CSOs and the Media in Promoting Democracy and Good Governance in Nigeria (Part 5)

Introduction 

In the last episode, we  concluded our hypothesis that Good Governance Needs Strong Followership, in the form of Civil  Society Organisations; discussed the Typologies of Nigerian Civil Society Organisations; identified some Specific Civil Society Organisations in Nigeria; Questions and Concerns Raised by CSOs; discussed their Proliferation and Roles; NGOs (Non-governmental Organisations); the Nigerian State/Politics; and the Role of CSOs.

Today, we shall continue exploring the Role of CSOs (Civil Society Organisations); Ways & Means/Modalities of Creating an Umbrella body for them, and, finally, the Role of the Mass Media.

The Role of CSOs (Continues)

USAID and other donors seeking to support the role of civil society groups in building democracy in Nigeria, face a daunting task. Given the challenges of supporting civil society with a sharply reduced budget, USAID had decided to focus its support in this sector in a manner that develops the ability of civil society groups to conduct advocacy (particularly with regard to transparency and accountability), and to build civic awareness at the national level. Civil Society is on track and has made impact at the national level, especially in the area of election monitoring and peace building.

Civil Society promoted greater gender equality through workshops and conferences, that resulted in the development of a sub-group in both federations of woman leaders, called the National Women’s Commission. The Commission developed gender policy for labour unions, and is currently working on action plans to implement and monitor gender policies in all labour organisations. In light of the gender policy, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has increased the percentage women of its staff to 30%.

In addition, the NLC elected its first women to national office as National Auditor of the NLC.

In the area of economic reform policy, civil society is assisting in the development of a simplified manual to explain economic policy to labour unions. Civil Society is also active in the development and advocacy for individual economic policies, including fuel policies and pension issues. Capacity-building activities address internal democracy and related issues such as gender equality, information sharing and consensus-building, through workshops, seminars and such platforms.

Creating an Umbrella Body for CSOs: Ways and Modalities

Thinking about the issues in this way helps us to pose an actionable question, instead of arguing in the abstract over which theory is correct. Most importantly, how do shifting patterns of associational life help or hinder the realisation of good society goals, and what can we do to revive the public sphere, if we believe it is an important transmission mechanism between the two?

This question generates a rich agenda for public discussions, through a complicated one, since there is no obvious consensus on the answers, and the evidence is very muddy.

The associational life in general, is the driving force behind the positive social norms on which the good society is founded. Things like cooperation, trust and reciprocity. So, the logical policy is to encourage as much volunteering and voluntary action as possible, even if some of it is used for nefarious purposes. Somewhat magically in my view, these differences will work themselves out in the general scheme of things.

The light window for civil society access to national policy has expanded somewhat since 1999, as democratisation has brought more actors into the policy making process, and other levels of government have begun the long struggle to wrest power from the Presidency.

Nonetheless, the window remains narrow, and only the groups who are able to impact the interests of the political elite in some manner will be able to see their issues on the national agenda.

First consideration must be given to the power imbalance, between civil society groups. Civil Society has made important gains in the political space that has opened since 1999, but these groups remain largely marginal players at the national level. Legal frameworks are developing, but weak. Elected officials are only remotely accountable to their formal constituents, and Nigerian politics remains dominated by the power struggles among the Big Men. Thus, the typical tools of civil society influence legal challenges; and raising public awareness through issue advocacy are for the short term, likely to be useful for incremental change at best. Such change is still very important and deserving of support, but civil society groups must also be able to tip the balance among the Big Men and State, in order to have some influence. The trade unions have the powerful tool of strike actions, but these blunt instruments are difficult to organise, sustain or focus on more than a handful of issues in the absence of an umbrella body.

In the larger picture of Nigerian political development, the real solution to the dominance of the “Big Men” is the development of a stable balance of power among them, with most of their struggles fought within the contours of the political system, primarily through the vehicle of formal political parties. Thus, the critical “next step” for the nation’s political development is the rise of a viable, loyal political opposition movement as has happened in African nations further down the democratic road such as South Africa, Kenya and Ghana.

Without such an opposition, voters do not have a viable alternative at the ballot box, which is in part why Nigerians supported the military in the past. A strong coalition and opposition of civil society groups is the important vehicle for transparency and accountability in any democracy, because it is an institutional actor with great interest in exposing the corrupt practices of the party in office, and in balancing its powers.

An essential link in such a movement, will be with united civil society groups. As governing and viable opposition parties battle for voter support, they will have to produce policies that better serve the interest of the public, and civil society groups will play important roles in informing the public and government whether those interests are being served.

The ideal competition among the Nigerian political parties to woo the favour of civil society groups, and by extension, the voters, has begun to take some shape in national politics, but only in rudimentary forms lacking the deeper substance of serious public service. In the short term, therefore, civil society groups have only one remaining solution to correct the power imbalance between them and the Big-Man-Dominated State. They must build broad coalition amongst themselves, and with actors in political society, particularly the political parties. Some groups may have limited success on their own at the national level based on the strength of their skills and good ideas, such as in regard to constitutional reform.

Technical support to improve the capacity of civil society groups to engage in issue advocacy and other activities that foster incremental changes remains control to any sound democracy promotion strategy, but it must be viewed through the lens of how they impact the political power structure of policy makers. Without vast financial resources, civil society groups must turn to the numbers of people they can represent, sensitise and mobilise. Thus, support should move into realm of building relationships among the united civil society groups and between civil society and the State, particularly in terms of the political parties.

The Media

Globally, the role of the mass media oils the wheels of evolving a sound democratic culture. The difference between the media in Nigeria and other countries, might be on the nature of freedom limitations under which they operate. In a dictatorial regime or in a fostering democratic system, the situations are usually different. In Nigeria, media has played a great role in deepening democracy. The mass media or the press, is acknowledged to be the “watch dog of the society” and the “fourth estate of the realm”. By way of definition, media consists of the main ways that large numbers of people receive information and entrainment, that is, through television, radio, newspapers and the internet. The basic ingredient of the mass media is based on the freedom of expression and the press, guaranteed by the Constitution. The freedom of the press is usually entrenched in the Constitution of most countries of the world. The press is an important institution in any country, particularly, in democratic societies where transparency is the watchword. But, in pariah societies where the government of the day is corrupt and commits various kinds of atrocities, a free press coupled with freedom of speech constitutes a thorn in the flesh of the ruling class or government. In other words, the mass media essentially aims at promoting a democratic culture, by engaging in a constant watch of the activities of the government of the day. The government is usually investigated, and findings brought to the knowledge of the public. Herein lies the relevance of the press, in any democracy.

In Nigeria, for example, and concerning the right to capture and withhold information, the plenitude of the supposed right to retain information requires to be properly defined. This right should go beyond the voluntary refusal of a Journalist, Editor, or Publisher to willingly give out the source of his information. For purposes of modern day freedoms, this right should be made to cover forcible invasion of media houses by State security agents, and seizure therefrom, of manuscripts, hard plates, pictures, letters and telegraphic messages from informants. Interviews conducted with persons, but who, given professional judgement, or the person’s preference would have had his/her name omitted from the final piece of information disseminated for public consumption.

The right to withhold information is but an aspect of a larger right, given constitutional impetus by Section 39 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.

The constitutional right itself derives from the earlier theory of natural rights, which in turn, was an offshoot of the natural law theory. We do not intend within the amplitude of this paper, to give a jurisprudential analysis of human or civic rights, but it is sufficient to the state that the respect for, and inviolability of human rights, have been universally acclaimed, documented, and adopted by all civilised nations of the world. (To be Continued).

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK 

“Society cannot exist without law. Law is the bond of society: that which makes it, that which preserves it and keeps it together. It is, in fact, the essence of civil society”. (Joseph P. Bradley)