By Sam Ijoho
We should have this conversation, because in Nigeria today, it seems every problem has one destination – Aso Rock. When fuel prices go up, we blame the President. When a local road is bad, we blame the President. When our street is dark, our school lacks teachers, or our hospital runs out of drugs, the finger points in the same direction. But government is not one man. It is a system, a big network of offices, leaders, and workers, all meant to play different roles. The President is only one part of that system. He is the head of a team, not the entire team.
Until we understand who is truly responsible for what, we will keep shouting at the wrong doors while the real culprits hide behind our ignorance. Civic ignorance is the best protection for bad leaders. That is why this conversation matters.
This article is not to defend anyone in power. It is to remind us that good governance begins with informed citizens – people who know who to question, where to channel their expectations, and how to follow the line of responsibility from the top to the bottom.
THE SYSTEM WE PRACTICE
Nigeria operates a federal system of government. This means power and responsibility are divided between three main levels – the Federal Government, the State Governments, and the Local Governments. Each level has its own duties, funds, and leaders. The Constitution clearly spells out what each is supposed to do. Yet, many people treat government as if it were one big block controlled by one man. This mistake has caused confusion for years.
There are also three arms of government – the Executive, the Legislature, and the Judiciary. The Executive (President, Governors, Chairmen) runs day-to-day administration.
The Legislature (National Assembly, State Houses of Assembly, Local Councils) makes laws and provides oversight. The Judiciary interprets the law and ensures justice.
If we don’t understand how these parts work together, we will keep expecting the wrong things from the wrong people.
THE FEDERAL LEVEL
At the top sits the Federal Government, led by the President.
The President’s duty is to set direction for the whole country – to make policies, protect national interest, and coordinate between the states. He works through Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs). These are the hands and feet of the Federal Government.
For example: The Federal Ministry of Works is in charge of federal highways and major bridges. The Federal Ministry of Health makes national health policies and manages big hospitals owned by the Federal Government. The Federal Ministry of Education handles universities and federal colleges.
Agencies like NDDC, NEMA, CBN, NPA, and NCAA each have special roles – from disaster response to banking regulation and aviation safety.
Each Minister or head of an agency is the President’s representative in that sector. They are responsible for turning policy into action. So when a federal road is abandoned or an agency fails, we should ask questions from the Minister or the Director-General first – not the President.
The President provides leadership, but they provide management.
If we blame the President for every failing office, we strengthen irresponsibility in the lower ranks.
THE STATE LEVEL
Nigeria has 36 states, and each one is led by a Governor.
The Governor’s job is to bring national policies closer to the people – to turn big federal ideas into workable state programs.
Each state has Commissioners who serve like Ministers – heading ministries such as Works, Health, Agriculture, and Education. State agencies, like the State Sanitation Agency or Urban Development Board, do the technical work.
Permanent Secretaries are there to keep the system stable and professional.
When a state school is failing, or a township road is bad, or civil servants are unpaid – those are state issues. They are not the President’s duty. They are the Governor’s. The Federal Government gives each state its share of revenue, but how that money is used is the Governor’s responsibility.
If citizens begin to question their Governors the same way they question the President, leadership at the state level will improve greatly.
THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT
This is where the definition of “government” should be experienced – government for the people.
This is the level closest to the people. Every community belongs to a Local Government Area (LGA), headed by a Chairman and a Legislative Council made up of Councillors. Local Governments are supposed to handle the things that affect us daily – Primary schools, Local roads, Health centers, Waste collection, Water and sanitation, Community development projects.
When refuse piles up or the local primary school has no teachers, it is the Councillor and Chairman who should answer questions, not the President.
Unfortunately, many Local Governments no longer function as they should because state governments often control their funds. Yet, citizens rarely speak up or ask questions at that level. Local Government autonomy will only matter when people at the grassroots start holding their Chairmen and Councillors accountable.
MINISTRIES, AGENCIES, AND PARASTATALS
These are the Machinery of Governance. A government is not just a collection of elected leaders. It is a whole structure that depends on thousands of workers and professionals:
• Ministers and Commissioners give political direction • Permanent Secretaries ensure stability in the civil service • Directors-General and Heads of Agencies carry out technical programs • Boards and Councils provide oversight and checks.
When projects fail or funds disappear, we must trace who was in charge – which ministry, which agency, which official – instead of blaming the system as a whole; because it’s only when accountability is specific can governance be effective.
HOW POLICY SHOULD FLOW
Good governance should move like a pipeline:
1. The President defines national priorities and broad policies.
2. Federal Ministries and Agencies build frameworks and funding models.
3. State Governments adapt them to suit local realities.
4. Local Governments deliver those policies directly to citizens.
5. Citizens observe, question, and give feedback.
When any link in this chain fails, everything above it is affected. That is why citizens must pay attention at every level.
MISPLACED ANGER, MISGUIDED EXPECTATIONS
Our biggest national problem is not just corruption or poor leadership it is fundamentally a lack of citizens awareness misdirected expectation. We pour all our frustration on the President while Governors and Chairmen go unchallenged. Sometimes, even the governor’s systematically deflects their responsibilities to the presidency.
We ask Abuja for what our Local Government should fix. We complain about local schools to a Federal Ministry. We expect one man in Aso Rock to do the work of hundreds of thousands across 774 LGAs.
This habit weakens accountability and encourages leaders at lower levels to do little or nothing, knowing that no one will question them. Until citizens understand where responsibility lies, anger will keep burning in the wrong direction.
IN DEFENCE OF SHARED RESPONSIBILITY
This is not to say the President has no responsibility. He does – and it is a heavy one. But the President cannot clean your street, repair your township road, or post teachers to your local school. He can only create policies, set national standards, and ensure that resources reach the right places.
Governors, Ministers, Chairmen, and Councillors must each play their part. When they fail, citizens must call them out.
Accountability is not an Abuja issue – it is a national habit we must all learn to practice from the top to the bottom.
THE CIVIC AWAKENING NIGERIA NEEDS
Democracy is not just about voting. It is about understanding.
We cannot have good governance without informed citizens.
If every Nigerian knows who to hold accountable, corruption will lose its hiding place. If we learn to ask the right questions from the right offices, development will no longer be delayed by confusion. And this is not taking away the supervisory responsibilities of the President.
So before we say, the government has failed, let us first ask:
Which government? Federal, State, or Local? Which Ministry? Which Agency? Which Official?
That is how we begin to reclaim accountability.
That is how we strengthen democracy.
And that is how Nigeria can finally start working – not only from the top, but also from the ground up.
