By Olugbenga Adebamiwa
One of the biggest failures of Nigeria’s democracy lies at the local government level, the very tier of government designed to be closest to the people. Instead of being present in their communities, many elected local government chairmen and councillors prefer to live far away, in more comfortable parts of big cities. It is not unusual to find a chairman of Amuwo-Odofin residing in Ikeja, or a councillor representing Ikorodu staying in Ikoyi. This trend is not just embarrassing, it is damaging to the purpose of local governance.
The role of local government is to respond quickly to the needs of the people, fixing feeder roads, ensuring water supply, supporting schools and health centres, maintaining markets, and resolving community disputes. These are not abstract responsibilities, they require daily contact and constant presence. When a leader removes himself or herself from the very environment they are meant to manage, they become disconnected, out of touch, and blind to the struggles of their people. Decisions are then made based on hearsay, selective reports, and political convenience, not lived reality.
The danger of this kind of absentee leadership is that it breeds a lack of empathy and poor governance. A chairman living in the comfort of Ikeja will not fully grasp the flooding problems of Amuwo-Odofin, because he does not wake up to see the gutters overflowing during heavy rains. A councillor residing in Maitama, Abuja, while representing a rural area in Nasarawa, will never understand what it feels like for children to trek kilometres to access a dilapidated school. Leaders who do not live among their people cannot genuinely serve them they can only pretend to.
This is why the directive recently given by Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State deserves praise. He ordered all local government chairmen in Imo to live in their communities with their people. This move is not only practical but visionary. A leader who shares the daily realities of his people is forced to take those realities seriously. He sees the bad roads on his way to work, feels the insecurity when returning home late, and hears directly from neighbours about their struggles. Such proximity builds accountability because the leader cannot escape the consequences of his neglect.
Nigeria urgently needs this policy to be adopted nationwide. It should not just be a governor’s directive, it should be enshrined into law. No local government chairman or councillor should be permitted to live outside the constituency they represent. Political parties should also enforce this as part of their internal discipline. Just as candidates are required to hail from or be indigenes of the areas they represent, they should also be required to reside there throughout their tenure. This is how to make grassroots leadership meaningful.
Some might argue that leaders have the right to live wherever they choose. But leadership is not about personal comfort it is about responsibility. When people campaign for office, they pledge to serve. That service demands sacrifice, and one of the most basic sacrifices is to live among those you lead. If a leader finds the community unfit to live in, then that is a sign of urgent work to be done. Running away to live in luxury elsewhere is not leadership, it is abandonment.
Until Nigeria fixes this disconnect, local governments will remain weak, ineffective, and irrelevant. Citizens will continue to feel alienated from their supposed leaders, and democracy will keep looking like a distant promise rather than a daily reality. To revive grassroots governance, we must demand presence, proximity, and accountability from those elected to serve. Local government leaders must stop ruling from afar. They must return home and live with their people. That is the only way true development will come to our communities.
Adebamiwa Olugbenga Michael writes from Lagos
