Experts Urge Govt, NGO Collaboration For Grassroots Devt

Experts in civil society and development have called for stronger collaboration between government institutions and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), warning that poor planning, declining donor funding and weak accountability could undermine grassroots development programmes.

They made the call during a virtual convening to mark the fifth anniversary of WuraIsGold Charity Foundation, where they stressed the need to integrate successful community interventions into government development plans and budgets to ensure their sustainability beyond individual projects, funding cycles and political administrations.

Delivering the keynote address, Professor Janice Olawoye, a Professor of Rural Sociology with 38 years of teaching experience at the University of Ibadan, urged development organisations to move beyond short-term interventions and establish sustainable structures capable of delivering lasting community impact.

Olawoye, who is also a member of the Board of Directors of Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA), identified common mistakes in development programmes, including generalising the needs of different communities, adopting one-size-fits-all approaches and assuming that external experts always understand the priorities of local populations.

She said development interventions must be guided by proper research, community engagement and an understanding of the social and cultural differences among beneficiaries.

“We cannot say that we know everything that is out there. Therefore, we must not overgeneralise the findings from one community, one group or one locality to another,” she said.

She stressed the importance of identifying those who genuinely need assistance, noting that not everyone belonging to a vulnerable group necessarily experiences the same level of deprivation.

“Not every change is an improvement,” she said, urging organisations to assess the social and economic consequences of their interventions before determining their success.

Speaking during a fireside chat, Dr Henry Anibe Agbonika, a development practitioner with the National Reform & Institutional Transformation Adviser, urged civil society organisations (CSOs) to engage governments at the federal, state and local levels to incorporate their interventions into official development plans and budgetary frameworks.

He advised NGOs to dedicate at least 25 per cent of their time to advocacy and lobbying to secure sustainable funding and government support for their programmes.

Agbonika identified effective development planning, sustainable budgeting, transparent procurement processes, delivery agreements and performance management as essential measures for ensuring the continuity of grassroots interventions.

He said many development programmes fail because they are not integrated into government plans, leaving them vulnerable to changes in administration and funding disruptions.

He also urged civil society organisations to strengthen their operations through reliable data collection, comprehensive risk management frameworks and sound financial practices to improve accountability and programme delivery.

Similarly, Dr Oladipo Ogunbode, a Deputy Director at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), warned that declining donor funding could threaten essential health and humanitarian services, particularly in underserved communities.

He identified disease surveillance, laboratory testing, maternal and child healthcare, nutrition, water and sanitation as critical areas requiring sustained investment.

Ogunbode said local NGOs were strategically positioned to reach vulnerable communities because of the trust they enjoyed among residents but stressed that they must complement existing government structures rather than operate independently.

“NGOs cannot work in isolation. They need to leverage existing government systems. That way, whatever is done will last beyond the end of the project,” he said.

He urged development organisations to involve state and local governments from the planning stage of their interventions, stressing that sustainability should be built into projects from the outset rather than considered only when funding was about to end.

Also speaking, Rachel Inmo, Programme Development and Strategic Partnership Manager at CARE International Nigeria, called on local organisations to strengthen their monitoring, evaluation and accountability mechanisms through reliable data management systems.

She said simple digital tools, including Excel spreadsheets and accessible platforms, could help organisations maintain beneficiary records, monitor programme progress and measure the long-term impact of their interventions.

“An organisation does not exist just to respond to donors. It exists to serve a purpose,” she said.

Inmo also urged NGOs to strengthen their fundraising capacity through institutional partnerships and support from established donors rather than relying predominantly on contributions from friends and families.

She further recommended anonymous feedback channels to enable beneficiaries to report misconduct, safeguarding concerns and shortcomings in programme delivery.

Earlier, the Chief Executive Officer of WuraIsGold Charity Foundation, Wuraola Onigbogi-Jackson, said the organisation had reached more than 10,000 people in five years through interventions in education, healthcare, women’s empowerment and community development across Nigeria and beyond.

She disclosed this during the virtual convening, themed, “Institutionalising Local Impact for the Next Phase: Transforming Grassroots Action into Enduring Change.”

Onigbogi-Jackson said the foundation had reached beneficiaries through physical outreaches, community development initiatives and virtual sensitisation programmes.

She added that the documented figures reflected only the impact the foundation could properly track and verify.