ActionAid in partnership with Inspired Youth Network, through the Strategic Partnership Agreement II Project, convened a one-day Local Government Fiscal Forum to engage local councils on tax expenditure priorities, accountability, service delivery in Lagos State and to create spaces for citizens and young people.

The event that took place in Lagos, brought together youth leaders, community representatives, civil society actors and government stakeholders.

Delivering his welcome address, Executive Director, Inspired Youth Network, Ayomikun Olugbode, said he was honoured by the participants and expressed gratitude for their commitment to strengthening citizens’ participation, accountability and inclusive governance at the grassroots. “Today’s forum is founded on a simple principle that the people who are most affected by government decisions should have a voice in shaping those decisions. Local councils are the closest state of government to the people.

“They are responsible for delivering essential services, supporting community development and responding to the needs and aspirations of citizens. However, effective local governance can only be achieved when there is a meaningful engagement between local authorities and communities themselves,” Olugbode said.

He said the forum provides a platform for dialogue, learning and collaboration. “It creates an opportunity for we, the young people and young representatives, civil society actors and other stakeholders to come together and discuss critical issues related to local government revenue generation, expenditure priorities, transparency, accountability and effective public service delivery,” he added.

Participants broke into five groups to identify the problem areas in some local governments as well as local council development areas.

The submission by Group 4 at the civic engagement session underscored the urgent need for improved service delivery across several local government areas in Lagos State, identifying poor waste management, flooding, inadequate road infrastructure, youth exclusion and deteriorating educational facilities as key challenges confronting residents.

The group, which examined the performance of Lagos Island, Ifako-Ijaiye, Ikorodu North, Kosofe, Surulere, Alimosho and Ikeja councils, noted that while all the councils shared similar developmental concerns, their assessment concentrated largely on Lagos Island, Ifako-Ijaiye, Ikorodu North, Kosofe and parts of Alimosho.

According to the presentation, indiscriminate waste disposal and recurring flooding remain major environmental concerns despite ongoing interventions by the state government and local authorities. The participants also highlighted the deplorable condition of many inner roads linking communities to major highways, stressing that such infrastructure falls within the constitutional responsibilities of local governments.

To strengthen governance, the group advocated greater accountability and transparency in local government budgeting, insisting that residents, especially young people, should be regularly informed about the utilisation of public funds.

It also called for meaningful youth participation in policy formulation, arguing that decisions affecting young people should involve genuine youth representatives rather than political appointees disconnected from grassroots realities.

The participants further urged councils to ensure that empowerment and employment programmes are implemented without political bias, while recommending increased investment in public libraries, laboratories, scholarships, ICT centres and internet-enabled learning facilities to equip young people with the skills needed for economic productivity and sustainable community development.

Group 5 was able to identify recurring obstacles in local council development areas of Lagos Mainland, Iba, Ifako-Ijaye, Ikorodu among others and discovered compromising excellence, lack of intentionality in project design and lack of inclusion of youth and non-partisan citizens in employment, while Group 3 identified challenges of some LCDAs in their healthcare delivery system, security architecture, inadequate funding of ICT hubs among others.