INTRODUCTION

In the second quarter of the year 2018, the Nigeria Network of NGOs, in line with its mission and vision, intensified efforts towards national development through its ongoing projects and activities. Projects built upon were within the purview of protection of civic space, building capacity within the Nigerian civil society community and attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) while other activities in line with national development were also organised and supported by the Network.

 

UPDATE ON PROJECTS

Projects updates are presented below, in categories that fit their themes:

1. PROTECTION OF CIVIC SPACE

• Strengthening Statutory Regulations for Civil Society Organisations In Nigeria: Amending Part C of CAMA

In line with its mission to protect civic space, the Network continued work on projects that focused on strengthening the laws that guide activities and the environment in which civil society organisations and nonprofits work. Therefore, with the support of the Commonwealth Foundation and as part of activities for the “Strengthening Statutory regulations For Civil Society Organisations In Nigeria: Amending Part C of CAMA” project, and in the wake of the repeal and enactment of Part C of the CAMA by the House of Assembly on May 15, 2018, NNNGO carried out activities that informed the progress of the project.

 

After careful review of the amended sections of Part C of the CAMA which was spearheaded by the Corporate Affairs Commission, the NNNGO-CAMA research team identified that the amended laws had featured and incorporated some of the recommendations made by the Network and its members at sector-wide consultations held in 2017. Suggestions and recommendations that were made at these consultations were thereafter incorporated into policy briefs which were then presented to policymakers by the NNNGO-advocacy team led by the Executive Director, Oyebisi B. Oluseyi.

 

Taken into consideration were recommendations in the area of review of penalties, refusal to incorporate organisations with similar names, the requirement for a statement of purpose, name and relevant information needed for registration, amongst others. Below is a break-down of the amended sections that feature NNNGO recommendations:

 

Clarifications:

Section 580 features the need for the commission to state the purposes, name and relevant information needed for registration by NPOs who need registration. This amendment drew from the suggestion made by NNNGO to 590(5) of the previous law.

 

Review of Fines:

In line with suggestions made by member-NPOs who participated in the consultations, Sections 581, 582 and Section 604, subsection 3, feature review of fines from previous incommensurate amounts in terms of comparison of crime to penalties. NPOs who attended consultations hosted by NNNGO had suggested that in order for organisations working in the civic space to better understand the enormity of noncompliance, adequate punitive measures need to be attached.

 

Related Association:

Section 587 of the amended law is same as the suggestion made in subsection (6) of section 590 of the old law which stated that a corporation having a similar name with another corporation would not be incorporated. The amendment to the law makes this dictate clearer to intending registrees.

Financials

Amended Section 602 is same as the suggestion made to section 607(10)2,3 by the NNNGO in the policy briefs presented which stated that there should be an annual financial review and that there should be an approved annual financial statement by the director. In addition, Section 604, subsection 2 of the amended law features the recommendation made to section 607(11)1 by NNNGO where it was stated that there must be a report on the audited financial statement by the corporation which will be in line with the approved auditing standards and principles set by the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria.

 

Another milestone recorded in this quarter was the development of a toolkit by the NNNGO-CAMA research team. The toolkit was developed after a thorough review of the annual returns-filing processes, conduct of in-depth research and online as well as offline consultations with over 2,000 Nigerian NPOs on how best to engage the process of incorporating a trusteeship alongside appropriate fees, setting up a governing board within an organisation and appointing an executive director and directors.

 

The purpose of developing the kit is to create a document which can serve in the capacity of a compliance manual through which NPOs could better understand the dictates of Part C of CAMA and therefore, effectively carry out their obligations and duties as stipulated in the laws. The kit is also intended to act in the capacity of a check for NPOs in order to effectively run their organisations in line with global best practices.

 

The toolkit will be launched and presented to NPOs who are member-organisations of the Network at training that will be hosted in Port Harcourt and Kaduna.

• The Lifeline Project supported by World Alliance for Citizen Participation, CIVICUS

In continuance of the campaign to protect civic space and strengthen regulatory frameworks guiding the operational environment of Nigerian nonprofits, NNNGO with the support of World Alliance for Citizen Participation, CIVICUS continued its campaign against the NGO regulation bill (HB 585).

 

The Network intensified efforts to popularise the campaign by leveraging on the strength of numbers. This was done by including other CSOs, NGOs and NPOs, especially those at the grassroots; to achieve this, over 2400 grassroots, national and international nonprofit organisations were reached via emails and text messages with over 900 reached via telephone calls with the message to join the campaign against the enactment of the NGO regulatory bill.

 

These organisations were encouraged to reach out to their representatives at the National Assembly by sending them letters which would carry their individual messages regarding the bill. To this effect, interested NPOs were sent a sample letter which served as the campaign tool. This a sample campaign letter was drafted based on the outcome of a sector-wide consultation conducted by the Network with nonprofit organisations operational in Nigeria in 2017. The sample letter was a template through which NPOs interested in the campaign could make a case by giving their representatives an overview of their organisations and how the enactment of HB585 would impact the work they do.

 

As part of activities for the lifeline project, the Network, on June 28, 2018, organised a workshop which 78 participants from 11 states of the country, and one participant from the United States of America. The aim of the workshop was to examine the trending policies in the Nigerian nonprofit sector while focusing on ways to ensure the development and sustainability of the sector. Participants at the workshop were taken through a course on NGO management and record keeping. A report titled “Nonprofits Regulatory Trends” was then produced.

• Universal Periodic Review Supported by World Alliance for Citizen Participation, CIVICUS

In the first quarter of 2018, NNNGO, supported by CIVICUS, submitted a Universal Period Review (UPR) relating to Civic Space in Nigeria. Following this submission and in the run-up to Nigeria’s review at the United Nations Human Rights Council, UNHRC in November 2018, NNNGO embarked on advocacy in relation to the UPR process. The aim of this was to assess the level of implementation of previous recommendations made to Nigeria by UNHRC during the second review cycle and to take appropriate steps toward the implementation of recommendations accepted by Nigeria especially in relation to civic space.

 

Therefore, a one-day workshop on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Advocacy Strategy was hosted by the Network on June 6, 2018, in order to sample the opinion of CSOs. The workshop gathered seventy-one (71) participants comprising member non-profit organisations of the Network, CSOs, and Centres for developments, actively involved in human rights activism.

 

To this effect, an agenda was mapped out and delineated into four key areas. The purpose of this was to incorporate the key essentials of the UPR and garner participants’ responses and feedbacks, according. An overview which included insights on the previous (2nd) UPR of Nigeria was provided by the NNNGO-UPR researcher; it included information on the reinstatement of the 219 recommendations by 88 states made to Nigeria; 184 were accepted and 35 were noted. Accordingly, Nigeria received 10 recommendations relating to civic space, all of which were accepted to be implemented.

 

Furthermore, an analysis of the recent UPR report was carried out and participants noted that the methodology is adopted for the research. It was also noted that the initial 10 recommendations received by the Nigerian government in the previous UPR relating to civic space had not been fully implemented. Insights on why it was important for the civil society to be actively involved in the UPR process were therefore made.

 

A break-out session was then held for Advocacy Strategy Planning. Here, participants were split into four groups to develop a strategic plan for the UPR using the SMART Advocacy Strategy Worksheet. In this brainstorming session, participants provided answers on who to involve in implementing the strategy,  their SMART objectives, identified the policymakers related to their set objectives, reviewed their context on what is already happening outside their organisation that may impact their strategy (presenting obstacles and opportunities), gave a better knowledge of their decision makers (i.e. what they value and how best to gain their support), they considered various ways to argue their case (providing evidence to support their objectives, completing a five-point message box for their decision makers and determined the messenger for each decision maker). A work plan and budget on how to access internal resources, specify advocacy activities and assign responsibilities; how to set benchmarks for success and concluded by reviewing assignments and next steps on how to implement the UPR were also drawn up at the workshop.

 

The breakout session ushered in the plenary session, where participants presented varied views on how best the advocacy strategy should be carried out. The workshop concluded by affirming the need for all stakeholders especially CSOs and NGOs to be actively involved in the UPR process to ensure the rights of people are not clamped down and the government implements the accepted recommendations through advocacy and awareness creation.

2. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

• Citizens’ Report Initiative

As part of its work on Sustainable Development, the Nigeria Network of NGOs with the support of African Monitor continued implementation of the citizens’ report project. In the second quarter of 2018, the NNNGO team which comprised a focal point, four youth champions and a research consultant embarked on citizens’ hearings and survey in three communities from three states across the country.

 

Between June 1-3, 2018, the NNNGO team conducted a community entry and project launch in Malete community, Moro LGA of Kwara state. This was a reconnaissance visit to the community by the team aimed at introducing the project to leaders of the community and providing a general framework for implementation of the project.

 

On June 11, 2018, a citizens’ hearing in form of a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) was conducted on 72 community members of Malete community while the survey was conducted on 200 households within that community between June 12 and 15, 2018.

 

Reconnaissance for the second community, Ogor community in Ughelli-North LGA of Delta state was conducted between June 18-19, 2018 while the citizens’ hearing was conducted on June 26, 2018. Survey instruments in form of the questionnaire were administered to 200 households within the community by the NNNGO team between June 26- 30, 2018.

• Partnership for Advocacy in Child and Family Health@ Scale (PACFaH@Scale)

In the first quarter of 2018, NNNGO with the support of development Research and Projects Center (dRPC) began implementing the PACFaH@Scale (PAS) project under the NNNGO-PACFaH@Scale (NNNGO-PAS) brand name. The program which focuses on two areas; RI Financing Strategy & FP Funding in Lagos state was launched with the hosting of a CSO mapping meeting in the first quarter of the year. After the success of a CSO mapping conducted in view of incorporating the civil society into RI issues in Lagos state, a report was developed.

 

The second quarter of 2018, thus featured the production of the CSO mapping report as well as Policy Briefs on RI and FP funding. These documents were developed as part of advocacy tools to be used in monitoring the implementation of the RI 2018 budget.

 

Subsequently, the NNNGO-PAS Policy briefs on RI and FP funding in Lagos State were presented to the Director Medical Services, Lagos state and other key officials in the Lagos State Primary Healthcare Board (PHCB).

 

As part of activities included in the NNNGO-PAS workplan, the team also provided support to the LSMOH and LASAM Advocacy sub-committee in tracking the implementation of the 2018 RI Budget and obtained the commitment of top officials in the Lagos State Primary Health Care Board to attend the meeting with NPHCDA on the New GAVI Strategy Plan in Abuja and encourage closer working relationship between LSPHCB and the NPHCDA.

 

In a bid to create more visibility for the project, NNNGO-PAS program team led by the Program Officer, Ayo Adebusoye appeared on Talk time on Morning Delight on the Lagos state television on April 4, 2018, to speak on the theme, Nigeria’s Health Infrastructure -Need for State of Emergency with the aim of creating awareness about challenges bedeviling the Nigerian health sector and beaming the torch on the activities of NNNGO-PAS.

 

On April 27, 2018, the Program Officer, again presented a paper at a Media Roundtable program hosted by Lagos State Accountability Mechanism for Maternal and Newborn Health, LASAM with the theme, “FP Budget Allocation & Timely Release – The Great Imperative “.

 

The paper focused on the need to increase awareness on issues relating to routine immunization and family planning as well as advocate the timely release of FP and RI budget allocations.

Conclusion

All activities embarked upon during this quarter were in furtherance of projects which began implementation between Y2016, Y2017, and Y2018.  While there are success stories recorded in the course of implementation, the past four months have only proven that more work is needed in various areas to ensure eventual success for the projects.

 

Part of what was learned during this quarter was the need to further intensify efforts, leverage on existing partnerships and cultivate new ones in order to ensure continuity and sustainability.

The Nigeria Network of NGOs welcomes Federal Government’s decision to reconstitute the Financial Reporting Council

 

Lagos, January 9, 2017—The Nigeria Network of NGOs representing over 2,000 not-for-profit organisations in Nigeria welcomes the decision of President Muhammadu Buhari to reconstitute the Financial Reporting Council (FRC). The Nigerian Not-for-Profit sector was upset yet again by the actions of the FRC in releasing the Not-for-Profit Organisations (NFPO) Code in October 2016 despite earlier submissions to the Council on the need to ensure robust engagements with the wider civil society community before the code is released.

 

By this singular act the President has shown our sector and the world that it stands ready to uphold the protection and strengthening of civic space in Nigeria. We have seen around the world and at an alarming rate efforts by various governments to restrict the operational space for civil society through laws, policies and practices to limit the ability of people to come together to act for a just world.

Our sector remains guided by the ultimate believe that a robust governance system is extremely positive, for both not-for-profits and wider society.

 

In recognition of the impact and contributions of our sector to the growth and development of the nation’s economy, we call on President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of Trade and Investment to ensure that the civil society community is included in the process of nominating members of the Council since there is a code released by FRC for the not-for-profit sector too.

 

As a Network, we hope to continue to use our organizational capacity – including convening power, community management excellence and insight generation to engage with the FRC and its new leadership on the NFPO Code.

 

End

For further information, please contact:

Kunle Idowu

Media and Communications Manager

0803 348 3421 | kunle@nnngo.org

 

About us: The Nigeria Network of NGOs (NNNGO) is the first generic membership body for civil society organizations in Nigeria that facilitates effective advocacy on issues of poverty and other developmental issues. Established in 1992, NNNGO represents over 2000 organizations ranging from small groups working at the local level, to larger networks working at the national level. www.nnngo.org

It’s time Nigerian NGOs were respected as an influential high impact sector that we are. The stats below shows why!

CIVICUS, the global civil society alliance and the Nigeria Network of NGOs (NNNGO) are deeply concerned about impending legislation to restrict freedom of association in Nigeria.

 

Nigeria’s National Assembly is currently considering a bill to provide for “the establishment of the Non-Governmental Organisations Regulatory Commission for the Supervision, Coordination and Monitoring of Non-Governmental Organisations, Civil Society Organisations etc. in Nigeria and for related matters.” First introduced in July 2016, the bill has since passed through the second reading in the House of Representatives. The bill has now been referred to the Committee on CSOs and Development Partners for further legislative input.

 

“The bill is in conflict with Nigeria’s Constitutional and international law obligations,” says Oyebisi Oluseyi, Executive Director of NNNGO. “We must instead strengthen civic space in Nigeria, as our sector’s role in finding solutions to the enormous challenges facing our nation cannot be overemphasized”.

 

CIVICUS has expressed solidarity with Nigerian civil society, which is deeply opposed to the bill’s provisions on grounds that the operations and finances of NGOs are already regulated by seven legal frameworks and overseen by five government agencies. This was emphasised in a peaceful protest taken to the Lagos State Governor at the Lagos House on 28 September 2016 by civil society organisations from different parts of the country.

 

One of the problematic provisions in the proposed bill is the mandatory requirement for NGOs to seek permission to operate in the country. This is in contrast with best practices issued by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, which underscore the right to form and join an association, including an unregistered association.

 

The proposed government dominated NGO Regulatory Commission would be empowered to “facilitate and coordinate” the work of all national and international NGOs, as well as to provide policy guidelines to harmonise their activities in line with the National Development Plan determined by the government. Civil society organisations are concerned about the amount of control this would give to the government-aligned Commission, and civil society ability to operate independently.

 

The bill also seeks to exercise operational control over projects implemented by NGOs by requiring them to seek prior permission from the ministry relevant to their area of work. The legislative brief of the bill introduced by the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly emphasises the intention to establish a National Council of Voluntary Organisations to develop a code of conduct for the regulation of the civil society organisations on matters relating to their funding, foreign relations, national security etc.

 

“In its present form the NGO regulation bill will weaken the ability of civil society to expose corruption and rights violations,” said Mandeep Tiwana, Head of Policy and Research from CIVICUS. “The orientation of the Bill is patently undemocratic and geared towards controlling the work of NGOs whose independence is vital for a healthy democracy.”

 

CIVICUS and NNNGO urge the Federal Government of Nigeria and Members of the Nigeria National Assembly to reconsider the NGO regulation bill and focus on creating an enabling environment for civil society in law and practice to maximise the sector’s contributions to national development and constitutional imperatives.

 

Nigeria is listed in the ‘obstructed’ category of the CIVICUS Monitor

The roundtable workshop (National Conference) for members of the Nigeria Network of NGOs (NNNGO), 7 September 2016, Lagos, Nigeria, was convened by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) in partnership with the Nigeria Network of NGOs.

 

The National Conference was held under the theme ‘’Attaining global best practices in NGO formation and management’’ and followed CAC’s commitment to take forward outcomes of discussions at the 15^th NNNGO Annual Conference by organizing an engagement conference with members of the Network on how to improve the enabling environment for the operations of non-profits in Nigeria.

 

The National Conference aimed:

• to provide information on pre and post registration requirements and processes for complying with regulatory requirements under Part C of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA).
• to strengthen commitment by non-profits to develop strong corporate governance principles, arrangements, methods and strategies for meeting their organisational objectives
• to share experiences, challenges and technical knowledge on how to use CAC’s online registration portal and how to settle internal disputes through mediation considering need to address many of the leadership challenges non-profits may face.
• to reinforce the role of non-profits in the attainment of the SDGs.

Over 235 participants attended, including delegates from 23 States of the Federation, representatives from the Commission, civil society organisations and thought leaders. In addition, 8,116 organic reaches were recorded for our Facebook posts on the day of the conference alone.

Download selected conference presentations here

Invitation to Corporate Affairs Commission’s (CAC) Engagement Conference with Civil Society Organisations

 

7  September 2016, Lagos, Nigeria

 

Theme: Achieving Global Best Practices in NGO Formation and Management.

 

We are pleased to announce that registration is now open for the Corporate Affairs Commission’s (CAC) engagement conference with civil society organisations on 7 September 2016 in Lagos, Nigeria. As you have seen from our work at the Nigeria Network of NGOs (NNNGO) in the last 3 years, we have been engaging with regulators on an enabling environment for our sectors operations. You will recall that at the NNNGO annual conference in 2015 CAC committed to organising a conference to discuss and work together with our sector to shape the future of our sector.

 

We strongly encourage your attendance at this conference as this is a great opportunity to ensure your voice is heard. The conference will bring together senior management at CAC, members of the wider civil society community and other thought leaders in the sector to share experiences and case studies on NGO formation and management in Nigeria.

 

REGISTRATION

 

We strongly recommend you register immediately at to ensure your space is guaranteed as we have only 250 spaces. Registration is FREE. Only selected applicants will be contacted.  All participants are responsible for organising their own travel and accommodation.

 

We look forward to welcoming you in Lagos and to jointly work together to strengthen our sector.

Mahatma Gandhi said “You must be the change you want to see in the world”.

 

Changing the world begins with life changing experience. If you change yourself you will change your world. If you change how you think then you will change how you feel and what actions you take. And so the world around you changes. Not only because you now view the environment through new lenses of thoughts and emotions but also because the change within can allow one to take action in ways that would not have thought about while stuck in the old pattern of thoughts.

 

If only 7 percent of world population can care for the distressed, banish selfishness and embrace selflessness, we would be quite amazed by how much we can change the world.

 

Not underestimating the power of vision to change the world and readily born out of the need to work out the renaissance and orientate the moral value of people in the society, World Changers Foundation in 2011 desired and began to create social network with the responsibility of raising World Changers for nation building.

 

Taking due account of the presence of genuine future leaders across political divide and the need to quickly attract these birds of same plumage who represent the repressed, depressed, oppressed and deprived populace in the society, WCF envisions a society that is effective, reformed and restructured that these communities may become the ambassadors of change and create a better world for themselves, their state and the nation.

 

Strategizing to promote behavioral change, WCF has been networking and collaborating with organizations that share common goals and visions to design and develop a youth friendly curriculum geared toward vocational skills to enhance capacity building for self-sustenance which would in turn affect their lives positively.

 

Opuda Sotonwari, the coordinator of WCF said that the foundation has been able to organize training for about 300 secondary school pupils and youths in the city of Port Harcourt, Rivers state on skills acquisition in soap and bead-making and decoration. This, she said will continue to be part of their  agenda for the youth in the society which would transfer them to the position of employers of labor and will automatically help take burdens off the shoulders of their parents.

 

According to her, masses in River State are gradually loosing hope for a better future, these threatening challenges again woke WCF to the state of the economy in the state and vowed again never to stop giving humanitarian services. Building the capacity of “In school and Out” school youths, people with disability, less privilege, widows, women and indigent children through empowerment programme and scholarship scheme hence became part of the important goals that must be achieved and reach at least about five hundred thousand people in Nigeria. Opuda Sotanwari revealed that this cause will continue till the year 2025.

 

Meanwhile, WCF’s coordinator further stated that promoting primary health services through advocacy, social mobilization and free medical services in the area of malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and other related epidemics to remote and hard to reach communities have also been part of the societal transformation the foundation envisioned which till date she said to its credit continues to benefit hundreds of lives.

 

Vision without action is merely a dream, action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can massively transform the communities around you. This, Opuda Sotonwari proudly said World Changers Foundation has embraced as a watchword.

See below our first quarter report to our members.