INTRODUCTION
Although there are several understandings and definitions of civil society, they are all bound by the basic Hegelian principle which sees civil society as the general space between the family and the polity, where individual needs and wants are articulated, and sometimes addressed independent of the state. By this, civil society is a basic channel for citizen’s aspirations as they struggle to be understood and catered for by the state. Hence, civil society represents a very valuable compliment of governance within every state, because it possesses the mandate of addressing the aspirations of citizens (either as individuals or groups) independent of the state. While the relationship between state and civil society has been traditionally characterized by conflict all over the world, there is the gradual emergence of spaces for civil society to compliment the work of state authorities and actors in almost all fields. And indeed, civil society has proven itself worthy of such recognition, however broadly understood. In Nigeria, there is considerable evidence that points towards a major role played by civil society in the development of the country. That is evident in the central role that civil society has been playing right from the earliest years of colonial rule in Nigeria. It is of further importance to note that this role of the civil society in Nigeria has continued to develop positively, affecting the course of development in Nigeria right to the present day. This paper will seek to present a picturesque of the achievements over the years, and the huge potential that exists for civil society to continue to make impacts in the Nigerian society. The paper will approach the role of civil society in Nigeria from an evolutionary perspective, highlighting the roles played by civil Society as a vanguard of the citizenry at each stage of the evolution of the country. The paper will conclude by briefly presenting the “so what?” and “what next?” perspectives on the roles of civil society activism in Nigeria, with a short discussion of how the contemporary character of civil society in Nigeria defines a future evolutionary path for civil society activism in Nigeria.

A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN NIGERIA
As alluded to above, the evolution of civil society in Nigeria has been strictly tied with the political development processes of the country. Throughout that history, the vibrancy of civil society has been very visible, with several different achievements identifiable at each stage. Taking a cue from the character of the society in pre-colonial Nigeria, it is clear that almost, if not all the numerous traditional systems of social administration that existed in different parts of the country provided for different expressions of civil society as conceptualized in modern times. Through those avenues, community members were allowed to organize and to make contributions in to the general administration of their communities. In some of the cases where republican characteristics existed, the civil populations were allowed to impress upon the policies of rulers through mechanisms like village assembly consultations, age grading systems, family and lineage Unitarian mechanisms, and sometimes even cults. It is evident that such crude and formative expressions of civil society were major factors in the development of the pre-colonial entities that existed within the general Nigerian area. In 1914 there was the formal establishment of a colonial administration within Nigeria, and that came with peculiar circumstances that impinged upon the character of the emerging civil society culture within the colonial territory.  The use of the indirect rule in Nigeria, where the more modern colonial system was superimposed upon the crude traditional social structures, with little or no modifications, created a sort of fusion that naturally channeled the civic powers of traditional society in to modern expressions of civil society. This was the essential circumstance which led to the emergence of the first formal civil society organizations within Nigeria.

Some of the foremost formal civil society was the Sir Hubert Macauley founded Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP) as a patriotic organization and the West African Students Union (WASU) founded by Ladipo Solanke and Herbert Bankole-Bright with the objective of organizing students of West African origin to impact on society. Several other civil society organizations and initiatives subsequently emerged to focus on various issues within the society. The agitations for the rights of minority ethnicities in Nigeria led in various quarters by people like Joseph Tarka, Da Patirck Dokotri and Sir Festus Okotie Eboh are notable examples of such movements. With the progressive advancement of colonialism, heightened awareness between and among different people and communities created an impetus for them to organize and contribute to the development of their communities. This led to the emergence of some more organized civil society organizations including Community Based Associations (CBOs), Town Unions, Alma Mata associations as well as social and voluntary clubs, and Journalistic organizations. These associations of civil society became major outlets for self-help empowerment and development initiatives. Further in to the colonial era, greater space for popular participation were progressively granted by the colonial authorities through constitutional changes and politics became more and more open and participatory for the native populations. This led most civil society powers to be gradually channeled in to politics, with several of the socio-cultural associations, organizations and initiatives transforming in to political parties and movements, while several political parties emerged. Hence, the Jamiyyar Mutanen Arewa in the North became transformed in to the Northern People’s Congress (NPC), while the Egbe Omo Oduduwa among the Yoruba in the West became transformed into the Action Group (AG). There was also the United Middle-Belt Congress (UMBC) which pulled the strength of minority ethnic rights activists and groups in the north, including the Jos Tribal Party of Da Patrick Dokotri. The National Council for Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) in the South East was perhaps the only major pre-colonial political party that did not emerge from any socio-cultural movement. As the Nigerian society continued to mature and there was an evident move towards independence, it was these major political parties (although there were others that were also involved) that served as bases for the agitations for independence.

Independence came in 1960 with much hype and hope about Nigeria having great potentials to develop rapidly; but that euphoria was soon to be killed by the silent creep-in of corruption, favoritism and tribalism in Nigerian public administration. This led to a military takeover of the country’s political administration in 1966, which considerably initiated the closing of space for civil engagement in the country. This coupled with the character of the State during Cold War politics meant that civil society activism in Nigeria was kept at the minimum. Although a brief democratization process was initiated from 1979, which could have helped to open up the space for greater civil society engagement, it was short-lived as a result of another military coup in 1983. While the military rule continued to extend, the harsh living conditions experienced under the administrations of Generals Babangida and Abacha forced the reemergence of civil society activism. But this time, the relationship between the state and civil society became very conflictual and confrontational. While the General Babangida Administration’s Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) in the 1980s created serious economic hardships for the people, the brutal rule of General Abacha and his plans to transform himself in to a civilian ruler, generated a lot of apprehensions and resentment among Nigerians. In both cases, civil society organized against the administration, with the popular Babangida Must Go protests organized by University Students Unions across the country in 1989 and the global-level coordinated advocacy against military rule towards the end of the 1990s. In the case of the Abacha administration, global pressure joined with civil society operating from within and without the country, led by organizations like the Center for democracy and Development (CDD), the Fredom Radio Frequency and Radio Kudirat operating from the UK while the National Liberation Council of Nigeria (NALICON) operated from Nigeria.

The sudden death of General Abacha in 1998 paved the way for democratization in Nigeria, by which civil society activism found a new ground to blossom in to the new millennium. Civil society activism form 1999, when military rule was ended in Nigeria, has been characterized by the rapid proliferation of civil society organizations focusing on addressing the challenges faced by the citizenry in different aspects of social life. One area in which civil society is very active is in addressing the developmental needs of grass root communities. This is evident in the presence of myriad CSOs working at the grass root levels towards improving the coping capacity of communities and individuals to several developmental challenges including healthcare, water and sanitation, capacity building, women’s empowerment, care for disability just to mention a few. Perhaps because of the numerous threats to security and political stability in the country over the years, the activism of civil society is most notable in the area of democracy and good governance promotion as well as conflict management and resolution. Two major instances of civil society vibrancy within the last two years are worthy of note. In 2010 the extended illness and eventual death of President Umar Musa Yar’adua generated apprehensions about a possible military take-over, which led civil society organizations to rise up and demand for transparency and accountability of governance institutions. This process was led by groups like the Trade Union Congress (TUC) the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), the Save Nigeria Group (SNV) and the Good Governance Group (3G) which led the process effectively. Also, in January 2012, there was a sudden increase in the prices of petroleum products across the country due to the removal of the fuel subsidy in Nigeria, without a clear plan presented to the government on how the savings will be used for development. As a result there were civil society protests across all the major population centers of the country including Kano, Lagos and Abuja. For weeks the country’s socio-political and economic life was crippled, forcing the Government to negotiate an acceptable settlement with the people through the NLC and the TUC.

CONCLUSSION: THE FUTURE ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY ACTIVISM IN NIGERIA
The foregoing section has tried to highlight the critical role that civil society has played through the different stages of evolution of the Nigerian society. Given the present circumstances, it is clear that this critical role played by civil society will continue to evolve in to the future. As such a comprehensive understanding of the work of civil society in Nigeria must involve an understanding of the likely evolutionary paths of the role of civil society in Nigeria. Several questions must be asked and answered: “So what if civil society seems to have played a very vital role in the Nigerian society?” and, “What next for civil society activism in Nigeria?” The second question follows from the first.

In answering the first question, several issues need to be clarified. We must here interrogate the character of civil society to ascertain how coherent civil society actions have been over the years; we must also understand what challenges they face and how these affects them functionally; we must then gauge the visions and missions of the civil society against the aspirations of the citizenry to determine their representative capacity. Essentially, therefore, we must ascertain what civil society really stands for in Nigeria. In terms of the character of civil society in Nigeria, it is clear that civil society is not a compact and coordinated bunch with a measure of diversity that is perhaps unrivaled. Also, civil society organizations are faced with numerous challenges including low funding, low manpower, low levels of expertise in organizational and program management, etc. which greatly constraints their ability to function optimally. By their visions and missions, several civil society structures in Nigeria are caught up in a “chase the money” syndrome, where the organizational focus changes depending on the themes and areas in which funding can easily be secured. If these parameters were to be used in answering the second question (what next for civil society in Nigeria?), we must answer with a resounding crescendo that the future of civil society in Nigeria may be very bleak.


But then, if that if the foregoing verdict is true, how do we explain the growing enthusiasm about the involvement of, and collaboration with, civil society in almost all aspects of the work of governments nowadays. Does that mean that society and government does not see the obvious weaknesses of the civil society highlighted above? I would answer “no!” with good reason. Despite the foregoing verdict on the role of civil society in Nigeria, it is evident that civil society stands for something more than is noticeable. We must therefore analyze further. It is clear from our earlier discussions that the civil society in Nigeria is a repository of great strengths that have often served as the first and last line of defense for the citizenry against the excesses of governance structures. This has repeatedly been demonstrated right from colonial times, through military rule to the present day civilian dispensation. On the other hand, the diversity of civil society does not necessarily translate in to a lack of organization. That diversity is but a manifestation of a rich background of initiative and agency, of innovative ability, a true representative of the plurality and openness that exists within the society. That is indeed a good character on its own right. Next, we must address the discourse on the capacity challenges of civil society. Analysts have variously demonstrated that civil society achieves a lot of results with very little resources, which means that civil society is indeed very efficient and effective, although the need for more funding may be a constant problem of civil society. Then again there is that issue of the fluidity of the visions and missions of civil society organizations depending on the availability of funding. This idea is true only to a certain insignificant extent as there exists among Nigerian civil society organizations at present, the drive towards professionalism and the development of expertise. Hence, contrary to what is insinuated in the foregoing paragraph, the Nigerian civil society is facing a very bright future. With the return of political stability and the gradual opening of the society to civic powers, the engagement between civil society and state actors is most likely going to be very constructive and beneficial for the Nigerian society.