The failure, so far, to achieve the promise of Nigeria, the fractured and fragmented nature of Nigerian society and polity; and the leadership lacuna in Africa as a result of Nigeria's declining strategy value, has been blamed on many things. Not often cited, yet determinedly central to all of this is civil society. How and why did Nigerian civil society, once so vibrant, go into snooze control while others swung to cruise control?
How did civil society which crystalized in colonial times as social networking resulted in horizontal linkages for the purpose of keeping power accountable and raising the voice of the voiceless. Labour unions got in on the act of protesting colonial dominations, as did women's groups best known of which were the Aba women's riots, and the work of Margaret Ekpo and Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti among others; and the community development associations, too. More recently than those roots in the colonial era, civil society was key to the military deciding that the cost of holding on to power was far too much, resulting in the hasty retreat in 1998.
So how come that civil society is watching politicians fixated on power polarize society so much. Why is that some society unable to be a strong enough embankment on the assault of poverty on the ...
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