Why Civil Society is Critical in Nigeria

 Here,  Zainab Ibrahim and Efua Elens-Edeh explored the role of Nigeria's civil society as a bridge between government and the citizens and discussed how the shrinking civic space is impeding civil society function in Nigeria. 

Transcript

Intro  [00:00:02]

You're listening to Partners United on the civic space brought to you by Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Foundation.

Zainab [00:00:09]

Hello everyone and welcome to the first episode of Partners United podcast on the civic space brought to you by Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Foundation. Today we'll be discussing “why civil society is critical in Nigeria” with our special guest Miss Efua Elens-Edeh, the founder of Social Impact Consulting. Given the fact that civil society organizations exist to promote national growth and democracy, a lot of official authorities undermine them through illegal morphine bureaucratic harassment and degrading public pronouncements, citizens can peacefully organize and congregate, but they're exposed to law enforcement agencies frequent use of excessive force, like we've seen in the news countless of times, such as rubber bullets, tear gas, and even beaten assaults. But um, to be honest, most Nigerians are very unaware of the important role of civic society in keeping the civic space open, because at the end of the day it all affects us right from the higher level to the grassroot level. Civil society organizations as solely known to be nonprofit, that’s advocacy and humanitarian. But they have been attacked by state actors and ruled to be "enemies of the state" in quote, rather than co-collaborators in national development. As a result, severe policies such as the NGO bill, the social media bill, the infectious diseases bill, and so on, the karma law even and others are enacted. Miss Efua, thank you for joining us today. Before, we go deep into the discussion kindly explain why civil society is critical in Nigeria.

Efua Elens-Edeh [00:01:43]

Civil society is the bridge between the government and the private sector, civil society are just people being able to gather and really have a cause that they are looking towards, whether it be humanitarian, whether it be a religious organization, whether it be trade unions, cooperative societies, just different entities that are able to gather together to just bridge the gap between the government and the private sector, right. So, like, for example, when we want a certain cause done, if somebody wants to dig a borehole in communities across the South-south, you know, a group of people can come together, register an organization, and then, you know, get donations from people to just dig the ball holes in these communities. And some of them is as a result of them starting an initiative like that they find out other ills and issues in those communities and more into advocacy. So civil society, they are the bridge, what most people call it is the third sector, you get what I'm saying, between the government and the private sector, and the civic space is the very foundation that civil society is built upon. Because the civic space is the freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and freedom of association. It is the bedrock of an open society, a democratic society, which is what the civic space is. Government, they're the ones that creates that enabling environment for all societies to thrive. And the private sector obviously, is how people are able to, you know, create enterprises and build businesses to be able to support the Nigerian economy and the economy or families. Well, civil society is that third sector, where people are able to come together, work together for an open society. So that's what I would say. And it's extremely critical, they have a critical role to play in the Nigerian democracy and in Nigeria and national development because when people are able to speak out for what they want, then they are able to, to push for just laws, I can give you a plethora of examples of laws that have been passed by civil society organizations and with effort. I can give you an example yesterday I was I was in evening mass, and the religious organization which is part of civil society, spoke about us registering to vote. So that is the role of civil society that bridge between the government sector and the private sector.

Zainab [00:04:36]

I feel like more of our religious spaces should be able to do that and promote voting, getting your PVC and all because a lot of people that's the best way to get through to them through religious sectors. Can you kindly explain to us the relationship between the civil society and the civic space which you have touched on already but kindly give us more details?

Efua Elens-Edeh [00:04:57]

The civic space is freedom of speech, freedom of association and freedom of expression, that is the civic space in a nutshell, okay. And that is the bedrock of a democracy and an open society. Okay, so if people can congregate and be able to come up with one shared vision, one shared mission to make some social impact, that is a civil society organization. And it's not confined to NGOs, and humanitarian organizations, you have trade unions, they are part of civil society. Religious organizations are part of civil society organizations. Farming cooperatives are part of civil society, various other organizations, political parties are part of civil society. So, if we're able to expand the scope of civil society, it now restricts various schools of thought, various administrations to come in and say these NGOs and civil society organizations are bad. And then you begin to attack the civic space unknowingly or knowingly, you know what I mean? So that's why there is a great correlation between civil society and the civic space. civic space is the foundation, which civil society stands on, because for example, imams, priests and pastors, some of them have been attacked. Judicial harassment, police attacks, security agencies, have been attacking the clerics guess what they are part of civil society. Activists that play their role, they're playing their role, speaking of freedom of speech, that is part of civil society. And the civic space is the very foundation of so because if people are able to express themselves, and are able to advocate for laws, bills, initiatives, with government, or in partnership with private sector, if those communications and various initiatives are passed, it takes an open civic space for this to thrive and happen. So that's the relationship between the civic space and civil society. Civic space, is the foundation, civil society is the building,

Zainab [00:07:24]

A lot of sensitization has to be done, especially to the layman, to the everyday man. Like you mentioned, the civil society space starts from starts from our churches or mosques. And this just reminds me about him a few weeks ago, there was a chaos that happened. I don't know if you guys saw that. But one of the Imams that was condemning the act of the government that they need to do better, talking about, everyone should go out and get their PVC and vote because clearly, who we vote for matters, he was condemning the train attack that happened, a lot of people were kidnapped. And funny enough, a few days after he said that he was relieved from his duty and there was a lot of articles on social media. And that just goes to see how this this law enforcement agencies, this harassment, that happens everywhere. Social Impact is currently carrying out a project on the civic space, what do you hope to achieve from the initial?

Efua Elens-Edeh [00:08:23]

So what we want to do with this initiative, we're producing documentary called untold impact, which is the role of civil society in national development. That's the tagline. And this documentary is actually a four part documentary is going to deal with the critical pillars that civil society is very active in, which is education, health, nutrition, and marginalized groups. And that is going to be split into youth, women and persons with disabilities. So it's a Ford documentary. And what we're trying to do is to begin a, a discourse on the critical role of civil society and national development. We want a situation where we're proactive in addressing the shrinking civic space because the civic space is under attack. And because of that civil society organizations, whether it be religious organizations, like you just talked about the Imam that was attacked for his freedom of speech, okay, and freedom of expression. What we're doing is we want to begin to have a conversation about the critical role of civil society in national development. As you can see, our sisters have experienced the transition of a failed states in countries like Libya, South Sudan, Afghanistan, Syria, or some other countries around the world because of a closed civic space. Okay, and because of authoritarian regimes, what civil society has done in Nigeria is prevent and curtail  some of these draconian processes of the regime that is trying to suppress the speech and the association and expression of activist, human rights defenders, civil society, organizations and journalists, so what we want to do instead of being so reactionary, and saying, Okay, how do we respond, we need to get a lawyer, we need to, we need to sue, we are, we tend to be more reactive to this process. So what this does is to, is to create a friendly conversation with the public, right. And even with those in government, and those in the private sector, like, look, the civil society has played a critical, vital role, especially, and I focus more on the nonprofit organizations, because those are the ones that are majorly under attack. Yes, we have the journalists, the religious organizations, or what have you, but we have to just focus on one aspect of civil society because if you focus on others, it will dilute the message. So all we're doing is saying, Hey, this is what we do. And we want to collaborate with the government and with private sector and with the public, so that we can all push for a better society. Okay. So that's what we're doing. We want to change the narrative, because anytime you hear about what civil societies do, like, for example, when an organization like Yaga Africa talked about the Electoral Act, and what happened, various responses on Twitter came up saying, well, all these organizations that are eating the interests of foreign donors, and oh! these organizations are there to line their pockets. One thing they don't understand is that civil society organizations have a bunch of stories behind them with passionate founders, and, and, and individuals that just wanted to make a change. And they just gathered people, which is freedom of association, to now make that change. So just addressing the role of civil society in an open platform of discourse, and with content, such as visual content, to be able to sensitize people about the critical role of civil society. And luckily, the creatives that are doing this, you know, they've produced various movies, various documentaries. So, it's going to be in consumable content, where people are able to consume this and begin some of these discussions, especially as we're getting towards the 2023 elections, to get a sense of the critical role of civil society, and getting people to really understand their power, and who they are, and what they can contribute to society. So it's opening, it's just being proactive in making sure that we're able to do our part in changing the narrative on who CSOs are in national development, and which is, you know, all in all, addressing the shrinking civic space in Nigeria.

 
Zainab [00:13:05]

I think, for me, what stuck out the most, and I think to a lot of people is the fact that it is very much proactive, rather than reactive. Because I feel like that is a huge problem in Nigeria, especially in the civics, we just wait till you know the damage has been done. And then we try to clean up the space. And I think you've already answered our next question, which was the narrative shifts that you intend to create for the civil society with the documentary Nigeria with which you have spoken on? Because I can see that the documentary series intends to provide a historical context of the host society and their role in maintaining a healthy civic space in Nigeria. So, we have witnessed instances where civil society has been at the forefront in providing public goods such as education, water, you know, and hygiene in underserved communities. What true exactly does civil society play in nation building in Nigeria?

Efua Elens-Edeh [00:14:02]

That is an excellent question. And one thing that I've even realized is that in producing this documentary, my crew and I have been to various organizations, I have organizations, fascinating, like the Lagos Food Bank initiative, that during COVID-19 was able to expand the scope of its work by providing food and giving out food to people all over the country. So, because of that, they've even joined the Global Food Bank Network. So, they've been able to donate food, which is not what you hear often like, okay, the only time you hear about a food bank is in churches or mosques. But you have an organization that is doing that. You have organizations that are providing health care, giving sickle cell anemia, awareness’s having HIV AIDS awareness, you know, and cancer screening. You have organization is doing just dynamic work in various underserved communities. And it is civil society organizations, community-based organizations, nonprofit organizations that are doing the work in the trenches, right. And it is important that we realize that it is not government, even sometimes government even sent people to this civil society organizations, I was having a conversation with Seyi from the Nigerian network of NGOs, he said, some of his members, which are nonprofit organizations, when the government in Ibadan is trying to address, you know, street kids and their interventions, they send them to these organizations. That is why we need these stories need to be told, which is why we're working on this documentary, once you understand that look, civil society organizations are vital. You know, like, for example, an organization I spoke to, human development initiatives, they work alongside government helping to monitor the various infrastructure projects that are done by schools all over the country through UBEC. So, they're doing that kind of work, people are registering from Jamb and other NECO and various other testaments in these organizations. So, you have this kind of collaboration going on between civil society organizations, and government, and even the private sector, that they've been seeing, the value of civil society organizations is just for that to be more prevalent, and making it part of their sustainability portfolio. So that there is a win-win case in point between the two entities. So, it's civil society plays a critical role in education. You know there are organizations like Leap Africa, like connected development, tracking, education funding, you have organizations like Junior Achievement Nigeria, that is providing financial education, go on, and on and on, about various civil society organizations that are going into schools and doing their part. Right, it is so vital for us as a society organization to be proactively communicating our work not just to each other, but to the public, right? It's a really vital key to understand that they have a rule so that individuals can rally around civil society organizations. In the Western countries, you have people partnering with civil society organizations, sending them monthly donations, you understand what I'm saying? Direct Deposit. So, if I'm an organization that I know that I get direct deposits of, I don't know, 10 million naira a month, 5 million naira a month, I know what I can use that money for as an organization institutionally, right? So, these are things we need to look at as a country in really understanding the vital role of civil society organizations, so that it can further enhance their role in nation building. So, I hope that answers your question. 

Zainab [00:18:15]

It does, it does. And that was that was very lovely. Actually, I feel like the civil society actually needs to be given its flowers, because, like you said, a lot of the work that they do, I don't think our government does half of it or even acknowledges it. So we now understand fully that civil society organizations exist to support national development and democracy. However, in a lot of cases, though state authorities use illegal monitoring, again, like we've seen on the news, and on bureaucratic harassment and assaulting public pronouncements to undermine them. What challenges have you encountered while shooting the documentary on civil society? So far?

Efua Elens-Edeh [00:18:56]

That is a good question. Some of the stakeholders are very, very careful, you understand what I'm saying? So that they don't see themselves as undermining the government. Because obviously, they, they don't want it to affect their line of business. So these are things that people should be able to have the freedoms to be able to speak freely, you get what I'm saying, Okay, I'm doing business to Nigeria. What's my experience, like? You understand what I'm saying? What policies can government provide to make it an enabling environment, let us be more profitable so we can hire more citizens, and they pay more taxes, you understand what I'm saying? But these are some of the challenges that I'm facing, you know, trying to communicate with certain stakeholders to participate in the documentary but other than that, everybody else has been quiet because they know that it is about time, we communicated our work as civil society in Nigeria.

Zainab [00:19:54]

This has been actually very quite enlightening. Lastly, before we leave what result do you hope you'll see in outcome of the documentary series you're premiering on civil society

Efua Elens-Edeh [00:20:05]

Oh! beautiful! what I observed like I am a returnee from the US. And what I observed is that when we do great work as civil society organizations, we have these great reports, we have a great closed out event. And then we end up communicating with ourselves as civil society. I want a situation where we're able to further communicate with the public. Though nations have been successful at it but those are the exception and not the rule. This documentary, my goal is for it to spark a discussion on civil society in Nigeria, whether good or bad, you understand what I'm saying, I want a situation and people are talking. Oh! civil society organizations, not just as Oh, civil society organizations would not as a follow up for government or private sector, but the real nitty gritty, the nuts and bolts of the critical role of civil society in Nigeria, and how individuals, communities can rally around civil society to further strengthen this sector. And to further keep the civic space open because when the civic space stays open, then we have a thriving robust civil society. So, this is our proactive role in in addressing the shrinking spaces in Nigeria.  Thank you 

Zainab [00:21:29]

Miss Efua, thank you very much for your time and enlightening us. I have personally learned a thing or two and I am absolutely looking forward to seeing the documentary when it comes out and then good luck with it moving forward. This is where we draw the curtain today's listeners were thankful that you could join us today. Do join us when you come your way next episode, we look forward to really having you and have a beautiful day.

Outro [00:21:54]

To join the conversation about accountability in the civic space kindly visit partnersunited.org. If your rights or civic liberties have been violated, you can visit www.reports.nhrc.gov.ng to make a report.