Civil Society Organizations and Democratic Government in Nigeria: a Case Study of Human Right Watch

This study was undertaken to analyze civil society organizations and democratic governance in Nigeria.Human rights violation has become an ignominious act which attracts the condemnation and attention of international organizations like UN, the Common Wealth, AU, Governmental Organization and others. Nigeria as a sovereign state has not fared any better in the protection of fundamental human rights of her citizens instead, it has been a situation of wanton abuses of their inalienable rights with impunity. Herein lays the problems of the study, which is the establishment and evaluation of the dialectical relationship that exists between human rights, its violations and what this portends for the Nigeria's democracy. The objectives of the study are: To identify the major reasons and rationale for the establishment of civil society organizations in Nigeria, to examine whether or not civil society organizations help in promoting human rights and humanitarian assistance in Nigeria, to identify the challenges faced civil society organizations inpromoting human rights and humanitarian assistance in Nigeria and proper solutions to them at the end of the study, and to determine the roles of civil society organizations in promoting human rights and humanitarian assistance in Nigeria. The methodology employed by the researcher in collecting data was secondary. The study analyzed and presented the data collected. From the findings, it shows that the country received a high number ofreturnees, both voluntary and forced.primarily in the northeast. Accurate information on the number of returnees was not available.the government was generally unable to take action to reintegrate returning refugees. Many returnees did not find durable solutions, and were forced into secondary displacement. The study recommend that Civil Society should complement government efforts in educating the populace concerning their rights and duties. Civil Society should assist indigent victims of human rights violation to seek and obtain redress. CSOs should potentially foster and support grassrootsorganizations to become more numerous, sizable, resourceful, and self-reliant.Keywords:Civil Society,Organizations,Democratic Governance,Human Rights