By Bamidele Atoyebi
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved N17 billion for grassroots development projects across 8,804 wards nationwide, following advocacy by the BAT Ideological Group for community-level intervention.
The approval, granted on April 22, 2026, comes weeks after the group, in an April 1 internal memo, urged its state coordinators to identify communities and wards lacking basic amenities such as water supply, healthcare centres, soft loans for farmers and market women, and other essential infrastructure.
The memo noted the group was “aware that the president’s allocation to states and local governments has increased,” and encouraged members to become “community project facilitators.”
*Alignment with Group’s Mobilisation*
The BAT Ideological Group said the presidential approval aligns with its ongoing strategic mobilisation for grassroots engagement.
Earlier last month, the group hosted a programme for military and paramilitary personnel in Abuja, where discussions included roles as community project facilitators.
“We have recorded a lot of success through this community development initiative ranging from Rigasa to Asa and many more communities we have reached out to,” the group said.
*Call for Monitoring, More Funding*
While commending the president for “listening and acting upon our initiative,” the group described the N17 billion allocation as “a bit paltry” based on research and reports from its state coordinators nationwide.
“We suggest and encourage the President to monitor this groundbreaking initiative for it to achieve the intended impact. And also we call on the President to increase the funds allocated to it,” it stated.
The group said the move shows the president, who it described as its “mentor and leader,” intends to ensure development reaches “all nooks and crannies of the country in a flow from bottom up.”
*Truth be told*, the BAT Ideological Group said it will continue to encourage members to serve as community development facilitators.
_Bamidele Atoyebi is the Convener of BAT Ideological Group, National Coordinator of Accountability and Policy Monitoring and a publisher at Unfiltered and Mining Reporting.
