In Kaduna where a mere rumour ignites large scale violence, a coalition of concerned citizens and groups has mounted a campaign to keep the state calm as election nears. ABDULGAFAR ALABELEWE reports
The 2015 general elections were relatively peaceful in Kaduna State, but the polls four years earlier were not. They left scars that are still fresh seven years after.
Kaduna is just one out of about 14 states affected by the 2011 post-election violence, but it has suffered more. This is because some of the ethno-religious violence including killings, especially in the southern Kaduna, are believed to reprisals of the 2011 post election violence.
Therefore, as part of measures to ensure that the state is not thrown into another round of crisis, the Vote Not Fight campaign group has launched a campaign against electoral violence in the state. Similarly, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in partnership with Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) held a town hall meeting in Kaduna with relevant stakeholders to ensure that violence-free elections in 2019 is achievable with all hands on deck.
The Vote Not Fight campaign project organized by the One Project Afrika (OPA), 2Baba Foundation, National Democratic Institute (NDI) USAID and UKAID, held training for selected cordinators across the 23 local government areas to spread the mesaage of violence free election
In a welcome address, the Executive Director OPA, Zigwai Ayuba said there is need to change the narrative about the state positively, adding that the launch and training is basically to sensitive the selected coordinators who are youths on why they should not allow themselves to be used to perpetrate violence as we go into the elections.
“The youths must shun all forms of violence and politicians must shun all forms of hate speeches that will over heat the polity.
“The vote not fight campaign is to educate the electorates as to why they should exercise their civic rights without engaging in any form of violence or allow themselves to be pushed into violence”.
On his part, the Programme Manager Youth and People with Disabilities (PWD) of the NDI, Mr Ben Aga noted that the youths are the mostly affected during electoral violence either as perpetrators or victims.
He stressed that the vote not fight campaign launch and training of coordinators who will trickle the training to the ward levels is part of efforts to quaranttee a peaceful, fair, free and credible elections without recourse to whoever wins and under whatever political party.
In his goodwill message, the Kaduna state Administrative Secretary of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Alhaji Mohammed Mashi who commended the organizers of the program, called on the youths to do what is right and at all times devoid of any form of sentiments on grounds of tribe, religion, party or ethnicity.
He assured that the 2019 election will not only be free, fair and credible, it would be an improvement over previous elections ever held in this country.
Meanwhile, the police representative, SP Abdulazeez Isa in his goodwill message said, “Youths must be watchful with their activities before, during and after the elections, stressing that the police will not hesitate to deal decisively with anyone who ferment or partake in any form of violence.
The NUJ Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Yusuf on his part assured that the media will collaborate with relevant agencies towards a free, fair and credible polls in 2019.
Similarly, the one day town hall meeting organized by Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) on “benefits of violence free elections 2019 in Kaduna State” had participants drawn from police, KASTLEA, Prisons, Customs, Airforce, Immigration, Military, CSOs, political parties, Religious and traditional leaders among other relevant election stakeholders.
The town hall meeting was organized to bring together relevant stakeholders to sensitize them on the dangers and implications of electoral violence before, during and after the forthcoming 2019 general elections.
In his opening remarks, the Kaduna state Commandant of the NSCDC, Alhaji Modu Bunu who equally represented the Commandant General of the NSCDC, Abdullahi Gana Muhammadu harped on the need for all to work together not to only make the 2019 election free, fair and credible but also violence free.
Similarly, the Resident Representative of KAS in Nigeria, Dr Vladimir Kreck who was represented at the town hall meeting by the Program Manager, Mr Samson Adeniran in his welcome address highlighted the benefits of having a violence free elections while outlining the ideals of the KAS which he said include democracy, rule of law and prosperity for all.
In his keynote presentation on the theme of the town hall meeting, Professor Chukwuma CCC Osakwe of the department of History and War studies, centre for the study of leadership and complex operations , Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) took an x-ray of history of conflicts and violence in Kaduna State and drew the conclusion that previous conflicts influenced the recent electoral violence in the state.
He noted that any future electoral violence will affect food security, personal security, investment, government income, education and general trust among different ethnic groups that have being living together in the state since before independence
Key stakeholders which include Alhaji Abdullahi Kaugama (the Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC), Commissioner of police Ahmed Abdulrahman (CP Kaduna State), Mr. Usman Mohammed (Chairman Board of Trustees, the Negotiators Peace Initiative, Kaduna), Grace Bahago for KASU all made various inputs on having a violence free elections in Kaduna.
The town hall meeting was declared open by the State Governor, Malam Nasir el-Rufai represented by the AIG Mohammed Abbas (rtd) Special Adviser of security and coordinator state owned security outfit ‘Operation Yaki’.
With sensitization fora like these, it is expected that the message will sink and people will realise that no election is worth the blood of any soul.