THE IMPACT OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS ON NIGERIA’S SOCIO-POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA’S FOURTH REPUBLIC

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THE IMPACT OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS ON NIGERIA’S SOCIO-POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA’S FOURTH REPUBLIC

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

A vibrant civil society is sine qua non to the sustenance of any nation‟s development. Studies have shown that the role of civil society groups is vital in the political, social and economic development of African countries (see Diamond, 1999; Ndegwa, 1996; Yohanness, 1997; and Gyimah-Boadi, 2004). According to Yohanness (1997), this role can be view from three dimensions. First, improving the quality of governance; second, developing the capacity of governments to apply the principles of accountability, transparency and openness; third, working towards gaining the commitment of all elected officials, public servants, and NGOs to good governance. In view of this, one can infer that, CSO‟s have, contributed immensely to democratic consolidation and sustainable development in Nigeria. In fact, the responsibility of ensuring sustainable development rest on the shoulder of CSOs. This is because; they are the agents of development in any nation.

The Impact of Civil Society Organisation on Sustainable Development.

They serve as the internal correctional mechanism to check and balance the activities of government to avoid wasteful spending, misappropriation and embezzlement of funds and help determine or prioritise the needs of the people. CSOs more often than not champion dissenting views with government officials on a particular issue at a point in time. Political executives premise this on the fact that they derived their policy option and direction largely, from the cooperation and collaboration among certain key stakeholders as against caucus decision-making and public – policy process.

Be that as it may, political and development analysts have rightly come to give great prominence to the activities of CSOs. One must note that the collaboration and participation of the civil society is frequently a crucial factor in the successful implementation of development initiatives. This point is premised on the view that CSOs are typically closer than most government actors are to the grassroots of the community, with consequent advantages both in the ability to mobilize at the levels governments may find difficult to reach and in the sensitivity to grassroots needs that may be vital to the achievement of development objectives (African Development Forum [ADF], 2004). This can be seen from the activities of CSOs on the input side of large-scale initiatives, in consultations and forums at all levels, and also in the effective pursuit of goals such as achieving targets for representation, promoting regional integration and international co- operation, and maintaining or restoring respect for human rights in Nigeria. It is on this ground, that this paper aims to analyse the impact of the roles of CSOs in promoting, maintaining and consolidating socio-economic and political development in Nigeria.

There is little agreement on the precise meaning of civil society organisations, though much overlap exists among core conceptual components. Aside this, the types of organizations that make up the list of CSOs have also been generating controversies among scholars. This prompted Matsuura (2001) to raise a pertinent questions that “should it include political parties and private or corporate sector? It should be noted that it is now a settled matter in the annals of literature that civil society exclude political parties and business organizations (see Cohen and Arato, 1992; Diamond 1992 and 1999; Hirata, 2002; Simai, 2006 and Scholte, 2001). Though, the latter is still shrouded in controversy. Civil society is distinguished from political society (i.e., the party system) on the ground that political parties seek to capture political power and form government while civil society only influence government policies and activities without the intention of forming the government. On a broader note, while civil society organizations may form alliances with political parties, their primary activity is not party politics. As Diamond (1999) asserts, “If they [civil society organizations] become captured by parties, or hegemonic within them, they move their primary focus of activity to political society and lose much of their ability to perform certain unique mediating and democracy-building functions” (p. 221).

Statement of the problem

There may have been previous researches in this subject. This work gives further explanations and analysis in the impact of civil society organizations on nigeria’s socio-political development in nigeria’s fourth republic

Objectives of the study

1.To understand the impact of civil society organizations on Nigeria’s socio-political development in Nigeria’s fourth republic

To understand the relationship between civil society organizations and Nigeria’s socio-political development in Nigeria’s fourth republic

1.4Research questions

What is the impact of civil society organizations on Nigeria’s socio-political development in Nigeria’s fourth republic
What is the relationship between civil society organizations and Nigeria’s socio-political development in Nigeria’s fourth republic