The Shrinking Civic Space in Nigeria

Abiodun Baiyewu and Nelson Olanipekun discuss how civil society organizations are working to strengthen and protect civil liberties in Nigeria's shrinking civic space.

Transcript

Intro : [00:00:05] You're listening to Partners United on the Civic Space, brought to you by Shehu Musa Yar'Adua Foundation.

 Abiodun Baiyewu: [00:00:13] The Nigeria civic space has become highly repressed. It has not always been so. It's always been vibrant from the pre-colonial era up until this moment. But this space is always been contested and has witnessed several swells and ebbs over time. Every day, Nigerians are making history as they engage the civic space and seek to own their fledging democracy. Nigeria's civic space is shrinking. Ironically, in a democracy, the perennial insecurity has been the government's cop out for restricting the space. Citizens are bewildered and wonder about their rights and if indeed they have the capacity to lead from the center. Nigeria's civic space is in need of a boost, and it's up to citizens to salvage it. Do you have a role to play in this? My name is Abiodun Baiyewu, Executive Director at Global Rights. My organization in collaboration with the Shehu Musa Foundation has been working on several initiatives to strengthen Nigeria's civic space. Welcome to another episode of People Power. Our guest today is Mr. Nelson Olanipekun, who is Team Lead at Citizens Gavel.

 Nelson Olanipekun: [00:01:34] Thanks for having me. Great to be here.

 Abiodun Baiyewu: [00:01:37] So let's jump in quickly and let me just start by asking a very basic question. In the simplest words what do you consider the civic space to be and how does it affect our lives as everyday Nigerians?

 Nelson Olanipekun: [00:01:59] The civic space for me are all those two things. The physical space where people exercise their rights as guaranteed under various laws, including the Constitution and the online space that this uhm also constitutes uhm civic space. So with the emergence of technology, both the digital space and the physical spaces that we consider to be the camp zero for activism has been seen as civic space. But how does it now affect our day to day life even Nigeria emerged from civic space, pre-colonial era of course. We all know that the British were unwilling to yield to our demands for self-rule but the civic space brought that to fruition, and ensured that we emerged from colonialism to a republic. And the civic space have from then guaranteed different versions of our rights. From military government to democracy to different uhm labour and economic rights. The civic space has been the space used as a fulcrum to push economic, human, digital rights in Nigeria. It guarantees freedom. It guarantees prosperity and good governance.

 Abiodun Baiyewu: [00:03:42] So what I hear you say is that our civic space is our right to our public space and our rights to self-governance ourselves. And in that way, we guarantee our own freedoms by ourselves, not as dictated by others, and it guarantees development. But how does it do that? How does it guarantee prosperity?

 Nelson Olanipekun: [00:04:07] Yes, uhm a bit of history here. Power doesn't yield until it's demanded, or it means an equal force. And often times, people in governments are unwilling to concede to the demands of the citizenry because probably they feel the demands are too much or the people in government are too greedy to yield to our demands and for you to progress economically, you have to demand for that and prosperity would come where there is freedom, where your right is guaranteed, where you have trust in the judicial system to get redress for infringement of your rights, where you won't be slapped by law enforcement agency and they will tell you nothing will happen. That is only where prosperity would come let's take it down a little bits to economics. Foreign direct investments would only come into a country where governance, security and freedom is ascertained. A troubled country would be a bad territory for investments. People would definitely take their money elsewhere. Even citizens of those country, because they don't trust that the country is safe enough to invest and once there is no investment, there can't be prosperity.

 Abiodun Baiyewu: [00:05:31] Right. So uhm when it's restricted and it is harder for normal life to go on and when normal life is hard, then there will be no trust to invest in such a society. And where there's no investment, there's no prosperity. I very much agree with you. But then reflecting on Nigeria at sixty one. What's your assessment of Nigeria civic space in the past sixty one years?

 Nelson Olanipekun: [00:06:19] So Nigeria's civic space has been tied to leadership. Every uhm leader that comes to govern Nigeria at the four year term determines the space, the growth of the space, the freedom that is provided within that space which shouldn't be. The Constitution and the laws should be what governs the growth of those spaces. And of course, you know, lately the civicus are more into as kind of observed that the Nigeria civic space has grown to a repressive state. That means we are going from bad to worse. So uhm for the past sixty-one years, Nigeria civic space has not been progressive.

 Abiodun Baiyewu: [00:07:19] So it's not been progressive, and you think that it's largely a reflection of the leadership over time that each time we have a new leader, it would be at the bias of the political leader to determine how free the space is and that while in reality the protection of that space should be constitutional, should be legally backed. Do you think we do not have sufficient legal or constitutional backing to protect the civic space in Nigeria? 

 Nelson Olanipekun: [00:07:52] I believe we do. The Constitution, of course, especially Chapter four of the Constitution, guarantees all those rights and provides for Nigeria civic space, especially. However, the problem has been the overreach of the leadership and the enforcement. Nigeria at present and for a while does not fully operate what the true meaning of democracy and the true essence of democracy. And why do I say this? Of course, we've seen people who have been arrested, key actors in the civic space who have been arrested, detained without trial. You've seen people whose property has been destroyed without due process. And you've seen disobedience of court order. At a point, I was involved in a case where the court has ruled back to back several times that a person should be released. It was a lawyer that was detained that he should be released. However, the government did not obey, and this is not just an isolated case, it's a common scenario in Nigeria. And you cannot really tie it just to this leadership. However, it's being higher during this regime. So the power is guaranteed by the Constitution. But each leadership has tried over time to constrain our power to something that has become a mirage of a true spirit of Nigerians guaranteed rights.

Abiodun Baiyewu: [00:09:46] Ok, so the Constitution does guarantee those rights. But then there has been a failure to enforce those rights which leads then to the question, how conscious are Nigerians of their rights and obligations to protect their civic space and their rights to that space?

 Nelson Olanipekun: [00:10:05] Yes. So I would like to tie this consciousness to End SARS. Since End SARS, I observed personally that the growth in consciousness has really increased. People are becoming more aware of their rights, of their role in governance  of what the community requires of them, that's of course, if they allow, you know, government to rule them without the contributing and demanding from the government, asking questions from the government and directing the paths of the government, their rights would be infringed on and they won't have the economic progress to see. So since that, and also a little further down towards the Occupying Nigeria, we've seen about this this consciousness has grown and people now ask questions through engagements of organisations like Yar'Adua Foundation, Global Rights, BudgIT, Citizens Gavel and many other organizations working in this space the citizenry have been given lots of information and this information, laws, data are out there to grow that consciousness to something that independently, they can ask questions and demand answers from the government on ways to better govern the states. And uhm of course, we've seen that this consciousness keeps going. The only thing that we've also observed is the pushback and the repression that comes from the government to repress the civic space.

 Nelson Olanipekun: [00:12:10] You know, in Nigeria, you see places like Lekki Toll Gate that has constituted a place for civic space activism, Places like the Millennium Park in Abuja has been the ground zero for civic space activism. But over time, we've seen the clamp down on those civic space and people have gradually transcended to online space and the popular platform being Twitter. And people talked, expressed themselves, groomed the Nigerian civic space, feed it and activate it via this platform. But of course, you see again, the government comes to clamp down, to ban Twitter in Nigeria, you know. But you see the ingenuity of Nigerians coming into play using VPN to guarantee their rights because the ban was illegal. So if an illegality should try to curb legality, I believe that Nigerians have the rights, to exercise their rights, protect their rights, by continuing on the path of legality. So Nigeria civic space have grown, the consciousness have grown. But what we've also seen is that there's also a force that has tried to to continually repress the voice in that civic space.

Abiodun Baiyewu: [00:13:52] So while consciousness has grown, there has also been increased repression by government of this right. So let's talk a bit about these core rights within the civic space. Let's talk about freedom of speech, freedom of information, freedom of association, the right to protest. Now you mentioned the Twitter ban, Occupy Nigeria movement and a lot of the things that have happened in the civic space. So what are your thoughts about this freedoms in Nigeria and how you are impacted or how everyday Nigerians are impacted by them? 

 Nelson Olanipekun: [00:14:31] Yes, like I earlier noted, this freedom in reality and over time seems to have been subjected to the willingness, to the permission of the persons in power. And it depends on the level of goodwill that person enjoys or  that person gives. That is to the level at which citizens can exercise that freedom of expression on the other alike rights. However, in truth, those rights are not subject to regime. They are independence of regime and so far, we've seen over time that those rights have been repressed. Freedom of expression specifically, are which the key actors in that space are journalists, media practitioners. Media practitioners and journalists are one of the people that have suffered most rights violation; from physical brutality to enforced disappearance, to arrest detention without trial and many more course, I will still make reference to the different horrid amendments that the government have tried to do lately. From social media bill, to the amendment of the Nigeria commission bill, all in the bits to repress, the civic space, the rights to speech and to pass on information. Even though Nigeria added signatories to many treaties that protect these rights. However, the government and the leadership in power have always found a way, from back door to front door to clamp down on this right. Of course, we also see the Corporate Affairs Commission Matters Act how the government used it as a tool to restrict the rights of incorporated trustees. The end use in Nigeria as an attempt to clamp down on these rights that you earlier mentioned. So there have been ploys, there have been attacks on this civic space, you know, over time. But the consciousness that we spoke about has grown and has always been a way to push back, you know, against this, attack.

 Abiodun Baiyewu: [00:17:41] Consciousness has grown, but that people have become more fearful over time. Would you agree that this is the true state of things in Nigeria? 

 Nelson Olanipekun: [00:20:28] I would have to acknowledge yes. people are afraid. But of course even in the face of that fear, people have become also courageous. You know, people have, they've have sued and have keep standing for their rights, you know, to make Nigeria better. But of course, people have also become more strategic in the way they engage. At times, instead of using domestic means to enforce rights, you know, to protect their rights, they become strategic by using regional and international tools or platforms to enforce those rights because we know that domestic tools can be easily manipulated. But the regional and international tools are tools that cannot be easily manipulated. And so this fear has brought about ingenuity and creativity and courage, as opposed to backing down which the government wanted.

 Abiodun Baiyewu: [00:19:11] Regional tools and the international tools they often sound so far away from everyday Nigerians and the reality. Uhm apart from engaging the courts, what can every day Nigerians do to protect their civic space?

 Nelson Olanipekun: [00:19:29] Apart from the courts, of course, the National Assembly should have been one of the platforms to protect Nigerians from overreach. However,  we all know that, National Assembly, has not really lived to that level of duty. But at times the National Assembly have being a powerful tool against individuals in government. But the media has also been powerful too, platforms like social media has been a powerful tool to protect rights. It's difficult for government to go against an outcry from the citizenry. Many times, when Nigerians wake up and shouts and scream and protest against government policy, we know that those policies don't sail through. Look at the various amendments that they've attempted to push through the National Assembly. But because Nigerians woke up and exercised their rights within the civic space, those things have never gone through. But beyond that, it's also the fact that some of these regional instruments like ECOWAS, like African courts and human rights and people's rights. And the ICC and even the Magna Carta Act and so many other Acts like that are also tools that can be used by CSOs and NGOs to protect the civic space for individuals that are trying to overreach. Uhm but citizens would have to work with these NGOs to be able to protect these rights. Uhm it's difficult for an NGO to be the one to file and tender evidence in court.

 Nelson Olanipekun: [00:21:50] There have been situations where citizens are shown courage by whistleblowing. You know, and pushed and exercised these rights, protected the civic space and advanced the space. Just by speaking out or by whistle blowing. And this has really helped all that to take it up from there so to say. But of course, the labor unions are also great platforms to push some of this, especially economic and labor rights. But beyond this is also the fact that as a citizen, we have the duty to be our brother's keeper. Because these strives don't just come, they come in form of security agencies trampling down on individuals, and you have to protect your brother by identifying those incidents, identifying the perpetrators, uhm reaching out to people that can help your neighbor in those occurrences. To to to to to either file a suit or use other legal means to protect your neighbor. So civic space is not an abstract. It comes in all these forms of arrest and detention of enforced disappearance and all those. Those are ways that this clampdown comes. And if you a citizen, and you help to protect your neighbor,by doing a simple video recording of that scenario, it could go a long way, you know, to protect the civic space.

 Abiodun Baiyewu: [00:24:00] Ok, so that would go a long way to protect the civic space. At some point you mentioned pressure groups, which means that you think that if we together to organize ourselves to deal with despotic regimes, that we would be more successful in protecting our civic space. If we were as Nigerians to look out for one another, then we'd be more successful in protecting our civic space, and I very much agree with you. But also at another point you had mentioned labor unions and their role in the civic space but I'm very saddened by the fact that in reality, Nigeria's labor unions seem to have gone on a decline. And it's not just labor unions, student unions as well. What do you think happened to them and what role do you think their decline would play in Nigeria civic space.

 Nelson Olanipekun: [00:25:02] Yeah, I remember when I was young and labor unions were the to go to. we looked up to whenever there is an increment in fuel, we looked up to the labor unions to be what I would call the savior of the month. But of course, recently, like you rightly said, it has declined. And I think it is government also being being smart trying to compromise the labor union whether it's money or in kind and all this has really affected the civic space. But I believe we also need to be more creative in the way we elect leaders of this civil union. Uhm of course, people with adequate track record will be good in subsequent elections. And one of the process that I admire so much that a colleague of mine is also working on is Elect Her. Elect Her is an organization that serves to promote willing female individuals that want to run for office. They groom them, they teach them, they train them and they even provide support for their campaigns and election process. If we could borrow from that idea and implement in the way we run pressure groups, you know, that could be a way to root out people that are not qualified or that would be compromised. I think we need to rethink how we will be going forward. We can't do same old. We can't use same methodology and expect different results. Uhm we need to try a different approach. To empower labor unions and other organizations, you know, to protect the civic space. This, I believe, is the only option we've got to have a different outcome in the coming years because what is done is done already. But we can change the future. And that's one of the essence of conversations like this.

 Abiodun Baiyewu: [00:27:49] Thank you so much, Mr Nelson Olanipekun, your thoughts are very valid that to control the Nigerian civic space, to protect our civic space is really in our hands as citizens and this we must do. It's been nice conversing with you today and I look forward to having another conversation with you real soon in the future. And again, I leave us Nigerians with the question, what role are you playing in protecting our democracy, in our role as citizens in participatory government? Do you have a role in this and are you doing your bit? Thank you.

Outro: [00:28:34] To join the conversation about accountability in the civic space, kindly visit partnersunited.org. If your rights or civil liberties have been violated, you can visit www.report.nhrc.gov.ng to make a report.