NASS regulate your failures and excesses, not NGO’s

The National Assembly (NASS) isrenowned for being the least transparent and most financially secretive arm of government. In what ranks as one of the greatest ironies of our time, they believe that they can enforce transparency and accountability in operations of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO’s) and Civil Society Organisations (CSO’s)! A proposed Bill to establish a […]

The National Assembly (NASS) isrenowned

for being the least transparent and most

financially secretive arm of government.

In what ranks as one of the greatest ironies of

our time, they believe that they can enforce

transparency and accountability in operations

of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO’s)

and Civil Society Organisations (CSO’s)! A

proposed Bill to establish a NGO Regulatory

Commission has passed its second reading

in the House of Representatives. Seeking to

govern the activities of NGO’s and CSO’s the

Bill ranks alongside Obasanjo’s “third-term”

Constitutional amendments as the most

repugnant piece of legislation ever considered

under a democratic dispensation in Nigeria.

It’s not a question of accountability.

The Bill has all the trappings of a poorly

thought out piece of subterfuge. It appears to

be an underhand method of restricting the

actions of NGO’s and CSO’s which routinely

uncover political and financial corruption,

oppose lack of accountability in the NASS, and

expose the lavish lifestyles of elected officials.

The Bill’s sponsor Hon Umar Jibril exhibited

all the hubris and lack of respect for public

opinion associated with members of the

NASS when he dismissed negative reactions

to his proposed legislation as “shameful and

condemnable”. His outburst wasn’t surprising

because our legislators concern themselves

with silencing those who complain about

their ineffectiveness and lack of focus, and

defending their self-granted privileges, rather

than imbibing public opinion and enacting

laws to improve the lives of citizens.

Disgracefully at a time when the rest of

the world is talking about leaner, cheaper

and more efficient governance, our overpaid

and underworked Legislators are discussing

creating more organs of government. It’s

difficult not to agree with the view of the

Secretary of the Pentecostal Fellowship of

Nigeria, Bishop Isong that it’s frustrating

for government to be spending time on an

NGO Bill when they should be focusing

on addressing the economic and security

challenges in the country. The Bishop cynically

remarked that if legislators truly mean well,

then they should first regulate their bogus

allowances!

The biggest recurring criticism of the NASS

is that they have proved to be incapable

of conceptualising, let alone passing,

legislation which impacts positively on the

lives of Nigerians. In a nation that lacks basic

infrastructure; that borrows to finance its

budget; and in which government finds

it difficult to pay salaries, pensions and

gratuities, it beggars belief that anyone in their

right mind would propose more expensive

governance. The Nigerian Network of NGO’s

should be commended for kicking against this

idea of creating another Federal Agency which

will squander lean resources on Secretariats,

State Liaison Offices, Executive salaries and

fleets of SUV’s.

The claim that a Commission is required

because “some NGO’s collected funds for

North East IDP’s and disappeared” and

because “some NGO’s are used to fund the

activities of terrorists”, is untenable. There

are existing laws which cover such criminal

behaviour and can be used to bring those

responsible to book. Hon Femi Gbajabiamila’s

declaration that NGO’s are somehow above

the law and must be regulated by government

is erroneous. Many nations cope without NGO

regulation commissions.

Furthermore, as it stands there is already

regulation. Firstly, because all NGO’s

are registered with the Corporate Affairs

Commission (CAC). Secondly, because foreign

donors don’t just give money away, they do

their own form of vetting before they assist

NGO’s. The fear that the proposed Bill was

conjured up to stifle the activities of civil society

groups who are important actors in expanding

citizen’s rights and the democratic space in

Nigeria is very real. The powers the Bill seeks

to confer upon the Commission represent a

slide into a police state which will encourage

tyrannical tendencies in governance, supress

freedom of speech, and negatively impact

upon humanitarian organizations who quite

absurdly would have to apply for permission

before embarking upon any projects.

Worse still there are many who believe

that the Bill is intended to bring religion

under State control because Churches can

be categorized as CSO’s or NGO’s since they

carry out charitable services. Coming hot

on the heels of recent attempts to enact laws

regulating the tenure of Church Pastors and

General Overseers, to license all preachers,

and to muzzle the social media, it comes as no

surprise that the proposed Bill is viewed with

distain as being belligerent, self-righteous,

dictatorial and autocratic.

The proposed NGO Regulatory

Commission whose members would be

appointed by the President, would be saddled

with the responsibility of issuing licenses

which are renewable every two years. Many

Legal experts are of the opinion that this is

illegal because NGO’s are registered with

the CAC and have acquired the status of

perpetual succession and corporate legal

personality, which cannot be stripped from

them. This quite ridiculous license renewal

provision means that NGO’s should not

carry out projects that are of more than two

years’ duration! These restrictions have been

condemned by the Prelate of the Methodist

Church of Nigeria, the Chief Imam of Ansarud-

Deen, and so many other pastors and

clerics as being inimical to the interests of

both NGO’s and the nation. They believe that

the less government is involved in regulating

the affairs of NGO’s the better.

Indeed, the best way of ensuring that

corruption and substandard performance

is rife in NGO’s is to involve government

regulation! In all truthfulness, government

officials have shown little ability to regulate

themselves or anything else. Despite the NASS

well publicised oversight functions few if any

regulatory agencies are functioning effectively.

Our markets are flooded with fake drugs

and other products; smuggling continues

unabated through our notoriously porous

borders, treasury looting and contract inflation

is still rampant; and the nation is littered with

substandard diagnostic laboratories, hospitals,

roads and schools. The NASS would be well

advised to first regulate their own excesses,

then regulate our failed regulatory agencies

before attempting to regulate NGO’s.