Abstract

The return of Nigeria to a democratic rule in 1999 did not come on a platter of gold. It came after a long, tortuous, brave and determined struggle for democracy by Nigerian citizens, with the civil society being at the vanguard of the struggles. In spite of the victimization, harassment, molestation and incarceration of the members of the civil society organizations by the military juntas, the civil society, buoyed by the support from the Western countries, made bold to tell the military leaders that military autocracy could no longer be tolerated in Nigeria. The uneasiness which the military felt as a result of this, coupled with the pressure of wind of democracy blowing unstoppably across the globe especially after the end of the Cold War, culminated in the return of the country to democratic rule in 1999. Nevertheless, the nascent democracy in Nigeria is still weak, fragile, vulnerable, inefficient and fragmented. It needs to be strengthened, deepened, and made stable, vibrant and efficient. The democracy needs to be guarded against either reversal to authoritarianism or possible gradual erosion. This is a process which is called democratic consolidation. However, democratic consolidation is a task which calls for the active involvement and commitment of the civil society. It requires the kind of vigor and enthusiasm with which it fought for democracy. But sadly enough, the Nigerian civil society seems to have gone into recess. Its vibrancy and fervor have diminished since the return of civilian rule. Thus this paper x-rays the political situation of Nigeria which is far from democratic consolidation. And it challenges the civil society to renew its vibrancy and rise for the defense of the democracy which it fought for. The study relies majorly on secondary sources of investigation, data collection and analysis, hence it adopts historicized method.