As Nigeria joins the rest of the world today to observe this year’s International Non-violence Day, CHINAKA OKORO writes that the government should step up its efforts to ensure that Nigerians are saved from the convoluting violence that have continued to give them psychological, social, economic and political trauma.
When the United Nations General Assembly voted to establish October 2 to be observed as the International Day of Non-Violence on June 15, 2007, one would think it had Nigeria in mind. The resolution by the General Assembly urged all member states to commemorate the day in “an appropriate manner and disseminate the message of non-violence, including through education and public awareness.”
Attaining political independence from Britain in 1960, Nigeria cut the picture of a country ready to lead the African continent in terms of political, social and economic fortune. Peace, unity equity and security are also not unimpeded in Nigeria’s prospect of greatness.
But few years into nationhood, the country began a dangerous slip to infamy.
Serious violence erupted in most parts of the country which nearly swept it under, as it resulted in a civil war.
With the war over in 1970 after 36-month hostilities, Nigerians were hopeful that absolute peace and unity that will lead to equity and justice have come to reign. But that was not to be.
Unbridled violence and vices became the order of the day. Robbery seemingly became an alternative source of livelihood. Kingpins such as the famous Anini and Oyenusi were terrors to behold. As if that was not enough, other kinds of depravities manifested.
Any commentary on violence in Nigeria that doesn’t take into cognisance political aspect of the issue is surely ineffective.
The pages of Nigeria’s political history are fraught with crises. From the First Republic, the issue of violence is overwrought. For instance, the 1983 general elections in Nigeria was one of the worst in terms of wide spread violence. Lives and properties were lost.
Till date, violence has been a major characteristic of our elections. Again, there are some offshoots of political violence which have kept the entire country down.
Currently, the country is overwhelmed by the activities of the Boko Haram insurgents, which security expert say could run the nation under if urgent measures are not taken. The insurgents have been a great source of violence against Nigerians. The group has in its custody many Nigerians who they abducted from their (Nigerians) homes, even as they set their ancestral home environments ablaze.
Another form of violence that Nigerians are experiencing is that of kidnapping. Many Nigerians- wealthy or related to a wealthy people- have been kidnapped and their families or relations have parted with large sums of money before the kidnapped regained their freedoms.
This has inflicted dangerous violence on Nigerians.
Robbery is another form of violence which Nigerians have to contend with. People are in perpetual fear of losing their lives and belongings to men of the underworld.
As if those forms of violence are not enough, Nigerians are now witnessing banditry in almost every state so much so that governments have begun to play the role of the defeated by negotiating for the release of those indigenous to the states in question.
What of the herders’/farmers’ clashes in almost all the states? This recent form of violence has affected not only the well-being of the communities affected, but has also affected food production as farmers could no longer go to their farms for fear of being killed by the herders.
Experts maintain that limiting violence to those experienced physically would lead to the appreciation of the danger associated with violence.
They are of the view that there other forms of violence that what we experienced physically. Others may include psychological, social, economic, cultural and work place violence. The effects of these forms of violence, it is said, are more dangerous than the physical forms.
A leading scholar on non-violent resistance Professor Gene Sharp uses the following definition in his publication The Politics of Nonviolent Action:
“Nonviolent action is a technique by which people who reject passivity and submission, and who see struggle as essential, can wage their conflict without violence. Nonviolent action is not an attempt to avoid or ignore conflict. It is one response to the problem of how to act effectively in politics, especially how to wield powers effectively.”
There are three main categories of non-violence action, namely protest and persuasion, including marches and vigils; non-co-operation; and non-violent intervention, such as blockades and occupations.
A survey carried out concerning Nigeria situation as it concerned violence and its aftermath by the United Nations Special Rapporteur Agnes Callamard painted a very gloomy situation.
She said after presenting a preliminary statement at the end of her 12-day mission:
“The overall situation that I encountered in Nigeria gives rise to extreme concern, with issues such as poverty and climate change adding to the crisis. She pointed out that if ignored, the ripple effects of unaccountability on such a large scale had the potential to destabilise the sub-region if not the whole continent.
“Nigeria is confronting nation-wide, regional and global pressures, such as population explosion, an increased number of people living in absolute poverty, climate change and desertification, and increasing proliferation of weapons”, she elaborated. “These are re-enforcing localised systems and country-wide patterns of violence, many of which are seemingly spinning out of control”.
Ms. Callamard highlighted many areas of concern, including armed conflict against the Boko Haram terrorist group in the Northeast; insecurity and violence in the Northwest; the conflict in the central area known as the Middle Belt and parts of the Northwest and South, between nomadic herdsmen and indigenous farming communities.
In the circumstances, the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, in his message on this year’s International Day of Non-Violence, Mr. Guterres called on the world to follow the “enduring vision and wisdom of Mahatma Gandhi whose birthday the day is commemorating.
“As Secretary-General of the United Nations, I can only hope that all those that have political responsibility in the world are able to be worthy of Mahatma Gandhi and to understand that they should reach their objectives through dialogue, through non-violence, through a strong commitment to truth and too the well-being of their peoples.”
Continuing, he said: “At a time of protracted conflicts and complex challenges, Gandhi’s philosophy of non-violence remains an inspiration. At the United Nations, a world free of violence – and the resolution of differences through non-violent means – is at the core of our work.
“At a time of protracted conflicts and complex challenges, Gandhi’s philosophy of non-violence remains an inspiration. At the United Nations, a world free of violence — and the resolution of differences through non-violent means — is at the core of our work.
At a time when inequality is on the rise and a fair globalisation is an imperative, we also recall Gandhi’s commitment to social justice.
And in a period when the world is striving to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, ensure gender equality and leave no one behind, Gandhi’s commitment to human dignity can light our path.
Gandhi once said: “Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind.” The Charter of the United Nations echoes that spirit, with its call in Chapter VI for the use, “first of all”, of negotiation, mediation, arbitration, judicial settlement and other peaceful ways to address threats to peace.
The principle of non-violence—also known as non-violent resistance—rejects the use of physical violence in order to achieve social or political change. Often described as “the politics of ordinary people”, this form of social struggle has been adopted by mass populations all over the world in campaigns for social justice.
As Nigeria joins the world today to observe this all-important day, it is hoped that the government should step up its efforts to ensure that Nigerians are saved from the unbridled levels and forms of violence that have continued to give them psychological, social, economic and political trauma and cultural dislocation.