Nigeria is a rich nation that is home to hundreds of communities with diverse cultures and traditions, each with its own distinctive perspectives. In spite of this, citizens feel unheard, and unvalued.

In Nigeria, programs and policies are often launched with fanfare, yet many decision-makers fail to fulfill their promises to the people they have sworn to serve. This leads to a big question of why so many seemingly well-planned and intentioned policies fail at execution.

A major reason why this happens is because of the constant exclusion of “Community Voices”, which is key to fixing Nigeria’s governance problems. Allowing citizens to actively partake in the decision-making process enhances community development, strengthens democracy, promotes inclusivity, and ensures accountability.

Good governance aims to prioritize its citizens, hearing the voice of the oppressed for decision-making, and responding actively to the needs of the communities and institutions.

Yet, in practice, many programmes and policies are being initiated without prioritizing the views and input of the communities they want to serve, thereby limiting their impacts. This highly reflects the urgency to include community perspectives in government affairs, making sure that initiated policies are welcomed, practical, and effective.

Crucial to promoting good governance is identifying and empowering community voices, which are the individuals and groups whose input are put at the forefront, relaying the minds and expectations of Nigerians to decision-makers. This includes traditional leaders, youth and women-led groups, community development associations, civil society organizations, Religious and local influencers.

By recognizing these individuals and their voices, decision makers and policymakers can initiate ideas, address their challenges, and come up with a suitable implementation process, creating a link between the government and the community.

It is always fulfilling when citizens know that their voices are heard and are being reflected in government affairs. The Inclusion of community voices also makes room for early detection of significant issues that need to be addressed, enhancing smooth, swift, and effective implementation. Beyond this, there is a high level of accountability and trust coming into place.

Excluding community voices is costly as it creates poor results, creates a barricade between the government and its citizens, and causes mistrust. Beyond this, excluding community voices causes weak implementations across local levels, as community stakeholders who should act as quality control officers feel ostracized from the process of execution.

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There is however a critical role that the media must play in creating a link between communities and policymakers to ensure that grassroots concerns are addressed with high priority. Strong media intervention brings local concerns to the limelight, providing high visibility and strengthening accountability among leaders. This will also modify community voices from ordinary suggestions and pilot it for strong and effective governance.
Nigeria needs to build a system of government where there is inclusion of community voices, as it can significantly drive effective governance. In a nation where its citizens are heard and respected, programmes and policies are easily implemented more practically and responsively.

Ignoring these community voices risks effective implementations and strongly creates a disconnect between leaders and the people they have been called to serve.