News

Category: News

NNNGO ORGANISES UPR ADVOCACY STRATEGY WORKSHOP

In 2013, Nigeria accepted 10 recommendations relating to civic space with a view to strengthening the Nigerian civil society.

 

LAGOS, Nigeria, June 6, 2018–The Nigeria Network of NGOs, NNNGO engaged CSOs in an advocacy strategy to appraise the implementation of past recommendations of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and contribute to Nigeria’s submission in the forthcoming review.

 

The first human rights mechanism to ever achieve 100% participation, twice, by United Nations (UN) member states, the UPR was established in March 2006 by the Human Rights Council (HRC) with the aim of improving current human rights situation in each of the 193 UN member states.

 

It allows a review of the human rights situation of all UN Member States every 5 years with 42 States undergoing the review each year during three Working Group sessions dedicated to 14 States each.  The result of each review is reflected in the Final Report of the Working Group, which lists the recommendations the State under Review (SuR) will have to implement before the next review.

 

What makes the UPR especially unique is the inclusion of the civil society such that CSOs are allowed to advocate and take part in implementation of human rights obligations. Thus, a workshop was necessary in order to share outcomes of findings on the 10 recommendations on civic space, the contributions of civil society actors and recommendations as submitted jointly by CIVICUS and NNNGO.

 

Participants who comprised seventy-one Nonprofits dialogued at the UPR advocacy strategy workshop in view of examining the Nigerian Government’s compliance with its international human rights obligations to create and maintain a safe and enabling environment for civil society.

 

“Specifically, we analysed the Government of Nigeria’s fulfillment of the rights to freedom of association, peaceful assembly and expression as well as unwarranted restrictions on human rights defenders since its previous UPR examinations in October 2013 and noted gaps in the implementation of these recommendations” noted Ms. Chidinma Okpara, the resident UPR researcher for NNNGO.

 

In light of providing action-oriented follow-up recommendations, participants at the break-out session during the workshop identified areas of concern, broad goals and specific objectives founded on realities and challenges faced by nonprofit organisations in Nigeria.

 

According to one of the participants, “one of the challenges we face in the clamour for the implementation of these recommendations is inaccessibility to decision-makers, especially as the submission comes up around the same time as the primary elections.” Another participant also identified challenges of inadequate funding and unavailability of concrete data on human rights situations in the country as obstacles to the actualization of the goals.

 

However, many participants affirmed that the upcoming 2019 elections may serve as a veritable opportunity that civil society actors could leverage upon to assure that the challenges are mitigated.

 

Broad goals, targeted at ensuring that the Federal Government of Nigeria implements the 10 recommendations by October 2023 with the ultimate aim of achieving the promotion and protection of fundamental human rights in compliance with the international human rights obligation were aligned with specific objectives.

 

These objectives were identified as key to the actualization of the goal; such as, creation of public awareness on the 10 recommendations through the media and local community outreaches, strengthening the Nigerian UPR coalition by actively engaging civil society actors in the review process, liaising with the human rights committee at the legislative arm to ensure the amendment of relevant bills and ensuring that CSOs are engaged in the UPR process before the government submits its report.

PLASTIC DOES IT

Sustainable Development Goals 14 and 15 focus on conserving and protecting under water and land ecosystems.  World Environment Day, 5th of June every year drives this action for the protection of our environment, raising awareness on everyday environmental issues from marine pollution to global warming to sustainable consumption and to wildlife.

 

For many years now, global consumption of plastics have unimaginably increased, more often than not, from land-based sources and as plastic is composed of major toxic pollutants, it has the potential to cause great harm to the environment in the form of air, water and land pollution; with “Beat Plastic Pollution” as the theme for this year’s World Environment Day, the world, gradually, is rising to the occasion of combating plastic pollution and exploring sustainable alternatives.

 

WHAT IS PLASTIC?

Plastic is material consisting of any of a wide range of synthetic or natural organic materials that are soft and so can be molded into solid objects, which includes resins, resinoids, polymers, cellulose derivatives, casein materials used in place of other materials, as glass, wood, and metals. Sometimes, plastics do not easily breakdown into simple components.

 

Plastic pollution is the accumulation of plastic products in the environment that adversely afflict wildlife, wildlife habitat or humans.

 

Although they decompose over a period of time, an average of 100 to 500 years. They however, with their immense pollution kill our planet, choking our oceans and poisoning food and water. Plastic is listed as the number one threat to marine ecosystem.

 

All over the world, the statistics are ever growing. Tons of plastic debris has been established at a 78% waste, many of the harmful chemicals posing serious health risks to man, land and marines. While plastic constitutes about 85% of all debris floating on the ocean’s surface, ecologists and oceanographers speculates there may be underwater trash in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Its effects on soil fertility and ultimately food supply, an immense woe.

 

Since the 1950s, an estimated 6.3 billion tonnes of plastic has been produced, of which an estimated 9% has been recycled and another 12% of plastic waste has been incinerated. Scientists estimate that several plastics are thrown away each year to circle the earth four times. Plastic accounts for around 10% of the total waste generated. Annually, approximately 500 billion plastic bags are used worldwide while more than one million bags are used every minute. It is sad to know that about 1 million sea birds and 100,000 marine mammals are killed annually from plastic in oceans.

 

One million plastic bottles are bought every minute around the world and that number will top half a trillion by 2021, some other statistic reveals.

Mind boggling?

In 2016, a global population of more than seven billion produced over 300 million tonnes of plastic, signifying that even as the human population increases so does the quantity of solid wastes generation. The ultimate sad facts are swirled by currents, the litters accumulating over time at the center of ocean, poisoning oceans and land, injuring marine life, and affecting human health.

 

With these mind-blowing facts comes WASTE RECYCLING. Waste recycling is not new, particularly in the developed world. But in the developing countries like Nigeria where it is common place to see flooded cities during rainy season due to blocked drainages, gutters and canals arising from the mountains of refuse that litter every part of the country, emphasis must be thus be stressed on plastic products recycling. Plastic recycling includes melting down plastic water, soft drink bottles and then casting them as plastic chairs and tables. Recycling of waste plastics is the process of recovering scrap or waste plastic and reprocessing the material into useful products, sometimes completely different in form from their original state.

THE DAMAGE

Some of the major long-term effects of plastic pollution are; land pollution, air pollution and amongst the most seriously affected are the coastal communities which ultimately calls for increased expenditures for beach cleaning, public health, waste disposal, litter removal and waste management.

 

Beyond these woes, it’s time to rethink how we use plastics, for by 2050 there could be more plastic in the world’s waters than fishes. Researchers have identified 400 species of animals whose members either ingested plastics or got entangled in it. Year in year out, the plastics that are constantly thrown into the ocean are responsible for killing one million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals. Did you know that every year, up to 13 million tonnes of plastic leak into our oceans?

 

Given the character of this major issue, proactive measures need to be taken to give lasting solution to plastic pollution such that our planets become forever protected. No need for plastic discs anymore, the internet has so become more than friendly. Mugs should come in handy anywhere and everywhere. Stakeholders should encourage the reuse and recycling of waste, especially plastic bags, bottles and containers. It’s time for us to do the rethink, let’s have a redesign, let’s improve our waste collection by sorting and reprocessing. The need is urgent, and we must continue to develop and use multiple strategies to have a waste-free environment.

Our planet is beautiful! Let’s save it!!

[INFOGRAPHIC] How NGOs in Nigeria Use Technology

Two hundred and nineteen Nigerian NGOs, nonprofits, and charities participated in the survey for the 2018 Global NGO Technology Report. Their responses are summarized below. The data is meant to provide benchmarks for organizations in Nigeria so that they can gauge whether they are ahead or behind in their use technology.

14 Stats About How NGOs in Nigeria Use Technology

2018 Nigerian Partner: Nigeria Network of NGOs

★ 71% of NGOs in Nigeria have a website. Of those, 90% are mobile compatible.

★ 76% use the .ORG domain. 11% use .COM. 3% use .NET. 3% use .NGO. 1% use country codes. 6% use other domains.

★ 38% use WordPress as their Content Management System for their website. 4%use Joomla. 16% use another CMS and 42% don’t know.

★52% of NGOs in Nigeria accept online donations on their website. Of those, 78% accept direct debit payments. 51% accept credit card payments. 14% accept PayPal. 3% accept digital wallet payments.

★ 30% utilize an online peer-to-peer fundraising service.

★ 17% participate in #GivingTuesday.

★ 55% of NGOs in Nigeria regularly send email updates and fundraising appeals to supporters and donors. Of those, 48% use an email marketing service. 18% send email via BCC. 4% send email via their CRM. 20% send email through another method and 10% don’t know.

★ 58% regularly send text messages to supporters and donors. Of those, 42% also utilize a text-to-give service for SMS fundraising.

★ 86% of NGOs in Nigeria have a Facebook Page and 28% have a Facebook Group. 64% have a Twitter Profile. 51% have a LinkedIn Page and 16% have a LinkedIn Group. 38% have an Instagram Profile. Other social media used are: 31% YouTube, 24% Google+, 5% Pinterest, 2% Vimeo, 1% Flickr, 1% Tumblr, and 1% Reddit.

★47% use messaging apps to communicate with supporters and donors. Of those, 86% use WhatsApp. 48% use Facebook Messenger. 3% use Viber. 3% use Viber. 1% use Snapchat. 1% use WeChat.

★ 85% of NGOs in Nigeria use Microsoft Windows as their operating system on desktop and laptop computers. 9% use Google Chrome OS. 2% use Apple macOS. 1% use Linux OS. 1% use another operating system and 2% don’t know.

★70% use Google Android as their operating system on smartphones and tablets. 19% use Windows Phone. 4% use Apple iOS. 1% use another operating system and 6% don’t know.

★ 10% use a Customer Relationship Manager (CRM) software to track donations and manage communications with supporters and donors. Of those, 59% use a cloud-based CRM.

★ 35% use encryption technology to protect data and communications. Of those, 24% to protect the privacy of email communications. 20% to protect organization information. 12% to protect donor information. 12% to protect the privacy of mobile communications.

Source: NGO Technology Report

 

NNNGO Membership Survey Report

The annual NNNGO membership survey tracks how well NNNGO is engaging with its members and meeting programme objectives. The Nigeria Network of NGOs (NNNGO) is home to 2,400 nonprofit organisations spread across the 36 States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory.

 

It is critical that the Network’s management understands its members satisfaction of services rendered by the organisation and what changes or improvements they would like to see.  In December 2017, the Nigeria Network of NGOs completed a survey of its members across the country. It is designed to indicate the health of the Network’s membership and identify emerging needs of members for planning and retooling of the organisations membership related activities.

 

The NNNGO membership satisfaction survey was taken by 111 organisations across the 6 geo-political zones of the country. We thank the respondents to the survey questions for their role in making the survey and reporting possible.

 

This is not just a report for the shelves, the Network’s management will use this report to make its membership’s voice stronger in its plans and programmes—and in developing and strengthening the organisation as a platform for inspiring, connecting and advocating for the nonprofit sector as an essential contributor to Nigeria’s communities and economy.

 

A copy of the report is available for download here. (1.4MB)

Workshop Materials: Effective Implementation of Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Requirements in the NPO Sector in Nigeria

With the support of Open Society Initiative for Western Africa (OSIWA), the Nigeria Network of NGOs (NNNGO) in collaboration with the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML), organised two regional workshops in Lagos state and Abuja on 19th and 26th February 2018 respectively.

 

The workshops with the theme Effective Implementation of Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Requirements in the NPO Sector in Nigeria were one-day events respectively and aimed at sensitizing non-profit organisations on the Nigerian anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism regime.

 

Participants were taken through the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and (GIABA) standards on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) for nonprofit organizations (NPOs) and the compliance requirements; the sectoral risk assessment process, its objectives and NPOs’ role from the perspective of FAFT standards with comparative practices of other countries as well as the mutual evaluation process by GIABA / FATF in Nigeria and how this may affect NPOs.

 

Inclusive were tools and strategies for preventing terrorist abuse of the NPO sector followed by discussions on future strategy of NPO engagement in the evaluation process in Nigeria.

 

Click here to access presentations made by speakers at both events;

 

Overview of International AML/CFT Standards on NPOs By Ms. Ibinabo Mary Amachree, Head of Information and Data Management, SCUML. (Download)

 

An Overview of the Anti Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism Regime in Nigeria By Mr. George Adebola, Assistant Director, SCUML.(Download)

 

The Role and Functions of SCUML as it Relates to Non-Profit Organizations (NPOs) Under the AML/CFT Regime By Mr. Mathew Enu. (Download)

 

Vulnerabilities of the Non-Profit Sector in Nigeria to Money Laundering & Terrorist Financing as Identified in the National Risk Assessment (NRA) & Measures to Prevent Misuse of the Sector for Money Laundering/Terrorist Financing By Mr. Temitope Olubunmi Erinomo. (Download)

 

FATF/GIABA Mutual Evaluation Process and the Role of the NGOs for the Successful Conduct of the Mutual Evaluation Review (MER) By Abdul Rahman Mustapha, Head of Monitoring and Analysis, NFIU. (Download)

End.

Citizens’ Report!

The Citizens’ Report Initiative (CRI) is a citizen-driven initiative to monitor SDGs implementation in Africa. It is a 3-year programme with a strong presence at the local, national and regional level.

BACKGROUND 

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) had, between the year 2000 and 2015, set the tone for global poverty reduction and the fight against hunger and preventable diseases. Although the experience of the MDGs charted the way for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it became imperative that the SDGs must include citizen participation in order to effectively actualize all 17 goals which ride on the need for a more sustainable future for all.

 

Therefore, the SDGs, also referred to as the global goals, are a continuation of the MDGs but are different in that they are broader in their scope of eradicating all forms of poverty by calling for action by all countries, rich and poor, to promote prosperity while protecting the planet. More than 150 countries have pledged to mobilize efforts to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities, and tackle climate change while ensuring that no one is left behind.

 

Since adoption in 2015, African countries have faced numerous challenges in the implementation of these new goals. The challenges include, but are not limited to, lack of real-time demand-driven data about the state of development on the continent as well as the non-inclusion of citizens, especially youths in the implementation process. Given, the huge human capital in the continent, it is imperative to begin to leverage upon citizen and youth participation in data generation, use, monitoring and review in order to tackle the complex challenges of sustainable development and the fight against poverty, hunger, and disease in Africa.

 

Citizens Report! was, therefore, launched by African monitor, a South African civil society organisation and set up to effectively capture the voices and realities of the average African citizen to provide Citizen-Generated Data (CGD) on SDGs implementation in Africa. The essence of this is to produce demand-driven data (produced by citizens) focused on specific goals and needs of the people to complement already existing but limited data which often comprise supply-driven data (produced by governments). This will help narrow down specific areas of developmental needs of the people, thus allowing governments to begin to make policy changes which are directly informed by these needs.

 

This initiative is based on citizen-driven monitoring of the SDGs in seven African countries; Nigeria, Ghana, Zambia, Botswana, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Malawi, with a focus on 6 of its goals (Goals 1, 4, 5, 8, 10, 16), to drive policy changes for the development of Africa as a whole.

 

Therefore, in Nigeria, the project will use CGD, working with citizens’ groups and youth champions to engage decision makers to demand delivery and accelerate policy change. The project will support citizen-driven monitoring for policy change, where citizen-generated data informs SDG implementation, strengthens national and regional SDG review processes, and supports civic action for policy change at the national level.

 

In addition, the project will support a regional civil society advocacy platform on SDGs, where the Africa CSO Working Group engages with and effectively shapes the agenda (policies, plans, and monitoring) for the implementation of the SDGS in Africa and globally.

Project Goal/Overall Objective:

 

The goal of the Citizens Report! is to work with African citizens; in Nigeria, specific civil society organisations resident in identified areas and civil society to monitor SDG implementation in Africa for them to better demand delivery of commitments, to improve results and to improve policy responses.

 

Project Expected Overall Outcome:

 

The project’s theory of change is that when citizens effectively hold their governments accountable for delivery, democracy is strengthened, development outcomes improve significantly for the poor, and citizens gain confidence to claim their rights and solve local problems.

Through various activities, the Citizens Report Initiative will ensure that:

 

  • SDGs are implemented effectively in Africa, resulting in tangible improvements in the lives of the most vulnerable groups,
  • Citizens actively engage in the monitoring of SDG implementation for better development results, and to increase government accountability,
  • New qualitative citizen-generated data and knowledge is produced to inform civic action and advocacy for improved SDG delivery.
  • Increased capacity in the ability of these citizen representatives to generate data at the community level for monitoring;
  • Citizen-generated data informs the African SDG review processes, thus leading to necessary improvements in service delivery, development approaches and policy responses.
  • The Africa CSO Working Group is strengthened and recognised as the go-to network for civil society engagement in SDG implementation.

2018 Annual Letter to the Nonprofit Sector

Dear Nonprofit Leader,

 

2017 was an upsetting year for the sector. Our resilience was tested by the economic recession and our integrity and togetherness, challenged by the obnoxious House Bill 585. In all, we came out stronger and better. Though the battle is not yet over, we are confident that we will get to the finish line.

 

2018 presents us with the opportunity to reform our sector and to take our place in national development especially in the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is also the year we need to introspect and address the transparency and accountability deficits existing in our fold.

 

While the debate on the NGO bill rages, we heard a lot about our sector; there were valid concerns, misconceptions, blackmail and misinformation. These must in 2018, inform how we respond to the future of our work as a sector. None of these voices should be missed in our efforts to reform the sector for effectiveness and growth.

 

Our most cherished value as a sector is accountability. Though many nonprofits are self-funded, there still exists a wide gap in our regulatory compliance; we cannot continue our ways of not reporting to our regulators and stakeholders. Record keeping is a challenge which we must all work together to address in the New Year.

 

Regulators are expected to step up their regulatory compliance mechanisms in the year. We must work with our regulators as a sector to ensure that their actions enable our operational environment. It is pertinent to be reasonable in our approach to issues bothering on the implementation of existing regulatory frameworks and at the same time, propose necessary reforms to these frameworks.

 

Each organisation must work out its own transparency and accountability mechanism in line with international best practices and norms. This will entail increasing Board engagement and oversight on their operations, enhancing organisational and operational planning, improving financial management systems, accelerating project implementation, establishing regulatory compliance processes and sustaining transparency and accountability procedures. Bigger nonprofits must be willing to mentor medium and small sized nonprofits, being our brother’s keepers will be the watchword in 2018.

 

For our sector, 2018 is an important year as it is a pre-election period. We must seize the moment to ensure that we have in place a civil society manifesto that is SDGs-based, one that can serve as a framework for citizens’ demand to individuals seeking elective offices in 2019. Issues already captured in the 17 global goals must form a basis for our national and local election debates.

 

As the 3rd sector continues to mature, our ability to sit at the table with government and the private sector using evidence from our work is becoming a necessity, we must pay attention to lessons from our activities that can aid policy formulation and implementation. Now is the time to stop agonizing and start organizing for the change we want to see.

 

For us at the Nigeria Network of NGOs, our work this year will be shaped under 4 strategic pillars—Enabling the operational environment for Nigerian nonprofits, sustaining advocacy on the attainment of the SDGs, strengthening sector-wide organisational capacity and improving knowledge on the Nigerian 3rd sector space. I am counting on your support to make this happen.

 

May 2018 be the sector’s best year yet!

Your colleague,

Oyebisi B. Oluseyi

Executive Director, Nigeria Network of NGOs.

The law to strangle civil society

Members of the Nigerian National Summit Group and other civil society organisations during a protest on the implementation of the 2014 National Conference report in Lagos… on Thursday. Photo: Goke Famadewa

 

The effort to take away the freedom of thousands of civil society organisations — now known and called the name it deserves, “obnoxious bill” seems to have failed in the public domain but is gaining attention within the membership of the National Assembly. The latest round of efforts, the Umar Buba Jubril bill (HB 585) looks doomed with growing number of citizens, citizen organisations in opposition.

 

Thanks to the many organisations and individuals raising awareness on the bill and pointing all stakeholders to the dangers of a bill — the video by human rights activist, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, lawmakers who publicly spoke against the bill, the activists who protested to the Office of the Lagos State Governor, the bloggers who flooded the Internet and made the #NoNGOBillNG trend on social media, the media who dispassionately featured the bill, the experts who did technical analyses of the bill, the activists who petitioned the United Nations, and many others.

 

This outpouring show of support against the bill has left all stakeholders thinking on how best to address both the threat and opportunity the NGO regulatory agency bill portends for national development. If the bill passes, the non-profit landscape will change significantly for the worse. Which is why many observers are worried. But it is not the end of the world yet. By now, everyone should have learnt that the sponsor of the bill will not give up going by the statements attributed to him on his justifications for why the bill must pass.

 

Certainly, the sector is upset! I have read calls by some groups asking for the recall of the House Committee Chair, Peter Akpatason, for what reason many non-state actors with deep understanding of the issues are asking. As long as we all are upset, our set of actions to stop the passage of the bill must not alienate those who are more with us than against us. Given his background and antecedents as the President of NUPENG, one cautiously assumes that our struggles are not new to Akpatason and that he will be an unbiased umpire in this instance.

 

Of particular importance are the positions some members of the National Assembly are taking in solidarity with the bill starting with House Leader Femi Gbajabiamila. Going by his social media post on issues surrounding the bill, it appears Gbajabiamila is worried that the sector can be used as conduits for terrorism financing.

 

On September 21, 2017, he wrote on his Facebook page: “NGOs must be regulated to track donations, protect donor agencies and prevent abuse. Nigeria must also know what’s coming in and from what source. This is a different age. We must be vigilant. Terrorists can be funded under the guise of NGO”.

 

He went ahead on September 22 to post a picture of a notice of deregistration of the Kenyan Human Rights Commission by the NGO Coordination Board of Kenya. The picture came with this post by him: “NGOs cannot be above the laws of the land. They must be regulated. We have to balance the equities, that is the two potential fears and abuse on both sides and determine which outweighs the other. More importantly, the whole idea of a public hearing is to address such fears”.

 

Gbajabiamila’s fear on the sector being used for terrorism financing are valid and the sector stands with him on this. However, this fear has already been addressed by the 2011 Anti-Money Laundering Law and the Money Laundering Amendment Act (HB410) presently on the floor of the National Assembly.  The 2011 AML sets up the Special Control Unit on Money Laundering which now monitors the funding received by non-profits. No non-profit can open a bank account without first registering with the SCUML. Interagency collaboration between the SCUML, Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit and the Corporate Affairs Commission also ensures that what comes into the sector is known and from what source.  Ask the NFIU or SCUML today what comes in, I am sure they will provide this information in a matter of seconds and not minutes.

 

African leaders are very quick to copy bad policies yet slow and reluctant to copy the good ones. The deregistration of the Kenyan Human Rights Commission by the NGO Coordination Board of Kenya, we all know, was politically motivated and that it came as a result of the organisation’s stand against fraud in the Kenyan elections. One agrees with Gbajabiamila that this is a “different age” and not the age where agencies of government can hide under obnoxious laws to muffle civic space.

 

What happened to the Kenyan Human Rights Commission is one of the reasons why we stand against the NGO regulatory agency bill as it has the potential for stifling critical voice(s) necessary for democratic growth and socio-economic development. Do we have provisions for deregistration of NGOs in the present regulatory frameworks that exist in the country? Yes, we do!

 

Part C of CAMA clearly states how this can and should be done. If Gbajabiamila is interested in deregistering NGOs, then the laws are already there why reinvent the wheel. One hopes and guesses he calls for the deregistration of the truly bad ones and not those holding him and the system accountable as can be seen from the Kenyan bad example of deregistration based on frivolous grounds already challenged and won in court since 2015 by KHRC (http://kenyalaw.org/caselaw/cases/view/121717/)

 

It seems our lawmakers are not conversant with the ways of working of the non-profit sector and existing regulatory frameworks as each supporter of the bill has sounded like there isn’t any regulation for the sector. This is making the sector think there are some ulterior motives if for crying out loud the seven regulatory frameworks in existence are ignored by the lawmakers who should know better. One agrees that the existing regulations need a critical review and institutional strengthening with the aim of enabling and not stifling the operations of non-profits who are already doing a lot using their own resources.

 

It is misleading to think all NGOs receive foreign funding; very few (4-5 per cent) do; others (96-95 per cent) use their personal resources, sourced primarily from their income, friends, family, public and corporations including from the National Assembly members. We must continue to prohibit proponents of regulation from the thoughts that no regulation existed or that they are not fit for purpose. There are and in line with international standards and norms though they need a review to be in line with 21st century NGO regulation and in sync with the operational environment of both small, medium and large non-profits.

 

There are several lawmakers who will not be as bold as Senator Shehu Sanni who came out boldly on his Twitter handle on September 23 to say, “The bill on NGOs will reinforce those with tyrannical tendencies and further stifle rights to freedom of speech and assembly. I’ll oppose it”. We need the likes of Sanni and Oghene Emmanuel Egor (representing Amuwo Odofin) who first opposed the bill in 2016 stating that, “the establishment of the Commission would defeat the aim and objectives of CSOs as it may attempt to manage and control funds received’’. He further noted that: “It is not within the jurisdictions of the Federal Government to monitor funds that it did not donate nor have ownership of’’.

 

My hope for the not too distant future is that nonprofits, National Assembly and regulators can find a pathway for working together to ensure our shared objectives of bringing the dividends of democracy and development to the doorsteps of the common man are enabled within the framework of attaining the SDGs and leaving no one behind!

 

Oluseyi, Executive Director, Nigeria Network of NGOs writes in from Lagos,seyi@nnngo.org

Copyright PUNCH.

Act on SDGs, Citizens, Others Urge Govts

As Nigeria joins the rest of the world to commemorate the second year of adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), civil society organisations in Nigeria are calling on the Federal, State and Local Governments to act on the SDGs.

 

It has been two years since September 25, 2015, when the Nigerian Government joined other United Nations world leaders to agree to a definitive plan for the planet and its people by adopting the Agenda 2030 and the 17 Goals.

 

The SDGs are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030. In different parts of the country civil society organisations are organising events from Lagos to Benue, to Bayelsa and Abuja to mark the second anniversary.

 

According to the Executive Director, Nigeria Network of NGOs, Mr. Oyebisi B. Oluseyi, “Citizens across the country are calling attention to the many forms of inequalities everywhere/

 

“If our governments (at all levels) don’t act in time, we stand the chance of not meeting the goals and our growing pains — disparities in the incomes of the poor and the wealthy, limited access to education, health and basic social services, increasing vulnerabilities of the poorest to human-induced climate change and disasters, and the growing repression of human rights and civic participation would have exacerbated.”

 

“Our celebration of the 2nd anniversary of the SDGs is with mixed feelings; we are glad that two years ago the world came together to care for people and the planet. It is however worrying that between then and now we have as a country witnessed increased social injustice with more people going hungry. With an estimated 184 million inhabitants in Nigeria, 112 million of these live below the poverty line; this is unacceptable and it calls for urgent action on the part of our government.

 

“Now is the time to break the cycle of poverty in our land! As President Muhammadu Buhari returns from the UN General Assembly, we want to share our concerns with him and to remind him of the urgent need to accelerate action on the implementation of the SDGs in Nigeria.

 

“We need action at all levels. First, we need to increase awareness, then public policies that create real changes to reduce inequalities in and between states. We must also change production and consumption patterns, in order to make development sustainable for the environment and for people.

 

“While the Federal Government is to be commended for its social protection programme and the adoption of the national social protection policy, we hope that the programme will cover all sections of the population in need of this. With the Government’s effort in raising revenue through taxes, we recommend fair and equitable tax system that is people-centered and devoid of multiple taxation.

 

“Women’s and girls’ rights is an important first as we move to attain the SDGs, this is the bedrock of our national development. Freedom of civil society and political participation is a critical foundation to the stakeholder partnership that is needed to attain the ambitious Agenda 2030. A shrinking civic space is bad for development”, Oluseyi added.

 

On his own part, Director, Justice Development and Peace Commission, Ijebu Ode, Rev. Father John Patrick, said, “We remain concerned about the growing threat to the nation’s peaceful co-existence”. He urged all “as citizens to cultivate the culture of living together in unity as there is no development without peace; there is no peace without development. Now is the time to walk the talk! Let’s act together!”

 

Copyright THISDAYLIVE.

The Nigeria Network of NGOs (NNNGO) is the first generic membership body for civil society organisations in Nigeria that facilitates effective advocacy on issues of poverty and other developmental issues. Established in 1992, NNNGO represents over 3495 organisations ranging from small groups working

Do you have questions? Call or visit us.

+2349069460107

Plot 3 Sobanjo avenue, Idi-ishin Jericho Ibadan, Oyo, Nigeria.

15 Ramat Crescent, Ogudu GRA, Lagos, Nlgeria

nnngo@nnngo.org 

Newsletter

Get latest news & update

Quick Links

Connect With Us

© 2025 – Nigeria Network of NGO (NNNGO). All rights reserved.

Follow us on social media

Privacy Policy