Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and community-based groups in the umbrella of the Civil Society Council for Human and Economic Intervention (CSCHEI) have urged Nigerians to imbibe the Nigeria First ideology and shun divisive narratives, hate speech and actions that could undermine national unity.
The call was made by Director-General, CSCHEI, Kunle Yusuf, in Abuja, at the unveiling of 15-point resolution adopted at the Southern CSOs Summit held in Lagos State.
In presenting the communiqué of the summit, Yusuf said the resolutions were geared towards fostering national unity, security, economic growth and inclusive governance, and promoting the Nigeria First ideology as a framework for sustainable national development.
“We commit to promote peace, tolerance and national unity across the Southern states and Nigeria at large by denouncing hate speech, divisive narratives and actions that threaten nationhood,” he said.
On security, the coalition called for stronger institutions and more funding for the judiciary, intelligence community and security agencies to enhance crime prevention, delivery of justice and the protection of lives and property.
“We call for strengthening and adequate resourcing of the judiciary, intelligence and security agencies to ensure proactive crime prevention, justice delivery and protection of lives and properties,” Yusuf said.
He also urged greater community engagement in security management, saying local communities have a wealth of knowledge of their environment and residents.
The coalition called on governments at all levels to focus on sustainable agriculture by supporting smallholder farmers and by adopting policies that would improve food security and affordability.
Yusuf said government intervention should be to encourage the youth to go into agriculture and also provide adequate security for the farmers to go back to their farms.
The organisations also agreed to align their programmes with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and work with Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) at federal and state levels to track and fast-track progress on the 2030 Agenda.
The summit called for greater investment in climate adaptation, renewable energy and community-led environmental projects; and transparent access to climate finance, especially for women and vulnerable communities.
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Participants further recommended institutionalising an open budgeting system to improve citizen participation, transparency and accountability in public expenditure.
“We call on national and sub-national governments including local government councils to implement budgets in a way that will allow Nigerians verify and enjoy dividends of governance,” he said.
The organisations reaffirmed their commitment to democratic governance, stressing the need for inclusive governance, respect for the rule of law and judicial independence in sustaining democracy and national development.
The coalition also called for a formal partnership framework between government and civil society organizations to boost service delivery and ensure development interventions reach underserved communities.
The group also promised to increase efforts to combat misinformation through voter education, civic engagement and public awareness campaigns to bolster democratic participation.
The coalition urged governments and development partners to boost investments in skills acquisition, entrepreneurship and the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) to tackle unemployment and widen economic opportunities for young Nigerians on youth empowerment.
The summit also urged for more social protection schemes and trust-building initiatives to ease the impact of economic hardship and to restore public confidence in government institutions.
The participants agreed to collaborate with the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), the Bank of Industry (BOI) and other relevant institutions to improve access to grants, credit facilities and technical support for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.
The coalition said the MSME sector is a vital driver of employment generation and grassroots economic development.
Other resolutions aimed at improving the delivery of healthcare and basic education in underserved communities, promoting evidence-based advocacy and institutionalising the Nigeria First ideology.
“We adopt ‘Nigeria First’ as our philosophy. “We promise to put national interest above sectional interests and act as a bridge between the government and the people for sustainable national development,” Yusuf said.
The group also said the National Civil Society Organisation Summit 2026 will be held in Abuja between October 2 and 4, 2026.
