Democracy in Nigeria will improve if Nigerian Civil Society Organisations have a better relationship with the Nigerian government.
This was the position of the Director-General of the Progressives Governors Forum, PGF, Mr. Salihu Lukman in a press statement released to journalists in Abuja.
He stressed that better relations between civil society and government will facilitate and improve the government’s engagement with citizens.
Mr. Lukman noted that repressive military rule in the past and mutual distrust and dislikes between government and civil society leaders have led to a broken relationship between these two bodies which has led to civil society getting funding from foreign organisations.
“The background of repressive military rule, which made campaigns for human rights and democracy to become the primary focus of the work of civil society, the negative mindset that translates to opposition to Nigerian government is deep-rooted among civil society leaders. Civil society leaders believe that opposition to the government is a requirement for their work. On the other hand, government functionaries have contempt for civil society and their leaders.
“A major problem is when being independent from government is applied in a way that blocked relationship with Nigerian government but encourages relationship with foreign governments, which may have similar, or even worse risks that could be interpreted to project Nigerian civil society and their leaders as unpatriotic. Why should relationship with Nigerian government be considered bad, but relationship with foreign governments good?” He said.
On the way forward, Mr. Lukman said there has to be continuous negotiation between the government and civil society and a framework that guarantees the independence of civil society organisations.
He noted that the All Progressives Congress, APC as the party in government should work towards developing this relationship.
The PGF DG added that the National Orientation Agency, NOA needs to initiate and implement activities to facilitate negotiations.
“Collaboration between government and civil society, if structured and organised and the independence of civil society groups are guaranteed, could facilitate strengthened engagement between Nigerian government and citizens and will be an important requirement for the development of Nigerian democracy. How can political initiatives to negotiate improved relationship between Nigerian government and civil society organisation be introduced? As a party founded on the vision of change, there is no reason why APC should not prioritise development of initiatives towards improved relations with Nigerian civil society. Developing improved relations with Nigerian civil society should be part of the strategic goal of developing Nigeria’s democracy and ensuring that Nigerian politics is being refined and new democratic frontiers, which should promote engagement between Nigerian government and citizens are created. Inability to refine Nigerian politics and create new democratic frontiers would continue to legitimise the mindset of opposition to Nigerian government by civil society.
“Political leaders in the country should be encouraged to develop a more positive disposition towards civil society in the country. To achieve that, the National Orientation Agency (NOA) should be able to provide leadership in initiating and implementing activities to facilitate negotiations for improved relationship between Nigerian government and civil society. Part of the objective should also be to enhance processes of political leadership recruitment in the country, which are hardly planned and largely impulsive. This can be achieved if political political parties in Nigeria broaden membership mobilisation to include engagement with Nigerian civil society as a strategy for leadership recruitment?” He said.
He also emphasised the need for Nigerian civil society organisations to change the orientation of operating with a mindset of being in opposition to the Nigerian government.
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