Civil Society and Democratic Governance in Nigeria

It is quite intriguing that fifty-two years after Nigeria attained her nominal independence from her colonial masters and twelve years into her democratic dispensation following a protracted and most challenging struggle against a rapacious military hegemony, the dividends of good governance have largely eluded the majority who wallow in abject poverty in the midst of abundant resources. Thus, the current democratic experiment appears to be fraught with similar imperfections that plagued the past democratic attempts thereby making transformation a myth rather than reality in Nigeria. The dire need to institutionalize the culture of good governance in Nigeria so as to improve the quality of life of the Nigerian people informs the position of this study. Hence, civil society has been adopted as a veritable tool for achieving good governance. This paper, therefore, attempts to carry out a thorough exposition of civil society organization vis- a- vis its transformatory role as an arbiter to redeem the Nigeria society from imminent total collapse as the country is yet to arrive at the ultimate destination of democracy as the government of the people, duly elected by the people, in the service of the people.