Following the issuance of security alerts by the Governments of the United States and United Kingdom and the subsequent withdrawals of their citizens from Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, we encourage our members across the country and in Abuja specifically to please stay alert and vigilant to any perceived threat to their lives and properties.

While the Inspector General of Police, IGP Usman Baba has assured Nigerians that there is no imminent threat in Abuja or anywhere else in the country, we enjoin members to minimize travels, physical gatherings- conferences and workshops, or campaigns where possible at this time until all indications of impending chaos subside.

We urge members to develop and execute security plans for their organisations including large gatherings. In case there are donor supported events you have planned in Abuja, please reach out to your donors asking for a delay in implementation or change in venue to other parts of the country. Remember this will have cost implications that may need to be negotiated with your grant officer. Organisations based in Abuja may also consider a work from home policy in order to guarantee the safety of their staff.

We encourage CSOs to remain cautious and vigilant in public places especially where crowds gather, including conferences, workshops, places of worship, markets, shopping malls, hotels, bars, restaurants, football viewing centres, displacement camps, transport terminals (including train networks), government buildings, security, and educational institutions (schools, further education colleges and universities are all regular targets), and international organisations.

We encourage our members and their staff, especially within the FCT, to stay alert and report any suspicious or abnormal occurrence and persons to the Police through the following emergency lines as provided by authorities: 08032003913, 08061581938, 07057337653, and 08028940883

Tips for Navigating a Terrorist Attack

These tips apply whether you’re in a public or private space.

Before an Incident

• Be vigilant. Terrorist attacks usually happen in public places. Keep a watch for suspicious behaviour, vehicles, or packages.
• If you have any fears or suspicions, tell the police.
• When you’re in buildings and on public transport, make sure you know where the emergency exits are.

 During an Incident

• We know it is hard to do but try your best to remain calm and patient but stay as alert as you can. Find the safest way to leave the area. Move as quickly and calmly as you can. If you cannot find an exit, find a good hiding spot, and stay there till you are sure it is safe to leave.
• If there’s an explosion outside a building or you hear gunshots, stay inside or as far from the explosion area as you can. Keep away from windows, lifts, and outside doors in case there’s another bomb nearby.
• If there’s a fire, stay low to the floor and exit as quickly as possible. Cover your nose and mouth with a wet cloth if you can. If a door is hot to the touch, don’t open it.
• If you saw the explosion or any suspicious behaviour, tell the police.
• If the event occured near/close to you, carefully but thoroughly check your body for injuries.

 After an Incident

• Help others with first aid if it’s safe to do so. Tell the police if you saw anything that might be useful.

Source: British Red Cross

Do not hesitate to reach out to us at {email] and [phone number] in case of an emergency.

Sincerely,

The NNNGO Security in the Field Team

BACKGROUND

This issue brief is developed to be at the forefront of thinking and building consensus on what a one-stop shop
means to civil society regulatory policies at the sub-national level. Recently civil society organisations have
touted one-stop shops as one of the solutions to the myriad of regulatory directives emanating from ministries
and agencies of governments across different Nigerian states.

Regulatory delivery for civil society at the sub-national level is usually not known to be hinged on any state
legislated law, however, research has shown that both the Child Rights Act and Violence Against Persons
Prohibition Act enacted at the state level provide a legal basis for civil society regulations in the areas of
children and women issues. One frequent lament by organisations is the difficulty of partnering with the
government at the state level without registering with the agency in focus, accessing relevant information on
administrative procedures relating to these registrations and their legal basis is often a challenge.

Download the document here

NNNGO welcomes the non inclusion of nonprofits as designated nonfinancial institution in the money laundering and terrorism prevention laws.

Both the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) ACT, 2022 and Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) ACT, 2022 have removed nonprofits from its definition of designated nonfinancial institutions (DNFI) after years of advocacy.

LAGOS, Nigeria. May 18, 2022/NNNGO—The Nigeria Network of NGOs welcomed the non inclusion of nonprofits in the definition of designated nonfinancial intuitions by the Nigerian government in both the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) ACT, 2022 and Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) ACT, 2022 representing an important win for the nonprofit sector and a bold step in creating an enabling environment for the operations of civil society organisations in Nigeria.

“I would like to express my excitement and congratulate the National Assembly and Federal Government for creating an enabling environment for civil society to thrive by removing nonprofits from the DNFI list. The inclusion of our sector on the list has hindered the operations of many organisations. With this non inclusion a regulatory burden is taken off organisations in the areas of monthly cash transaction reports and SCUML examination visits. The atmosphere for our work from the moment these laws were signed by Mr. President remains positive” NNNGO Executive Director, Oyebisi. B. Oluseyi said in the early hours of Wednesday morning after a careful review of both laws.

There have been some difficult moments in this lengthy advocacy which has seen the Network engaging with regulators, evaluators and the National Assembly from the 8th and 9th Assemblies in line with the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) Recommendations and its interpretative notes. The work also done by our friends at Spaces for Change (S4C) and our regulators at the Special Control Unit on Money Laundering in getting to this point is commendable. “I believe this win, driven largely by outcomes of the mutual evaluation for Nigeria demonstrates the country’s ability to focus on its state- building priorities and is an opportunity to improve civic space,” Oyebisi said.

“Now its time for other African countries especially countries using the FATF Recommendations to shrink civic space to learn from Nigeria and to work on critical national priorities that still face civil society’’ he added. “There’s much work to be done and we look forward to being the Special Control Unit on Money Laundering’s (SCUML) partners in addressing the vulnerabilities of the sector to money laundering and terrorism financing”.

–End—

For further information
Oyindamola Aramide
Communications Lead, Nigeria Network of NGOs
oyindamola.aramide@nnngo.org
+234 906 946 0107

About the Nigeria Network of NGOs
NNNGO is the first generic membership organisation for nonprofits in Nigeria dedicated to improving the operational environment for nonprofits. NNNGO brings together more than 3,400 nonprofits from around the country focused on education, health, environment, gender, agriculture, social protection, youth, poverty, good governance, and other areas of progressing national development. Since 1992, NNNGO has worked to advance the common interests of the sector, providing programs that advance national development, civil society legitimacy, transparency, and accountability.

Introduction

The coronavirus pandemic has profound consequences for citizens and businesses across different Nigerian communities as the virus continues to shape local, national, and global agendas towards addressing the triple crisis of health emergency, economy, and political instability. As Nigeria emerged from the lockdown following the COVID-19 crisis, the Nigeria Network of NGOs has been documenting lessons from the measures and the impact they have on civic space. This report is based on two sets of evidence:

Open-source tracking of government measures through official press releases and statements issued by national and sub-national governments on their websites and social media handles.

Download https://nnngo.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/civic-space-Covid-19-1.pdf here :

Civil society organisations play an important role in the country’s socio-economic life contributing largely to both democracy and development. These organisations are founded and led by individuals with passion for change in a world full of challenges. In honour of such individuals, the Nigeria Network of NGOs with support from Google.org created a platform “100 CSO Leaders” to identify, celebrate and recognise nonprofit leaders who have been game changers within civil society. The recipient of this recognition belongs to different thematic categories like human rights, digital rights, disability and inclusion, good governance, environment, academia, youth development, gender, extractives, civic space, and agriculture to mention a few.

To recognise these leaders. a call for application was conducted, and several entities were assessed following rigorous sourcing, nomination, referencing and shortlisting process from an initial list of hundreds of civil society leaders drawn up based on responses to our call, recommendations from organisations and senior sector leaders.

Amidst global and national onslaught of constant contestations, growing infringement on rights, shrinking civic space,

conflicting deadlines and schedules, limited access to financial resources, break-neck speed of policies, laws, and regulations, identifying and celebrating these leaders that are using their influence, ideas, example, talent and discoveries to shape our country and world is long overdue.

“It is a privilege to have been associated with the work that led to the identification of these great sector leaders. Learning about their exemplary performance and reading all of their individual profiles have truly enriched me. It is good to see firsthand how these individuals have contributed to civil society’s growth and along the journey inspired others” Oyebisi, B. Oluseyi, Executive Director, Nigeria Network of NGOs said.

This prestigious list (populated on an ongoing basis) celebrates hard work, innovation, achievements and proves how these leaders have pushed boundaries and continuously sought ways to better society. This recognition will play a very important role in growing and inspiring more sector leaders including motivating those recognised to do more for communities they serve.

The list of recipients can be found at https://100.nnngo.org/

*** The listing is based on shared and open soured information. The NNNGO team took reasonable approach and measures to get complete and accurate information. However, any lapse or concealment of information or any part thereof that would have impacted our listing or recognition of the leaders in any way is beyond the control of the Network or Google.org. Hence, we assume no responsibility towards the said. This listing does not necessarily mean endorsement by Google.org***