TheCable

Udo Jude Ilo, Nigerian representative, Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), says it is the responsibility of every Nigerian to hold the government accountable.

Ilo said this during the recent edition of #ThursdayTalks, a monthly conversation on national issues powered by BudgIT and EIE Nigeria.

The latest edition of the discourse focused on ‘CSOs and The Future of Democratic Governance in Nigeria’.

Other panellists include Ene Obi, country director, ActionAid Nigeria; and Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, executive director, Women Advocates Research and Documentation Center (WARDC).

Speaking during the virtual event, Ilo said what is being practised in Nigeria cannot qualify as a democracy because the government is not bound by its rules.

“I’m looking at a situation where the country will be stretched so badly either by its incompetence or by the lack of credibility in this electoral process and lack of democratic governance, that it loses not just its legitimacy, but even the goodwill of the people to support it towards ensuring that these governed spaces are taken over,” he said.

“When that happens, then you just have a banana case — everybody is taking over where they are and controlling it. And for me, that’s worse than angry soldiers picking up the gun.”

Ilo said civil society organisations have been at the forefront of speaking to the conscience of the country and holding the government accountable. 

He, however, added that the “duty of holding the government accountable is not just for CSOs alone, it belongs to every citizen of Nigeria”.

On her part, Obi said CSOs have always played a key role in Nigeria’s democracy.

“Civil society organisations have done so much and will continue to perform certain key functions,” she said.

“Monitoring and holding the government to account is one of the areas that we have been focusing on. We need to continue to hold the government accountable. There’s so much that we can do.”

Akiyode-Afolabi said the problem with Nigeria’s democracy is that the leaders violate the law.

“It is important for us to keep insisting that the law must take its course because justice is built on the rule of law. We need to insist that people must obey the constitution. That what we have as a constitution does not reflect the wishes and aspirations of the people. That there’s a need for us to have a constitution for us,” she said.