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COMMUNIQUE
INTRODUCTION
Human Rights Monitor (HRM) held a two-day workshop on "Constitutional
and Legislative Advocacy for Civil Society Groups in Northern Nigeria", on
Thursday 13 and Friday 14 January 2000, at the British Council Hall, Kaduna.
Participants at the workshop were drawn from various civil society
groups including the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Nigeria Labor Congress (NLC), Women
in Nigeria (WIN), Nigeria Union of Journalists, religious groups and organizations,
students groups and organizations, Pro-democracy and human rights organizations in
Northern Nigeria.
The workshop was aimed at:
 | Educating civil society groups and organizations on democratic concepts to enable them
take effective action on democracy and human rights. |
| Monitor and advocate for accountability and strengthen democratic institutions. |
Five lead papers were presented at the workshop.
The workshop identified certain critical areas of national life in
which civil society groups should pay more attention and step up their advocacy campaigns.
These areas include:
| Economic and social rights |
| The 1999 Constitution and the need for legislative advocacy to expunge or amend certain
provisions |
| Ethnic and religious conflicts and the increasing number of ethnic and armed groups |
| Citizenship rights |
| Powers and limitations of the Federal Government vis-à-vis autonomy of the federating
units |
| Minority rights and gender relations in a constitutional democracy |
| Corruption, nepotism and abuse of office by public officers. |
OBSERVATIONS
The workshop made the following observations:
| There is increasing secrecy in the deliberations of the National Assembly, the
States’ Houses of Assembly and other arms of Government. The secrecy which surrounds
certain businesses of government tend to deny civil society groups access to vital
information which may assist in influencing some decisions of government and its agencies. |
| Corruption and corrupt practices are on the increase and it appears that the more
government claims to fight corruption, the more corruption and corrupt practices seem to
thrive. Corruption and nepotism cuts across all sections of the Nigerian society. |
| The new democratic institutions in Nigeria have tended to engender undemocratic
initiatives, which are not in the interest of society. Following the long period of
military rule and dictatorship, there have been repressed sentiments. With the emergence
of democratic rule, these sentiments have been given free expression leading to rise in
certain groups. |
| There is the need for civil society groups to develop new skills and evolve strategies
to enhance their performance. There is the need for them to be sufficiently educated on
the various components of democracy and their practical application. There is equally the
need for these civil society groups to be conversant with various laws and legislation as
well as the jurisdiction and limitations of the judiciary |
| There is the need for civil society group to conduct adequate research on issues they
intend to handle and recruit experts in the areas of interest and collaborate with other
groups and the media. |
| The various ethnic and religious groups and individuals tend to defend corruption and
nepotism where their members are affected. There is need for reorientation of the society
on the long-term consequences of corrupt practices. |
| There is the need for the entrenchment of strong democratic culture of accountability in
government expenditure through enhanced educational enlightenment of society by civil
society groups and the press. |
| Some civil society groups have become so elitist that they appear to distance themselves
from the masses. |
| Majority of civil society group depend on foreign organizations for funding of their
activities, which may not give them absolute freedom to propagate their ideas. There is
therefore need for these groups to seek alternative sources of funding from within the
country. |
| Some politicians tend to exploit ethnic and religious crisis within communities using
such conflicts as electoral weapon. |
RECOMMENDATIONS
The workshop made the following resolutions/recommendations:
- The Federal and State governments should ensure adequate provision of basic welfare
services and infrastructure for citizens. And, as a further step in checking corrupt
practices, there should be enhanced reward for workers especially the payment of living
wages and creation of more job opportunities for economic empowerment of citizens.
Government should also consider payment of social security allowance for the unemployed to
check the rising wave of criminal tendencies. As long as many people remain unemployed,
survival of democracy remains threatened.
- For genuine democratization of the polity and economy, citizens at the grass root should
enjoy greater democratic power. Consequently, local government councils should have more
resources to enhance the performance of their activities and strengthen their
accountability. Additional powers should be devolved to Local Government Councils and
resources to the local councils should come from reducing allocation to the Federal
government. Additional local councils should be created while government should not embark
on the creation of additional states for at least, the next ten years.
- The operation of the Code of Conduct Bureau should be rationalized. Citizens should be
empowered, protected and encouraged to bring to the attention of the Bureau, any officer
they suspect to be living above their income. In order to guard against opening a
floodgate of mischievous petitioners, complaints may be required to present their
information in the form of sworn affidavits or statements made before and attested to by a
police officer not below the rank of an Inspector.
- Assets declaration should also be made public to enhance transparency and accountability
in the conduct of public affairs. Civil Society Groups and organizations should therefore
support the passage of the Freedom of Information Bill that is presently pending at the
National Assembly and promote it when it becomes law.
- The power, independence and tenure of office of Auditor-Generals and Internal Auditors
should be strengthened and protected. They must be under obligation to produce periodic
audit reports and exercise timely control to prevent fraud.
- Transparency should be introduced in the bidding process for contracts. Information on
the nature of work or supplies, amount of contract, payment schedule and for work done
should be made available to the public so that citizens can participate in the monitoring
of contractors and officials.
- A comprehensive legal framework for the prevention and control of corruption should be
introduced. There should be adequate provision for punishment, which must be firm and its
administration prompt, such provisions should be widely disseminated for the mobilization
of citizens. Public Officers found guilty of corruption and abuse of office should be
banned permanently from holding public office in any government or government agency. An
independent policing and judicial system for monitoring and punishing corruption should be
maintained to promptly detect, apprehend, prosecute and convict corrupt persons.
- Civil society groups should establish presence and make their activities felt at the
grass root level as well as empower rural communities to monitor and check their leaders.
The empowerment should take the form of more education and enlightenment campaigns on
democratic ideals and what is expected of those who hold public offices. These groups
should also collaborate with media organizations and involve them in their activities in
order to enhance coverage and dissemination of information on areas of importance.
- Government should re-organize the judiciary for more effective administration of
justice. Appointment and removal of judicial officers should be in strict compliance with
constitutional provisions. The constitutional democracy that Nigeria is attempting to
evolve will depend much for its success on the judiciary which has the duty to maintain,
protect and uphold the constitution and the form of government it has ordained. For the
judiciary to be able to do this, it needs to re-orientate itself and develop more skills
and attitudes that will enable it discharge its duties under the constitution. The
independence of the judiciary, which is critical to the performance of the judiciary must
be ensured and enhanced. If democracy must survive, the rule of law must be seen to be
transparent so that the rich and the poor, the oppressor and the oppressed, may get equal
chances in the course of justice.
- Nigerians should begin to transit from their ethnic enclaves to more embracing concepts
of love of neighbors respect for traditions and cultures of other groups. Religion and
ethnicity should be de-emphasized in national discourse. Religious leaders should be true
to the tenets of their religions and avoid using religion to champion divisive ideas.
- Traditional institutions should be democratized and the State Governments and Local
Governments should not use State resources to fund the traditional institutions.
- Avenues should be created for members of the society to input into decision-making
processes of the National Assembly and the State Houses of Assembly. Civil Society Groups
should facilitate the formation of legislative clinics to enable State Houses of Assembly
representatives interact with their constituencies in order to enhance participatory
democracy.
Festus Okoye Esq
Executive Director
The workshop was made possible by the generous support of the National
Endowment for Democracy. Along with the participants who joined our workshop, Human Rights
Monitor wishes to sincerely thank the Endowment for its support.
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