CIVIL SOCIETY AND THE LEGITIMATION OF DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE IN NIGERIA

One of the most popular discourses on Nigeria’s political process today is about the need to deepen democratic governance in the country. Unfortunately, the quest to have democracy entrenched in the country is being seriously threatened by the crisis of legitimacy arising from both the processes and the content of democratic governance in the country. The enthusiasm that heralded the enthronement of democracy in the nation in 1999 has considerably waned and there is obvious despondence about the ongoing political process among the masses of the Nigerian people. Thus, there is a need to reinvent the nation’s democratic process to enhance its legitimacy. Using the four basic functional dimensions (values) that define the relationship between civil society and the democratic state as a framework, the paper discusses, how civil society through its activities, in the public space can facilitate government commitment to policies, programs and practices that would promote peoples’ confidence and trust in the nation’s democratic governance system. The paper concludes that the credibility of the political process and the quality of service delivery of government institutions and agencies are key to the progress and stability of the ongoing democratic governance in Nigeria