INTRODUCTION

olitical, civil, and economic rights play crucial roles in the evolution of societies. We must hasten to clarify conceptual issues considered basic to the democratic process. This paper seeks to situate the contributions of the human rights organizations towards the enthronement of civil rule in Nigeria, nay Africa. Extremely conscious of the revisionist tendencies of those who actively collaborated with the military to subjugate the people, chroniclers of events must document for posterity the salient aspects of these activities as they unfolded in that part of the world before their culmination in the current civilian rule.

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Civil rights are individual rights; they are guaranteed and grounded in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and protected under the national constitutions. These rights include freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of association, due process of law, and protection from unlawful discrimination. Political rights are rights that allow citizens to participate directly or indirectly in the political process. These include the rights to vote and hold public office. Though political and civil rights are distinct, the difference between the two is not always obvious or clear. In fact, they often times overlap. The freedom to express one's opinion and freedom of association, for example, are clearly linked to the right of political participation. Furthermore, civil and political rights overlap with the economic and social rights. Economic and social rights rest on the assumption that individuals have the right to work and provide a living for themselves and their families. Implied in these rights is the access to quality education, which is the veritable means of empowerment towards actualizing those and other rights.

Regime Change in Africa

Most African countries are signatories to the International Charters on Human Rights. Some of these charters have been domesticated by many countries as part of their municipal laws enforceable in their jurisdictions. However, the fact that these African countries are signatories to various human rights treaties, the continent continues to witness gross violations of these basic rights, the violation which became most prominent during the periods of military intervention in politics. Most African countries witnessed the incursion of the military soon after they attained the so-called political independence from European colonialists.

In a few instances, this aberration appeared justifiable considering the irresponsible conduct of the mercenaries who paraded themselves as champions of the people. Before long, it became clear to all discerning people that these characters were only interested in occupying the offices left by the departed agents of imperialism. There were no master plans to forge unity among the disparate civilian ethnic elites, who were corralled to co-exist for administrative expediency, but who were interested mostly in maximum expropriation and exploitation. The discontent engendered by the open display of avarice, mindless looting of the treasuries and the attendant cutthroat competitions to retain power and the privileges accruable to the holders of political power, made the intervention of the military inexorable. The various peoples of Africa had become so disillusioned that any slogan-chanting semi-literate charlatan was openly celebrated by them as representing the much-desired change, however momentary. The soldiers on the continent read the mood of the peoples correctly and seized the opportunity to strike at the very base of civilian rule as envisioned by those who espoused the philosophy of popular participation.

Soon after the self-appointed messiahs settled down in political office, firmly cocooned away from the drudgery and regimented lifestyle of disciplined soldiers, the citizenry suddenly woke up from their self-imposed slumber to appreciate the wisdom inherent in the position that the worst civilian regime is better than the best military government headed by the so-called benevolent dictator. With the exception of a few African countries, such as Ghana under Jerry Rawlings and Burkina Faso, under the legendary Thomas Sankara, there appears to be a sudden realization of the situation of the majority of the people as despondent.

The late 1980s and 90s, the African continent witnessed an unprecedented surge in massive protests, as the people demanded political reforms and an end to military dictatorship calling for a multi-party system of democracy. Inept and corrupt leadership, especially the military who exploited the power of the gun to sustain themselves in power and imposed their will on the people, had become a plague on the entire continent. What was pervasive was a rule of force as opposed to the rule of law. The people wanted the political space to be opened for political competition and participation where they could elect those who governed them. It was a period of transition, which was led by the new social movements under the auspices of organized civil society. As argued by Paul Zezela, "[t]he changes in human rights cultures and regimes in Africa in the 1990s were facilitated by astounding political transformation that took place. This was a period of bewildering extremes, which saw the rise of mass movements and mass revolts driven by democratic and developmentalist ideals, as well as mass murder and mass poverty perpetrated by desperate regimes and discredited global agencies" . Zezela saw these struggles and changes as a "second independence" for Africa. Thus, the clamour for political freedom and the enforcement of political and civil rights in Africa were the consequences of oppression that was fostered by an existing socio- economic order and that resulted in economic bondage and marginalization of the majority of African people.

Pita Agbese attributed the political changes in Africa to the fact that, "widespread economic devastation compounded by massive corruption and political repression increasingly delegitimized the African state in the eyes of most citizens. Economic stagnation, official malfeasance and gross violations of human rights belied the claims of African autocrats that dictatorial rule would spur rapid economic development, peace and political stability" . Agbese noted further that, "the recognition that autocratic governance worsens poverty and underdevelopment led to intense struggles for democratization by civil society groups" . Furthermore, the political economic approach was very significant as this was the period when most African countries were going through severe economic problems. The Structural Adjustment Programs (SAP), implemented by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank (WB), in the 1980s and 1990s, were widely seen as an instrument of imperialist manipulation. Rather than triggering economic growth, they resulted in increased levels of poverty and unemployment. The loans given to these countries came with stringent conditionalities, which were devaluation of their currency, removal of subsidies on social services like health and education, retrenchment of workers, liberalization and deregulation of the economy. Therefore, both the political and economic factors galvanized the protest movements in Africa. The military in an attempt not to be forced out of power and realizing that people were yearning for democratic change, organized a return to civil rule through transition. It was a transition that was packaged and managed by the military. As noted by Zeleza, "[t}heir attempt to oversee and tightly control the process and pace of political reform was facilitated by their monopoly of coercive resources, and conceits of bureaucratic rationality and patrimonial fantasies of national guardian, and also served as an insurance against retribution for abuses of power in the future" .

A notable feature during this period was the call for a Sovereign National Conference (SNC), which gained prominence as a tool of political struggle in Africa. In the countries where the SNC had a stronghold, the singular objective was to replace authoritarian and usually sit-tight regimes. In situations where SNC was held, there had been unusually severe economic deprivation, collapsing infrastructure and massive unemployment. The conference that took place in the Republic of Benin in 1990, under President Mathew Kerekou, set a regional model for the emergence of a democratic regime out of a dictatorship. There was a similar conference in Congo in 1990 that led to the defeat of the then incumbent military. Other places where conferences were held in 1991 and 1993 are Niger, Togo, and Zaire now Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Gabon and Nigeria.

One can see, therefore, that the events of the 1980s and 1990s had a significant effect in the democratization of Africa. The military and its civilian collaborators began to yield to pressures for political reform, pro-democracy groups intensified their demands for democracy, and the dictators became even more susceptible to popular pressures.

Research Objectives

This paper seeks to study the activities of the human rights groups in the struggle for democracy in Nigeria . It explores the linkages between the concept of democracy and human rights in a Nigerian context. I will argue that human rights groups alongside other groups (political and primordial) played a pivotal role at the transition/decision stage of the civilian rule in 1999. Nevertheless, the challenge is how to expand this role at the consolidation stage. They can achieve these goals by raising new issues related to the quality of democracy like accountability, participation and responsiveness. My dependent variable is the transition to democracy and my independent variable are human rights organizations, which formed part of the emergent civil society. The paper begins with the definition of democracy, democratization, human rights and civil society. I will then examine the role that civil society, and especially human rights organizations played in Nigeria's transition to democracy as well as their strengths and weaknesses. I shall also be looking at the origins of the human rights organizations in Nigeria. Finally, my research will help to uncover what the outcomes of this transition to democracy represent. I shall not fail to mention the imperishable contributions of students in the emancipation of the oppressed people in the country. In highlighting the factors responsible for the seeming success of the democratization process in Nigeria, it is inevitable that one has to underline the immense contributions of the students of that time and argue that the history of Nigeria is not complete without the role played by the students.