Project Title: Resource Curse In Nigeria - Determining Perception and Challenges. Project Summary: Since 1999 when Nigeria transited from military dictatorship to civil governance, after over two decades, civil society organisations have tried to make sustainable impact in the management of the Nation’s resources. The efforts made and being made by the civil society include: engaging the budgeting process at all levels of government, joining the international campaign on the extractive industries transparency initiative campaign, engaging the governments economic reform policies, and engaging in anticorruption initiatives etc. This engagement has led to the formation of several coalitions with a view to improving the impact of civil society. However, it is quite surprising that despite these attempts by civil society to combat the resource curse for which Nigeria has assumed international notoriety, not much of civil society’s agitations and propositions for greater transparency and accountability in governance has made any impact. Civil society continues to be seen as outsiders by policy makers who always seem to believe that interests differ. This is unlike the position in some other African countries like Kenya and Ghana, where civil society has made significant policy impact in transparency and accountability. The above scenario poses some issues on Nigerian civil society’s engagement of various levels of government with a view to combating the resource curse by ensuring greater transparency and accountability in governance. The issues are: - * To what extent has the approach adopted by civil society in Nigeria been successful in ensuring greater transparency and accountability in government *To what extent does the capacity of civil society in Nigeria impact on their output *To what extent does Nigerians believe in the concept of resourse curse and understand its wider implications *What challenges of the resource curse can be isolated as being peculiar to the Nigerian Environment and what can be done about them *To what extent is Nigeria ready to face the challenges associated with resource curse using international best practices This project proposes to interrogate the above issues through a multistakeholder evaluation of the various attempts at combating the resource curse by ensuring greater transparency and accountability in governance. Research Proposal 1. Project Conceptualization: This project would proceed from the premise that ‘good governance includes the capability of citizens to hold governments accountable for its actions and inactions’. It thus would seek to examine in some detail, the extent to which this applies in Nigeria given its notoriety for being inflicted with the resource curse. It would examine the odds facing policy makers and civil society in ensuring that resource curse becomes a thing of the past. It would also examine how civil society can more positively ensure greater transparency and accountability through a more proactive engagement of policy makers and public office holders. A study of the various local attempts at combating the resource curse in comparisom with international best practices and other country-specific experiences would be undertaken. The project should be able to determine the extent to which a more capable vibrant civil society with the right approach can ensure greater transparency and accountable governance in Nigeria and other countries suffering from the resource curse, determine the perception of Nigerians of the resource curse its challenges and determine possible policy interventions. 2. Aims and Objectives: The project aims and objectives are: *To determine the public perception of attempts made at combating the resource curse in Nigeria *To identify institutional bottlenecks in combating the resource curse and proffer ways of reforming them using civic and international public pressure *To identify the limitations of civil society in ensuring greater transparency and accountability in governance *To determine the what cahllenges of the resourse curse are peculiar to Nigeria and possible solutions to them. 3. Proposed Methodology/Plan for Fulfillment The proposed methodology for this project includes: - Desk Top Research/Literature Review: To determine the extent of work done in related areas so far and determine their usefulness to this project. This would involve extensive use of Internet facilities and books, and sharing experiences from all parts of the world with similar challenges. Focus Group Discussions: This would involve policy makers, politicians, academia, civil society and ‘the general public’. The idea being to determine their impression of Nigeria and the resource curse since 1999 and what changes they would desire to ensure efficiency. This would involve travels within Nigeria and possible one or two other countries Opinion Poll This would ensure that a wider spectrum of the society is reached. Poll questions would be developed during the literature review stage. This would be administered across in the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria and on a small number of respondents outside Nigeria (using the Internet). 4. Research Questions: The relevant research questions are: *Are there enough mechanisms to ensure improved transparency and accountability in government *What roles does civil society and the public and private sector play in promoting the resource curse and which of them is more culpable *What is the public perception of attempts made at combating the resource curse in Nigeria *What are the institutional bottlenecks in combating the resource curse and proffer ways of reforming them using civic and international public pressure *What are the limitations of civil society in ensuring greater transparency and accountable despite its several initiatives since 1999 and up till now *What are the challenges of resource curse that are peculiar to Nigeria *What is the perception of people of the concept of resource curse in Nigeria and what is being done to curtail it *What roles should the various stakeholders play in combating the resource curse in Nigeria *To what extent can the experiences of other countries be effective in combating the resource curse in Nigeria. Application of Results: The project results would be applied in three main broads areas in Nigeria, other countries with the burden of resource curse and the sub Saharan African region as follows: *It would be used to determine the benefits of what economic reform policies that had been in place since 1999/2000, especially as they relate to ensuring good governance, with emphasis on ensuring transparency and accountability in governance *It would be used to determine what missing gaps there may be in the attempts being made to ensure good governance, provision of adequate infrastructure in line with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and other state or regional specific development agendas, like the National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy (NEEDS – in Nigeria) and the New Partnership for Development (NEPAD – in Africa) *It would be used to determine subsisting bottlenecks to combating resource curse and determine the major stakeholders that are acting as impediments to ensuring transparency and accountability in governance *It would lead to a determination of the best form of stakeholder collaboration/engagement that would be best suited to the realisation of transparency and accountability in governance through combating the resource curse *It would determine best practices for combating the resource curse in states where it is a major impediment to development like Nigeria, Angola and other third world countries 4. Project contribution to OSI goals This project is consistent to with the OSI goal that ‘that existing and future natural resource revenues will be invested and expended in program for the benefit of the public such as poverty reduction, education and public health’. The final outcome would serve as determinant of revenue losses and possible impact on development inclusive of the above. It seeks to answer questions that are in line with the OSI adumbrated goals and questions.
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