Stakeholders and Nongovernment Organisations in the Niger Delta gathered in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on Tuesday to discuss how to achieve a violence-free election in Nigeria. South /South Regi
The Niger Delta Peace and Security Working Group (NDPSWG), a coalition of about 40 civil society organisations working in nine Niger Delta states, concluded a one-day workshop tagged, “Stakeholders Responsibilities During the 2015 General Elections in Nigeria”, on Tuesday. The event was held at the office of the Foundation for Partnership Initiative in the Niger Delta, an NGO funded by American oil giant, Chevron Nigeria Limited, which facilitated it.
At the workshop, stakeholders brainstormed on how to avoid a repeat of 2011 election’s crisis in 2015, which was mostly characterised by violence and bloodshed. It attracted the representatives of civil society groups, representatives of NGOs, Chief Security officers (CSO) of various groups and organizations and the representative of political parties.
Some of the stakeholders noted that although the gathering was a good idea, they said it was not timely considering that the general elections were just few weeks away for the resolutions taken to make a strong impact on the electorates and key players in the election exercise. Yet, it was generally agreed by speakers and attendees that the effort of the facilitators (PIND) should be commended. Stakeholders and keyplayers in the process were urged to make use of the available opportunity to educate the public on the possible ways to eradicate violence from the election and the society.
In his remarks PIND team leader, Mr. Michael Gonzalex, explained that the essence of the stakeholder gathering was to proffer solution to save lives by bringing stakeholders together, from Chief Security Officers (CSO) NGO and government partnership into one forum so that we can discuss issues relating to election violence.
“This forum (NDPSWG) met in October last year to work on 2015 election scenario. Over 50 NGOs came together to analyze the 2011 election violence. So we said something must be done to minimize the 2015 election violence that is why we are here. The forum today is to bring the critical stakeholders from the local communities in the Niger Delta region to create awareness and hopefully to save lives during this election period.”
The Chairman, National Association of women Journalist Mrs Lillian Okonkwo, in a paper titled “Violence During 2011 Election”, reminded the stakeholders that the 2011 election was characterized by high incidents of rape, intimidation, assassination, physical attacks, fights, clashes and counter-attacks, stating: “Youths in gangs were mobilized to disrupt the campaigns of opponents; there was power tussles between political chieftains leading to deaths. Political attacks of candidates and their supporters. There was also destruction of billboards, party offices, cars, houses, business establishments. Don’t forget, there was sexual harassments and threats to the lives of female aspirants/candidates.”
Ms Okonkwo also noted that in 2011 election there was less awareness in the area of health or how to take care of those affected in election violence. She insisted that government must deploy health personnel at various wards and LGAs to take care of victims of attacks during and after election.r
“That there must be ambulances, emergency units in all the local governments in the state including wards in case of violence. Look, violence is inevitable, there must be attack on the opponents, there must be ballot box snatches, it may be INEC officials or party supporters but it must occur. We should be proactive, and deploy medical personnel in all the areas where violence is likely to occur. In 2011 a lady was kidnapped a day before election, she said she was tied and later released after the election. Of course, violence is not only physical attack. Secondly we must protect the journalist; there must be life insurance for all journalists who intend to cover the 2015 election.”
Another speaker, Egondo Ogbalor of Community Initiative for Enhanced Peace and Development who spoke on “Conflict Drivers and Area at Risk” indentified youths’ unemployment, poverty and monetary inducement as factors that contribute to election violence. She also said the emergence of strong opposition party and the struggle for political supremacy has in many time led to violence.
She revealed that large amount of light weapons in the region and the increase in cultism/gang membership in our various communities must be identified as a serious factor of election violence. “Apart from these factors we have looked at various factors like gender, health, peace building, governance, youths and economic development. On the issue of gender we are asking what security measures are there for female electoral officers, observers, and candidates? What measures are political parties putting in place to protect the interests and lives of female candidates?
“Health is very important but how ready is the health system to respond to the increased turnover of patients who may be victims of electoral violence? What should the health system do differently? How will services be provided in rural areas? On the issue of peace building what structures are in place to address post-election violence at the local levels (i.e., riverine and village communities)?
“It is also important to look at the governance, what measures have the LGAs put in place to forestall violence in the forthcoming elections? What roles will local governments play to reduce electoral malpractice (e.g., ballot box snatching, voters intimidation, etc.)? We should also ask what are youth organizations doing to prevent youth involvement in electoral violence and lastly is economic development and we want to know what measures are in place to secure businesses from disruption as a result of post-election violence, arson and looting?”
Mr. Terry Lacey, team leader Market Development in the Niger Delta, in his contribution noted that idleness is one of the factor that make young people see violence as an avenue to earn a living. He said if the Nigeria government could diversify the economy and invest heavily in agriculture, many youths would be engaged and their attention re-direct from violence to productive ventures.
Lacy said: “The focus is to look at the market structure in the Niger Delta region and look at ways to develop critical sector like agriculture that could employ more youths to redirect their thinking from violence. We are looking at how Rivers State will produce ten thousands tons of fertilizer annually. Now the question is how do we bring this development so that young people will embrace it? If the youths will generate more income in this area, them they will disregard some of the things they see as worrisome. If the youths are properly engaged making money for themselves they will feel a little better about their communities and they will be interested to contribute to community development.
“If the youths are jobless they will see crime as an alternative, until the youths think positive about their country they will not stop crime. Nigeria is doing better than other African countries, though she suffered bad publicity from the local media which affect her international relation. If we want violence free election the Nigeria newspapers must play a critical role to protect the image of the country.”
At the end of the workshop, stakeholders agreed, after reviewing the 2011 elections, that the violence experienced in 2011 was post-election and that there is the need to put measures in place to prevent a re-occurrence. They called on all stakeholders especially youths not to allow themselves to be used to perpetrate violence during and after the 2015 elections. They noted that if the measures put in place do not totally forestall violence in 2015, then adequate proactive response mechanisms must be put in place to minimise unnecessary loss of lives and property and provide remedy for the wounded and traumatized especially the marginalized and vulnerable.
Participants pointed out that as it was in 2011, the early warnings signs were very visible but that responses were reactionary, poor, ineffective and limited, adding, “And in 2015, the early warning signs are ominous and the Peace Accord signed by the Presidential candidates of the parties must be enforced.” They commended the move by the initiators of the peace accord, but urged them to put measures in place to ensure compliance.
They called on the relevant government agencies to put measures in place to prevent the outbreak of violence during elections. They suggested the need for the government to revisit the Justice Uwais Panel report on elections in Nigeria and explore the potentials of implementing some of the recommendations especially the establishment of the Electoral Offences Commission.
It was also observed that there is dearth of adequate response mechanisms for the wounded in case of mass violence and called on the authorities to support and encourage the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) with adequate logistics to be able to play this role since the corps has shown that it is capable of responding to such complex emergencies and to minimize the pressure faced by the police.
It was agreed that INEC, NEMA, NOA and other relevant agencies should establish and educate the public on who and what agencies to contact in the case of emergencies during elections since movement is restricted during the period, remarking that many lives have been lost due to delays in responding to these emergency situations.
Participants called for the establishment of Emergency Health Response Teams (EHRT) as was the case during the Ebola outbreak to help manage those that may be wounded in the outbreak of violence. They decried instances of insufficient preparation and response by public and private emergency medical service providers in the area of staffing, establishment of treatment centers, supplies and ambulance services.
Participants observed that in previous elections where there has been violence, female voters, female election observers, female electoral officials, and female candidates and party officials have been targeted through rape, sexual harassment and intimidation. They called on law enforcement agencies to put in place measures to protect women during elections especially in the case of the outbreak of election violence.
They also called on politicians and their supporters to minimize hate speech, inflammatory and inciting statements that motivate violence and hate and to focus on issues of good governance, development and sustainable peace.
There were also specific findings which include call on governments to employ resources in a non-partisan manner and avoid abuse of state resources for party interests.
“Given the inadequacy of security in terms of numbers, efforts should be made to effectively deploy the few numbers to hotspots. The security of women should be brought to the forefront via developing security protocols, instituting community-based security arrangements, and creating situation rooms for reporting threats and seeking advice and redress.”
The resolution noted that NGOs can use their media and other election programs to sensitize women on security issues. There is a need to set-up emergency health units to attend to victims of election violence. NGO networks could be used to ensure adequate supplies of blood and other items for the units.
“All relevant groups – youth, organizations, governmental and non-governmental – should be adequately sensitised against election violence. There is a need for value re-orientation. The poverty of today is the poverty of the mind. Poverty and unemployment can no longer be accepted as an excuse for violence. Encourage a network of security agencies, chamber of commerce, and trade unions, etc. to form a security task force for the elections.”
onal Editor SHOLA O’NEIL and PRECIOUS DIKEWOHA report
