Nigeria

SCT is working with a wide range of civil society organisations in Nigeria to develop a national Speakers’ Corner project in Africa’s most populous country. The initiative’s principal aim will be to create new opportunities for public participation in governance by developing a forum for open debate through which citizens can exchange ideas and opinions, develop consensus and avoid conflict, hold their elected representatives and others to account and influence policy-making and decision-taking.  

SCT’s role in the early stage of the project will be to consolidate the support already offered by a range of Nigerian, UK and international organisations, promote the initiative among key potential stakeholders, including the Nigerian Government, political parties and civil society organisations and, wherever possible, build practical working relationships.  

National Church Abuja

This consultative process will, it is hoped, allow SCT to progress to the second stage of its work, namely to develop the vehicle for a national Speakers’ Corner project ‘owned’, steered and managed in Nigeria by Nigerians and sustainable over the long term. The securing of strong and lasting partnerships is therefore an important priority for SCT and essential for the long term prospects of the project.  

In September 2008, SCT undertook a scoping exercise designed to test the viability of the project. Consultees broadly agreed that a Speakers’ Corner project would be particularly timely not least because, as a number suggested, Nigeria has reached an important stage in the development of its democratic and economic process: there are grounds for optimism that it can fulfil its very significant potential but also a danger that, if it does not now do so, recent progress could falter or even be reversed.  

A significant number of consultees, including politicians of different parties, regarded the lack of public participation in Nigeria’s political and democratic systems as the principal obstacle to progress. They referred in particular to  

• the lack of opportunity among citizens to participate in their own political processes
• the lack of influence of the majority of Nigerians on policy-making and service delivery
• the lack of accountability in Nigerian politics and public administration
• the lack of national consensus and the potential for conflict.

National Mosque Abuja

The Fragility of Freedom

Several acknowledged that the President, the courts and a growing body of politicians are currently showing a renewed commitment to the democratic process. But they also recognised that, in seeking a new legitimacy, the same politicians and public servants are finding it difficult to create vehicles for the engagement they wish to promote between themselves and the public.  

They regarded the creation of a genuinely ‘public space’ in which citizens can meet and debate on equal terms with each other and the decision-takers among them as vital both to the building of a more stable and sustainable democratic process and to the fostering of more cohesive communities.  

Millenium Park Abuja

Moreover, they see in the Speakers’ Corner model the prospects for a credible, independent vehicle for public engagement capable of serving the needs of both the public and those in positions of power who are serious about developing a more open and participative democracy.  

From July 2009, SCT has been working with its Nigerian partners to develop a sustainable vehicle for the project, gather support for it and plan its launch in Abuja and, in due course, its expansion to Lagos and other parts of the country.  

The Speakers' Corner Working Group

That work has been very fruitful with a number of important partnerships and collaborations rapidly developing. ActionAid has pledged to provide office accommodation for the project and the Nigerian Bar Association is offering pro bono legal advice in creating a Nigerian equivalent of Speakers’ Corner Trust. The NBA, ActionAid and the Nigerian Labour Congress have also all undertaken to activate their national networks to support the development of local Speakers’ Corer initiatives when the project’s roll-out begins.   

In October 2009, SCT established a Working Group to help develop and guide the project’s progress. Membership includes ActionAid, the NBA and NLC but also features civil society organisations such as Coalitions for Change (C4C), Integrity, the Policy & Advocacy Centre and the Paradigm Initiative.