Paper short abstract:

The paper argues that the confrontational stance of civil society in Nigeria, contrary to its ideal role which is to assist government to facilitate human wellbeing, is largely due to the lack of commitment of successive governments to the enhancement of a good life for the general citizenry.

Paper long abstract:

With emphasis on Nigeria, the thesis of this paper is two pronged. First is that the ideal role of civil society is to cooperate with government in the latter's bid to enhance a good life for the general citizenry. The second is that the popular stance of civil society as always being opposed to government is due to government's failure to enhance a good life for the generality of the population.

To achieve the above, the paper, using the analytic and critical tools of philosophy, begins with a clarification of the idea of civil society, specifying that it consists of a set of institutions that interface the state, business world and family. It proceeds to examine the idea of a good life and contends that this is most effectively achieved within a democratic society before interrogating the history of civil society organizations (CSOs) in Nigeria. This is to establish that CSOs oppose government, struggle for the recognition of civil rights and the establishment of true democratic governance primarily because of government's disregard for the wellbeing of citizens.

The paper notes that with the establishment of civil rule, CSOs in Nigeria are becoming less confrontational and more cooperative with government. This, however, does not preclude the fact that there are many problems militating against the ideal functioning of CSOs in Nigeria. Some of these are examined along with suggestions on how they could be reduced appreciably if not totally eliminated.