Civil Society and Democratic Consolidation in Nigeria From 1999-2017
CHAPTER ONE
Objectives of the Study
The general objective of this study is to examine the role of civil society and democratic consolidation in Nigeria from 1999-2017. The specific objectives are:
- To assess the role of civil society organizations in enhancing political development in Nigeria.
- To investigate the challenges affecting civil society organizations in Nigeria.
- To provide plausible recommendations on how to strengthen the civil society for democratic consolidation in Nigeria.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Conceptual Foundation
It is important to attempt a clarification of the two important concepts which are germane to the understanding and explanation of this paper. These are the concepts of democracy and democratic consolidation.
Democracy
Democracy has won for itself a household name across the globe. It has gained popularity because it is believed to be a sine-qua-non for growth and development. What then is democracy? There is no generally accepted definition of democracy because over the years, different forms of democracy have emerged. According to Erunke (2012), democracy is a fluid concept that has received many definitions by scholars either in the classical political studies or in the contemporary world of scholarship. According to Almond, Powell, Strom and Dalton (2004), democracy is a political system in which citizens enjoy a number of basic civil and political rights and in which their most important political leaders are elected in free and fair elections and accountable under the rule of law. For Lipset (cf. Dada et.al, 2013), democracy is a political system which supplies regular constitutional opportunities for changing the governing officials and a social mechanism which permits the larger possible part of the population to influence major decisions by choosing among contenders for political office. In the same vein Schumpeter (cf Dada et.al, 2013), sees democracy as a political method or type of institutional arrangement for arriving at political, legislative and administrative decisions. According to him, it is a method by means of competitive struggle for the peoples’ vote and this competition for votes is the distinguishing character of the democratic method. For Dahl (1982:11), democracy is “a system of elected representative government operated under the rule of law, where the most significant groups in the population participate in the political process and have access to effective representation in the practice of making governmental decisions, that is, of allocation of scarce resources”.
Democratic Consolidation
Democratic consolidation is one concept that has attracted the attention of scholars and policy makers since the advent of the third wave of democratization. According to Andreas Schedler (1998:101), democratic consolidation is “an omnibus concept, a garbage-can concept, a catch-all concept, lacking a core meaning that would unite all modes of usage”. In the literature, there are two ways of viewing the concept of consolidation. Consolidation as avoiding democratic break down (Linz and Stephan, 1996) and consolidation as transformation from a diminished sub-type of democracy to a consolidated liberal democracy(Valenzuela, 1992).The former has to do with the process of stabilizing and maintaining the new democracies while the latter focused on the process of deepening , completing or organizing democracies(Shedler, 1998).
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
This study adopted a secondary source of data collection through the review of Literature from journals, magazines, textbooks, government white papers, unpublished works and Internet materials. As a descriptive research, it employs a historical style in looking at the evolution and contribution of CSOs to the democratic consolidation in Nigeria, especially from 1999 – 2015. The study adopted content analysis as a method in analyzing the data collected. The adoption of content analysis technique is to ascertain whether data from documentary sources support the questions raised by the research.
CHAPTER FOUR
RESULTS AND FINDINGS
Civil Society and Democratic Consolidation in Nigeria
In assessing the role of civil society in consolidating Democracy in Nigeria, certain indicators were utilized. These include;
- Ensuring credible Elections
- Guarding against democratic threats.
- Influencing public policy
- Responding to Social Interests/ Empowering citizens
Ensuring credible Elections
Igbuzo (2011) noted that the 1999 and 2003 elections saw CSOs conducting voters’ education programs. Citizens were mobilized to come out to vote for candidates of their choice. Unfortunately, citizens came out but were disappointed when they realized that in some cases, votes did not count. Despite this, there is a need for CSOs to build more efforts on voters’ education, because, it is basic to engaging other strategies. Igbuzo (2011) further stated that CSOs indeed trained some citizens and communities on the protection of mandate in preparation for the 2007 elections. This, according to him, involved a series of tools and strategies that citizens could use to engage political parties, security agents and electoral officers to prevent manipulation of electoral franchise. However, Ojo (2011) revealed that the 2007 elections and bye-elections were characterized by massive rigging, ballot snatching, violence and other corrupt practices. The late President, Musa Yar’Adua, actually admitted that the elections were flawed, despite the inputs of CSOs in the system.
Furthermore, during the preparations for the 2011 elections, CSOs embarked on voters’ education. Some other CSOs deployed thousands of observers to follow through and report on the electoral process. Ojo (2011) noted that some members of the civil society also shed the toga of being armchair critics by joining the political fray to contest elections.
Examples are; Governors Adams Oshiomole and Kayode Fayemi. Nevertheless, it was observed that there were violent protests in the North, as the Northern political elites claimed that the elections were rigged by the ruling party. Many lives and properties were lost in the carnage. This implies that the CSOs need to step up on voters’ education in Northern Nigeria. The challenge in this regard, however, has been the persistent religious crisis and insecurity in that part, which has made it difficult for CSOs to have the needed results.
Guarding against Democratic Threats
Ojo (2011) stated that ex-President Obasanjo’s administration had attempted to tinker with the Nigerian constitution in 2005/2006, to insert a tenure elongation clause, but the plot was primarily shot down by the parliamentarians with pressure from the civil rights groups. Thereafter, in 2010, CSOs rose to the occasion to demand for the recognition of the then Vice President G. Jonathan as the Acting President, when late President Musa Yar’Adua was ill disposed abroad. CSOs such as the Save Nigeria Group and Enough is Enough Group actually seized the initiative and demanded for a resolution that will give due recognition to vice president as acting president.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
The focus of this study was to examine the role of civil society in the Nigeria democratic consolidation. In this brief chapter we would summarize the study, draw conclusion based on our findings and proffer some recommendations in line with the study’s objective.
Summary
Civil society is seen as the cumulus of voluntary, self-generating, at least partially self-supporting, and autonomous associations which are different from the state, business and family and bound by a legal order or set of shared rules that is open to the public. It is known as the third sector because it serves as a vibrant social intermediary between the state, business and family. The study was arranged in chapters. In the first chapter we gave an overview of democratic consolidation and the civil society. The statement of the problem was clearly defined as well as the objectives of the study. Some research questions were raised in this chapter which served as a guide to the study. In the second chapter, we reviewed related and relevant literatures to the study while in the third chapter; we described the methodology adopted for the study. In the fourth chapter, we proceeded to examine the facts we collected from empirical studies. We examined the various roles played by the civil society which is a big contribution to the consolidation of Nigeria democracy. Facts from 1999-2017 were examined in the light of the various activities of the CSO. The findings showed that the CSO has continued to play an intermediary role in the Nigeria democratic consolidation as they have stood to hold various governments accountable. However, in the fourth chapter, we examined the challenges facing the civil society organization, which the most striking is the challenge of finance.
Conclusion
This research explored and discussed the role of CSOs in the democratization process in Nigeria. It gathered through the publications reviewed that NGOs have indeed played important role in the areas of democracy development in Nigeria. The research noted that Nigeria has several civil society groups that tend to put both the government and their policies in check. They assist in achieving some of those objectives that would have seemed impossible for the government alone to achieve. Although they vary in composition, mission, vision, and core values – CSOs all have in common an ideology of promoting equity and justice in the polity and bringing about development in Nigeria‟s nascent democracy. Considering the fact that these organizations contribute tremendously to the activities of government and can confidently influence government policies and programs positively to the benefit of the citizens, the promotion of their achievements cannot be over emphasized.
Recommendation
Based on the findings in this research, CSOs have played important roles on issues related to democracy and development in Nigeria. However, the following recommendations are made in order to add more grease to the elbows of CSOs.
CSOs Funding:
A major challenge among most CSOs is limited access to funding and restrictions with donor-driven agenda and projects. Overcoming this challenge will require the government and donors to recognize the important role of civil society in Nigeria‟s democracy. For example, the government should establish a National CSOs Trust Fund, in order to provide local funding and support to CSOs. Setting up a CSOs national data bank will be very useful too in order to check proliferation when the trust fund is set up. This will improve the institutional memory and information on CSOs and subsequently make the appropriate disbursements of funds.
Diversification of sources of funding through creative revenue generation activities:
Welcome though the idea for a CSO National trust fund, it is also good for CSO to look into other ways to generate revenue which will make them more self-reliant and Independent from external control, be it government or foreign donors.
Public Policy: Despite the overwhelming evidence of public trust in CSOs, state actors hardly recognize CSOs as partners in addressing governance and development issues. CSOs need to create stronger advocacy campaigns and build strategic partnerships with government agencies and state actors. On the other hand, government also need to recognize CSOs as partners for development and not rivals.
Capacity Building: A key priority for most Nigerian CSOs is to empower ordinary and marginalized citizens. One of the best ways to accomplish this is by building the capacity of local level CSOs and building linkages and connections among community based organizations (CBOs) and grassroots organizations, so that they can begin to work more closely with the state and the private sector. Capacity-building can be advanced by holding training programmes and workshops at the local level, which would, in turn, enhance the capacity to engage the policy process at different levels, including budget tracking.
REFERENCES
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- Diamond, L. (1997), “In search of Consolidation”, in Diamond et‟al, Consolidating the Third Wave Democracies Themes and Perspectives. London: John Hopkins University Press.
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