INVESTIGATION OF THE IMPACT OF MODERN DAY CIVIL RIGHT MOVEMENT IN NIGERIA

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

The civil rights movement was a struggle for social justice that took place mainly during the 1950s and 1960s for Black Americans to gain equal rights under the law in the United States. The Civil War had officially abolished slavery, but it didn’t end discrimination against Black people—they continued to endure the devastating effects of racism, especially in the South. By the mid-20th century, Black Americans had had more than enough of prejudice and violence against them. They, along with many white Americans, mobilized and began an unprecedented fight for equality that spanned two decades. However in Nigeria a  vibrant civil society is sine qua non to the sustenance of any nation‘s development. Studies have shown that the role of civil right  groups is vital in the political, social and economic development of African countries (see Diamond, 1999; Ndegwa, 1996; Yohanness, 1997; and Gyimah-Boadi, 2004). According to Yohanness (1997), this role can be view from three dimensions. First, improving the quality of governance; second, developing the capacity of governments to apply the principles of accountability, transparency and openness; third, working towards gaining the commitment of all elected officials, public servants, and NGOs to good governance. In view of this, one can infer that, CRO‘s have, contributed immensely to democratic consolidation and sustainable development in Nigeria. In fact, the responsibility of ensuring sustainable development rest on the shoulder of CROs. This is because; they are the agents of development in any nation. They serve as the internal correctional mechanism to check and balance the activities of government to avoid wasteful spending, misappropriation and embezzlement of funds and help determine or prioritise the needs of the people. CROs more often than not champion dissenting views with government officials on a particular issue at a point in time. Political executives premise this on the fact that they derived their policy option and direction largely, from the cooperation and collaboration among certain key stakeholders as against caucus decision-making and public - policy process. Be that as it may, political and development analysts have rightly come to give great prominence to the activities of CROs. One must note that the collaboration and participation of the civil society is frequently a crucial factor in the successful implementation of development initiatives. This point is premised on the view that CROs  are typically closer than most government actors are to the grassroots of the community, with consequent advantages both in the ability to mobilize at the levels governments may find difficult to reach and in the sensitivity to grassroots needs that may be vital to the achievement of development objectives African Development Forum [ADF], 2004. This can be seen from the activities of CROs on the input side of large-scale initiatives, in consultations and forums at all levels, and also in the effective pursuit of goals such as achieving targets for representation, promoting regional integration and international cooperation, and maintaining or restoring respect for human rights in Nigeria. It is on this ground, that this paper aims to analyse the impact of the roles of CROs in promoting, maintaining and consolidating socio-economic and political development in Nigeria. It is important to note that civil rights will change based on where a person claims citizenship because civil rights are, in essence, an agreement between the citizen and the nation or state that the citizen lives within. From an international perspective, international organizations and courts are not as likely to intervene and take action to enforce a nation's violation of its own civil rights, but are more likely to respond to human rights violations. While human rights should be universal in all countries, civil rights will vary greatly from one nation to the next. No nation may rightfully deprive a person of a human right, but different nations can grant or deny different civil rights. Thus, civil rights struggles tend to occur at local or national levels and not at the international level. At the international stage, we focus on the violation of human rights. Civil right  organisations, therefore, have seen their ever-increasing relevance in shaping the political landscape of the country as ones that occupy the civil space and monitor the activities of the State. Thus, where civil organisations are dormant and inactive, the state officials would society probably have a field day to do whatever they like with little or no accountability consciousness. On the other hand, where the (CROs) are very active and vibrant, their activities would serve as checks to the excesses of the state, thus creating awareness for accountability, responsiveness and good governance. The onus of the study is therefore to determine how far the civil society organisations have been able to sustain the momentum in keeping the state on its toes to abide by the manifestoes and political promises made to the electorates while maintaining internal consistency with respect to decorous conduct of its own activities because he who lives in glass house does not throw stones.  

1.2 Statement of research problem

The over-centralisation of political authority at the centre without the readiness of the government to accept the existence of another multiple areas of power in the state of which CROs are one is the albatross of governance in Nigeria. The CROs are outside the sphere of governmental activities which includes and manifests inequity, inequality, lack of transparency, poor accountability, lack of probity and legitimacy. They (CROs) remain as the direct watchdog of the state, hence, the State CROs interface. Consequently the state, often, resorts to a repressive relationship with the CROs. The demonstration experiment by Nigeria‟s Fourth Republic has not departed from the previous regimes‟ allegations this is because political functionaries often

have counterpoised political agenda to the yearnings of the mass of the citizenry. CROs, being organised groups, drawn from diverse interest groups have a pivotal role to play in reconciling government programmes with the needs of the people. One of the serious problems in Nigeria is the general misconception of governance by citizens to mean sharing and looting of national resources; the revenue from oil are seen as “national cake” meant to be shared by all without considering how it should be baked (Okotoni, 2006). The problem is further compounded by looting and squandering by successive governments coupled with lack of transparency, poor accountability and bad leaders in the three tiers of government (Okotoni, 2006). Transparency International (TI) rated Nigeria in 2012 as one of the first ten most corrupt nations in the world and twenty-seventh corrupt nation in 2013 (Transparency International, 2013). Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) World Fact book of January 2012 rated Nigeria as the sixth nation in the world with 70% of her population living

below poverty line in their country comparison of nations living below poverty line (CIA World Fact Book, 2012).

1.3 Objectives of the study

The primary objective of this study is as follows

1.     To find out how civil right movements have contributed to the promotion of citizens right.

2.     To find out if successive government  adopt the operations and criticism from civil right movements

3.     To find out ways civil right movement can influence government policies

1.4 Research questions

The following questions have been prepared for the study

1.     How has civil right movements contributed to the promotion of citizens’ right?

2.     Has successive government adopt the operations and criticism from civil right movement?

3.     How can civil right movement influence government policies?

1.5 Significance of the study

The significance of this study cannot be underestimated as:

l  This study will examine impact of  modern day civil right movements 

l  The findings of this research work will undoubtedly provide the much needed information to government organization,civil rights movement , individual  and academia.

1.6 Scope of the study

This study examines impact of modern day civil rights movements in Nigeria. Hence, this study will be delimited to  selected civil society groups in Nigeria.

1.7 Limitations of the study

This study was constrained by a number of factors which are as follows:

 just like any other research, ranging from unavailability of needed accurate materials on the topic under study, inability to get data

Financial constraint , was faced by  the researcher ,in getting relevant materials  and  in printing and collation of questionnaires

Time factor: time factor pose another constraint since having to shuttle between writing of the research and also engaging in other academic work making it uneasy for the researcher

Operational definition of terms

Impact: the action of one object coming forcibly into contact with another.

Civil right movement: a struggle by African Americans in the mid-1950s to late 1960s to achieve Civil Rights equal to those of whites, including equal opportunity in employment, housing, and education, as well as the right to vote, the right of equal access to public facilities