Civil society groups have been at the forefront of promoting democratization in Nigeria and have always played an important role as pressure groups in the country’s political history from colonial rule, through military dictatorships to civilian rule.
Despite these gains, the existence and relevance of civil society is still being questioned by critics. While civil society organisations indeed face several internal challenges dealing with organizational capacity, weak strategy, funding and sustainability, the new external threat of a receding civic space brought on by repression of fundamental freedoms by the government underscores the need to document key milestones and interventions by Nigerian civic groups.
In our first issue of PLAC BEAM, we shared A Snapshot of Nigerian Civil Society Over the Years. Here we continue with highlights of some of milestones and successful civil society interventions over the years:
1. Fight against military rule/dictatorship leading to the return of civilian rule
Groups like the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), founded in 1987 by Clement Nwankwo and Olisa Agbakoba, were especially active during the military era. Alongside groups such as the Committee for Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), Human Rights Africa and the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) and many others, they formed the Campaign for Democracy coalition that was at the forefront of prodemocracy protests through the 1990s resulting in the restoration of civil rule in 1999.
2. 1989 Closure of Ita-Oko Island Prison
In 1989, civil society action, specifically by the Civil Liberties Organization working in concert with other activists, exposed the existence of an island prison, located in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Lagos.
It was Nigeria’s equivalent of South Africa’s famous Robben Island prison, only accessible by boat or helicopter. The only difference: Ita Oko, set up under Olusegun Obasanjo’s military government in the 1970s, never existed in official records.
Initially set up Asa sort of Penal colony, it was most actively used as a detention camp under the military rule of Muhammadu Buhari in the 1980s
3. Fight for Economic Rights and Social Welfare
During the regime of General Ibrahim Babangida in the mid-1980s to the early 1990s, human rights groups were among those that led opposition to World Bank- and IMF-inspired policies that cut spending on education, health, and basic services, while encouraging market-based solutions that further impoverished the populace. The ensuing job losses, increased costs of products and economic hardship on citizens prompted strong public backlash from civil society, which included strikes and massive protests by labour, students, and academic staff unions.
4. Fight for minority and environmental rights/environmental justice
Activist groups have fought for the establishment and enforcement of environmental laws and rights. In this regard, the trailblazing efforts of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), led by the late Ken Saro-Wiwa brought to the attention of the world the human rights violations and environmental degradation in the Niger Delta region. The eventual killing of Saro-Wiwa and 8 other activists by the General Abacha regime shook the country and the international community, leading to a review of operations and human rights practices of major oil companies. In recent times, civil society groups have resorted to civil litigation before national and international courts to obtain justice for victims of environmental degradation. By so doing, environmental rights groups such as the Social and Economic Rights Action Centre (SERAC), Environmental Rights Action (ERA), the Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR), Socio Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), and Climate Justice Programme (CJP), to mention a few, have brought environmental issues to the fore and contributed to the development of legal precedence and jurisprudence on environmental law and protections in the Niger-Delta.
5. Campaign against the tenure elongation/third term bid by Obasanjo
In 2006, a campaign by scholars, activists, and groups such as the National Civil Society Coalition against Third Term (NACATT) led by its now deceased chairman and lawyer, Bamidele Aturu, the Peoples Problems and Solutions (PPS) organization, and Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, among others, were instrumental in scuttling the alleged third term bid of President Olusegun Obasanjo. Their advocacy and protests propelled the issue to the international arena forcing foreign governments to take a stand against tenure elongation in Nigeria and the National Assembly to kill the bill on the subject.
6. Safeguarding constitutional principles
In 2010, campaigns by civil society especially the Save Nigeria Group (SNG) convened by Pastor Tunde Bakare and Mr. Yinka Odumakin amongst others, protested a power vacuum created by the prolonged illness and medical vacation of President Umaru Yar’Adua. This led members of the Nigerian National Assembly to invoke the “Doctrine of Necessity” to empower Vice President Goodluck Jonathan to serve as acting President to resolve the constitutional vacuum created by Yar’adua’s failure to formally inform the National Assembly of his absence from office and hand over presidential duties to his vice president
7. Occupy Nigeria Protest in 2012
In 2012, a decision by the President Goodluck Jonathan administration to stop payment of fuel subsidies prompted one of the largest protests in Nigeria‘s history by activists, celebrities, civil society groups, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), which crippled economic and social activities in Nigeria until the government yielded to the demand of citizens to reverse the decision.
8. Policy and legislative reforms
Since 1999, the scope of civil society activities expanded to civic awareness and engagement and advocacy for socio-economic policy changes as a way of fostering democratic consolidation. Several groups have successfully campaigned for several policy and legislative reforms. For example:
a. Civil society campaigned for the adoption of the Child Rights Act in 2003 and its subsequent domestication by States.
b. The passage of the Freedom of Information Act 2011 was achieved following years of vigorous campaign and advocacy by a coalition of Nigerian civil society groups led by the Right to Know Movement, Media Rights Agenda (MRA) and the Open Society Justice Initiative.
c. Women organisations fought for years for the enactment of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act (VAPP).
d. Civil society campaigned for the enactment of the Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act after an 18-year journey in the National Assembly and campaign by disability rights groups like the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD) and Centre for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD).
e. Civil society campaigned for amendment of the Constitution to reduce the age for certain elective offices. Youth organisations mobilised thousands of young persons in marches across the country to push for the adoption of the amendment.
f. Civil society also advocated and worked tirelessly for the repeal of the 1943 Police Act and its replacement with a new law in 2020. The final push for this was led by Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) supporting several years of work done on the law by groups such as the CLEEN Foundation and Network on Police Reform in Nigeria (NOPRIN).
9. Promoting Credible Elections
CSOs have played a prominent role in promoting credible elections in Nigeria, particularly the widely acclaimed 2011 elections, which is seen as one of the best in Nigeria so far. In successive elections, civil society groups such as the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) and Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room (Situation Room) platform have carried out extensive voter education and awareness, deployed thousands of election observers all over the country, issued statements on various elections and engaged several election stakeholders like the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), political parties and the police, to improve the electoral environment.
Till date, so many groups continue to work tirelessly to effect much needed reforms in Nigeria’s social, economic and political landscapes.
Cover Photo Credit: Global Press Journal