,” and then going home to watch governance from a distance. Democracy is about participating in governance, holding people accountable and being part of the process. That is why Community Engagement was established — to obtain feedback and secure people’s buy-in. We have more than 600 people on our platform, operating both online and offline. The Citizens Assembly is made up of volunteers across the North Central who have chosen to become ambassadors of their communities and communicate what is happening to government. They are not elected. They are volunteers who are passionate about their communities. They have also become one of the most important intelligence-gathering networks for my office. Someone living in a community can quickly report what is happening, and we can pass the information to security agencies. We also use them to sensitise people about government opportunities. For instance, if a ministry is recruiting, we explain the process and tell people they do not necessarily need to know anybody. They simply have to follow the correct procedure. We also tell them about federal government programmes aimed at developing communities and empowering people economically. It is not only about palliatives or sharing resources. It is also about promoting local production and ensuring that what communities produce can be patronised by government.

What kind of feedback are you receiving?

The latest report I received was from the FCT concerning land which residents alleged had been taken by military personnel. The matter had gone to court, and I communicated the concern to the Minister of Defence for attention. The important thing is that people’s concerns are not ignored. When citizens see that the government responds, they begin to trust the system. Since 2023, I have received enormous feedback from people, and many now believe that when they see me, there may be a solution to their problem. That is the bottom line of democracy: people should know that when they raise concerns, somebody will listen, prioritise them and come back to explain what has been done. There was also an illegal hospital in the FCT that was reported to me on a Sunday morning. Surprisingly, some residents said, “Maybe nothing will be done.” The hospital was shut down that same Sunday afternoon, within eight hours of the report. Two people had reportedly died there as a result of illegal medical practices and an irregular licence. What do you tell a citizen who reports a problem as an ordinary person and sees the federal government respond immediately? It gives that citizen confidence that government can actually work.

Does this show a failure in Nigeria’s governance structure?

I think it is more a lack of oversight by other tiers of government. Community engagement should primarily happen at the local level. But because the federal government is also implementing interventions, we have a role to play. Every tier of government in Nigeria must engage its communities. I come from civil society and spent 15 years monitoring government and holding it accountable. When I worked at a local government level, we conducted needs assessments. Before a local government prepares a budget, it is supposed to return to the community and ask people what they need. Unfortunately, the process has often become the reverse. Governments simply translate political manifestos or personal priorities into projects without proper consultation. When I was at the Abuja Municipal Area Council, I introduced the Open Government Partnership, a global platform where citizens and government agencies collaborate. The idea is that governance should be open, transparent and participatory.

What did you achieve through the Open Government Partnership?

The Abuja Municipal Area Council was the first local government in Nigeria to sign up to the Open Government Partnership. Kaduna and Plateau states have also signed up. I worked towards AMAC becoming part of the partnership because I wanted to create a model for local governance. People were disconnected from governance at the local level, yet that is where more attention should be focused. When I studied in Canada, before a local government awarded a contract, people knew who the contractor was, and the process was transparent. Those are some of the things missing in our system. Today, you can ask somebody on the street about a problem, and they will say it is President Buhari or President Tinubu. People do not always ask critical questions about who is responsible. How many people know their councillor? That also shows there is a failure within our governance structures.

Whose fault is that?

It is everybody’s fault. Civil society also has a responsibility to educate people and break governance down for them. People need to understand that Nigeria has three tiers of government. The federal government does not do everything. Citizens should know which authority is responsible for a particular service and whom to hold accountable. We have left the different tiers of government to operate without sufficient scrutiny. That is part of the problem we are trying to address through the Citizens Assembly. Our volunteers now go to local governments and say, “I am a Citizens Assembly volunteer. Under the Freedom of Information Act, can we have this budget?” They are becoming more confident because they have the backing of an accountability network.

How do you manage the diversity across the North Central?

It is about understanding and accepting diversity and ensuring that inclusion is built into the process. Diversity can be used positively or negatively, depending on who is managing a structure. For instance, when setting up our Citizens Assembly in Kogi State, there were questions about ethnic representation. I understand the importance of inclusion. As a woman, I also ensure that women are represented. When traditional leaders or security leaders nominate people, they are often men. So we deliberately bring in women and women’s organisations to ensure inclusion. However, when things become too political, I tell people that we are there for governance. When establishing a community structure, you do not say this person belongs to one political camp and another person belongs to another. Mr President is the President of everybody, regardless of political affiliation, and government structures must reflect that. Politics cannot be removed entirely from governance, but when it comes to the interests of the people, diversity must be embraced, and inclusion must be a priority.

What did you learn from the Mangu crisis in Plateau State?

The Mangu incident was not the first community we visited, but it held the country in a very painful place and was one of the reasons Mr President visited Plateau State. The conflict highlighted serious issues involving displacement, insecurity and land grabbing. At our recent North Central Security Summit, all the North Central governors came together to discuss insecurity. One of the issues raised was the destruction of communities by armed groups, displacement of residents and subsequent occupation of those areas. The Fulani communities also reached out to us because they suffered losses during the Mangu crisis. So, we have to understand that different communities can suffer from the same conflict.

Were militias responsible for attacks on both sides?

Yes. There were allegations involving militias attacking different communities. So, in some instances, the two communities had a common enemy. Sometimes, when you are fighting your neighbour, you do not realise that you have a common enemy. Intervention is therefore about listening to both sides and addressing the concerns of each community. The DSS in Plateau has also done something interesting by creating buffer camps between communities. Where you have different settlements and there is a history of attacks, security personnel are positioned between them. The idea is that instead of security agencies responding from a distant base after an attack has occurred, they are positioned closer to the communities. The camps also help prevent reprisals. If an attack comes from one direction, people may immediately accuse the other community, even when they are not certain. With security personnel positioned between them, both sides are monitored. A similar camp is being considered in Mangu because of recurring security challenges. We currently have one in Riyom, where a DSS buffer camp is helping to manage attacks and limit reprisals. It also demonstrates that there can be bad elements on both sides. We have to manage those bad elements rather than allowing entire communities to be blamed.

Is the situation in Benue similar?

Yes, Benue and Plateau have similar challenges. Benue is the food basket of the nation and has also experienced attacks and allegations of land grabbing. One of the issues raised by the Benue governor was the need for security patrols along border communities. Following the North Central Security Summit, my office will work on border-community intelligence and awareness. We realised that communities along state borders are among those most affected by insecurity. Border communities often experience attacks more than communities further inland. We therefore need to sensitise them, improve intelligence gathering and establish appropriate security camps and patrols. We also realised that security discussions cannot be restricted to one state because attacks often cross state boundaries. If one state is perceived as a haven for attackers from another state, both sides need to sit together and address the problem. Within the North Central, we have seen several examples of this. That is why border security, intelligence sharing and patrols must form part of the response to insecurity. There are often ungoverned spaces along these borders, and those spaces can be exploited by criminals. Ultimately, communities must be part of the solution. The government cannot secure every community without the cooperation, information and participation of the people who live there.