Copyright © 2015 Donnish Journals Original Research Article Civil Society and Democratic Governance in Nigeria

Abstract

The impacts of civil society on democracy in any society are enormous. In Nigeria, civil society is indisputable fact of the nation’s democracy. The installation of democratic governance in Nigeria was largely in part associated with the civil societies ’ activities. However, there has been genuine concern as to the continued effectiveness of the civil society in the consolidating democracy in Nigeria. The paper therefore critically examines the impact of civil society groups on the nation’s democracy using data from the secondary sources. The idea of civil society in Nigeria and anywhere else is historically rooted in all “Ideal democracies”. Its empirical validity rest on the fact that civil society is a bundle of capacity building which functions best when it permits a plurality of actions or forces into the arena of political and social action.When people of different religions and ethnic identities come together on the basis of their common interests a