NGOs kick against proposed bill to regulate their activities

CIVIL societies groups across the country under the aegis of Nigeria Network of NGOs on Tuesday in Lagos denounced the proposed bill already before the National Assembly seeking to regulate their activities and requiring to them re register every two years as well as seeking permission from affected government agencies before they could deliver any of their civic duties to the people and communities.

Various speakers, including Chief of Party, USAID- SACE, Charles Abani; Executive Director, Nigeria Network of NGOs, Oyebisi Oluseyi; Executive Director, Sickle Cell Advocacy and Management Initiatives, Toyin Adesola; Executive Director, Food Basket Foundation International, Dr Funmi Akinleye, among others all said the bill was uncalled for and should killed outright.

This was as they maintained that there were enough regulations of the activities the NGOs in the country by various agencies of government, urging the government to always see the NGOs as partners in alleviating people’s sufferings.

Speaking at a forum, which was organised in collaboration with the InnerCity Mission for Children, Abani contended that the Federal Government already had a range of legislation in place for regulations of activities of incorporated organisations, including NGOs in the country, listing the Corporate Affairs Commission as being among such bodies.

Abani said while he was not opposed to reforming the Civil Societies in the country, however, maintained that they were already over- regulated.

“Do we need to reform that by replacing it with a bill that centralises that and gives undue authority to one particular agency, I think the answer is no.

“Civic voice is a very central part of a democratic part of a democratic process and diversity of civic voice is a central part the process. When a legislation requires organisations to register every two years, you cannot but be left asking the question why would you require me to re-register my citizenship of this country every two years? He queried.

According to the executive director, Food Basket Foundation International, Dr Akinyele, “The fact that NGOs need regulations doesn’t mean it is government that should regulate them.

She said the proposed bill was uncalled, urging that the government should leave regulations to the NGOs themselves to do as they had always been doing.

She also urged all NGOs in the country to rally together to achieve unity of purpose amongst themselves.

Also speaking, Oluseyi of Nigeria Network of NGOs said the bill should allowed to die a natural death, contending that it was not a good idea seeking government’s permission before a dying child in a remote committee in a place like Oyo could be helped by an NGO.

“The bill should die because we are looking at least for instance, we want to help someone in community in Oyo, for instance, a child is about to die and the bill is saying before I can help him, I need to ensure that there is a ministry responsible for it that I need to get a permission from,” he said.

On her part, the Executive Director, Sickle Cell Advocacy and Management Initiatives, Adesola, said the bill would stifle the activities of NGOs and ensure that more people afflicted with sickle cell anaemia die.

“I know the challenges of living with sickle cell and it is not something that you can wait for government to answer you before you help them. That means we would be losing more people, we are losing more people already,” she said.