Non-Governmental Organisations and Complementary Public Service Delivery in North East Nigeria

This study empirically examines the role of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in providing complementary public services in conflict-affected areas of North East Nigeria, focusing on Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe States. The protracted Boko Haram insurgency has created massive public service delivery gaps in the region, which international and domestic NGOs have increasingly stepped in to fill. A mixed-methods comparative design is employed, drawing on quantitative service delivery outcome data from NGO project reports and government monitoring systems, supplemented by 48 interviews with NGO programme managers, government ministry officials, United Nations agency staff, and beneficiary community leaders. Regression analysis with complementarity scores as the dependent variable and coordination depth, government partnership quality, and resource alignment as key independent variables provides the empirical test. The Complementarity Theory of Non-State Service Provision and the Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus Framework provide the theoretical foundation. Findings reveal that NGOs operating within structured government coordination frameworks delivered services with significantly higher community coverage and sustained uptake than those operating independently. However, coordination gaps, duplicated interventions, and the gradual displacement of government service delivery capacity by NGO substitution are documented as risks. Recommendations include mandatory humanitarian-government coordination protocols at state level, government capacity absorption plans for NGO-delivered services, and joint outcome monitoring frameworks. Keywords: NGOs, public service delivery, North East Nigeria, humanitarian coordination, complementarity.