The Foundations of Change

In 2000, I began working professionally with the Social and Economic Rights Action Center (SERAC), a Lagos based human-rights driven civic entity led by Felix Morka, now the Publicity Secretary of Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).  

I began with the focus on advancing greater protection for and securing solutions to economic, social and cultural rights (ESCR) in Nigeria and by extension Africa. What struck me as a novice then to ESCR work and the civil society world was the openness and willingness of SERAC’s management to absorb and take in staff like myself, whose major strength lay in their research capabilities and hunger to secure employment, though perhaps overly passionate to undertake community work.

I sensed that Mr. Morka aimed to cultivate a set of young Nigerians to embrace the philosophy of ESCR and connect it  to the new democratic experience in Nigeria, as the country transitioned from years of military rule following its return to democracy in 1999. 

The confidence reposed in the new ESCR ‘activists’ recruits, two others Victoria Denedo and Jumoke Ogunmola, (as they were known then) and I, resulted in my being sent to Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to document eye-witness accounts of the forced evictions and demolitions of communities carried out by the FCT authorities under the leadership of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, the Minister of the FCT at that time. That was my first major encounter with citizens who had been left homeless by the spate of demolitions undertaken in the communities around the Abuja metropolis 

First Encounters with Injustice

From community to community, I took copious notes of the evictees’ stories, most of which centered on their effort to secure a  fair chance at survival in Abuja, a city which at that time was grappling with a troubling housing crisis – and still is.

Many had built and owned homes, some with clear approvals from the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), yet faced the political and human challenges of restoring the Abuja Masterplan and the unresolved questions of the resettlement plans for Abuja’s original dwellers.

Beyond the numerous legal issues and human rights violations surrounding the forced evictions and demolitions of privately owned buildings to restore the Abuja Masterplan, I witnessed firsthand the realities of the helplessness ordinary citizens face under the brutal enforcement of public policies and law. 

For me, this encapsulated the critical objective of the ESCR activist role I was stepping into: to foster robust public discourse on the value of government policies and their implementation in meeting citizens’ needs in areas such as education, health, housing, environment, and economic opportunities, amongst others.

With every subsequent intervention, communities and the agency of citizens remained the core component of the strategy and theory of change employed to steer change and compel better attitude and behaviour of government and non-state actors to addressing ESCR concerns. 

The Power of Citizen Agency 

This approach led to remarkable successes during my time at SERAC, most notably in empowering communities to engage directly with governments and non-state actors. These efforts compelled governments to act through the influence of local and global advocacy, public-interest litigation and securing remedies for victims of ESCR violations.  In some rare cases, common sense just prevailed, inspiring champions within governments to act more responsibly and with greater accountability 

The tactic and strategy of strengthening citizens’ agency to become active participants in governance has remained core to the organizations I have worked with from 2007 to 2022, after my time at SERAC. These organizations include the Segun Aina Foundation, the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), an arm of the Open Society Foundation (OSF), and, currently over the last three years, BudgIT Foundation (www.budgit.org)  and CivicHive (www.civichive.org) 

Everything revolves around citizens – co-creating and developing innovative solutions to address the deficits in governance and the peculiarities of these at local, state and national levels. Like the earlier work with SERAC, progress can be painstakingly slow, but the results have been remarkable. Some of these results include inspiring examples of the power of community organizing, advocacy, and resistance to bad governance. These efforts have been driven by:

• Relentless civic education and engagement, equipping citizens with greater knowledge of public policies and laws through the creative simplification of complex data, such as national budgets, research reports, and curated public debates intriguing.
• Inspiring public discourses, stirring relevant responses from governments.
• The continual engagement of key entities in the service delivery value-chains of governments to act with much more responsibility.
• Exposing corruption and triggering anti-corruption entities to pursue such leads. 
• Steering young people to invest their artistic and tech talents in developing civic-tech and artistic-based solutions to tackle governance issues.

A Daunting Landscape of Challenges

The journey towards making good governance a tangible reality in the lives of the average Nigeria is not without its challenges. These have been well-documented and include, the deficits in our electoral democracy systems that empower politicians and elected officials with questionable public-interest profiles, the relentless clampdown on the civic space through the enactment and enforcement of anti-civic growth policies and laws.obstinacy on the part of state entities, particularly the civil service, to shift their attitudes and practices to ensure governance works for the people; dwindling local and foreign financial support for civil society organizations and their initiatives; the alarming decline in livelihood opportunities for young people; and the broader socio-economic challenges confronting the populace.

Despite these seemingly intractable problems, there is great hope for Nigeria’s civil society. Strengthened by strategies for engaging young people that are gradually yielding results, it is poised to unite youth and other segments of society into a strong, cohesive social movement. This movement will confront governance deficits at all levels more firmly and sustainably.

In Nigeria, 2026, a pre-general election year, will be a pivotal moment to test the strength of this movement and its readiness to engage in ensuring electoral accountability and achieving higher standards of free and fair elections in 2027. The resolve of young people will be reflected in their commitment to securing voter cards, organizing to defend their votes, rejecting roles as instruments of electoral violence for corrupt politicians, countering false narratives through social media, and stepping up as active citizens.

The agency of citizens at this pivotal moment in Nigeria’s history will be invigorated by the country’s vibrant young population. This energetic demographic will benefit from civil society’s unwavering commitment to programs that prioritize their needs. Taking charge of their future starts now.   

Joseph Amenaghawon is Head, CivicHive, based in Lagos, Nigeria

X:@jogbosky; email: joseph@civichive.org;