Civil Societies, NGO's Others In Cross River State Reject NGO Regulatory Bill

Civil Societies, NGO's, Groups and corporate organization's  in Cross have rejected the proposed NGO Regulatory Bill by the National Assembly.

The organization's through thier representatives made this position when BURST Development Initiative in conjunction with Second Chance Initiative organized a dialogue to ascertain the Cross River position on the issue.


They described the bill as obnoxious, dictatorial and counter productive to the development drives of the country.  Although few members hailed the bill describing it as timely especially in an era where NGO's activities have been bastardized as people now hide under it to commit crimes and defraud people, most members rejected the bill in its totality.

 

Highlights of the bill discussions is given below:

Registration And De-Registration
This bill is a duplication of duties due to the fact that there are other regulatory bodies existing in the country like the C.A.C.
This kind of registration will lead to waste of project funds, and there are so many projects existing in Nigeria. The commission will be over burdened with a large number of projects to be executed.
For NGOs to register with the proposed commission, government should be prepared to fund the activities of NGOs in the country instead of depending on the international funders.

Work Permit For NGOS, Expatriate Staff
This may bring up lots of challenges on the expatriates and discourage them from coming to Nigeria.

Vehicles
It was generally agreed that it is not the best international practice to brand the expatriate /NGOs staff vehicles especially in crisis prone areas e.g. Borno state where there is insurgency.

Registration Of Projects
All the projects are dictated/directed by the funders, and these projects have a time line. The registration process/procedures will delay the projects and may lead to the funders taking the projects somewhere else or may not even approve proposals coming from a country that has so much bureaucracy.
NGO Work Plan And Budgets
NGO is not a public institution and cannot leave these vital documents at the public domains. There is a disparity in the objectives of the government/ NGOs, hence there will be conflicts in the sharing of such documents. The funders direct how the project should go and on particular thematic areas and the time line for the project. Hence with the attitude of the government institutions in Nigeria, this will lead to delays and the project may never be executed or the time line met.

Disposal Of Assets
Funders/NGOs decide what happens to the assets when a project folds up. Some are transferred to other projects/NGOs who cannot afford them. Handing them to the government might hinder the beneficiaries and may lead to waste as government may not have a space to accommodate all the equipment.
THE MINISTER
The said minister cannot be guaranteed to be unbiased. As a Muslim minister might decide to favour his own and victimize the Christians and vice versa. It is okay to have checks in place but the timing is not right.

The summary of thier position on the bill is presented below:


•The time is not right for the bill, but it is not totally out of place.

•Most success recorded in humanitarian services in Nigeria is due by the NGOs and foreign funders/partners and not the government. If the bill must be, the government should be ready to take up responsibilities.

•This bill will definitely not promote national unity.
Government and the law makers should focus on other critical areas affecting the lives of Nigerians especially the physically challenge people and come up with laws that will better the situation.

•The existing regulatory bodies of the federal government should form a monitory team to check the activities of NGOs in the country, rather than forming a commission.
Strengthening of existing laws is what is needed rather than a new law.