THE AFRICAN CENTER FOR DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE AND THE STRUGGLE FOR DEMOCRACY IN NIGERIA

By Professor Aaron T. Gana, Executive Director

July 1998

Nigeria was a British colony between 1861 and 1960, when the colonial administration was forced to surrender the reigns of power to the nationalist leaders. Unfortunately, the fragile foundations on which the post-colonial arrangements were laid disintegrated within five years of independence. A Few years to independence, the British made last ditch efforts to establish a constitutional framework that they believed would contain the divisive tendencies - ethnic, regional and religious - that had surfaced in the terminal years of colonial rule. A federal constitution was therefore adopted in 1954 and in 1959 federal elections were held to prepare for the transfer of power to an elected government. On October 1, 1960, the British Governor handed over the baton of state authority to his Nigerian counterpart and Nigeria became an independent nation-state.

Nigeria began the long journey of national democratic development with a great disability. The nationalist leaders had witnessed the authoritarian character of the colonial state, even if they were aware of the democratic content of pre-colonial governance. It was not long after they took control of the apparatus of power that they began to lean towards arbitrariness and authoritarianism in governance. Within a period of five years, all the latent negative forces, such as ethnicity, regionalism, and religious intolerance in the form of Islamic fundamentalism came to dominate the political process.

From bountiful economic promise and vigorous democratic pluralism, descent into a development promise is the over riding story of Nigeria especially since the early 1980s, but it is not the whole story. Military rule is no longer an aberration as has been routinely asserted, but the norm. Yet, Nigerians remain, tacitly or overtly, deeply committed to the ideal of democracy, and after more than a decade of venality and abuse, military rule has come to be perceived as the primary obstacle to development.

The African Center for Democratic Governance is an institution created towards the strengthening of civic society on the African continent through the cultivation of democratic values and their internalisation through political education.

The idea of a Center to promote democratic values has been catalysed by the atrocities perpetuated by dictatorships on the African continent. We believe that if democracy is underpinned by a strong civil society, Africa will see more accountable governments. One way to strengthen civil society is through political education so that more people know their inalienable rights and claim them.

Based in Jos, the Center is organised as follows: at the apex of its structure is a three person Board of Trustees, all of whom have been involved in the struggle for democracy in Nigeria and Africa. Its primary role is that of the custodian of the Center. Next to the Board of Trustees is the Governing Council composed of 7 members from diverse backgrounds and chaired by a former vice-chancellor of the University of Jos.

The Council lays down the broad policies for the Center, while the Management Committee, comprising the Executive Director, Directors of Research, Administration and Finance, and Programmes is responsible for the implementation of policies. Last, but most critical is the Steering Committee of the Center - a sort of think tank for the Center, responsible for evaluating projects and programmes for the consideration of the Governing Council.

The major strategy adopted by the Center is grassroots mobilisation. Towards this end, the Center organises conferences, seminars, workshops and lectures, for various segments of the Nigerian society. One of the most successful of these is the National Conference on the Church and the Crisis of Governance in Nigeria. Organised in collaboration with the Christian Association of Nigeria (Plateau State Chapter), the conference was intended to serve as a catalyst for greater involvement of the church in public affairs. To ensure that the kind of theological conservation that kept Christians from participating in the political process for much of Nigeria's post-colonial history is not repeated, church leaders - lay and cleric - were invited to this first of its kind gathering. At the end of the conference, resolutions on the key issues of governance were taken, among which were:

1. The national conference on the church and crisis of governance identified and emphasised bad governance and lack of visionary leadership as an important obstacle to the development of civic life. It was also realised that the church could no longer remain a neutral observer.
2. That the church should articulate a theology of political activism to guide Christians aspiring to political offices.
3. That church leaders need to educate their members on the importance of active involvement in the political process.
4. That Christian politicians must always remember that they are ambassadors of Christ in the field of politics.

The Center will continue to pursue its mission by engaging in research in all aspects of democracy; publication and dissemination of research findings; public lectures, conferences, workshops. Other activities will include dialogue and political education. To realise these and other objectives of its mandate, the Center solicits support - moral, material and financial from within and outside Nigeria. Among the public and private agencies that have provided financial and material support for the Center in pursuit of its vision and mandate are the Toronto-based Interchurch Fund for International Development (ICFID), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and a Jos based church-supported organisation, Community Development Project - Nigeria (CDP).