On 20 January 2025, the United States government issued Executive Order 14169 (EO 14169), effectively ending 65 years of USAID assistance to Nigeria. That relationship began in 1961 with grants to four major colleges of agriculture at Nigerian universities in Ibadan, Nsukka, Zaria and Ife. An in-depth review of USAID’s official assistance to Nigeria between 2002 and 2024 shows a steady rise in US commitment to Nigeria’s development. From a US$90 million obligation in 2002 — the first fiscal year after Nigeria’s return to civilian rule and recertification — funding climbed to a peak of US$1 billion in the 2023 budget year. By 2024, USAID’s obligated funds to Nigeria had fallen slightly to US$930.2 million.
For much of those 65 years, USAID operated a programming model in Nigeria that favoured US implementing partners, with disproportionate funding directed towards US consultants’ fees, grants to US prime partners and contracts for US technical assistance firms. Less widely known is that, shortly before USAID’s departure, its Nigeria mission was the only development partner with a clearly defined localisation policy shaped by Grand Bargain commitments. This policy set targets for increasing funding to Nigerian NGOs and reducing awards to US partners. Over a ten-year period, USAID data accessed in 2024 showed that direct funding to local Nigerian partners rose from 4.2 per cent in 2002 to 10.2 per cent in 2022 as a share of total obligated funds.
Under USAID’s localisation policy, Nigerian NGOs received direct funding alongside capacity-strengthening support and sector-wide civil society network development. Nigerian NGOs working in HIV/AIDS programming were among the main beneficiaries of this model. In 2025, as USAID wound down its Nigeria programmes, one notable initiative to close was an intervention designed to transfer lessons from USAID’s localisation experience in the development sector to Nigeria’s humanitarian sector. This took the form of a formative study by the Fritz Institute (USA) titled Humanitarian Supply Chain Management – Partnership for Localisation. The study was commissioned by USAID Washington and implemented under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning. The Development Research and Projects Centre (dRPC) played a supporting role, providing technical assistance to review and strengthen field research tools.
With USAID’s exit from both development and humanitarian programming in Nigeria, NGOs in the humanitarian space lost the opportunity to benefit from the Fritz study. In the development sector, several leading Nigerian NGOs that had received direct USAID funding lost their grants. Thousands of smaller sub-grantee organisations working under larger NGOs to deliver community-level services were also affected. Since April 2025, Nigerian NGOs operating in areas such as youth entrepreneurship, climate justice, public health advocacy, school safety, reducing the number of zero-dose children, and human rights have been forced to close programmes, shut offices and lay off staff.
For Nigerian NGOs that have remained active into 2026 and continue to deliver impactful work despite funding constraints, this period has demanded forced innovation — building new networks, engaging new funders and pursuing collective advocacy for more sustainable financing.
On 24 October 2025, the Nigerian offices of three philanthropic foundations — the MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation and Luminate — convened a pivotal dialogue on the future resilience of Nigerian NGOs in the absence of large donor funding. Over five hours, NGOs, development partners, researchers and thought leaders debated key issues raised in a keynote presentation by The Nextier Group, before agreeing on strategic recommendations to strengthen sustainability and resilience across the sector. While many recommendations challenged NGOs to rethink strategies, diversify funding sources and adopt new business models, others called on development partners to be more innovative in providing long-term strategic support.
A key issue raised by the Executive Director of dRPC at the close of the dialogue was the need to reframe NGO sustainability within the broader context of localisation in development assistance. Although USAID has departed, localisation — its flagship downward accountability priority — should not disappear from Nigeria’s aid landscape. She highlighted a strategic opportunity to strengthen the Nigerian NGO sector by mainstreaming localisation principles into Nigeria’s National Official Development Assistance (ODA) Policy, which is currently under review by the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning. This could involve embedding clear guidelines for funding and capacity-strengthening support for Nigerian NGOs at national and sub-national levels across both development and humanitarian value chains.
As Nigerian NGOs confront the financial headwinds of 2026, far more needs to be done to provide fit-for-purpose funding similar to the small grants offered through initiatives such as dRPC’s NGO Support Initiative (NSI) with Ford Foundation support, as well as programmes backed by ACT Foundation, Global Affairs Canada, Irish Aid and the Government of Hungary.
Equally significant is a new opportunity for the Nigerian government to provide direct support to community-based civil society organisations through initiatives such as the Renewed Hope Ward Development Programme (RHWD). The positive development is that the grant award process under RHWD opened in 2026. However, the process currently accepts applications only from individuals through Ward Coordinators. While commendable, the initiative could achieve far greater impact with modest redesign to include the thousands of community and self-help groups across Nigeria working to improve the lives of vulnerable populations.
Walker, PhD (International Development, ISS, The Hague), is Executive Director of dRPC and a member of Nigeria’s Presidential High-Level Council on Women and Girls. Email: info@drpcngr.org