Dere Awosika, a former permanent secretary and chief executive of Josephine Consulting Ltd., urged Nigeria’s Federal Government to involve citizens in shaping reforms, saying public input can help explain why government policies miss their goals.
BusinessDay reported Monday that she spoke Friday on the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation podcast “Reform Is Not a Guessing Game.” Awosika warned that policies designed without enough consultation may miss the problems people are living with.
Akin Olusoji-Akinyele, an economist and policy strategist who also spoke on the podcast, focused on how reform outcomes should be judged. He said people expected to benefit from a policy should be asked whether it is working, since their responses can point to areas requiring adjustment. In his view, government officials and the bodies implementing a change should not be the only voices assessing its effects.
Awosika cited Nigeria’s polio work to show how implementers had to earn acceptance for vaccination within communities. She said traditional and religious leaders helped campaign teams build confidence in the program by addressing questions raised locally.
Her wider argument was that reform should begin with diagnosing why institutions are not meeting their goals and understanding the circumstances of the people affected. She said citizens and public servants should be involved as officials plan changes, so resulting policies reflect their experiences and local needs. Consultation, she argued, is part of reform rather than a step limited to announcing a decision.
Awosika said reform should not amount to instructions handed down by government bodies. “They cannot believe us unless we trust them,” she said, describing trust as necessary between citizens and the institutions serving them. The two speakers pointed to different roles for public input: Awosika emphasized designing reforms around experience, while Akinyele emphasized feedback on outcomes.
