CSOs Make Case For Enabling Regulatory Environment To Operate

By Lucky Isibor

More than 300 persons across Nigeria from the civil society community, state actors, government regulatory agencies, legislators, donors, and other stakeholders converged on Abuja, Nigeria’s capital Tuesday, 13 September to discuss appropriate instruments of regulation and effective processes to regulate CSOs operation in Nigeria.

Deputy Head of EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Mr. Alexandre Borgis Gomes making his remarks.

 There were over 1,000 other participants drawn from the United Kingdom, Netherlands and representatives of CSOs, national and state-level regulatory agencies, development partners, donor community, private sector, opinion leaders, and other interest groups who joined the discussion virtually.

Addressing the participants, at the three-day conference with the theme “National Conference on Civil Society Operational Environment in Nigeria”, held at the NAF Conference Centre and Suites, Kado, Abuja, Deputy Head of EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Mr. Alexandre Borgis Gomes who represented Madam Samuela Isopi, Ambassador of the European Union Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS noted that the conference is timely ahead of the 2023 general elections in Nigeria as CSOs are expected to set agenda for the political gladiators ahead electioneering.

Earlier, the National Programme Manager, EU - ACT program, Damilare Babalola said the conference is the first of its kind that brought key stakeholders to discuss critical issues affecting the CSOs to enhance their capacity and generate a perspective of ensuring development in the country.

There were goodwill messages from Lucy Pearson, Country Director, British Council, Nigeria, and Lydia Odeh, Chief of Party, USAID-SCALE Programmes among others.

Briefing newsmen at the venue of the event, Edosa Oviawe, Programs Manager Global Rights Nigeria, who is the Chairman sub-committee of the conference observed that the lack of a unified body for the regulation of activities of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Nigeria has put both regulatory agencies and civil society actors at loggerheads.

Oviawe explained that the conference is aimed at generating shared understanding and collective perspectives by stakeholders on appropriate instruments of regulation and effective processes to regulate CSOs operation in Nigeria.

 He said the public should be enlightened about the roles of CSOs and the need for an enabling regulatory environment that protects the sector from repressive legislation.

While bemoaning the multiplicity of regulatory agencies overseeing the activities of CSOs in the country, Oviawe noted that misguided perception continues to enlarge the narrative among  the regulatory agencies that CSOs are not adequately regulated.

“Despite the availability of over a dozen legislations and policies that currently guide the activities of the not-for-profit sector, at least five unsuccessful attempts have been made within the past decade by different regulatory agencies including the National Assembly to introduce new legislations and policies to further regulate CSO operations without recourse to extant legal provisions. Instead, a misguided perception continues to expand the narrative among these regulatory agencies that CSOs are not adequately regulated.

“Although the need for capacity improvement and enabling regulatory environment require attention to strengthen CSO operations in Nigeria, it is, however, expedient to address the concerns around the regulatory framework as several issues embedded therein need to be clarified to clear the air of the current state of confusion among all concerned stakeholders,” he said.  

The maiden edition of the conference is the first of its kind in Nigeria and is supported by the European Union Delegation to Nigeria and West Africa and EU-Agents for Citizen-driven Transformation ( ACT) Programme through a collaboration of EU-ACT Programme, Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) and USAID-Strengthening Civic Advocacy and Local Engagement (SCALE) aimed at improving the civil society regulatory environment in Nigeria.