Localising humanitarian and development programmes in Nigeria

As the Nigerian government, at national and state levels, addresses development and humanitarian assistance priorities in 2025 budget estimates, a new generation of catalytic programs is being rolled out, simultaneously, to equip Civil Society Organisations and innovators to complement the government’s efforts. Importantly, the new initiatives are being rolled out as launch events under the rubric of – localization.
The first such event, a project launch, was held last week, 14-15 November, 2024 at the State House Banquet Hall where a large gathering of stakeholders, at the instance of the Office of the Vice President, deliberated on the merits of the Humanitarian Supply Chain Management – Partnership for Localisation Study. The study is conducted under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning and supported by USAID. Given the demonstrable commitment and zeal of the Nigerian CSO humanitarian community to localization, the study will, no doubt, document local CSO comparative advantages and innovations as well as capacity gaps. The study will go on to propose capacity-strengthening strategies for CSOs, positioning them to take leadership along the humanitarian procurement value chain. Findings from this study hold the promise of empowering community associations in situations of humanitarian emergencies to deliver supplies, services, commodities and resources to beneficiaries in line with principles of cost-effectiveness, accountability, reliability and responsiveness.
The second event in the localisation space is the launch of the Grand Challenges Nigeria Project on 18th November 2024, at the Presidential Villa. The GCNg is a project in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Innovation Science and Technology to foster, fund and advance local innovations to solve key problems in science, health, food systems and development in Nigeria. The first request for proposals’ funding will be made public and unveiled on the 18th of November and published on the GCNg website.
As part of the Global Grand Challenges family of 15 initiatives, inspired by a think piece at the Gates Foundation in 2003, with first awards in 2005, the Nigeria Grand Challenges project is long-awaited and much anticipated. GC Rwanda was launched in 2023; GC Senegal was launched in 2022; and 3 GCs for Africa, South Africa and Ethiopia were all launched in 2015. Between 2005 and 2024, 21 years of Global Grand Challenges funding by 15 GC initiatives, 4,024 awards have been made with only 88 or 2.2 per cent awards made to Nigerians. The largest number, 44 or 50 per cent of all awards to Nigerians, was created by only one of the 15 initiatives – Grand Challenges Canada. The then CEO of GCC and current Special Advisor to the Director General of the World Health Organization, Professor Peter A. Singer, took a personal interest in Nigerian innovations, showcasing projects in his 2013 reflective letter from the CEO’s desk.
The launch of GCNg is a phenomenal opportunity to inspire and support out-of-the-box thinkers and actors working to address the country’s many challenges, and to apply good science and local knowledge in coming up with innovative and sustainable solutions. As GCNg rolls out at the Presidential Villa in the presence of previous Nigerian award recipients, this is a consequential moment for localizing the science of change, including innovations in behavioural change sciences. It is instructive that the only two Nigerian awards made under the category of Development Grand Challenge since 2011 were made to the development Research and Projects Centre to implement a behavioural change innovation, engaging Muslim Opinion Leaders to promote maternal health in Northern Nigeria. These two opportunities offer possibilities for building communities of local solutions-oriented innovators to address the many challenges of 2025.
Judith-Ann Walker (PhD) is the CEO of the dRPC, a local non-profit formed in 1994 by lecturers from Nigerian universities.She can be reached at [email protected].