Reps and hassle over NGOs regulation bill

Will the House of Representatives continue its pursuit of a bill to establish a special commission specifi cally to regulate the activities of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), and the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Nigeria?JOSHUA EGBODO writes on the controversies surrounding the bill.

As the House of Representatives resumes today from its annual recess, it will likely be confronted with barrage of attacks on its introduction of the controversial bill seeking the establishment of a special commission to regulate the activities of civil and other organisations outside the ambit of the government. Sponsored by the Deputy Minority Leader of the House, Hon. Buba Jibril, the proposed legislation if enacted, would among other things, give the regulatory commission powers to register all NGOs, decline registration of any that may not meet its prescribed standards, suspend a registered organisation which may have erred in its opinion, track activities of the registered bodies, their sources of fi nance, ensure clearance from the immigration authorities where expatriates are involved in any programme or project of an organisation, and so on.

However, some notable frontline organisations and individuals have opposed the bill. For instance, human rights activist and former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Chidi Odinkalu, in a video that has gone viral on the social media, has mobilised against the passage of the bill.

His contention is that even religious organisations, including churches and mosques, may come under the regulation of the planned commission. Odinkalu thinks the commission would be against the spirit of the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of worship. “Nigeria’s National Assembly is currently considering the NGOs regulation bill for passage. It has gone through the fi rst reading, it has gone through second reading, and now in committee stage…Probably later this month, the committee on NGOs in the House of Representatives would be holding a public hearing on the bill.

“It is important you understand what this bill means, and its implication both for you as a citizen, and the country in general…. Th is is the most dangerous piece of legislation that has come to the National Assembly for consideration, since the return to civil rule in 1999. “It covers the activities of everybody and every entity that is not government, and it aff ects churches, mosques, schools, universities, hospitals, everything as well as humanitarian operations taking place in the country….. It is totalitarian in its consequences.

“Now, what does the bill require? Basically, all resources, all funds, everything that is collected or liable to be collected and made available to service communities and individuals who are in need in this country would be subjected to Abuja. Before you can raise fund in your church, in your mosque, you have to get Abuja’s permission, and after you get the funds, you have to return them to Abuja for Abuja to tell you what to do with them.

And when you have done that, it’s Abuja that will help you do your audit. “Nobody can operate anything without clearance from Abuja. It’s worst than a totalitarian piece of legislation. For the old mamas and old papas doing Esusu in the village; that is revolving credit. Before you do your collections, you come to Abuja for clearance. After you’ve done your collections, before you share the money or rotate the collections among the benefi ciaries; you come to Abuja for clearance. “Amadiya Movement will have to come to Abuja for clearance, NASFAT will have to come to Abuja to do anything. Th e mosques that do collections every Friday to support people in their congregations and their communities will all have to account for that money to civil servants, who would either tell them what to do with it, or collect it and put it in their pockets.

Th e churches will be out of business, the mosques will be endangered. “Th is is what the legislators want us to subscribe to, and as a citizen, you’ve got to understand that this means that there would be no voice of criticism for government, nobody can tell government anything….. What government is proposing to do is that after the bill has been passed, everybody, organizing in Nigeria under any form; students, old students associations, Reverend Sisters in convents, Reverend Fathers and pastors, wherever they may be, Imams, Alfas and everybody, you will have to apply to Abuja for them to register you to operate.

“…Th ey can refuse to register you, in which case you cannot do anything. If they agree to register you however, you will have to hold that license for only two years. After those two years, you’ll have to apply for them to renew your license. If they agree at that time to renew your license, you can continue to operate for another two years. If they don’t agree, that license lapses. If you try to do anything without that license, you’ll be liable to be imprisoned for 18 months, and if they are sympathetic and agree not to send you to jail, you may be let go with a fi ne of N500,000.

“Th e civil servants will collect this money in the name of politicians, use to fi re up political power that will not be accountable to anyone of us….. Th is is why am saying it is the most dangerous piece of legislation that is being considered in our country today…”, Odinkalu said in the about fi ve and a half minutes video, urging Nigerians to reject the bill for the benefi t of their unborn children. But sponsor of the proposed legislation, Jibril in a swift reaction to the massive attacks on the bill, denied the involvement of churches, mosques and the local thrifts and loans schemes in the proposed regulations.

Th e lawmaker in a statement to that eff ect also accused some NGOs of collecting funds “for North East IDPs and disappeared” without using same for the purposes they procured them. “Religious bodies and organizations are not NGOs. Our quasi fi nancial institutions at local levels are NOT NGOs. Th ese organizations have existed for centuries to serve businesses and commerce of our market women and traders. “NGOs and CSOs are voluntary organizations that are registered to partner government at all levels to fi ll gaps wherever they exist. Th ey are supposed to be partners in progress with the government; therefore the need for a commission to serve this purpose arises. “Secondly and naturally for them to carry out their activities, the NGOs and CSOs solicit for funds from all over the world and collect billions of naira on behalf of Nigerians. “

Th irdly, they recruit expatriates to help them run their activities in the country with lots of abuses. Recent developments have shown that some people register NGOs, solicit for funds and disappeared. Th at happened recently in the North East”. Jibril, who also posited that some NGOs were being used to fund the activities of terrorists and insurgents, said “the NGOs bill, therefore, is primarily to set up a commission to regulate their activities and provide a platform for robust relationship between them and the government for the interests of Nigerians.

“In addition, it is to ensure transparency and accountability in the ways and manners the NGOs collect monies and use them for Nigerians. “Th e NGOs bill is not new or peculiar to Nigeria. It exists in many countries, particularly in the ECOWAS sub-region and all over Africa and other continents. In Europe, Israel passed theirs last year. Kenya has a similar law since 1990. Nigeria is not, and should not be a banana republic where anything goes”.

Th ese submissions in of the support of the bill however appeared very unconvincing to many analysts, who are of the view that there are serious issues that should engage the parliament. Mobilisation of Nigerians against the bill has been gathering momentum from the NGOs and CSOs. Now that the House is back in session, heated debates will surely greet the bill if scheduled for public hearing, unless the House backtracked and shelved the document.

 

 

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