The Role of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Deepening Democratic Tenets in Nigeria

Abstract

The need to enhance the role of civil society organizations (CSOs) for better engagement of government to foster democratic tenets and development in Nigeria has become ever more necessary as her democracy is increasingly being confronted with recurrent challenges of flagrant disregard for the rule of law, human rights abuses, arbitrariness and political impunity. Since the return to civil rule in 1999, there has been increase in agitations for self-assertion and determination by the numerous component ethnic groups, demand for equality, equity, fairness and justice by the hitherto repressed citizens. The promise of liberty and free speech which democratic rule dangles is becoming a mirage by the day as the desire to hold mass protest and civil disobedience against worsening socio-economic and security conditions is viewed as mutinous and therefore, vehemently suppressed. Against this background, this paper examines the role of CSOs in bridging the gap between the people and government. It particularly examined the contributions of CSOs on the three basic fundamental pillars of democracy which are: periodic elections, adherence to rule of law and respect for human rights. The paper adopts the liberal democracy theory as a framework of analysis.
The findings reveal that CSOs are faced with numerous challenges which are both internal and external which have led to their being less effective. The paper further contends that poor funding, lack of public awareness of the roles of CSOs and inability to have access to vital information especially from government agencies amongst others militate against the smooth operations of
CSOs. It recommends that the CSOs should build their structures from grassroots to create public awareness and ensure proper funding and accounting system.