ALGON TO STRENGTHEN AGRICULTURE, PRIMARY HEALTH CARE

As the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) was holding its quarterly National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held in Abuja, news came in that President Bola Tinubu has warned state governors that he may be forced to issue an Executive Order to enforce direct allocations to local governments if they fail to comply with a recent Supreme Court ruling affirming financial autonomy for Nigeria’s third tier of government.

Tinubu gave the warning on Friday during the 15th National Executive Committee meeting of the All Progressives Congress at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja, where he warned that non-compliance may force him to directly allocate local council funds from the Federation Account Allocation Committee.

The warning is apt since non-compliance impedes grassroots development. Nigeria is a federation and each tier of government has a role to play; local governments therefore have a central role to play, which is why ALGON is looking at ways to key in and support the present administration especially in driving Nigeria’s agricultural revolution.

ALGON has made giant strides in 2025 in areas like primary health care which constitutionally is under the mandate of local governments. So we engage the state governments, federal ministry of health and particularly the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to see that LGs continue to play their key roles as enshrined in the constitution.

In preparation for the commencement of year 2026, there are lots of programmes that affect the 774 local governments, and in turn the livelihoods of people at the grassroots.

For the first time ALGON President is a member of the Ministerial Oversight Committee (MOC) that charts the course for primary health care delivery in Nigeria, and to ensure that the narrative is changed for the better.

And so, it is the duty of ALGON to key in and support the present administration in driving the agricultural revolution; this we do by looking at how we source our agricultural inputs and outputs.

We are looking at how to support the Nigerian farmers at the local levels and how we can increase the production level through mechanised farming and affordable farming inputs. This will surely drive down food production costs and help our farmers get value for their produce.

The ALGON quarterly National Executive Council (NEC) meeting is where we peer review and chart a course for policy direction and the role LGs will play for good governance in preparation for the commencement of year 2026. There are lot of programmes that affect the 774 local governments and in turn the livelihoods of people at the grassroots.

Engr. Bello Lawal, President, Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON)