Prominent individuals from the Niger Delta converged on the highbrow Hotel Presidential, Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital to celebrate June 12 and the winner of the 1993 presidential election, Chief MKO Abiola. BISI OLANIYI, Southsouth Bureau Chief, reports that the participants maintained that what the country sorely needs is good governance for development.
After two decades and six years of struggle by pro-democracy activists for successive administrations to recognise June 12 as the authentic Democracy Day, President Muhammadu Buhari, has signed into law the bill which legalises the day.
The country celebrated her maiden June 12 Democracy Day penultimate Wednesday – in recognition of the June 12, 1993 election – Nigeria’s freest and fairest ever. The election was won by frontline businessman Moshood Abiola, who died in a bid to claim his mandate.
In the Niger Delta, a group known as the Unity House Foundation and the Garden City Leadership Initiative organised a lecture to mark the day. It was the second edition of the event since the group’s inception last year.
During the celebration, which featured lectures and other events, the Chairman, Board of Trustees of Unity House Foundation, Kingsley Wali averred that corruption is Nigeria’s greatest problem, even as he added that good governance must be the fulcrum of our democratic experiment.
The lecture was aimed at celebrating the historic day of freedom from oppression and dictatorship and the winner of the fairest, freest and the most credible presidential election ever held in the history of Nigeria, the late Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola.
It is generally agreed that Abiola laid down his life for the survival of democracy in Nigeria. Any wonder President Buhari shifted Democracy Day celebration to June 12 from May 29.
This year’s June 12 lecture, which took place at the highbrow Hotel Presidential, Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, had as its theme “National Security: Beyond Power, Passion and Politics.”
The guest speaker was the immediate past Vice-Chancellor of Igbinedion University, Okada in Edo State, Prof. Eghosa Osaghae, while the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), Prof. Ndowa Lale, was represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Prof. Hakeem Fewehinmi.
Panelists at the lecture included Prof. Eme Ekekwe of UNIPORT; a frontline activist, Elder Timi Ogoriba and an Abuja-based lawyer, Ibiba Okunye; while topic of the lecture was: “Insecurity – Bigger than Recession and a Bigger Threat to Democracy.”
Also present at the event was the Deputy Commandant and Head of Private Guard Company (PGC) Department of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Rivers State Command, Claire Nnenna Okpo.
The guest lecturer, Prof. Osaghae expressed his optimism that Nigeria would soon be a country where people would live in peace and be secure.
He said: “There is hope for Nigeria. There cannot be absolute security. Security is relative. There is as much insecurity in Nigeria, as in the United States of America, United Kingdom and other developed countries of the world. Insecurity makes Nigerians to look for alternative security, such as vigilance groups, militants or cult groups, which leads to greater insecurity.
“Hunger can provoke someone to abnormal behaviour. Food security and the security of tenure/work are very important. Corruption is provoked by insecurity. Humankind is the essence of security. If there is no humankind, we cannot talk of recession and democracy. We must first be alive, before being democratic. Intelligence gathering thrives on volunteerism to get reliable, timely and useful information.
“Government has fund, but it is unable to deliver on security. The current federal system is dysfunctional, because it is highly centralised. It must be decentralised in order to move forward. Nigerians need to specially consider community and state policing, which must be tailored to our peculiarities, with adequate checks and balances to avoid abuse.
“Insecurity in Nigeria must be frontally tackled to pave way for peace and development. If a state/country cannot deliver on security, the state/country has failed.”
Prof. Osaghae, who now teaches at the University of Ibadan (UI) Oyo State, also stated that providing adequate security should not be left for the Federal Government alone, stressing that the state and local governments must be involved. He added that hunger and unemployment must be tackled adequately in order to ensure safety of lives and property.
The don noted that the two fundamental responsibilities of any government are provision of adequate security and caring for the welfare of the citizens, which he said should be taken very seriously to ensure peace.
He said: “Nigeria will get better. It has taken longer to get to the point of having Democracy Day on June 12, but reconceptualisation through rethinking is very important. We also need value reorientation.
“Security is accountability. We must hold our leaders accountable. We cannot continue to allow the state and its officials to misbehave. One person’s insecurity is our collective insecurity. Security is a collective responsibility.”
The guest speaker also advised all Nigerians to continue to contribute to societal development, stressing that generations unborn would appreciate their efforts.
While speaking at the event, one of the panelists, Prof. Ekekwe noted that part of the problems in Nigeria was that the people do not know their history; a situation he described as unfortunate. He insisted that leaders must be able to take constructive criticisms and that the ruling class should not be myopic.
Ekekwe also stated that Nigeria’s military deserved more than they were currently getting from Nigerians and the government at all levels.
He said: “In Nigeria, truth is very costly. There should be adequate training and retraining of the security personnel, especially in the area of intelligence gathering. The security agencies should also be adequately equipped and funded.
In her remarks, Ibiba Okunye described insecurity as a threat to Nigeria’s democracy, adding that some politicians and top government officials had been encouraging insecurity.
The Abuja-based lawyer noted that no country could flourish with poverty and insecurity, stressing that most government officials and politicians had failed, making most young people to lose hope in Nigeria.
Also speaking, Elder Ogoriba stressed that when criminals were not adequately punished as a result of weak judicial system, crimes would flourish. He urged Wali and other organisers of the event to sustain the June 12 lecture initiative.
He noted that the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) was not being properly funded by the Federal Government, stressing that the June 25, 2009 offer of amnesty to repentant Niger Delta militants was because the Federal Government was only interested in the crude oil and gas available in the region.
The frontline activist reiterated that Abiola died while pushing to be president to make Nigeria better, declaring that the late business mogul sacrificed his life for Nigeria’s democracy. He wondered why the youth preferred to be thugs to politicians whose children would be in the best schools overseas. He added that the government must be responsive and responsible.
In his address on the occasion, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai stated that the Nigerian Army had restored normalcy to the creeks of the hitherto volatile Niger Delta, thereby increasing the level of socio-economic activities in the region.
He also assured that the Nigerian Army was poised to live to its constitutional responsibility by ensuring that all threats to the country’s national security were nipped in the bud.
Buratai, who was represented by the General Officer Commanding (GOC) six Division, Nigerian Army Maj.-Gen. Jamil Sarham described Nigeria as a blessed country.
Buratai, who spoke as a special guest of honour reiterated that Nigeria was passing through a difficult period of its history.
He said: “The topic of the lecture is very contemporary and very relevant, as we mark the first Democracy Day on June 12. The security challenges facing the country at the moment have stretched the police and the military and, indeed, other security agencies in personnel and resources.
“The Army, whose primary role is the defence of the territorial integrity of the country, is currently deployed in the 36 states of the federation and Abuja, on the secondary role of ‘Aid to Civil Authority.’ This reality is, by no means strange, as other great nations have passed through similar experiences in their history.
“A lot of progress has been made in the fight against the Boko Haram insurgency, which hopefully is at its last stage. The main efforts have been achieved as the insurgents’ capacity to hold territories have been greatly degraded.
“The Nigerian Army is at the stage of conducting stabilisation operations, which will ensure that the civil populace in the Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDPs’) camps returns to their homes for socio-economic activities to thrive in their communities.”
He also stated that crimes such as pipeline vandalism, crude oil theft, sea piracy and kidnapping had been reduced to the barest minimum, while assuring that the Nigerian Army would ensure that the criminals are brought to justice.
Buratai praised members of the Unity House Foundation and Garden City Leadership Initiative for putting together the lecture, stressing that the initiative proved that the next generations were ready to take over the mantle of leadership of the country and tackle the challenges of their time.
He said: “I wish to encourage you to continue in this stride, as there can be no progress without a vision. It is through visions that we can take the country to its full potential.
“The biggest resource any country can have is its human capital, which, when harnessed, can take any country to greater heights.”
The Chief of Army Staff also urged members of the public to always volunteer useful and timely information to the Nigerian Army and other security agencies, assuring that their identities would be protected.