The Ethics and Good Leadership Awareness Initiative (EGLAI), with support from the European Union-funded CSO Strengthening Bridge Project (EU CSO Bridge) and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) have organised a two-day capacity building workshop for Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) from six states in the South-West region on Self regulations.
The training, was held on Tuesday 10 and Wednesday 11, February, 2026, in Ikeja, Lagos State with participants drawn from the states.
The training which also has our reporter as one of the media participants at the programme, reports that the event is organised to empower CSOs, other network leads and Cooperative Federation across the South-West.
The two-day capacity building project was organised by EGLAI, with support from the European Union-funded CSO Strengthening Bridge Project (EU CSO Bridge) and implemented by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA).
Those invited to the crucial workshop are civil society organisation champions drawn from the six South-West states of Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti, media professionals, and executive officers of civil servants across the region.
The workshop has as its theme; “Scaling the Adoption of Civil Society Organization (CSO) Self-Regulation in Nigeria: Zonal Capacity Building For CSO Champions And Sub-national Network Leads.”
The eye-opening programme brought together representatives of diverse civil society organisations across the region for intensive learning, peer engagement and practical planning sessions aimed at strengthening governance, transparency and sustainability within the civic space.
Addresing the participants in his opening remarks, Dr. Harry Udo, the Team Lead of EGLAI, noted that the training is aimed at strengthening CSO governance structures and operational systems, particularly in the face of growing legislative and regulatory pressures that often failed to adequately reflect the realities of civic engagement.
The EGLAI team lead noted that the event is a train-the-trainer workshop of which participants are expected to return to their respective States and cascade the conversations and lessons to other CSOs.
Udo stressed the need for CSOs to self-regulate in order to sanitise the sector and ensure that governments, partners and other stakeholders get to trust civil society groups. He urged participants to amplify their efforts in order to showcase their interventions telling them that “your reputational value is directly proportional to the number of persons who know you.”
According to him, the Self-Regulation movement would also tackle and expose ghosts CSOs, reform the sector and ensure that the CSOs do more in solving problems in various communities, becoming somewhat “alternative government” to people and keep the country safe and stable.
Udo opined that some unethical activities of CSOs had cast dark clouds in the civil society space and had made it difficult for members of the public to trust and engage civil society organisations, adding that the workshop is meant to reposition the sector by empowering CSOs on how to deepen internal self-regulation and ethical practices.
He said cooperative societies are part of the workshop because they are model of civil society organisations.
He said the organisation invited journalists to cover the workshop because “we consider the media a critical stakeholder in promoting civic accountability and safeguarding civic space.”
Udo told the media participants, “Your coverage of this workshop will help to: Increase public understanding of CSO self-regulation and its relevance to good governance; Highlight constructive, non-coercive approaches to strengthening accountability in the civic sector; and promote informed public discourse on civic space, compliance, and the role of CSOs in national development.”
The Project Manager, CSO Strengthening Bridge (EU CSO-BRIDGE) Project, of International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), Idem Udoekong, in his opening remarks, started by asking participants who they think a CSO is. From responses, it was discovered that CSOs are humans and that Self-Regulation is talking about “individuals and persons.”
“It is about you. Individual Self-Regulation. Regulating yourself. It is about trust. Why should government, partners and other stakeholders trust you? That is where Self-Regulation comes in. It makes government to trust you. Self-Regulation is self discipline,” Udoekong informed the participants.
Seyi Tetteh, Associate Project Officer for the CSO Strengthening Bridge (EU CSO-BRIDGE) Project and the Governing Council member and Chairman Audit & Risk Management Committee of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN), Babatunde Pelewura, were also present at the workshop.
EGLAI is a civil society-led platform dedicated to strengthening self-regulation for Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Nigeria. Formerly known as the Civil Society National Self-Regulation Council (CNSRC), EGLAI works to promote ethical standards, good governance, transparency, accountability, and credibility within the civil society sector.
Speaking, EGLAI Programme Officer, Shiiwua Mnenga said that the organisation plans to hold the engagements in all geopolitical zones across Nigeria.
He disclosed that the organisation has already empowered CSOs in North-West and South-East and currently training CSOs from South-West.
