Category: Round Table

The festivities are over, work has started but so too has political activities. There are meetings and there are consultations going on at feverish speed. The festive period provided a good platform for bantering and subtle political horse-trading. The cities were left bare, politicians headed home with their intentions and it was beautiful to track the Christmas ‘gifts’ to constituents.

The airlines had a field month (not day this time). Flights out of cities were fully booked despite the high cost of tickets. It did not help that most Nigerians abroad who had been affected by travel restrictions due to covid-19 issues all trouped home last month. Luckily, the bandits and other social miscreants that had been tormenting the people seemed to have equally taken a break to celebrate –possibly. It was a fairly calm festive season even though not totally devoid of incidents especially in Kaduna state.

Expectedly, the reality is here with us, the election year is closer and the political parties are keeping the midnight oil burning, well, literally. The series of meeting have started, the permutations are on but sadly, as always, governance might be in abeyance. That is the protocol that has gone from election year to election year. However, the Roundtable Conversation is here to remind politicians that the status quo has changed, the political dynamics in Nigeria has changed like that of the global community too.

There is more political awareness, the internet and social media has changed the processes considerably. Information flow is now beyond the control of professional politicians and locations of events and actions get global at the touch of buttons. So it will be very interesting to observe as events unfold given that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has rolled out the Calendar and Political itinerary for 2022 in Nigeria as  guidance for political activities as the nation matches towards the 2023 general elections.

As it is, all eyes would be on all the political parties. However, the two major political parties, the All Progressive Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for now have the structural muscle to compete around the country for state and national positions. The Roundtable Conversation reached out to members of the two biggest political parties to find out what they intend to do differently as INEC says, ‘on your marks’ literally.

The Youth Organizing Secretary for All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos state Idris Aregbe popularly called the serial entrepreneur and popular for his slogan, Our Lagos, Your Lagos  said that in the last four years, he had set out to galvanize the youths for better participation in the political processes in ways that their inclusion would bring value to the country. To him, the political processes in a democracy are structured in stages through political parties. In essence therefore, the youths are being encouraged to follow the processes as nothing short of active participation works any magic.

As the countdown to the elections begins, he believes the party has done a lot to enlighten the willing young people to join the process. The mentorship by the older politicians he believes can only make the youths more productive rather than their sitting on the fence analyzing and complaining.  The youths must realize that unlike most other sectors of the economy, politics is pivotal and needs the youths to take their place  and bring their productive energy to the table of conversation.

In his view, while it is exciting and there is freedom to form seemingly youthful parties, democracy thrives on the multiplicity of ideas and that includes that of the young and old. There is always a growth and learning process and that is what the young people willing to participate must understand about political structures. The APC understands that democracy  is about numbers and as such the youth are encouraged through the youth wings to ensure they are active.

To the APC, leadership is not about age but about the value the individual can bring to nation-building.  The Roundtable reminded him that it is a fact that most youths would rather complain about leadership than aspire or work to lead too. According to him, in the APC, there is very concerted  efforts since 2015 to bring more functional youths and what they can bring to leadership despite the challenges. The Youth wing believes that the youths must be outgoing with their capacity. One of the challenges they have is that idea that the young people  often believe they can do without the older people. The issue should  not  be about a youth monopoly. It is not about replacement  but the ability to sit with the older people and learn and contribute their own tech ideas.

As 2023 approaches, the APC through the youth wings are prepared to form alliances and the youths must be willing to be actively involved. Even the older politicians still struggle with party formations let alone reen horns. The youths are trying to get new strategies that can function. There must be an active involvement. Idris believes the youth must be involved in developing their communities through their efforts. Granted there are still employment issues but we all know that most youths have skills they can focus on rather than depending on temporary political jobs that are do not serve in the long run.

Read Also: 2023: Feb 18 presidential poll date sacrosanct, says INEC

Idris says the APC  believes that modern politics needs the energy of the youth and their tech knowledge that can be combined with the experience and wisdom of the older politicians. Politics is not about age but ideas and the best strategies that can push progress. The young people must be involved more because their own future is at stake. He believes that the APC is working very hard to enlighten and coopt more youths into the party in ways that the country can be proud of its own future leaders. In his view the APC is confident of the capacity of the youths and is empowering them in readiness for 2023.

Debo Ologun Agba is the National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples DemocraticParty (PDP). A lawyer and former banker, he had been in the House of Representatives for two terms. He believes that the PDP is very ready for the race to 2023. They kicked off with their Annual Convention that threw up a twenty five year old Youth leader which means that the party is ready to have the young people represented  at the table for a more progressive nation that includes everyone.

To Debo, the party presently has more than five women aspiring to the governorship seat in Ekiti state. The party has been able to reduce the financial burden for the women and that is a good sign. The Roundtable Conversation reminded him that the has only two women elected into their National Executive Committee (NEC)  during the convention to the positions of Woman Leader and her Deputy.  He insisted that the elections were fairly contested genderwise as Hajia Maina contested for the Deputy Chairmanship position for the North even though she lost. Everyone was given a free chance.

He insists that the party has a structure that is as statutory as it is functional unlike the APC that is still to have its convention and is saddled with leadership crisis.  To him the PDP is a party that wants to progress to a better level democratically.  The PDP is structured to have processes and is akin to a marathon. A party is supposed to be a mentoring ground and incorporating the 25 year old is a good step. He is going to be on the table of conversation, then he will be mentored by the older politicians and he can talk for his voting demographic. That is progress from the past he said.

To him, the gender gap is being closed by the idea that the financial burden has been reviewed to favour more willing women.  2023 is in view and the PDP is looking at national development and as such empowering the young people whose representative would be on the table to educate the older politicians about the new political dynamics being pushed by the young people. It is a massive paradigm shift.

Even though there is still a long way to gender parity, the financial relief to the women for instance in Ekiti state is a step in the right direction and stands to be improved upon.  The PDP said has reduced the challenges to the women and the effort is a progressive one.  To Debo, 2023 in the party is about making changes that can bring more productive inclusiveness and they have started off with a 25 year old youth leader and an encouraging number of women aspirants in the next Ekiti state governorship election.

The Roundtable Conversation just wants these continuous bi-partisan conversations with a view to deepening the democratic processes that is as modern as they are inclusive. The APC and PDP as the two leading political parties must hear this, the times have changed, the people drive democratic processes and all parties must be in a position to optimally manage the human capital they can persuade with their policies and programmes and equally be in a position to prove that they understand the full dynamics of modern global politics. The people must be actively involved too.

INEC has rolled out the Calendar as a guide. It is the duty of political parties to play strictly by the rules and understand that the old order might just not work again. In an era where the global pandemic has brought economies to its knees, political gladiators must maximize the input of the human capital to get the best output nationally.  Time  for playing to the gallery is in the past. The chips are down and the old political rhetoric that has not paid off functionally must be reviewed holistically. It will be interesting to sit back and watch how the parties would align with popular opinion and make the needed moves for development.

Happy New Year readers.

The dialogue continues…

Today is Christmas, a regular day but a day with global import and impact, a globally unifying day and season. Somehow the day defies creed or race and is celebrated across cultures. It comes like a sign off of each year, the time to take stock, to let heads down, to bond with families and friends, a seeming unity in the global space, if you are not consuming, you are producing for those who consume. There is colour and beauty, a somewhat synergy between nature and man.

Each growing human across the globe grows along the celebration and ambience of unity, bonding and sharing. In a world that politicians and some religious leaders use some divisive rhetoric for non-altruistic reasons, the celebration of Christmas seemingly disarms them even if momentarily. There is even the belief that crime and criminal activities are often at their lowest during the month of December because even the criminals and social misfits join in the celebrations.

The Roundtable Conversation tried to dig into the significance and change in the celebration in a Nigerian context and decided to have a chat with some veterans who have celebrated a couple of Christmases to find out what Christmas meant before and whether there is a difference with what they experienced and the recent Christmases they have been blessed to live through.

Prof. Adebayo  Williams is a scholar,  author and a veteran journalist who remembers his past Christmases with absolute nostalgia. Growing up, December to generation signified hope and not just the hope of eating rice which was not a staple food then even when it was even locally produced, Christmas was one of possibly the third time of the year that rice was joyously eaten in households that could afford it.  New Year, Easter and Christmas were the golden days  rice was joyously eaten with equally locally raised animals and birds like chicken.

To him, was also purposeful governance then and that is missing all over the country today. So there were  always things to look up to with great enthusiasm and expectations. Then December truly marked the end of the academic year and those who did well and going to the next class were always in a joyous mood as they are often rewarded with gifts no matter how small while those who did not do so well took stock and learnt their lessons and took the failure as motivation to do better in future academic sessions.

We also had a situation of no ethnic division at all and as such Christmas was a time of bonding beyond families in spite of differences in religion and ethnicity. Families shared their food and drinks with anyone in the neighbourhood irrespective of any social  or creed differences.  There were  no ethnic or religious polarizations unlike what obtains now.

According to the Prof., possibly due to age or something he can’t possibly put his fingers on, it does not really feel like the Christmas they grew up anticipating and joyous to experience. He suggests it could be a result of the erosion of religious faith caused principally by enveloping materialism and the sheer brigandage of certain sections of the church as a body. They seem to have, through their actions caused people to lose hope and belief in the whole idea of Christmas.

So the change in the idea of celebrations and Christmas is due to a combination of a lot of things most of them having great multiplier effects on the permeating tragedy and the mood of hopelessness.  Again the difference we the older generation seem to see could be tied to demographics. The younger ones seem not to miss what they never experienced.  A lot of the younger ones still look forward to Christmas. It could be that the older generation are more focused on what once were he thinks.

In those days though, December marked the massive influx of holiday makers across the country. Then there were real unity schools and people were not afraid to send their children across states to study. There was order and there were expectations in the society of that period of bonding. It did seem that the social bonding was stronger then as even the cooking were shared experiences and sharing was seamlessly done. These days, that social bonding seems to have evaporated as fear and mutual suspicion reign supreme.

Read Also: It’s yet another christmas: Lets ring in the common good

As one who did the National Youth Service in the Eastern part of the country, coming home to Lagos for Christmas was pure joy as there was no fear of any form of insecurity at the time. It was joy to soak in the Christmassy ambience as the people trouped home from across the country creating a seeming carnival-like atmosphere  even on the roads with different banners announcing different events and social engagements.

There was joy in observing the communities bubbling with festive spectacles with huge banners hung across the roads heralding the great funfair that comes with the season. Prof. vividly remembers his almost  exhilarating trips from Okigwe to Onitsha in the East and the joyous expressive expectations and hope seen as they journeyed to Lagos . It was awesome experiencing what looked like organic communities  in festivity.

Even the climate had not suffered so much global warming as the harmattan weather provided the best cooling environment for some beer and palm wine as one journeyed across the land. One did not need to refrigerate beer.  It is sad but Prof believes that the change in the Christmas aura seems to be a global issue despite the unfortunate impact of covid-19. To some extent, there is a drift away from the belief in Christmas as people seem to care less about the reason for the season. To Prof., there may still be hope that the good times will be back but humanity must actively work towards that.

Veteran actress, journalist, cosmetologist, broadcaster and the matriarch of Nigerian entertainment industry, Taiwo Ajai-Lycett believes that Christmas is now  like any other day of the year and merely signifies the end of the year. It is a joyous period to know that one has gone through the year. However, she believes a lot has changed and the camaraderie that existed during this period seems to have disappeared. The insecurity in the land has robbed people of the freedom to joyously bond and share joy. A marked difference from the past she grew up in. The social ills like kidnapping, bombings and sundry crimes were almost non-existent when she was growing up and as such, the joy, the friendliness, the freedom to bond and have a laugh within communities are all gone.

When we were growing up, there were things associated with Christmas, the camaraderie, the new clothes and shoes that were only bought for kids at Christmas were enough to create great expectations. The street celebrations that brought forth artistic displays like singing and dancing that lifted spiritsand taught lessons are all gone. Everybody is quiet and keeping their heads down. There is paucity of funds and very few people care for their neighbor these days.

There are too many ostentatious spenders, consumerists who just enjoy themselves without caring what happens to other people these days. In Lagos for instance, those living in highbrow areas like Banana Island and Ajah seem to mind their own comfort without knowing or caring what is happening to the masses in their neighborhoods.  So Christmas is not what it used to be but on a personal level she tries to share what  with neighbors because that is what she grew up doing and expect others to care a bit about others too. That is what Christmas is about.

Doing what I do is my idea of carrying on with the tradition which is sharing with your neighbours. I love the old tradition of the Easterners travelling to the East to be with their communities to celebrate Christmas and New Year . It is sad that people due to the economic hardships have little for themselves this year and it does not help that Covid-19 threw spanner in the works in the past eighteen months. Many people are ill, dead or dying and some with the new Omicron virus.

It is not a happy period in the world generally but we must not lose hope. The governments especially in Africa must help the people. We must be thankful for our lives but governments must be proactive.

Taiwo Ajai-Lycett believes all hope is not lost. Governments to her must rebuild the hope of the people by being more deliberate in their policy formulations and executions in ways that the people would have better hope and experience more joy some of which gets to its zenith during the Christmas season. She believes that as humans we must do our best to create and nurture hope.

To her, security of lives and property inspires hope and would return the good old Christmas spirit that inspired family and community bonding that makes it safer to relate and bond as community. The onus is on the government to inspire hope not just through speeches but through concrete functional actions.  The people seem helpless and the government can and must stick their fingers out to fix the security situation. Declaring public holidays for festivities is good but it is better to create a functional system that can make the holidays valuable too.

The Roundtable Conversation believes that these two veterans have shared valuable wisdom on the great changes about Christmas celebrations before and now. It behooves of the governments at all levels to help the people regain that sense of hope and joy that the season brings. It has nothing to do with creed or race. Peace and progress happen when the people joyously have look up to tomorrow. The increased cases of depression and suicide especially amongst the most productive sector of the economy are traceable to the erosion of hope and expectations of a joyous tomorrow in general. Happy Christmas dear Readers.

The dialogue continues…

“Any place that does not make

gender equality a priority,

is probably getting other

important things wrong too”

-Paul Kagame (President of Rwanda)

 

THE Roundtable Conversation page is an attempt to advance the conversation on the leadership evolution processes and the platform for all voting blocs and civil society to come together to find solutions to the issues of leadership in Nigeria in ways that can foster real development. Sixty one years after independence is enough time for Nigeria to move from being described as ‘nascent’ democracy to a truly viable democracy.

If the United Arab Emirate (UAE) can be the global hub for business and tourism and Rwanda can play out the admirable phoenix from the 1994 genocide to become almost a UAE African equivalent, then Nigeria must act with the urgency of now to develop and that implies that we must take our democracy more seriously and develop systems that work and guarantee progress and development.

In any democracy, the transparent conduct of elections is key as it gives voice to the people.  The type of electoral processes and the transparency or lack of same determine the viability of the democracy in any given society. This is because the voice of the people must validate the mandate being sought. If the people are not allowed to speak freely, then the soul is removed from the democratic process. This of course affects the accountability process and often advances tyranny.

The political party system was fashioned as the vehicles through which leaders emerge to drive the democratic processes. This then means that as a government of the people and by the people, the process of elections must be free and transparent at the intra-party levels. This means that all things being equal, there would be no cases of exclusion of any demographic for any reason at all. There are sociological and religious factors but we must dismantle the negative attributes of these two if they impede development.

Sadly though, the political system in Nigeria has been skewed against women for various reasons beyond finance and brawn. If the richest woman in Nigeria were to contest for the leadership of a political party, she might still not win. The lack of gender parity in Nigerian politics is traceable to some extraneous factors. We cannot say this enough. The voice must continue to ring out until there is a level playing field. The excuses of religion and culture are so jaded that we must recalibrate to meet up with development in the twenty first century global economy and beyond.

Nothing in recent memory demonstrates the male monopoly in the political space than the recent Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Convention where the women only got two positions, Women Leader and her deputy. This means that at the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Party, only two women would be present. Ironically, there is no equivalent of men’s leadership at that level. So in essence, there is already a psychological beat down of the women and a strategic brow beating of the women to mobilize their gender for the success of the men.

The Roundtable Conversation sat with Barr. Aisha Galadima Gana, Chairperson, Law Reform Commission Niger state. She is the Jekadia Alkalai Nupe, translated to  mean the Ambassador of lawyers and judges. A title she earned from the Etsu Nupe for her contributions to society.  She is an active member of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC). She was a patron of the Buhari Osibanjo Campaign Organization in her state. According to her, she earned recognition for the roles she has played  in mentoring and representing her constituency as a mobilizer.

To her, women must be actively involved in politics and bring their nurturing and productive attributes into politics through a very fair process. Asked whether as a female politicians her idea of mobilization means working for the men to win electoral victories, she unbundled the real meaning of mobilization which to her goes beyond campaigns to real political education and assisting women organize and demand for their rights. The presence of women is being felt more than before. Today the women have a voice and through that, women can push for inclusion because it is when you stand up that you can be counted. The politics she believes in is that which liberates the grassroots in the sense that they can stand up for their rights and hold politicians  accountable especially to their pre- election promises and manifestoes.

Sensitizing the women has been a key factor in the politics she plays as a woman. To her, the value of education comes with what the educated does to liberate the illiterate in the political economy of any nation. Empowering women must not be limited to political participation.  When the women are sensitized, they get more empowered to question the politics men play, they get more economically liberated and can join politics too at their terms.

The Roundtable wanted to find out  about the girl child education in the Northern region. According to her, the North cannot yet shout uhuru for girl child education but there is slow but steady progress from where the region was some years back. To her, education in the region has always been paramount . Even before the advent of western education, there were the Islamiyya schools which even though in Arabic was still an education system.

There is an awakening for a balanced education. Some Northern ladies have excelled in education, recently, a lady in Gombe graduated as the best student in medicine. That is progress and she and many others stand as inspiration to many others. We have also seen the former Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi use various fora to campaign not just for girl child education but for both genders too.  She thinks gradually, progress is being made. To her, girl child marriage is not as rampant as it used to be because there is massive enlightenment and most parents are encouraging their children to get basic education so they can learn a trade or acquire skills and possibly excel even if they do not get to universities.

Aisha believes that women and men must bring the same tools to leadership, honesty, empathy, diligence and patriotism. These are values that are universal and have no gender codes. In her view, men must recognize that culture and religion do not preclude women from providing leadership. Men should realize that leadership is about people who can add value. The essence of  leadership is the welfare of the people and anyone who can add value should be allowed to take part in a free and fair process.

As a woman she believes that all women with good pedigree must step out and help, Sitting and complaining cannot help the system. Women must be patient but build bridges of understanding with each other and even the men too. To her, consistency in the push for inclusion would pay off ultimately but there must be perseverance.

The roundtable wanted to find out what the likes of Aisha intend to do to hold politicians who have not delivered on their promises in the past . To her, experience is the best teacher and as such, the people, especially the women must be ready to hold the people to account. There must be well spelt out agreements about  the demands of the people. There is a multiplier effect of inclusiveness that has a chain effect. Every negotiation must be all inclusive and make sure development trickles down to the grassroots.

Asked about the lack of ideological leanings amongst the major political parties, she said that should not be reason for stagnation, the democracy is growing and people given the improved transparency in the electoral processes would be ready to reject people at the polls. Integrity of candidates is going to matter more. People are going to be held accountable for their past.

She believes that transparency in electoral processes would be an advantage for the inclusion of women. It would happen naturally because most women stay off politics in Nigeria because of unfair and unspoken rules. The Anambra and Edo state elections are signs that women can mobilize to empower candidates with their votes. The new electoral laws and technology can now ensure that votes count and are counted. The system must be made to empower women. When there is fairness the normal cause of events would change.

The Roundtable Conversation wishes in a special way to point to the quote above by the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame whose country is now the modern phoenix in Africa rising from the ashes of genocide to become a tourism and business hub in Africa. It is not surprising that they have the global highest number of women in parliament at more than 60%. While the unfortunate war was regrettable, to rise and make the country what it is today is all thanks to leadership at all levels and a citizenry that is alert and functional.

Nigerian political parties must move out of the parochial monopoly based on gender. The leadership that works around the world is one that is based on merit and readiness to serve rather than the use of brawn and financial muscle. The political parties must realize that development and poverty have no political parties. Merit and capacity ought to be the watchword rather than gender. To exclude the gender that is almost half of the population is almost akin to cutting one’s nose to spite the face.

Being the poverty capital of the world would need the best brains in all sectors to work together to make the country more prosperous and return to the giant in the real sense with complimentary leadership style between men and women.

The dialogue continues…

THE next Nigerian general election is less than two years away. Sadly, besides rumours and some permutations in the social and orthodox media, not many candidates have indicated serious interest in contesting for the presidency given that President Muhammadu Buhari would have served his constitutional eight years by 2023.

We must not take the ambush by politicians at all levels that have happened in the past. This is a style of jumping out from nowhere by politicians to contest for positions very close to the election dates. When this happens, it becomes difficult to dig into the private and professional backgrounds of the politicians. The voters must be availed their pedigree so that they would make better choices.

Again the Anambra state election result points to some improvements in the electoral system. Imperfect as it was, there was improvement guaranteed by technology. Despite the glitches occasioned by human errors, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) scored a pass mark even though there is still room for improvement. The glitches were avoidable but the electoral umpire has enough time to make amends. Nigeria has to reclaim its reputation in the committee of nations practicing democracy by steadily perfecting the system.

As we prepare for the next election cycle, there are conversations we all as citizens must continue to have. The Roundtable Conversation believes we all must gird our loins to play our roles as citizens that have a stake in the nation and its building. Talk is cheap. We must move from criticizing all institutions to being active participants playing our constitutional roles diligently for the good of our nation. Nigeria belongs to every one of its citizens and that means that its growth and development are in our hands

The role of the media in any democracy cannot be overemphasized. According to Bill Moyers, “the quality of democracy and the quality of journalism are deeply intertwined”.  As the fourth estate of the realm, whether politicians like it or not, democracy cannot thrive without a vibrant and free media. But this comes with a huge sense of responsibility and patriotism. The media must as always be ready to be on its toes in order to to perform its expected roles creditably.

The Roundtable Conversation sat down with Martins Oloja, a veteran journalist and the Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of the Guardian newspaper. We wanted to find out what in his view the media should be doing at this time of Nigerian development.

He believes that nothing short of the traditional role of the media is acceptable. The media must continue to monitor the governance processes and be vigilant enough to hold leaders accountable but beyond that, the media must be objectively commend when things are done right and condemn when the wrong things are done. Vigilance from the media must not be about reporting or focusing on corruption cases alone.

There must be more detailed investigative journalism on all sectors. Politicians and their activities make news but the searchlight must go round even to the civil service. The media must dig in and report cases of negligence by the civil servants. There is so much that is not going on well with the civil service. They are the ones who stay permanently and see politicians come and go. Public officers who are derelict on their duties must be reported and  journalists can do so by reading the constitution very well and understanding  the roles of each public officer.

The media must continue to report when public officers shirk their responsibilities. The media must be able to call out those who through actions or inactions sabotage the smooth running of our democracy. There must be accuracy in media reportage and analysis for credibility. To some level, it is beginning to look like the diligence in reportage is waning. We seem to have more writers than crack reporters. This has to change. Accuracy  and consistency of good reporting are very good for democracy.

If there is any improvement, we should reflect it. Monitoring governance processes is important.  Recently, the National Assembly did something commendable as regards the direct primaries legislation for political parties. That was commendable and it is going to help our democracy. Most Nigerians never believed the members of the National Assembly  could work for democracy in the ways they have passed the direct primaries and the electronic transmission of result laws. But it has happened and our democracy is growing.

The people of Nigeria have seen  the legislators truly working in the interest of the people. They seem to have called the bluff of the governors who hitherto called the shots seemingly. Democracy is supposed to be about the people and their wishes. The Speaker, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila was enthusiastic to do his part in working for the greater good.

The Rountable wanted to find out Mr. Oloja’s views on the lack of gender parity in Nigerian politics given that in the recently concluded Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Convention the women got just 9.5% of the National Executive Committee  (NEC) positions – just the Women leader and her deputy.  He believes that all blame must not be to the men alone, women politicians seem unable to grasp how to engage with the media in a 21st century world. Most of them do not have the emotional intelligence to engage the media and some of them just struggle for political positions without the requisite tools of engagement in the political field.

They must de-emphasis the fixation that being politically active solves all problems. They must learn to engage the media and market their challenges, strengths and weaknesses.  It is an attitudinal flaw for most female politicians. The men are not perfect but they try to engage. Most of the female politicians at the elective and appointive positions often have no information attached to their names. Even when you Google their names, not much is discernible. Women must begin to acquire, deliberately the skill set to engage the media productively. Looking for positions or appointment by the women are all democratic rights but politics and political engagements are more than satisfying those needs.

To Oloja, Nigeria is redeemable but we must all buy into the Nigerian project and not be pessimistic. It is Nigerians that must recreate Nigeria to a desired goal. The government must be commended for supporting INEC to engage the technology that can make our elections more transparent. Nigerians must have faith in the country as good things are happening. It is not all doom and gloom. Nigeria is a giant in Africa and very influential on a global scale. But again, the people must play their parts too.

Nigeria would and had always outlived all governments since independence and that is the reason we must all be active citizens who must through action show our faith in the country. Nigeria for instance is globally influential in entertainment and Fintech and we must applaud our efforts in sectors that we are excelling. That is a way of building faith in the system.  Nigeria is not as bad as is being painted by most people. We must eschew prejudices that draw us back.

Our country is growing and we must have faith in it. We must see some good in our government especially when they make efforts. We are making some progress and we just pray that INEC can continue working at a better system. The media must stand up and speak for the country and not be fixated on divisive rhetoric that creates mistrust in our country. With the Anambra election, we can see that the system can work through the effort of humans in all sectors. The INEC staff, the politicians, the media and the security agencies all worked together to see to the outcome of the election that was described as free, fair and credible.

The media must be actively patriotic. The media must report objectively. The idea of using tribal cleavages and religion to stir up divisive rhetoric must be avoided by the media and Nigerians. It is in the interest of everyone to be positive on the things that unite us.

We must trust our systems like INEC to deliver and avoid the parochial ideas that nothing good can happen or to feel that it is one tribe against another. Religion must be seen beyond the insurgency and we should not cede our unity to insurgents who do not have state power.

The Roundtable Conversation agrees that the media in Nigeria more than ever has a huge task as we move towards the next election. The people have so much trust on the media even if they do not publicly declare that. The politicians on their part must realize that they are not more important than any sector more especially the fourth estate of the realm.

Women must go beyond lamentations for inclusive democracy and begin to engage more and let their voices be heard. It is not enough to revel in wishful thinking and craving some vague sense of justice. Power is never surrendered, it is taken. The women must learn from the male strategy of engagement and develop the emotional intelligence to creatively engage and this has nothing to do with economic power, it is about learning the value and strategies of communication.

We equally applaud the National Assembly for stepping up and making their roles be about the people and somewhat redeeming their public image. We hope the next step would be a law to address their salaries and emoluments that seem very scandalous and ranks as one of the global highest for a country that is the poverty capital of the world. We wait and watch the legacies of the 9th Assembly.

 

The dialogue continues…

The power of the media in global politics cannot be over-emphasized. It is even more exciting with modern technology and the social media. It is therefore very interesting the varied value citizens put on the media.  Modern global politics has benefitted very much from the media even if individual politicians often berate the media when they are on the receiving end in terms of criticisms.

Of all segments of the society, politicians seem to be the most beneficiaries of media as a tool for their trade. From campaign periods to governance and policy narratives to the people, the media  is a veritable tool between governments and the people. More often than not, the role of the media is underrated by politicians across the globe but one thing is clear, without the media, there will be no viable democracy.

It is therefore obvious that very often, in other to seek some form of populism, many politicians shoot themselves on the foot by a wrong use of the media. One of this instance just manifested with the action of governor Samuel Ortom of Benue state when he recently called a press conference to supposedly ‘reconcile’ a couple after the viral video by the wife, one Dr. Ifeyinwa Angbo who narrated the abusive behavior of her husband, a Channels TV reporter, Pius Angbo over the six year period of their marriage.

The governor displayed complete disregard for the social and global import of domestic violence by treating with levity a gross case of gender based violence in a state that is signatory to the VAPP law in  and he is equally a member of the governors’ forum that declared zero tolerance to domestic violence. At what point then did the urge to showcase his ‘peace and reconciliation’ skills did the governor do the right thing in the wrong way and at the wrong time? Why the precipitate media show of a ‘reconciliation’ that ought to have been preceded by other state backed processes of the abusive husband?

The Roundtable Conversation had a chat with Dr. Gabriel Tivlumun Nyitse, a veteran journalist and a Mass Communications lecturer at Bingham University Nigeria. To him, the governor did the right thing but he would have rather he made it a private affair. In the African context, family arbitration is allowed when couples have issues in their marriages so it is not wrong that he intervened. Again it is not impossible that the governor was approached to intervene.

However, Dr Nyitse believes that the governor’s intervention does not prevent government agencies in charge of handling such issues from doing their work. He believes that the governor’s intervention has nothing to do with the agencies carrying out their constitutional duties. The man ought to be invited if they feel he has broken any laws. However, no one should discountenance the fact that the Nigerian society seems to be tolerant of domestic violence which is deplorable.

It is obvious that most cultures seem to take it as a given that physical abuse can be tolerated in marriages. The governor was acting the regular script of handling domestic abuse as a family affair that arbitration solves but it is not always the case. Most men that abuse women or vice versa never seem to stop except in cases where certain actions are taken by those involved either getting the security agencies involved, getting therapies or getting some form of restraining order on the violent party.

Read Also: Buhari backs lawmakers’ position on direct primary

Nyitse believes that the socio-cultural issues of how we raise our kids, the stigma on single, divorced and separated spouses often make individuals stay in violent relationships. Children must be deliberately raised to be respectful of each other and given no advantages based on their gender. The home must be the training ground as it has been established that kids that grew up experiencing violence are often more likely to be violent often getting into cult groups in schools to express themselves and logically carrying such attitudes into relationships.

Asked  how  the violence against women to him affects the gender parity in Nigerian politics, he said that the Nigerian political space again is too hazardous for women. Women can come into politics through a deliberate policy of inclusiveness like giving them political appointments through which they can grow and garner experience and the financial muscle to contest elections. He particularly loves the idea of the 35% affirmative action  if adhered to because women can organize the men to vote for them. In politics, no one gives you power. Women must begin to build structures. Women should go out and contest with men.

However, it is regrettable that most women do not have the resources for campaigns and election expenses. We are yet to get to the position where Nigerians begin to put value on ideas and then more women can be given a chance in elective positions given that most women have the capacity to lead. The physical violence in Nigerian politics should not however scare the women away as that could be a tactic for excusion.

Aisha Yesufu is a business woman who teaches financial literacy to empower people to be financially independent and also have a voice to demand for good governance. She is an Active Nigerian Citizen who demands good governance, justice and equity. An Aisha is totally disappointed with the media glitz that a governor Ortom employed in a clear case of wife-battery. It did not help matters that his wife stood by him as he publicly ‘intervened’ in a clear case of a serial domestic violence perpetrator who never uttered a word in self defense or offered any apology.

Governor Ortom virtually institutionalized battery by his media conference involving an abuser. The woman standing with the couple did not act as a protector of women. The victim was the one apologizing on behalf of the perpetrator of violence against her. What it shows is that we are a society that victimizes the victim. What they have done with that singular act is to give credence to every abuser. Every victim that was reason to speak out, to voice discontent was shut down by the media display by the governor and all those involved.

The leader, meant to protect the victim victimizes the victim by that singular action  and it is almost an everyday act. It is important to let women come out from abusive relationship. Women must begin to own their humanity by standing up to abusive men because to Aisha, there is not so much of power- based violence as there is abuse of  every form of power. A man abuses his physical power by beating up a women but in cases of women with more physical ability, physical abuse is normally absent. If a women is financially stable or richer than a man, there is usually no financial abuse. So women must empower themselves to escape abuse of any sort.

Aisha believes that even women seem to be enablers of violence because they are always the ones persuading abused women to go back to their abusers and in most cases the result is often homicide. She is however happy that the socio-religious conditioning for women to accept abuses and the men’s sense of entitlement seem to be waning with the modern generation. It cannot be business as usual.

Women must realize that if they do not come into politics, nothing would get done. Women must stop asking men to bring them to the table. Do not play the woman card, be human and fight for power because it can never  be aerved a la carte. If you fail, try again. If the President could fight for twelve years to be president, then women should equally learn to fail and get up and re-contest after all he who is down need fear no fall. Women must begin to re-strategize.

Aisha recounted an instructive experience when she was campaigning for an Oby Ezekwesili presidency and her longtime customer told her he would not vote for a woman president. She immediately terminated their commercial relationship and the man realized his folly but very late.

She believes that women must shrug off the emotional blackmail from men who try to beat down women off the political space by calling female politicians prostitutes. To her, everyone must brace up to reject tags that are mere psychological abuse to tag women. Be ready to go for nocturnal meetings be ready to crate your own table.. Women must create our own tables. Do not seek for space, create your own space. The people must choose who to serve them. Aisha feels that affirmative action is very limiting.

The men use the blackmail to scare women. When a man does something wrong, other women are tarred by that but men are handled on their own merit. That has stop. Women should realize that the men always want women to go take bullets for problems caused by men during protests but when it comes to political leadership they realize that women should be seen but not heard.

Patriarchal instincts make the men to misinterprete the holy books in all religions and even the African traditional religion because the men benefit from such interpretations. It is high time the women begin to retrace their steps  from the socio-religious conditionings that empower just men to be in leadership and to abuse women . Women themselves Aisha insists  must show that the old ways must give room to new thinking .

Women should seize this moment .The greatest tyrants we have is our parents who often insist on the old ways . So the woman in the viral video is already brutalizing the children by doing the video in their presence and the father beating the mother in their presence is an abuse too. The idea of saying you are staying in a relationship because of the children is wrong because you damage the children in the process.

More women are the ones who persuade the victims of domestic abuse to return to the perpetrators. The governor that made a media show of a domestic abuse case must be the push women need to own their human space and fight to economically and politically empower themselves. That way, the abuse of power by the men would stop because presently they have everything to gain and may never voluntarily give up any of those powers.

 

The dialogue continues…

NIGERIA’S democracy since 1999 seems to have had so many challenges. It is not for nothing that many people continually refer to it as nascent. But that is a euphemistic way of giving politician a free pass. A democracy in any land is as good as the values the people try to imbue it with as a government of the people by the people and for the people.

The Nigerian brand of democracy has not really been devoid of the teething problems given the human proclivity to abuse power of any sort, political, financial, physical and even spiritual. The electoral processes from the intra-party primaries, ward to general elections have seen many anomalies. Nigeria perhaps has one of the most litigious post-election cases in Africa if not the world.

There has been voter apathy in almost all elections since 1999 because the people have observed many irregularities like violence and destruction of voting materials including the snatching of ballot boxes.  There have been records of deaths, arson and injuries during elections and these invariably have influenced the outcome of many elections.  Despite the mobilization and voter education by many institutions and civil society organizations, most voters often keep away from voting on election days because they ether fear that they might be victims of violence or that their votes might never count.

Even though the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had over the past 22 years tried to improve on the electoral processes through the introduction of technology, there are problems as the system often failed technologically or there were man-made problems aimed at disrupting the processes . Even the card reader system had had glitches when it mattered most and that had resulted in a resort to other unreliable methods subject to manipulations.

If democracy is about the people being mandate givers, then it all means that the people must be allowed to speak though their votes freely and without any form of manipulations.  It is disturbing that when there is violence during elections, women, a huge part of the voting demographic are always the worse hit. In Nigeria, there have been records of deaths across genders, arson and other forms of violence before, during and after elections. This has in a great way tainted the democracy in the country.

The Roundtable Conversation had a chat with Hon. Mary Enwongulu, a retired civil servant,  a former minority leader in the Nasarawa house of assembly  and a former Commissioner for Women Affairs in the  state who at one time was kidnapped in her state after she went to court to reclaim her mandate. She was again recently assaulted during the local election when she had her ballot paper snatched from her twice by some men at the polling booth.

According to her, the system of elections that does not guarantee a level playing field for both genders must give room to a system that makes democracy more functional and viable. She feels that an improved electoral system would guarantee that the most popular candidates who the people love emerge. That to her is the beauty of democracy. As one who has been in politics for a long time, she feels that sometimes, the mundane considerations in Nigerian politics is given vent by those who can beat the electoral system that is largely not technology driven.

Democracy being a people based government  must be improved technologically  so that Nigeria can join the global movement towards the reliability that technology guarantees. An improvement in electoral system would be of immense advantage to women and other male technocrats who can then be willing to enter the field and believe that the system would be free and fair.

Hon. Enwongulu believes that the 35% affirmative action must go beyond giving women the leadership of their gender. Political parties and women themselves must work at some levels of parity while the electoral umpire can improve on the process. According to her, a good process will always have the best candidate wining in ways that the people would be happy that their votes are counted and would count. The people always know who they want during elections and the onus is on INEC to make sure they work for the people.

The Anambra governorship election on November 6th surprisingly was inconclusive resulting in a supplementary election on Tuesday the 9th of November while the result was declared in the early hours of Wednesda the 10th.  Unusually delayed  as the election was, Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) was returned elected.

Read Also: UPDATED: INEC issues Certificate of Return to Soludo as Anambra Governor-Elect

It seemed the wait was well worth it because the election came with so many challenges including violence in the state in the last few months, and the attack on INEC office and the fear by  some adhoc staff who withdrew at the last minute scared for their safety. The election has been adjudged free and fair and there are reports that many of the candidates are satisfied and have equally conceded and congratulated the winner.

The deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System  (BVAS) has been getting rave reviews across the country and beyond. The BVAS technology comprises the verification and authentication of the voters. This is an improvement on the card reader machine that was limited to only fingerprint identification. This BVAS technology includes facial recognition and authentication.

“This system ensures that a person intending to vote shall be verified to be the same person on the Voter Register in accordance with Section 49 (2) of the Electoral act (As Amended) ”-INEC.  In these words lie the real value of INEC’s new technology. So this came as a breath of fresh air during the Anambra governorship election.  This at least ensured that only registered voters at each of the polling units were allowed to vote after being authenticated through fingerprint and facial recognition.

Being accredited to vote was followed by the snapping of the polling unit level result sheets and uploading of same in real time to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal. This made it virtually impossible for any type of manipulation during the elections just concluded.  There were glitches which even affected the governor-elect , Charles Soludo and some members of his community who of course waited patiently to vote late in the evening.

INEC must be commended for carrying off this particular election successfully despite the fears nursed over months about the possibility of the election even holding at all. Given the pre-election volatility, INEC managed to score a pass mark for the transparency with which it handled the election.

However, it was not all good news throughout all the polling units. There were still logistic problems like late arrival of materials and the non-availability of staff at the different polling units on time for the elections.  The technology seemed to have helped but the human angle was not perfectly handled. The tech glitches must be avoided in future elections. An Ihiala Local Government supplementary election was avoidable.

The apparent voter apathy that was noticed is traceable to several factors beyond the control of INEC. However, the Roundtable believes that INEC ought to have done better voter education and mobilization given the history of elections in Nigeria. Most voters were not aware of the new technology that makes it almost impossible for elections to be rigged at polling units or for results to be altered. The electronic transmission of results was not well publicized to the public. Nigerians had experienced flawed elections and seem to have lost faith in the electoral system. Most believe that their votes will not count as had been the case in the past.

The Roundtable Conversation spoke with some of the voters in Anambra and there was expression of joy by both the winners and the losers implying that no one felt cheated by any means. We believe that gradually, the people would begin to trust the system once again and the democratic processes would begin to attract more credible participants who had hitherto been scared of the type of electoral processes that often gave victory to the wrong candidates. The idea of calling political participation a dirty game stemmed from the flawed electoral processes that even affect  party primaries.

If INEC can do more upgrades and voter enlightenment, Nigerian democracy would be the winner as the voice of the mandate givers would be heard in all nooks and crannies of the country. For INEC and the people, it is however not yet uhuru, there is still work to be done by everyone. INEC is merely an umpire, it needs the cooperation of other agencies and Nigerians in all sectors to succeed. Technology does not guarantee perfection. The human elements must do the ones they ought to do with a view to impacting positively on the system.

The Roundtable Conversation believes that Nigeria is already late to the party in terms of conducting credible elections given its leadership position on the African continent. The new technology must continue to get an upgrade in ways that would guarantee every candidate a level playing field. This would encourage a more inclusive type of leadership evolution process where every capable candidate male or female, young or old can trust the transparency of the electoral process and be willing to participate fully. This is our only hope for real democracy and development.

 

The dialogue continues…

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the main opposition party in Nigeria recently organized its National Convention. The conventional political horse-trading was typically obvious. The governors who in the political landscape wield what some political analysts see as excessive power were not found wanting.  There was no delegation of duties to their deputies.  Ironically, other state events that require their presence often have them send their deputies or Secretary to the governments.

As it were, everything was at stake. There was power-show, there were negotiations, influence-peddling, coercions and outright bullish attitudes. In politics they say there are no permanent enemies but permanent interests. The governors and the other leaders and members of the party pulled out all stops. The party leadership positions were zoned to different parts of the country. Individual zones came up with strategies for selection. While some had agreements for consensus candidates, others were open to contests.

The disturbing news is that nothing seems to have changed for the women in the PDP. At the end of the convention, women were still confined to the office of ‘Women Leader’ and deputy. Professor Stella Attoe was a consensus candidate and was presented by the Cross River state PDP the post having been zoned to the South-South. Deputy Woman Leaders, Hajara Wanka was elected unopposed.

So of the 21 seats filled at the convention, women got just two positions – that of Women Leader and the deputy positions.  The National Convention Organizing Committee was headed by governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa state.  It seemed like the leadership had pulled out all stops to get consensus candidates across regions. The North had chosen former Senate President, Iyorchia Ayu as their consensus candidate for the Chairmanship position.

Even though the women were disappointed at the tokenism they were handed, Hajia Inna Ciroma had contested for the deputy National Chairman (North). Reports had it that there was pressure on her by the men to step down but her fellow women who reportedly contributed money for her to purchase the required form insisted she must go ahead with the contest because democracy is not always about winning or losing . In every contest in a democracy, the beauty is the freedom to contest. She impressively got more than two hundred votes but lost to Umar Damagum.

Another woman, Chibuogwu Benson- Oraelosi was to contest for the position of National Auditor but surprisingly stepped down last minute. Her action was a surprise to many. Many women felt she ought to have contested having come that far.  However, in a democracy, there is freedom of choice. She made her choice.

The Roundtable Conversation spoke to some of the PDP women about the convention and its outcome as it concerns women and ur democracy. Some of them believe that because democracy is a game of numbers, the men still have the upper hand as they are more in number and with the levers of power firmly in their grips, the women seem to have very little chance at the moment.

Sadly though, the PDP leadership seems to be foot-dragging about the 35% affirmative action. Ironically, there seems to be more female presence at the BOT level than the NWC level. Iyom Josephine Anenih, a foundation member of the party and a former Woman Leader and Minister of Women Affairs and a veteran gender rights advocate believes that even though the pace of inclusion is not as fast as the women wish, they have made great strides given the history of the party. To her women must continue to push and small wins will be big wins very soon.

Iyom Anenih recalls that when PDP started off as a political party, there was no woman BOT member.  She actually started the advocacy for the inclusion of women. So the party started with one woman per zone and they all joined her as a founding member of the party bringing the number of women to seven. Subsequent amendments to the party constitution has seen an increase in the number of women and there is hope for progress but women must be steadfast and never waver no matter the pressure.

The election of Prof. Stella Attoe as a Woman Leader seems like a moon coming full cycle. She had been an active party member for  decades. But given the age of the party, The Roundtable Conversation wonders why the tokenism for women persists in the political party.

As always, the men came with ‘soothing’ words for the women in PDP at the convention. Governor Fintiri thanked his fellow governors and the leadership of the party, “…for the spirit of sportsmanship in the party and the governors for being handy at all times in matters of collective concern… I am particularly happy that the governors and the leadership of the party have met with the great women of PDP. We have collectively agreed on the best way to implement the provision of the 35% affirmative action as required by our constitution in the next convention. Besides the Women leader, the next constitutional amendment must clearly state the positions that would be reserved by way of statutory consensus to the women. This is to guarantee that the fight put forward by our women is not lost after all…”

The governor sounded extremely triumphant and justifiably so. At the convention, men got 90.5% of the party positions and women got a paltry 9.5%! So the monopoly continues. If not to work for votes for men, we wonder if there would even be a Women Leader position?

Read Also: Waziri hails PDP National Convention

It is quite intriguing to the Roundtable Conversation that the PDP was not considering the intellectual and social contributions of women. The Leader of the Convention Organizing Committee, a governor of state in his speech  sees whatever constitutional amendment they intend to make just merely because the women in PDP have been fighting for it! This idea of what gender parity means to our male politicians must be thoroughly interrogated by Nigerians.

It is sad that in the last 22 years, the party that came in to break the military interruptions of our democracy since independence is still not very willing to understand that leadership is a shared  responsibility and capacity and merit rather than gender must define our democracy. While we want to believe that we are practicing democracy, intra party democracy is a forerunner to all other democratic processes.

The convention has come and gone and we have seen again, the power and influence of the governors even though we believe that with little or no ideological divides across all political parties big and small, this gender exclusion is surreptitiously achieved across party lines. Today it is a convention, tomorrow it would be party primaries. The records of what women suffered across parties at state and ward congresses are stil staring us in the face.

The Roundtable conversation worries that the mentality of Nigerian male politicians as regards leadership and our democracy seem not to be giving any room for progress in the 21st century with women proving their worth in all fields; the academia, corporate bodies, financial sector, civil service, global institutions, entrepreneurship etc. The Nigerian political doors are still being shut on the face of women. Men still assume that allowing true democracy and level playing field is a favour to women and so they attach dates and percentages.

Being the poverty capital of the world must show us something very profound about the role women are prevented from playing by men whose patriarchal inclinations seems not ready to wane any time soon. Sad thing however is that the same women being stylishly excluded from governance and leadership positions are home managers and the same men depend on them but are considered not good enough to provide leadership. Women are always the greater victims of poverty, insecurity and other social ills of bad governance.

The men in PDP may have a wry sense of victory at the convention but the world has moved on from the entitlement mentality of Nigerian men. Some of the best economies in Europe and Asia are led by women. Their GDP and general stand in world economies do not come as surprises. Nigerian political parties must begin to adopt more progressive democratic values and allow the political space blossom with our best irrespective of gender.

On the other hand, there are female politicians that are not working very hard for gender inclusion. Unfortunately, they keep empowering the men to the disadvantage of development. They must be reminded that they found spaces in the political fields because some other women either dead of still living created the ladder they climbed with their hardwork and sacrifices for their today.

Time, said Euripides is a babbler that speaks even when not asked. Each individual’s actions and inactions are documented by history for posterity. As in all liberation struggles of all hues in global history, actions and inactions of individuals form their epitaph whether living or dead.  Democracy can only grow when all players in the political field through their actions show vision and passion for development. Individual ego trips and influence peddling has never lifted any player to the hall of fame.

While the PDP procrastinates about their seemingly elusive Constitutional amendment, the Roundtable Conversation assumes that the APC and the plethora of other political parties would take the road less travelled. There might not be an immediate equity but changes can be made in areas not legally bound to upturn the system.

The political parties must realize that developments in global technology and politics have changed the way economies operate. Leadership is key and not gender sensitive and everyone becomes a casualty of a male dominated system. Nigeria is a good case study.

 

• The dialogue continues…