NON APPOINTMENT OF A SPECIAL ADVISER, CIVIL SOCIETY/NGOs BY GOVERNOR BASSEY OTU

WEDNESDAY 10TH JULY,2024

Just recently, the Governor of Cross River State, Senator(Prince) Bassey Edet Otu, made another set of appointments into key positions of the State Government. Obviously the appointment were made to fill exiating vacancies and perhaps to strengthen the machinery of Governance in the state. 

While it remains my personal view that it has become very imperative for all strata of government in our nation to deliberately cut the cost of governance,at this point of economic challenges, through minimizing the number of political appointees  and instead according priority to filling up vacancies in the civil/public service of state, I will however differ to the Wisdom and love for the state the Governor is reputed to have by his decision to further expand the size of his government by this latest tranche of appointment he just made. I now look forward to the appointments translating to a HIGHER QUALITY OF GOVERNANCE centered on the primary interest of the people of the State. 

Having stated the above, I must highlight here that the Governor in this latest appointments once again failed to appoint a Special Adviser, Civil Society/NGOs, a development I presume could be simply an unintentional oversight on the part of the Governor or as a result of the Governor's attention not being drawn to the existence of a Department for Civil Society/NGOs in the state.

The Department of Civil Society/NGOs was created during the Administration of Former Governor Imoke. It has since had several Special Advisers, beginning with Mrs. Margaret Ebokpo, a seasoned NGO practitioner with background in Women's Right and Political participation. 

From the onset,  the Department of Civil Society/NGOs became a critical agency of Government in coordinating the activities of Civil Society/NGOs in the State especially as it has to do with engagements with government and in Multi-stakeholders forums organised by the Government and other partners of Government including international development partners seeking to consult Non State Actors or to fund their activities in the State. The department was also vital in the registration of Civil Society Organisations and Self Help Groups, facilitating capacity building for them amongst other very vital services to the third sector. In that period, discussions and the way forward started on having a One Stop registration for Civil Society Organisation(CSO)s in the state, taxation as pertains to CSOs, Civil Society Commission, increasing women political participation, electoral reforms and many other policy issues that were of interest to many of the CSOs working or operating in the state. 

Under Former Governor Ayade, the Department activities and relevance was sustained. The then  Governor appointed A Special Adviser for the Department as his predecessor did and even went ahead to appoint Special Assistants to work with the Advisers. Among the many achievements of the department at this time included the Joint organising and holding of the International NGO day with some Civil Society Organisations and participation of representative of CSOs in major State functions, donor engagements and public policy development through the department's facilitation.

Despite the foregoing, more than one year after, the current administration led by Prince Bassey Edet Otu, there is no appointment of a Political Head for the Department which obviously indicates no interest or priority by government to engage effectively with Civil Society/ NGOs contrary to the requirements of many Development Partners that support the State in its budgetary provisions. The scenario has led to a  huge void creating room for lack of policy and programs coordination of the Voluntary Sector at government level using a sustainable framework  that leads to positive outcomes. 

At this point, it is instructive to state that though some actors in Civil Society of the State, including yours truly, have now adopted a recommendation for the Establishment of a Legislation backed Commission for Civil Society/NGOs, which will transform the department to a Commission and thereby headed by a Commission Chairman assisted by Commission members, we however still believe that there is need, for now, for a Special Adviser to be appointed for the Department as it currently exist subject to when a Commission will come  to replace the Department upon assent by the Governor of the enabling legislation.     To actualize our goal for a commission, the Special Adviser will be critical in functioning as a liaison between CSOs and Government so we arrive at provisions in the legislations that are acceptable to all stakeholders within meaningful and realistic timeframe.  

It is imperative to note that during the just concluded   South South Regional Conference on Improving Regulatory  Environment for CSO operations in Nigeria held on the  27th of June, 2024 in Calabar, calls were made by Civil Society actors to have an Executive legislative mechanism for the State that will improve the regulatory and developmental environment for CSO operations at the state level in line with constitutional provisions and precedence that exist in other states in the country especially Benue State that has a law for the Voluntary Sector activities which was upheld as valid in a Court of Appeal Judgement. 

On this note, I am calling on the State Governor who is pro-people in his mantra to immediately appoint a Special Adviser for Civil Society/NGOs so his administration can better harness the needs, expectations and opinions of ordinary citizens and Civil Society Organisations including Non Governmental Organisations( NGOs)     for the success of the administration and an upward trajectory in the development of the State and which gives the State a positive image among international development community.

Written and Signed by: Leader Ben Usang( a Civil Society/NGO leader, Development Facilitator, Human Dignity Advocate, Social Justice activist and a Public Affairs Commentator) based in Calabar, Nigeria