By Omoyeni Ojeifo
The Federal Government is set to leverage Nigeria’s 110 diplomatic missions abroad to attract investment, deepen economic partnerships and promote opportunities emerging from the country’s grassroots development.
Amb. Sola Enikolaiye, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, stated this at the National Conference of the 774 Local Government Chairmen and Chairmen of Traditional Rulers’ Councils, held at the State House Banquet Hall, Abuja.
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.”
In his goodwill message, Enikanolaiye explained how Nigeria’s grassroots development can strengthen its foreign policy and help the country attract investments to the country.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will drive the foreign policy components through investment matchmaking through Nigeria’s 110 missions abroad, partnerships with friends of Nigeria, and leveraging traditional rulers’ community intelligence for national security.”
The Minister linked domestic governance to Nigeria’s foreign policy and international relations, stressing the importance of grassroots mobilisation and development.
“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,” Enikanolaye said in a statement emailed to PerSecondNews by his Special Assistant, Digital media and Public Diplomacy, Raphael Oni.
He maintained that inclusive governance must be bottom-up, not top-down, noting that traditional rulers remain a critical component of Nigeria’s governance architecture.
The minister commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for approving the historic conference and for anchoring the roles of LGAs and traditional rulers in the ongoing constitutional amendment.
Framing his remarks within President Tinubu’s 4-D Doctrine, the Minister declared that the Renewed Hope Agenda lives or dies at the grassroots.
While highlighting Demography, Enikanolaiye described Nigeria’s youth across the 774 LGAs as a major global asset, urging their empowerment to turn the country’s population into productive strength
Addressing economic development, the Minister highlighted well-functioning local government areas (LGAs) as critical to Nigeria’s target of reaching a $1 trillion economy, noting that key investments will be anchored on agriculture, mineral resources, and large-scale infrastructure.
He further emphasized that empowering LGAs and traditional rulers reflects genuine, bottom-up democracy in practice.
On the role of the Diaspora, the Minister observed that establishing a secure and stable domestic environment will naturally encourage Nigerians abroad to invest back home and champion the nation’s story globally.
Echoing these sentiments, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mr. Abel Olumuyiwa Enitan—represented by Dr. Vitalis Obi—underscored that local governments are central to public service delivery due to their proximity to citizens, while traditional rulers remain indispensable for maintaining peace.
He also reiterated the civil service’s commitment to driving accountability and achieving measurable outcomes.
Earlier, Dr. Onwusoro Maduka Ihemelandu, Permanent Secretary, Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, disclosed that government lacked timely, verifiable data on council interventions.
He said an e-tracking framework had been developed to track project location, value, timeline and verification status.
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