By Faith Anisiobi, The Sight News
The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye, has said grassroots development and mobilization are critical to Nigeria’s foreign policy projection and international image.
Enikanolaiye stated this on Tuesday in Abuja while delivering a goodwill message at the 2026 Maiden National Conference of the 774 Local Government Chairmen and Chairmen of Traditional Rulers’ Councils, held at the State House Banquet Hall.
The conference, convened by the Federal Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, was themed: “Cascading President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda to the Grassroots.”
The minister said domestic policies have implications for Nigeria’s foreign policy and international relations, stressing that the country’s international image is also a reflection of developments at home.
“For us in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we believe that every aspect of our government policy at home has implications for foreign policy and Nigeria’s international relations.
“Which is why we are interested in everything that goes on domestically because foreign policy is also a projection of domestic policy. And in this context, grassroots mobilization and development is critical to what we do abroad,” he said.
Enikanolaiye stressed the need for inclusive, bottom-up governance, describing traditional rulers as a critical component of Nigeria’s governance architecture.
He commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for approving the conference and supporting the inclusion of local government areas and traditional rulers in the ongoing constitutional amendment process.
Situating his remarks within President Tinubu’s 4-D Doctrine of Demography, Development, Democracy and Diaspora, the minister said the success of the Renewed Hope Agenda would ultimately depend on its impact at the grassroots.
On demography, he described Nigeria’s youth population across the 774 local government areas as a major national asset, calling for their empowerment and greater utilization of local governments.
He said development at the grassroots was equally essential to achieving the ambition of a $1 trillion economy, noting that agriculture, mineral resources and major infrastructure projects could create opportunities and attract foreign direct investment when supported by stability at the local level.
On democracy, Enikanolaiye said empowering local governments and traditional institutions would strengthen bottom-up democratic governance, while on diaspora engagement, he noted that secure and economically productive communities would encourage Nigerians abroad to invest and promote the country positively.
The minister said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would support the foreign policy dimensions of grassroots development through investment matchmaking via Nigeria’s 110 diplomatic missions abroad, partnerships with Nigeria’s international partners and the use of community-level intelligence provided by traditional rulers to support national security.
Also speaking, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mr. Olumuyiwa Enitan Abel, represented by Dr. Vitalis Obi, said local governments were closest to the people and central to effective service delivery.
He also described traditional rulers as important actors in peacebuilding and reaffirmed the commitment of the civil service to accountability and measurable results.
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Dr. Onwusoro Maduka Ihemelandu, said the government lacked timely and verifiable data on interventions at the local government level.
He disclosed that the ministry had developed an E-Tracking Framework to monitor the location, value, timelines and verification status of projects and interventions across local government areas.
