The Nigeria Union of Journalists, Rivers State chapter, has called on civil society organisations in the country to purge themselves of charlatans and fraudsters.
The State NUJ Chairman, Mr. Opaka Dokubo, made the call on Thursday in Port Harcourt while speaking at the seventh anniversary celebration of the Centre for Human Development and Social Transformation.
Dokubo expressed sadness that some civil society organisations were collecting money from politicians to hold protests or take stand on issues in favour of such politicians.
Represented by his Assistant Secretary, Mr. Anayo Onukwugha, the NUJ chairman noted that such activists needed internal cleansing in order to return their organisations to loftier heights.
He said, “Activities of some of the civil society organisations in Nigeria today have become that of who pays the piper dictates the tune. Activists in this country need to embark on an internal clean-up.”
Delivering a paper entitled, 'The Role of Civil Society Organisations in Promoting Good Governance and Accountability', a human rights activist, Mr. Austin Onuoha, said many organisations that claim to be civil society groups were living on borrowed time.