NGOS AND IMPACT ON SOCIETY

Civic organisations should be supported to do more

It is most appropriate that ‘Moments of Impact’ is the theme for the 2026 World NGO (Non-government Organisations) Day that is being celebrated today. It is perhaps to make us think about the millions of people being assisted through these non-profits, the policies being changed, the elections being monitored, etc. It is also to enable us to ask the pertinent question: whose moments are we counting, and whose moments are we missing? This question is especially important for the civil society sector not only in Nigeria but also across the continent.

Ordinarily, NGOs operate as the invisible infrastructure of democratic life. They are the institutions that fill the gaps left by the state. They provide education services where public schools have stopped doing so, provide healthcare for abandoned communities, watch elections in remote areas that are difficult to access. Take ‘Yiaga Africa’ as an example. Through their ‘Watching the Vote’ programme, thousands of trained citizen observers have stood at polling places across Nigeria, ensuring that votes are counted and they count. Each of those observers stands for a moment of impact—small, quiet, and necessary.

But these civic groups could do with more resources. Funding for African NGOs is mostly from abroad. Philanthropists on the continent can do more in this regard. Besides, in the larger conversation about development, the grassroots organisation closest to the problem and most trusted by the community is often the one with the fewest resources. Meanwhile, ‘Moments of Impact’ tells us that the most important work in African civil society doesn’t always happen in big cities or conference rooms. In rural communities, women are learning how to question their local government’s budget at ward-level advocacy meetings. In classrooms, civic educators are planting seeds that will grow with time.

Community-led work succeeds because it is based on trust, context, and continuity. These are things that cannot be imported or contracted. Local actors who refused to leave their communities, even when it was hard or dangerous to do so, have built the most stable democratic institutions on the African continent, often at great personal risk. Therefore, this is the time for funders, governments, and international partners to put their words about local ownership into action by making real changes to the way things are done. That means giving resources directly to organisations on the front lines. It means making grant rules easier to understand so that a four-person NGO in Maiduguri can get help without having to hire a team of lawyers just to serve the people. It means accepting that the lived experience of a community organiser is just as valid as the technical report from a consultant.

In the end, the 2026 World NGO Day is a call for people to stand together. No organisation, no matter how big or well-funded, has ever been able to build a strong civil society. It comes from the web of connections that exist between national platforms and community groups. Perhaps based on this understanding, the Lagos Food Bank Initiative, through the Food Bank Network Nigeria (FBNN) will today support seven NGOs with grants to strengthen their efforts in providing nourishment to food-insecure households in some identified low-income communities across the country. This is a worthy and commendable objective that we recommend for other groups.

However, as we mark the 2026 World NGO Day, we must honour the stitchers: the unrecognised organisers, monitors, teachers, health professionals and advocates who show up every day. They make this sacrifice not because it’s easy, but because they understand that society is kept alive by regular people doing amazing things. And that every little bit of impact is a thread in the fabric of a fairer and more just world.