By Dipo Olowookere
The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Mr Abubakar Bagudu, has stressed the key role decentralised initiatives play in unlocking economic opportunities across the country.
Speaking in Abuja on Wednesday when he received members of the Crop, Aquaculture, Livestock Farmers and Value Chain Economic Actors Association of Nigeria (CALFAN), the Minister noted that initiatives like the Renewed Hope Ward Development Programme of President Bola Tinubu concentrate development planning at the ward level, which is the lowest administrative unit in Nigeria’s governance structure.
He welcomed the decision of the farmers’ group to collaborate with the federal government to accelerate the programme’s implementation.
Mr Bagudu explained that the project aims to enable communities to identify their development opportunities rather than relying solely on a top-down approach, adding that Nigeria has 8,809 wards, each with unique economic prospects that can be accessed through targeted interventions.
Under the initiative, wards will determine their priority economic opportunities, after which the federal government, state governments, local authorities, and development partners will work together to provide the necessary support.
According to him, Nigeria’s constitutional framework assigns development responsibilities to the three tiers of government, but in practice, these roles have not always been well coordinated, often resulting in duplication, inefficiencies, and interruptions in development initiatives.
“Our belief is that every ward in Nigeria is an acre of diamonds waiting to be uncovered. Each community has its own strengths and potential, and development strategies must reflect these distinctive qualities,” he said.
In his remarks, the president of CALFAN, Mr Aliyu Abdulraheem, outlined the association’s proposal to serve as a field-level implementation partner for the Renewed Hope Ward Development Programme.
He highlighted CALFAN’s extensive grassroots structure, including Ward-Level Extension Service Offices (WESOs) and a digital platform that supports real-time beneficiary identification, community mobilisation, data collection, and monitoring of development activities.
He disclosed that the proposed platform would facilitate economic mapping of rural communities, infrastructure assessments, digital surveys, and real-time data collection to support evidence-based policy decisions and programme monitoring.
The CALFAN boss highlighted the inclusive approach that encompasses the entire agricultural value chain, including farmers, input suppliers, processors, transporters, traders, and service providers.
Unveiled in 2025 by President Tinubu, the Renewed Hope Ward Development Programme aims to reset development planning by boosting economic activities at the ward level through collaboration among the federal, state, and local governments.
