Nigeria Social Forum

The Nigerian Social Forum (NSF) is an open meeting place where groups and movements of civil society opposed to neo-liberalism and a Nigeria dominated by capital and liberal thinking congregate. It is a space that opposes any form of imperialism, unbridled capitalism, but engaged in building a Nigerian society centred on the human person. It is about Nigerians coming together to pursue their thinking, to debate ideas democratically, to formulate proposals, share their experiences freely and network for effective transformative action. The NSF proposes to debate alternative means to building a Nigeria, which respects universal human rights and those of all men, women, girls and boys, grounded in democratic African and International systems and institutions at the service of social justice, equality and the sovereignty of peoples.

 

Nigeria – A Failing State

The Nigerian State continues to flounder on producing a roadmap to meet its vision of one of the world’s largest economy come 2020. Its existing development frameworks are fashioned in the context of the neo-liberal global framework that projects the market as the main proponent for growth. Recent evaluation of the economy portrayed growth at the macro-economic level without a corresponding change in the lives of the people. This goes to underscore the fact enunciated in Goldman Sachs proposition ‘that even if Nigeria achieves the vision of becoming one of the largest economies by 2020, it could be accompanied by large pockets of poverty’. This is not the progressive and inclusive Nigeria of our dream.

 

Following the absence of a coherent development framework, is the crisis of governance corruption, subversion of the popular will of the people. The Nigerian state at all levels suffers from the question of legitimacy arising from the flawed processes of the 2007 general elections and the limitations of the electoral reform to create the desired change in strengthening democratic processes and institutions; this goes to further accentuate exclusion and inequality socially, politically and economically. State policies and interventions are driven by the ruling class without the contribution of the people and therefore the product of such policies breeds underdevelopment. There is a massive failure of social service provisioning, collapse of infrastructures, daily loss of livelihoods, increasing poverty and other indicators of development are on the downward spiral. There is a real disconnect between the government and the governed arising from social and political exclusion among other denied rights. Democracy cannot be said to be thriving without social progress and inclusion.

 

The challenge of Nigeria’s development is the lack of living alternatives to the failed neo-liberal strategy. The so-called alternatives have often found their root in reform processes whose outcomes have only served to further entrench the undemocratic culture of the ruling class in the country,

 

 

 

A Passive Citizenry

Holding Government Accountable; Social Movements Upholding Human Rights

 

A huge challenge in the Nigeria build up to authentic democracy accompanied by the needed social progress is the dearth of a politically social conscious citizenry, it is a citizenry that has failed to live up to its rights and responsibility as a player in the governance process providing the necessary checks for the leadership of the country. The democratic movement of the 90’s succeeded in creating a vibrant civil society and conscious citizenry but after the military disengaged from power, the democratic movement saw civilian governance as democracy and an end in itself and subsequently broke its ranks and disintegrated the movement into different elements of civil society organising. However, recent happenings have come to re-enforce the need for mass groupings as the pockets of engagements have failed to create the necessary pressure on the ruling class to effect people centred development

 

People’s organising as a fourth realm of the establishment fails in its task on the throngs of its quest for daily survival and therefore a disinterest in governance process not as a deliberate act but one that is accentuated by the failure of the government to meet its part of the social contract. Coupled with this is the failure of the fragmented parts of movements in the country to register social issues on the public agenda therefore the needed oil to lubricate people’s organising is greatly undermined. However, some of the NGOs have adopted the rights-based approach to work but it has been unable to create the active citizens needed to engage duty bearers in securing rights.

 

The Point of Convergence

This scenario therefore necessitates the creation of pressure groups and different forms of organising to create the necessary pressure in ensuring that the state meets its statutory obligations of ensuring a just, equitable and egalitarian society. This is a key lesson for the global movement and the new wave of thinking in the development sector and that is the realization of the role of mass groupings (coalitions, networks or umbrella bodies) as a force for change. The aim of such social forces would not be simply not to emphasize projects, provide institutional support to organizations, roll out capacity building workshops, or provide services, but to control resources via governance processes and target the structural constraints that shape the day to day life of peoples. The movements must consistently pose the question of social ownership and democratic management of resources. However, it is important that in the quest to hold government accountable, grassroots movement and groups must be educated and empowered to demand and claim their rights. This has informed the direction of the NSF that in the emerging crystallization of the Nigerian social movement and its struggles, the people also have a right to know their rights and know how to demand and claim these rights.

 

Human rights are recognized as a result of popular struggles. All significant advances in the protection of human rights have resulted from social struggles, including those of organized labour, civil society groupings, youth, women and grassroots movements and the society at large. And therefore we must seek ways to unify our struggles, diversify resistance and build alternatives for the transformation of our society, one that is built on the democratic management of our resources for the collective good of all.

 

However, the idea of unifying struggles must be understood by the various movements and platforms in order to appreciate the value addition of such an effort as a means of diversifying resistance and on the strength of unity of purpose provide a pool of alternatives on all facets of our national live while creating the needed solidarity to bring these alternatives to bear.

 

The Dynamics of the Social Forum

The understanding and belief that mass groupings have more capacity to effect change have necessitated the emergence of the Social Forum space as a space for convergence and solidarity of struggles and joint actions. The Nigeria Social Forum seeks to continue the humble task of providing a space for movements, groups and civil society, galvanising and building a social movement as well as providing a platform for building and echoing alternatives. This the NSF has carried out in the last four years with the NSF in Makurdi, through Lagos to Enugu. The Social Forum is gaining momentum in the context of people’s organising in the Nigeria in galvanising the various strands of struggles and movements into a formidable force for advancing the call for more people-oriented governance and structures, towards actualizing a just and egalitarian society called Nigeria.

 

OBJECTIVES

 

The failure of governance and the state of the nation generally provides the impetus to further strengthen people’s organising in the country for social transformation; the NSF would seek to consolidate on it gains of the past to create the needed space and build the consciousness of Nigerians towards the emergence of a people’s movement and the rethink of civil society organizing to create alternative strategies for development in Nigeria as a mechanism for accelerating progress towards achieving human centred, and people driven development.

 

Towards actualising these ideals the NSF is proposing a set of activities for the year 2009 – 2010 tagged “Uniting Struggles, Diversifying Resistance and Building Alternatives” The broad objectives of the Nigeria Social Forum in the period stated would be to;

 

• Provide a space for the exchange of ideas, information, experiences and for mutual guidance among the various components of the Nigeria Social Forum;
• Facilitate the emergence, growth and linkage of local movements in Nigeria while empowering the people to know, demand and claim their rights;
• Examine the main developments in Nigeria, Africa and the World so as to appreciate their consequences on the Nigerian people;
• Strengthen the capacities of participants at the Nigeria Social Forum to analyze issues, propose alternatives and mobilize for change so as to contribute meaningfully to the development of Nigeria;
• Develop common positions and strategies on issues and challenges raised so as to pursue a common vision, and coordinated response to the challenges of sustainable development in Nigeria.

 

The activities proposed by the NSF in the period would include;

 

5^th NSF BENIN 2010

 

Every society has the capacity for change and development. Society is dynamic and changes from time to time. But at certain times, the necessity for transformative change becomes imperative.  However, for change to occur in any society requires the presence of objective and subjective conditions. Objective conditions exist when situations are evidently abnormal with huge contradictions which can only be resolved by change. The subjective conditions are the organizational preparations required to bring about change. In our view, the objective condition is ripe in Nigeria. There is poverty in the midst of plenty. There are huge contradictions and scandalous gaps between the poor and the rich. The country cannot continue in the way it is presently being run. Unfortunately, the subjective conditions are absent. There is no virile political party or movement that is committed to change neither is there a vanguard revolutionary organization to guide that change. There are no well organized democratic and popular organizations to support a change process. Although, there are individuals committed to and are driving change, the organizational support required for sustainability and great impact is lacking. The challenge is to build the organizations with dynamic and visionary leadership as well as a committed followership that is dedicated to change. Therefore ongoing attempts to build the requisite organization, leadership and followership for change which must be assisted, nurtured and consolidated for the necessary change to occur in Nigeria.

 

Movement organising is characterised by social dissatisfaction with the state of affairs and typified by struggle for change. It is mainly concerned with social action and engagement to bring about change. It involves organised efforts that promote or resist changes in the structure of society and involve recourse to non-institutional forms of political participation. Movements act as enablers, catalysts and facilitators of action and change. As organisation continues and matures, social movements acquire power which enables them to obtain new spaces, political and social recognition.

 

The goal of the 5^th Nigeria Social Forum is therefore to “create an avenue to marshal out strategies for mobilising for change in Nigeria.” The specific objectives include to:

 

• Provide a space for the exchange ideas, information, experiences and for mutual guidance among the various components of the Nigerian Social Forum on how to mobilise for transformation of Nigeria
• Draw lesson from past struggles and forge a way forward for the transformation of Nigeria
• Draw lessons from other parts of the world on how to change Nigeria
• Draw lessons from the experiences of others on the use of elections processes as a strategy for sustainable and participatory change.
• Consolidate the relationship between the Nigeria Social Forum, the African Social Forum and the World Social Forum around mutually reinforcing global issues such as climate change and other contemporary crises.

 

In achieving the objectives of the forum, the following issues would form the crux of discussions, debates and agenda setting.

 

• Strategies for Change
• Mobilising for Change
• Operationalising strategy and tactics for change
• Role of Interest Groups in the Change Agenda (Political Parties, CSOs, FBOs, Private Sector, Professional Groups, Movements (Farmers, Labour, Environmentalists, Feminists, Students and Urban Poor etc)
• Lessons from Asia
• Lessons from Africa
• Lessons from Latin America
• Lessons for the State of Karela in India
• Election processes as a Strategy of Change
• Lessons from past Nigerian elections as a Strategy of Change

COMMUNITY AND ISSUE BASED FORUM

 

The NSF in one of her objectives aims at building a grassroots based movement; the NSF through the zonal structures would work towards supporting community and group forums as means of giving the people the impetus to further organise against all efforts aimed at stripping individuals and the communities of their fundamental rights.

 

The NSF would consolidate on organising at the zonal and state levels to facilitate a broad buy-in into the ideals of the forum as a space for convergence and joint action for change while mobilising towards the forum in Benin, while the Benin forum on its part would also be part of the mobilisation towards the World Social Forum expected to hold in the West African city of Dakar, Senegal.

 

MOVEMENT WORKSHOP

 

Movement organising is characterised by social dissatisfaction with the state of affairs and typified by struggle for change. It is mainly concerned with social action and engagement to bring about change. It involves organised efforts that promote or resist changes in the structure of society and involve recourse to non-institutional forms of political participation. Movements act as enablers, catalysts and facilitators of action and change. As organisation continues and matures, social movements acquire power which enables them to obtain new spaces, political and social recognition. It is in recognition of this historical responsibility that the NSF seeks to engage the structures of the social movements to take the lead in the process.

 

The movement workshop therefore is aimed at “sensitising and developing a common understanding on the essence and principles of the space and the opportunities inherent in the space”.

 

CAMPUS FORUM

 

The dearth of consciousness amongst Nigerians has permeated all levels of society including the campuses which were once springboards and livewire of the movement in Nigeria. The systemic incursion into NANS by the state and its subsequent destruction by the same state as well the Nigerian education curricular has also not permitted the level of debate expected to be generated on emerging trends and dynamics of global phenomenon and processes on Nigerian campuses. These are among the factors which have made the mobilisation of young persons a big challenge and to this end the NSF in 2009 would attempt to connect and facilitate forums on campuses across the country. These forums would serve to educate Nigerian undergraduates on emerging global dynamics, national issues as well as mobilise and plug them into the struggle for social transformation.

 

WORKERS FORUM

 

The labour movements’ remains the biggest platforms for social mobilisation and in Nigeria. The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) leads in this direction. Therefore it is important that there is a connection between workers’ struggles and other fragments of the struggle in the society. To this end, the NSF would attempt to facilitate with the active support of the congresses, the mobilisation and organization of workers forum by the various affiliates of the congresses in order to share their experiences and action on alternatives as well as broaden their political perspectives of struggle.

 

CONNECTION WITH THE WORLD WIDE STRUGGLE FOR CHANGE

 

The NSF in the stated period would continue to be part of the world wide struggle for change and contribute its experience and perspective to the global process and struggle against neo-liberal globalisation. It would also use this opportunity to share experiences and learn from other dynamics around the world. to this end the NSF would attempt to facilitate the active participation of Nigerian groups in the global dynamics of the forum.

 

FUNDING THE PROCESS

 

The Solidarity Fund

The year 2010 would be an opportunity to action on mobilisation of resources by the use of the concept of the solidarity fund. This would enable us to a reasonable extent confront the challenge of funding the process and also facilitate a large buy in into the ideals of the NSF.

 

 

Support from Progressive Organisation

The NSF would also attempt to mobilise funds from organisations who buy into the ideals and principles of the Social Forum respecting its unique way of organising

 

TARGET GROUPS

 

The target groups for the forum’s activities are as follows:

 

• The Nigerian People
• Students and Students Organisations
• Pro-Democracy Movements
• Artisans
• People living with disabilities
• Religious Institutions and Faith Based Organisations
• Community Based Organisations
• Farmer Organizations
• Labour Organizations
• Organised Private Sector
• Women’s Organizations
• Youth Organizations
• Students’ Organisations
• Human Rights Organizations
• Environmental and Development Organizations
• Community Based Organizations (CBOs)
• Consumer Organizations
• National NGO coalitions/Forums
• The Academia, Researchers and research institutions
• Faith Based Organizations (FBOs)
• The Media
• The Arts and Entertainment
• Government (Executive)
• Members of Parliament
• Okada riders
• Bus Conductors
• Elder Statesmen and Women

 

Sustainability

 

The momentum that has been generated by the Nigeria Social Forum has galvanized civic, grassroots organizations, and women’s movements in debating issues of national concern. The methodology adopted by NSF this year shall further catalyze the voice of the movement in Nigeria; enhance local ownership, help in building bridges across the various strands of the Nigerian social movements and propel the needed actions.

 

Sustainability of the forum space would be seen from a perspective of connecting governance to people’s power, therefore the NSF would attempt to domicile the struggle in the everyday lives of the people.