INTEGRITY JOURNAL OF ARTS AND HUMANITIES
Integrity Research Journals
ISSN: 2811-2407
Model: Open Access/Peer Reviewed
DOI: 10.31248/IJAH
Start Year: 2020
Email: ijah@integrityresjournals.org
Democratic governance and socio-economic development in Nigeria: An assessment of the role of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), 1999-2024
https://doi.org/10.31248/IJAH2024.163 | Article Number: 984E88B91 | Vol.6 (1) - February 2025
Received Date: 05 August 2024 | Accepted Date: 28 October 2024 | Published Date: 28 February 2025
Authors: Felix Ayeni* and Matthew Ogwuche
Keywords: economy, development, democracy, Complementary, Governance
This paper sought to contextualise the role of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) as a change agent and catalyst for development in a developing country like Nigeria. It examined the socio-economic impact of NGOs in Nigeria’s federal capital Abuja, focusing on how it complements government developmental efforts in the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), one of the six local government areas in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The paper adopted liberal theory as the framework of analysis. The methodology used is mix-method, both qualitative and quantitative with primary data generated and supported by secondary data. Primary data was generated from an interaction with the staff of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (an international NGO) in Abuja, and the personnel of both the Social and Welfare Unit of Education Department, Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC). The study concluded that governments in Nigeria's three tiers have shown latent hostility to NGOs and are subtly not supportive and ready to provide the political will required to enable the dividends of democracy to reach the underprivileged and the grassroots. The paper therefore recommended that this unhealthy relationship between government and NGOs, which is ‘problematic’ needs to be overcome to enable an improvement in democratic governance to citizens and renewed vigour on the welfare of the people in Nigeria’s political system. The paper also recommended an intervention by Nigeria’s national legislature, the National Assembly, to enact a law that would provide a statutory mechanism for collaboration and joint decision-making on welfare programmes between the government and NGOs.
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