The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Wanted

  • Wanted: Collaboration among advertisers

    Wanted: Collaboration among advertisers

    Stakeholders have canvassed for collaboration among advertising professionals to develop the industry, writes ADEDEJI ADEMIGBUJI.

    All is not well with the advertising industry. The instability in local and international market, caused by the drop in oil prices and nose-diving naira value, among others, keep forcing clients to demand extra efforts from advertisers in the face of marketing budget cuts and inability of agencies to meet clients’ expectations.

    But for stakeholders at the 42nd AGM/Congress of the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN) in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, the theme of the event, Nigerian Advertising, what next?, appeared to be a call for action to foster collaboration among them.

    The two key speakers were the Chief Executive Officer of Noah’s Ark, Lanre Adisa,  and General Manager, Marketing, Airtel, Dele Anifowoshe.

    Adisa emphasised the importance of collaboration with foreign agencies, Anifowoshe talked about the need for marketing communication agencies and clients to partner if things must get better.

    Anifowoshe said the challenging business environment was driving clients’ decision making and defining relationships with its partners. This is why businesses are managed weekly, rather than waiting for the end of a quarter, which is too late to respond to fast-changing market and competition, he added.

    He wondered if agencies appreciatedtheir efforts because, among other things, clients have to deliver more with less and are seeking a better, faster and cheaper attitude from agencies.

    Chief marketing officers,  Anifowoshe said, must account for returns on their advertising investment, and agencies must  continue to struggle to prove their value.

    He listed what clients are looking for in agencies to include greater knowledge of the digital space; more use of pull interactions; agencies that understand consumer behaviour and demonstrate strategic thinking; branding and creative capabilities in conventional and digital marketing and ability to measure success.

    While a former AAAN President, Funmi Onabolu disagreed on the business model, it was noted that clients dictated the economic model because they do not see and treat agencies as business partners.

    Chairman, Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), Mr. Udeme Ufot, said though the council put reform in place, it did not yeid the desired result.

    Meanwhile, Adisa said the new APCON reform should be reviewed, adding that the 25 per cent stake for foreign agencies willing to startup or invest in local agencies should be increased to 49 per cent.

    President of the association, Mr. Kelechi Nwosu, said the cardinal objective of the AGM is to evolve policies, articulate options and identify strategies for addressing national issues, particularly those that affect the advertising industry and the economy.

    “Our members create experiences, feelings and engagement that elevate brands, using traditional and new media to drive innovation and creative solutions. We are actually the bastion of the creative industries sometimes creating monster brands out of nothing. We stimulate demand and support industry.

    “Apart from our significant contributions to oiling the economy through fueling choices to consumers, advertising, has under the auspices of AAAN, continued to act as a catalyst in promoting development in Nigeria.

    “Advertising also serves to educate the public on economic opportunities and creatively promote our rich cultural heritage to achieve market relevance.

     He listed the areas the association wants the Buhari administration to consider to include national re-orientation; innovation, entrepreneurship and production; local content and affirmation and management of government communication.

    “Apart from our significant contributions to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), advertising under the auspices of AAAN has continued to act as catalyst to national economic growth as well as improve the quality of life. This, we ensure by adding value to goods and services and offering informed choices to consumers.”

    Osun State Governor  Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, who was represented by the Chief of Staff, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola, said the advert industry has contributed tremendously to the economy by being a major employer and by a driver of trade and commerce.

  • Missing baby: Police may declare herbalist wanted

    The police in Ogun State said yesterday they were making arrangement to obtain court’s permit to declare a herbalist, Chief Olasile Ifayemi, wanted in connection with a missing 18-month-old boy, Hezekiah Opeyemi Ogundele.

    Little Ogundele went missing 11 days ago at a naming ceremony at Inuosegba community, off Akorede Estate in Abeokuta, the state capital, and has not been found.

    They added that the fleeing herbalist, who owned the bungalow, where severed human wrist, school pupils’ bags, uniforms and ladies’ pants were discovered in the area, was yet to be located for arrest.

    Police spokesman Olumuyiwa Adejobi told The Nation that the command would declare the herbalist wanted when the permit is procured.

    Adejobi, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, added that detectives were interfacing with the parents of the missing baby for more information and for his photographs to assist the public to recognise him, if found.

    The boy disappeared on July 26 while playing at the venue of a naming ceremony of Mr. Olusola Osunleke’s daughter.

    Osunleke’s wife is said to be the niece of Hezekiah’s mother.

    When Hezekiah’s mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Ogundele, finished dressing the new born baby in readiness for christening, she searched for her son, where he was playing earlier and couldn’t find him.

  • Wanted: A blueprint for profitable cocoa farming

    The Chief Operating Officer, Centre for Cocoa Development Initiative, Mr Robo Adhuze, has called for a blueprint that will make cocoa farming profitable.

    He appealed to investors to pump funds into cocoa production and help to position the industry as a viable area for economic growth, wealth creation and employment.

    To create a robust industry, Adhuze said the industry needed nurseries, processing facilities, more training for cocoa farmers and increased extension services that the association provides to make a sustainable impact on the industry.

    He said the sector needed assistance to help attract more youths to the industry, considering that the average age of cocoa farmers is 60.

    He said young farmers need all the assistance to sustain their interest in the cultivation of the commodity, which should include access to fund, land, fertiliser and other chemicals at a highly subsidised rate.

    He said there was need for the government to pursue a transformative initiative aimed at  empowering farmers to become more productive and secure for the future of cocoa.

    He said cocoa farmers needed more support and that they should be paid a fair price.

    Given the varied issues facing farming communities, he stressed that the right strategies would  help turnaround the sector.

    He said some local cocoa farmers had abandoned their land, which they considered unproductive, following poor yields of their cocoa trees that have a life span of between 25 and 30 years, calling for assistance to enable them replace them.

  • Wanted! A cleaner for civil service

    Wanted! A cleaner for civil service

    The monumental rot pervading the federal civil service is a threat to the anti-corruption stance of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration. This has forced six deputy directors to sue the Federal Civil Service Commision (FCSC) to court. Deputy Editor Yomi Odunuga and Dele Anofi examine the consequences of the decadence. 

    A GROUP of senior civil servants is  seeking  the immediate intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari to save the federal civil service from collapse.

    The concerned workers, who are in the deputy director’s cadre,  allege that the rules guiding the service on matters of career progression have been deliberately manipulated and consequently jettisoned by successive chief executives of the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC) and the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF).

    According to them, Mr. President will require a strong political will to rescue the service from further decay. The rot, they said, is deeper than what ordinary Nigerians can comprehend.

    Lacing their claims with evidence of total disregard for rules regarding appointment and promotion of officers, they blamed the unimpressive input of the civil service to national development as the direct consequence of the rot in the system.

    It was gathered that contrary to the Statute Book, the result of the 2014 promotion examination for the directorate level was released for deputy directors without their scores attached.

    The affected officers said it was the first time such development would occur. Though the scores were not released, out of the 138 that took the examination, only 23 names were listed as promoted officers.

    Again, in violation of the extant rules, another batch of 10 names was released following the uproar that followed the release of the first list.

    According to the aggrieved officers, corruption was responsible for the piecemeal release of the results, a development they said, never happened in the service since the introduction of promotion examination for civil servants.

    A source, who pleaded for anonymity said: “I make bold to say the situation was like that because there was no vacancy. Yes, 60 per cent was the cut off mark and it was believed that more than 98 per cent of them must have scored above that.

    “But the question is: How can it be ascertained whether they passed or not if the scores were not displayed?”

    When it dawned on the authorities that the aggrieved officers would not stop their protests, another batch of 10 names was released.

    It was even learnt that another batch of 35 names, included those who never sat for the examination was about to be released but later shelved for fear of throwing the service into chaos.

    Meanwhile, the implication for those whose names were not on the two lists was that they failed the examination. Now they were being asked to retake another examination.

    The examinations, billed for early this month could not hold because of the situation at hand as many of those scheduled for the examination did not see any reason they should rewrite an examination they have written twice and passed.

    The authority is at the cross-roads as there in no precedent to back their action.

    Illegal recruitment thrives

    One of the affected officers said: “If the reason for the list they refused to release was due to lack of vacancy, then they should wait till they have vacuum in the system.  We should not be made to take it again against the rules.”

    He alleged that the reason behind the action of the chairman of the FCSC and the HCSF was basically corruption, saying, “I believe that it was to fix their own candidates into the available vacancies, including those that did not take part in the examination. There are evidences to prove many of these manipulations and I think it will do the civil service and the future of this country a lot of good to expose these absurdities.”

    In a document obtained by The Nation, it was alleged that the FCSC and the OHCSF, have in the last six years brought the civil service to the current state of decadence.

    The document reads in part: “In utter violation of extant Public Service rules, in 2013, several unqualified officers were brought into the service from unscheduled private sector organisations, including MTN and placed on the post of a director (administration) and director (accounts) above serving officers.

    “Some hundreds of new entrants were recruited in the guise of ‘regularisation’ into the service as directorate cadre officers on Grade level 17 among the hordes of aides of political appointees of President Goodluck Jonathan.”

    It was learnt that a commissioner in the FCSC, last year, could no longer live with the deceit perpetrated in the commission, protested verbally and formally the placement of 15 newly recruited officers on directorate level.

    Also in another document available to The Nation, there were revelations that the commissioner, from the Northwest was pitted against his counterpart on one hand and commission chair on the other hand.

    First, his protest was predicated on the unilateral decision of the chairman to extend the presidential waiver from Ebonyi, Bayelsa and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), that were disadvantaged for not having directors in the federal civil service, to cover Ekiti, Oyo and Ondo states that were not disadvantaged.

    Secondly, and more damaging to the civil service was that due process and all known rules were completely jettisoned.  Out of the 15 appointments made from the presidential waiver, eight failed to meet the requirements as prescribed in the Scheme of Service, Commission Guidelines on Appointment, Promotion and Discipline, the Public Service Rules (PSR) and Establishment Circular.

    Rules abused, relegated

    The document gave graphic details of the position where the affected officers, who were all appointed as directors in 2013, ought to be based on their years of first appointment into the civil service.

    Going by rules guiding career progression in the service, Musa Saaed Talle, who was first appointed in 1989, could not have risen to the position of director until next year.

    Mr. Chukwu Demis, whose year of entry read 1990, should become a director in 2019. In the case of Omogo Benard OC, his due promotion date to a directorate position should be 2017 as he joined the service in 1993. Aduda Gabriel has a unique case, being a relation brother to the Senator representing the FCT. He was alleged to have failed a Confirmation/Promotion examination while working with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) which led to his forced resignation. Not quite seven months after, he was brought into the service as the Director, Economic Research & Policy Management in the finance ministry.  Aduda joined the service in 1996 and he should not rise to become a director before 2023.

    Afe Idowu, who entered the civil service same year as Aduda and has also joined the director’s cadre. Similarly, Alo Williams’ year of entry was 1997 and his due promotion date to the director’s cadre should be 2025.

    The luckiest, Eseduwo Famonu, was employed with a 1999 Higher Diploma Certificate and a 2000 PGD in Admin/Local Govt.  With just 14 years experience, the former Lecturer II at the Federal University, Otuoke is the Director, Recruitment and Appointment, Federal Civil Service Commission.

    If the rules are followed, Famonu should become a director in 2028.

    Several memoranda by the commissioner, who said the oath he took on his appointment was pricking his conscience, were not treated.

    The HOCSF, Danladi Kifasi, though appointed in August 2014 is aware of the development because his OHCSF was copied when litigation began in March 2015.

     The role played by the FCSC and the OHCSF in the rot was also pronounced in the abuse of presidential waiver. It was also stated in the document that, “the presidential waiver was wantonly utilised by the FCSC and the OHCSF as a license for wholesale arbitrariness.

    “While former President Goodluck Jonathan approved waiver of five directors for two Southsouth states and two directors for the FCT because they were disadvantaged, the FCSC chairman, on her own, added two more states, just to be able to bring in her cronies.

    “Even at that, due process was not followed as internal advertisement was not carried out, which would have enabled qualified deputy directors to apply. In the last six years, the two bodies have used corrupt means to fast-track career advancement of their cronies, using all manner of means including ‘regularisation’, ‘proper placement’, ‘advancement’, ‘conversion’, and ‘upgrading’ to place their favoured candidates on abnormal levels in violation of all known rules.

    “For instance, one Joseph Erim was allegedly moved from Grade level 09 to Grade level 16 before being moved to Grade level 17 three months after. Promotion in the service today has become a case of just anybody with the right connection or a big purse.

    “They can be promoted or transferred to the post of director arbitrarily. Currently, there is a director in the National Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) that has never worked as a civil servant before. These are facts that can be verified by intelligence agencies. So, what value do we expect officers like these to add to the system?”

    The rot in the service has also been traced to the unprofessional handling of the appointment of the Heads of Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF) in recent times.

    The incumbent HCSF and four of his predecessors were either not core civil servants or recruited without due process, it was revealed. Against the extant rules that only administrative officer can become the Head of Service, Kifasi is a chartered accountant.

    None of the last four HCSF was recruited at entry point of Grade level 08.

    One of the aggrieved officers said: “Even as we speak, a market woman is a director in one of our ministries. Her past experience was the ownership and the management of a shop in one of the choice malls in Abuja. A radiographer is a permanent secretary in the OHCSF.

    “To drive home the point on how deep the rot in the federal civil service has gone, adherence to entry point rules was jettisoned long time ago. Entry points in the civil service are Grade level 08 to 12, but not beyond 12.

    “Today, officers are being recruited even at directorate level. As a matter of fact, Stephen Oronsaye was never a civil servant, he was recruited into the service as a director and he even became the HCSF.

    “This could be one of the reasons why a 2004 presidential directive similar to our case was conveniently ignored. The directive, dated September 7, 2004, and signed by Prof. Julius Ihonvbere, Special Adviser to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, stated that having taken the promotion examination, a candidate should not be made to take a fresh examination on the basis of lack of vacancy.

    “President Obasanjo intervened because the matter was also a subject of litigation. Obasanjo’s intervention saved the situation and the needful was done. But, in this case, there was no such intervention and that is why I think they are going ahead with the court option. It is beyond comprehension, the effrontery with which the presidential directive was disregarded by the current authorities in the FCSC and the OHCSF.

    “The 2004 directive by President Obasanjo set a precedence on which these new victims based their agitation. But the former administration of President Jonathan would have none of it. Maybe that is why Kifasi has not shown concern about this injustice because he is a beneficiary of the rot in the system. “

    The directive from the Office of the special adviser to the President on Policy and Programmes Monitoring Unit, dated September 7, 2004 with reference number PRES/PPMU/HOS/09/07 was addressed to the Head of Service.

     It reads: “Re: Year 2004 Promotion Exercise for Officers on Salary Grade Level 14-16 in the Federal Civil Service

    “Further to our brief discussion this morning and Mr President’s directive, I write to inform you that His Excellency’s attention has been drawn to the circular from the Federal Civil Service Commssion Ref. No. FC6296/VOL.XV/3 dated 8th July, 2004 on the above subject.

    “You will recall that as a result of the controversy generated because of failure to promote officers in hype administrative cadre on salary Grade Level 14, 15 and 16, who fulfilled promotion conditions including success at prescribed examination in year 2002, you, in circular Ref. HCSF/PSO/AOD/102/S.3/C.1/1 of 10th December, 2002 exempted this category of officers from participating in a fresh examination for that which had been scheduled for the 16th-17th December, 2003.

    “As you are aware, the problem has become intractable, more so in view of the fact that it is now a subject of litigation at the National Industrial Court. In order to resolve this, His Excellency has directed that you immediately step into the matter to prevent it from deteriorating and find a lasting solution.

    “One way would be to ensure that the backlog of officers who passed their examination in the year 2002 exercise should be cleared by utilising available vacancies before any consideration is given to cases of transfers, upgrading, etc. in effect, this category of officers should be exempted from the proposed exercise.

    “It is essential that you get in touch as soon as possible with the Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission to ensure compliance”.

    Prof. Ihonvbere signed the memo in his capacity as special adviser on Policy and Programmme Monitoring to the then President Obasanjo.

    According to the source, in the case of the latest victims, the directive was conveniently ignored for reference purposes.

    Industrial Court to the rescue

    It was gathered that the injustice forced six deputy directors, who had earlier written the examination to articulate their grievances and headed for the National Industrial Court, on March 26, 2015 to seek redress. They took the action for themselves and on behalf of others in the administration cadre.

    The six are John Magbadelo, Mrs Ada Ihechukwu  Madubuike, Mrs Ganiat Ayodele, Olusegun Oginni, Mrs Janet Ayorinde and Otajele Musa.

    Giving an insight into expectations of the victims, the source said: “As for these six officers, I think their minds are made up because with my interaction with some of them, they are ready to face whatever punishment or reward that might follow their action.

    “One of them told me that witch-hunt, intimidation or outright dismissal from service would be of no consequence to them because the fight was not about them as individuals but for the sake of the entire civil service and its survival.

    “He said they do not have to be direct beneficiaries of this fight if they succeed because successive heads at the FCSC and the OHCSF would be well aware of the consequences of jettisoning the rule books. Nigerians should be wondering by now why execution and results of most government policies ended up, adding no value to the lives of Nigerians. When a market woman was made a director, accepted she is a graduate, but where is the cognate experience to give professional direction to memos on her table or give required coordination to teams saddled with the responsibility of executing a technical assignment.

    “It is simply impossible. Imagine the case of the director in charge of recruitment and appointments at the FCSC. What do you expect from such an officer if not decisions based on nepotism, tribalism and incompetence, because that’s what brought him to that office.

    “With the fact that the civil service is central to the success or otherwise of a government, it will do this government a lot of good to address this situation. This is because the corruption which this government intends to fight is deeply rooted in the civil service.

    “The earlier President Buhari started to look in the direction of the Federal Civil Service, the better for his determination to fight corruption”.

    Commission chair speaks

    In a recent interview with The Nation, FCSC chairperson, Mrs. Ayo admitted that the core values of the civil service were being gradually and steadily eroded due to a number of factors.

    She, however, denied being an accomplice or complacent about repositioning the service and restoring it’s lost glory.

    Vowing to rid the service of corrupt, indiscipline workers, she disclosed that 79 bureaucrats have been dismissed in the last two years.

    According to her, the commission has initiated plans to weed out bad eggs out of the service.

    Consequently, she said the commission has treated a total of 208 cases of indiscipline in the service, with 79 summary dismissals.

    According to her, 29 senior officers were retired and four demoted.

    The decadence in the service has over the years led to a deliberate programme distortion. The commission chair blamed the rot on military incursions into politics and vowed that the system would be cleaned up.

    She said: “Let me say this, we have lost the core values of the civil or public service and this core values are what we want to re-enact or re-enforce. When you see a soldier, you know who a soldier is.  He greets you good morning even if it is 2pm. That is part of their unwritten tradition.

    “The civil service has its unwritten tradition also and it has its own formal tradition and we imbibed this core values on the job. Nobody ever came to teach. Yes, you may have your own natural tendency to be polite to have been brought up in some good families. But then, the moment you come into the civil service, the core values mould and shape you to the extent that you now comport yourself as a civil servant.

    And who is a civil servant? He is that polite civil person, who recognises himself as a servant of the public. And why are you a servant? Because you are paid from the tax payers’ fund and you are serving your country in that capacity. You will ask, what are these core values? Meritocracy, this is the first one, our founding fathers when they negotiated our independence during the constitutional conferences between 1952 and 1960 adopted meritocracy and political neutrality as the first basic core values to shapen what we call the public service.

    “Then it was called the Nigerian Public Service. Against that background, the public civil service commission was established on April 1, 1954 and these core values translated into ensuring that we recruit patriotic, highly cultured and disciplined officers to work in the public service. Other core values are integrity, political neutrality, discipline, professionalism, patriotism and humility.

    “The civil servant is only seen but not heard, impertiality, regardless of your tribe your race, your ethnic background, or your religion. Once you are on this job you must be impartial. So, it’s about impartiality, accountability and transparency.

    “On my assumption here as chairman, Federal Civil Service Commission in 2012, I brought out five objectives which have been my guiding principles. These were adopted by my colleagues because a tree does not make a forest. The first one is that at the recruitment level, you will ensure standard, merit, quality control; because if we do not ensure standard and merit, then of course we will not have the same quality of people that will man the service. I also said transfers, recruitments, all these will be done strictly on qualification and rules and regulation.

    “I said I would ensure collaborations with the office of Head of Service because before I got here, there used to be friction between this two offices. You will only get friction if you have territorial ambition, we have our own mandate.

    “They have their own mandate, as clearly defined in the 1999 Constitution. And then of course I went on to say we want to be globally competitive and as such we will try as much as possible to make the civil service ICT based, which is what everybody does the world over.

    “And finally, this I said nearly everywhere, we will have zero tolerance for corruption. Of course you know clearly that the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as per Section 153 of that constitution, states clearly our functions, appointment and promotion of civil servants, discipline and dismissal.”

  • Wanted: LG anti-corruption units

    Wanted: LG anti-corruption units

    Stakeholders in the fight against corruption have urged the Federal Government to encourage the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices Commission and Related Offences (ICPC) to establish anti-corruption units at the local government level and the other public offices.

    They asked the government to encourage the two agencies to carry out oversight role on the electoral processes at local government levels.

    This was the thrust of a communiqué issued by the stakeholders in Lagos at the end of a “media roundtable on approaches/strategies for combating impunity for local government corruption: the role of ICPC and EFCC” organised by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) in collaboration with the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) held at the Airport Hotel, Ikeja.

    Discussants at the roundtable include Mr. Joseph Amenaghawon who represented OSIWA, the Executive Director of Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC), Mrs. Abiola Akiode; representative of the Department For International Development (DFID) Mr. Sina Fagbenro; representative of the ICPC Chairman Mr. Adedayo Kayode; the Head of Investigations of the EFCC for Lagos, Gbolahan Latona who represented the Chairman of anti-graft agency, Ibrahim Lamorde; Mr. Debo Adeniran of Campaign Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL) and Mr. Yomi Giwa, a retired Magistrate.

    The communiqué signed by SERAP Executive Director, Adetokunbo Mumuni listed other suggestions made to government to include removal of barriers and commercialisation of access to information at the local government level as it being limited by unnecessary protocols and request for money, so that the people can benefit from the democratic change now in Nigeria.

    They also asked government to encourage states to desist from deducting funds meant for local governments from the Local Government Joint Account and to explore constitutional modalities for making this happen.

    Lagos State government, they said, must end deduction of funds from the Local Government Joint Account and allow the local governments to access those funds directly; ensure that local government areas are well equipped with the requisite equipment and working materials for efficiency, devoid of corrupt tendencies; ensure minimal cost of education  both at the secondary and university level, as high costs of education lead to corrupt practices among public officers who may are mostly lowly paid.

    They urged the state government to reinvigorate primary health care centres at the local government level; ensure quick redress to environmental pollution at the local government areas; reinforce local government security systems; ensure transparency at the rural planning and waste management strategies; set up proper mechanisms for collection of rates and fines at the local government levels; encourage local governments to rebuild market squares and bridges within their communities;  Strengthen institutions for a well-functioning management and encourage improved budgeting system and control at the local government level.

    Mumuni recalled a statement made by President Mohammadu Buhari on  corruption in the local governments.

    According to him, Buhari said  “elsewhere relations between Abuja and the states have to be clarified if we are to serve the country better. Constitutionally there are limits to powers of each of the three tiers of government but that should not mean the Federal Government should fold its arms and close its eyes to what is going on in the states and local governments. Not least the operations of the local government Joint Account. While the Federal Government cannot interfere in the details of its operations it will ensure that the gross corruption at the local level is checked.”

    He, therefore, affirmed SERAP’s readiness to back the President on the need for greater transparency and accountability at the local government level.

    The discussants unanimously frowned at the rate of decadence at the local government level which ranges from hiring of thugs as local government enforcement officers that harass traders and residents in the name of collecting levies, radio and television licenses.

    They in addition, condemned the lawlessness and abusive manner used by these local government enforcement officers; and further queried non accountability of monies recovered by the officers.

    While reacting to the President’s inaugural speech on May 29, this year, the discussants commended SERAP for focusing on President Buhari on one of the major issues he is determined to curb in the country, i.e local corruption.

    The discussants believed that it is not about the enabling laws but the environments where these laws are operative.

    They enjoined President Buhari to show high level of leadership and commitment in his policy statements/implementations so that other governments including at the local government level will follow his good examples. And in particular to declare his Assets publicly so as to reflect his anti-corrupt gospel and evidence of his fight against corruption.

  • Wanted: Electoral offences tribunal

    Wanted: Electoral offences tribunal

    How can electoral offenders be tamed? It is by establishing an Electoral Offences Tribunal  (EOT) argue lawyers say, will speedly handled and relieve the courts of such additional burden, report ERIC IKHILAE

    Reports of politicians and their reporters’ involvement in underhand deal during last Saturday’s elections have, again, brought to the fore the need to strengthen existing mechanisms for combating electoral offences.

    Stuffing and snatching of ballot boxes, shooting, detonation of explosives to scare  voters and pre-election  violence and intimidation,  have confirmed the fear that free and fair election may be impossible.

    Since 1999, successive elections have been marred by irregularities with  politicians and their supporters, bent on winning at all cost.

    Observers have argued that the trend is bolstered by the do-or-die approach to election since many believe that political offices are avenues to wealth.

    Despite the danger this  poses to democracy, institutions responsible for prosecuting electoral offenders appear helpless.

    Part V111 of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended) lists various types of electoral offences and prescribes punishment for them.

    Section 23, for instance, prohibits the buying or selling of voter cards; such offences attract a fine not exceeding N500,000 or imprisonment not exceeding two years or both on conviction.

    Under Section 81, a political party or association, which contravenes the provisions of Section 227 of the Constitution (prohibiting retention, organisation, training or equipping quasi-military organisations) commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to a fine of N500,000 and N700,000 for any subsequent offence; and N50,000 for every day that the offence continues.

    The Act also provides that any person, who aids and abets a political party to contravene Section 227 commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to a fine of N500,000 or imprisonment for a term of three years or both.

    Section 91 of the Act criminalises contravention of limitation on election expenses.

    Under Section 91(12), any accountant, who falsifies or conspires or aids a candidate to forge or falsify a document relating to his expenditure in an election or receipt or donation for the election or in any way, aids and abets the breach of the provisions of Section 91 commits an offence and on conviction is liable to 10 years imprisonment

    Section 122 prohibits impersonation and voting when not qualified, and its contravention attracts a maximum fine of N500,000 or 12 months imprisonment or both.

    Under Section 129(4) anybody, who snatches or destroys any election material shall be liable on conviction, to 24 months imprisonment. Section 130 frowns at undue influence of electorate on electoral officials; its contravention attracts a maximum fine of N100, 000 or 12 months imprisonment or both, while threats, under Section 131 attract a maximum fine of

    N1, 000, 000.00 or three years imprisonment.

    Section 150 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) empowers the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to undertake the prosecution of election offenders. Section 150 is complemented by Sections 174 and 211 of the Constitution, which empowers the Attorney-General of the Federation and states’ Attorneys-General to institute and undertake criminal proceedings against any person with respect to federal laws and state laws respectively.

    While it is impossible for INEC to exercise its prosecutorial power without investigation, it requires police assistance, saddled with investigatory powers under Section 4 of the Police Act.  Also, the Electoral Act, in Section 149 allows the Election Tribunals to recommend prosecution for an offence disclosed in any election petition.

    However, Section 150(1) & (2) of the Act provides that an offence committed under the Act shall be prosecuted in a Magistrate Court or High Court of the state where the offence is committed, or the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, and that prosecution under the Act shall be undertaken by INEC’s Legal officers or any lawyer appointed by it.

    Despite the legal provisions empowering the INEC, the police and the Attorneys-General (both at state and federal levels) to prosecute electoral offenders, the culture of electoral impunity has continued unabated, while agencies of state empowered to combat it appear either overwhelmed or unwilling to act.

    So far, there is no known case where election tribunals have exercised the powers conferred on them in Section 149 of the EA to recommend any political actor for prosecution for electoral offences.

    In cases where some violations are detected and culprits apprehended, negligible few are taken to court.  During the last voters registration exercise, INEC said it detected about 870, 000 cases of multiple registrations, which are offences under the Electoral Act, but a negligible few were prosecuted under the law.

    In 2014, the Governing Council of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) recommended to the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Mohammed Adoke (SAN) the prosecution of 41 persons including former Edo State governor, Professor Oserhiemen Osunbor for their alleged involvement in electoral laws violation.

    David Mark
    David Mark

    Other prominent names on the list sent to the AGF include a former Speaker of the Kogi State House of Assembly, Clarence Olafemi, a former INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in Ekiti State, Mrs Ayooka Adebayo and an Assistant Superintendent of Police, Christopher Oloyede.

    NHRC also listed the People’s Democratic Party, INEC and the Nigeria Police Force, police officers, INEC’s officials, lawyers and politicians in the recommendation to the AGF.

    The 41 alleged electoral offenders were said to have all been indicted in the judgments by various election petitions tribunals and courts. They were alleged to have been linked to offences related to forgery, perjury and breach of trust. The NHRC attached to its letter to the AGF, copies of the judgments where those listed were indicted.

    NHRC’s inclusion of Osunbor was in relation to the finding of the election tribunal in the petition by Governor Adams Oshionhole, where the tribunal came out with criminal and administrative indictments against the respondents in the case.

    The case against Mrs Adebayo was in relation to her role in the election in Ekiti State as captured in the tribunal’s finding in the judgment on the petition by Governor Kayode Fayemi against Olusegun Oni and others.

    In the case of ASP Christopher Oloyede the Court of Appeal held that “the evidence on record showed that a policeman, ASP Christopher Oloyede signed an election result sheet as party agent on behalf of the PDP. This is an illegality and violation of electoral rules both by INEC and the police.

    “ASP Oloyede behaved disgracefully and abused his position. Neither INEC nor the Police could defend the illegality that ought to have been sanctioned.”

    As regard Olafemi, the report referred to the judgment of the electoral tribunal, where it was stated that “the petitioners have proved beyond reasonable doubt that the 1st respondent, Hon Clarence Olafemi leading his agents and thugs did commit acts of corrupt practices and non-compliance with the Electoral Act by disrupting the ýconduct of election, harassing and intimidating eligible voters who were sent away from polling units without voting.”

    Prof Osunbor is currently at the Federal High Court, Abuja, challenging his inclusion in the list by the NHRC. But since the list was submitted to him, the AGF is not known to have taken any steps to act on the recommendations by the NHRC.

    Also, President Goodluck Jonathan, who in 2011 pledged to ensure the creation of the Electoral Offences Commission (EOC), has not found the courage to fulfill the pledge.

    The Electoral Reform Committee set up by President Jonathan’s predecessor, the late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua recommended the establishment of an autonomous and constitutionally recognised EOC vested with the power of arrest and prosecution of electoral offenders under a separate mechanism that is independent of the government in power.

    Observers argued that beyond INEC’s claim of lack of capacity to combine prosecution of election offenders with its primary duties of conducting elections, the elimination of election fraud will remain a mirage under the prevailing arrangement.

    They see no possibility for elections devoid of fraud and manipulation when the incumbent President, who is a member of a political party, insists on retaining the power to appoint the Chairperson, National Commissioners and Resident Electoral Commissioners of the electoral body that ought to be independent.

    They further argued that a credible electoral process is impossible where the electoral management body is denied autonomy and independence, and the power of incumbency used and misused; where security agencies are deployed and used against opposition forces with the aim of sustaining the incumbent in power.

    As a remedy, they suggested the need to strengthen existing legal and institutional frameworks around electoral accountability with the intention of providing adequate penalty for electoral crimes.

    They noted that those, who commit or encourage the commission of electoral offences are encouraged by the fact that the Police, other investigating agencies and INEC are incapable of ensuring thorough  investigation and conviction, and that where such is possible, the Attorney-General  will take over the prosecution and terminate their trial when their party gets to power.

    It is their contention that the establishment of an EOC, removed from the operational control of the Executive and the Attorney-General of the Federation and of the states, but granted financial autonomy could help in combating electoral offences.

    Lawyers, including Mahmud Magaji (SAN), the Chairman, NHRC, Dr.Chidi  Odinkalu, Dr. Abubakar Sulaiman, and the Executive Director, Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) and Coordinator of the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, Clement Nwankwo suggested among others, the strengthening of existing legal framework and the need for the National Assembly to pass the Bill for the creation of an EOC into law.

    Odinkalu argued that ensuring electoral accountability could be achieved, but not with a force of the degree. “The fact that those involved in electoral offences have not been prosecuted now does not mean they cannot be prosecuted later. But to address that, we need to continue to keep evidence, keep records, and keep alive, the demand for accountability.

    “In 2011 nobody would have foreseen that the NHRC would be calling for the prosecution of people. That is progress. In 2014 the NHRC started asking for the prosecution of named people, some of whom have been governors, acting governors and senators.

    Now, at these elections, there are entities collecting and documenting evidence for prosecution. I am confident that the time for accountability is here and we are not going to change that.

    “I, personally, do not believe that we should be creating all these new commission and tribunals for the same problems. Let’s make our police work. Let’s make the courts work. And let’s normalise all crimes. So, I am not an apostle of an Election Offences Tribunal or Commission, but I am an apostle of accountability. And I think we are making progress towards ensuring electoral accountability in the country.

    “Nobody in 2011 would believe that a former governor will be suing a public body before a Nigerian court to be excluded from prosecution for electoral crimes. That is progress. Whatever happens in that case, we are going to end up at the Supreme Court. We are going to get the jurisprudence changed and we are going to make progress,” Odinkalu said.

    Sulaiman urged the Legislature to urgently pass the Bill for the establishment of an independent EOC, with the capacity to investigate all electoral fraud and related offences, coordinate enforcement and prosecution of all electoral offences.

    “The commission should be imbued with the capacity and legal powers to set up Mobile Courts to try election offences on election days. It should also have the powers to evolve measure to prevent and eradicate the commission of electoral malpractices and facilitate rapid exchange of scientific and technical information among other democracies on the conduct of joint operation and training aimed at eliminating electoral malpractices,” he said.

    Nwankwo contended that it was a failure on the part of the President that recommendation for the creation of an EOC, which has gone through some discussions at the Legislature, has not been passed into law.

    “Usually, if the President was to prepare a Bill and send it to the National Assembly, it would be an Executive Bill and will be taken seriously. The initiative to create an EOC has been driven mostly by private interest. And I think that this is the failing of the President in not setting up a commission to be able to deal with this.

    “We think the President should be able to create a  body that will prosecute persons that commit electoral offences and ensure that people, who commit such offences are not allowed to walk away free.

    “While we await the creation of such a body, the relevant agencies could still rely on existing laws to prosecute electoral offenders. INEC has the powers, under existing laws to identify electoral offences and insist on prosecution.

     

     

  • 10 bankers declared wanted for alleged N125m fraud

    The Police yesterday declared wanted 10 bankers over an alleged N125.1 million fraud scam.

    According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the names and photographs of the suspects have been pasted on the notice board of the zone 2 Police Command in Onikan, Lagos.

    The command’s spokesman, Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Gbenga Adeoye, told NAN in Lagos, that it was normal for the police to declare wanted anybody suspected of crime.

    “It is normal for the police to declare wanted anybody who refused to make himself available after committing crimes such as fraud, jump bail or murder.

    “When we declare anybody wanted, the photograph, names and contact address of the suspected fellow will be pasted in the police formation for easy identification of his or her arrest,” Adeoye said.

    The suspects who are at large, were being investigated over alleged forgery and obtaining money by false pretence, he said.

    A warrant of arrest has been duly obtained from a Magistrate’s Court in Lagos State against the suspected fraudsters.

    NAN gathered that the suspects conspired with others to obtain financial facilities of N15, 055, 541; N10, 894, 478 and N24, 597, 628.

    Other amounts are N9,983,195; N11,114,992; N12,231,958; N8,663,833; N10,827,561; N5,657,937 and N15,054,383, respectively, from a Bank.

    The suspects are between the ages of 34 and 48.

  • Wanted: An impartial umpire

    Wanted: An impartial umpire

    Leaders who are familiar with the football parlance would understand what the Spanish word el clasico means. The game never fails to thrill football fans worldwide. In the like manner, the hot contest between the two main political parties in Nigeria – Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Congress (APC) – could be termed political el clasico.

    Just as in soccer, supporters of these parties have not failed to express their solidarity for their choice candidates in the coming presidential election. It has been a show of wit and strength. The parties’ supporters have engaged themselves in mudslinging. They use unprintable words to paint the other side bad. They propagate propaganda with the speed of light.

    Their needless abuses are not limited to conventional media alone; they have taken to social media to continue their frivolous arguments. But, the candidates may not be aware that these activities are going on in their names. They may not be aware that their supporters’ actions may turn what is supposed to be peaceful civil exercise to a full-blown acrimony. But because these candidates may not have something to offer to the people, some of them resort to name-calling and abuses.

    The PDP candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan, has been described as a great transformer by his supporters, and he is compared with the likes of Barrack Obama and Lee Kwan Yew. But, is there anything that justifies this comparison? Jonathan must have achieved some good things but he is nowhere near transforming the country. This writer is yet to see how and where transformation is taking place.

    Would it be transformation that Nigeria has turned to a jungle under the watch of President Jonathan? In one swoop, 219 schoolgirls were herded into the bush by a band of criminals and some nine months after, we are yet to rescue them from their captors. Or is it transformation that oil price is dropping and there has been no commensurate crash in the pump price of petrol? Or what do we call the subsidy scam on kerosene and petrol? Power supply is worse than it has ever been.

    Truth be told, Jonathan has ‘transformed’ the country into a lawless society where anything goes. Our savings at the World Bank has been depleted in a manner we have never seen before. Corruption thrives under this administration while many PDP officials go away with murder.

    What is the price of a bag of cement now? This commodity has increased in price by more than 75 per cent against what the president promised us. How can an economy that has been undergoing transformation suddenly slump into a depression at the fall of oil price in crude market?

    The ‘transformation’ train has hit our anti-graft agencies, making them ineffective to fight corruption. Even, there is an official imprimatur in support of graft and this is confirmed with a statement credited to the president: “stealing is not corruption”. What is it then?

    We have seen unresolved corruption cases increasing and gulping our resources. We are yet to see the end of $620,000 Farouk Lawal bribery scandal, the N4 trillion subsidy scam, the N60 billion police pension scam, the N225 million Oduagate, the N10 billion Alison Madueke’s jet scandal and the missing $20 billion oil money at the nation’s oil corporation.

    The APC pride itself as party of change. It has been promising change away from the maladministration of the PDP. But, can the party truly effect the change when some of its members were part of the people who enthroned PDP to lord it over us?

    A larger number of APC candidates defected from the ruling party because they were sidelined in the PDP. Even, the antecedent of the APC presidential candidate is still being contested in the court of public opinion, whether he truly represents the change we desire. General Muhammadu Buhari’s action as Head of State is still creating fear in the heart of many, who experienced his jackboot rule in 1984.

    Why is Nigeria always getting first-hand disappointment from political leaders? Why is this country always finding itself between the devil and the deep blue sea? That, out of the avalanche of corrupt and morally degraded politicians, we are stuck in-between two side distractions -bad political clubs and that of expired players.

    Most of the time, we are caught between laughing off self-inflicted crises plaguing this country or resorting to laughter as a form of catharsis to blurt out the gory affairs of a nation that has refused to grow out of the embryo of bad leadership in which it has been trapped since.

    Who will point the way toward a glorious Nigeria, where there would be power stability, elimination of Boko Haram, job creation, zero tolerance for corruption and the likes? Who will take education as a priority and do everything to forestall further academic strike? Who will create jobs for the teaming youths? Who will give education grants to students and make Nigerians have interest in education again? These are not too much to ask from these two aspirants in case any eventually becomes president.

    On election, should we expect the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to remain true to its name – independent? Would Prof Attahiru Jega be bold enough to tame the excesses of the candidates without fear of favoritism?

    INEC should know that masses, the jobless ones that fill our beer parlour, the men that cluster around newsstand to argue for a better country, want their votes count. INEC should also be cautious to know that the unity of the Nigeria depends on how free and fair this election is conducted. The electoral umpire should beware that el classico such as this could be volatile and may turn violent if the fans dare smell any foul. Many times, aggrieved fans do not mind beating up the referee alongside the opponents. A word is enough for the wise.

     

    •Ezekiel, 400-Level Pharmacy, UNIBEN

  • Wanted: Climate justice

    Wanted: Climate justice

    A professor of Environmental Law at the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS), Lanre Fagbohun, has backed calls for a review of relevant laws to cater for victims of polution.

    Fagbohun was part of the International Bar Association (IBA) 19-man Task Force set up in 2012 to produce the book: Achieving Justice and Human Rights in an Era of Climate Disruption.

    The book is a comprehensive review of relevant domestic and international laws on climate change and human rights.

    “It draws on the weaknesses inherent in current domestic and international law to identify opportunities for reform by governments, UN bodies, the WTO, human rights tribunals, courts, corporations and individuals in efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide justice to those most affected by climate change,” he said.

    The publication, he said, is meant to sensitise lawyers on critical roles they can play towards achieving climate justice.

    “Seldom can you see any major commercial project that will not have the imprint of lawyers in terms of defining the roles and obligations of the parties in the relationship. The implication of this is that the more conversant lawyers are with climate change – human rights issues, the better they will be able to advise their clients to ‘go green’” he said.

    On how Nigeria can key into this global agenda, Fagbohun said: “Nigeria is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to climate change. More than half of the population is dependent on agriculture or other climate sensitive sectors. About 84.49 per cent lives on less that $2 a day. Nigeria was in 2012 ranked 130 out of 132 countries on environmental burden of disease in the 2012 Environmental Performance Index. Fossil fuel is the bedrock of Nigeria’s economy with attendant flaring of gas. In a rule of law index undertaken by the World Justice Project in 2011, Nigeria ranked 50th out of 66 countries in area of effective regulatory enforcement; and 59th out of 66 countries in respect of lack of transparency and open government. I have made reference to all these to show that for Nigeria it is already a matter of survival.

    “Directly and indirectly resulting from climate change, there are too many risks to safety and security. At the global level, the focus of discussion is on identification of the most vulnerable countries,” said Fagbohun.

    The showcase session of the recent IBA conference in Tokyo, Japan, dwelled on the publication. Speakers included Nobel Peace Prize-winner and former United States (US) Vice President, Al Gore; the United Nations (UN) Special Envoy on Climate Change Mary Robinson; the Chair of the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate  Felipe Calderón; the International Law Commission Special Rapporteur for the ‘Protection of the Atmosphere’ Prof Shinya Murase; former President of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed  and Fagbohun.

    The 240-page book recommended specific law and corporate governance reforms to aid the prevention and mitigation of climate change impacts and to protect the human rights of vulnerable communities.

    IBA President, Michael Reynolds also said while international activity has been extensive in the areas of scientific and economic mitigation, less has been said about the impact of climate change on human rights, and on the obligation of the international community to ensure that those in developing and less developed countries who are least responsible for human impact are not those who suffer the most from the resulting droughts, floods, and storms..

    Fagbohun said Nigeria must put in place mechanisms that will allow vulnerable people to have a voice.

    “In the area of mitigation strategies, there are several barriers facing Nigeria in the context of lack of technical and human capacities, strengthening political commitment and coordination among ministries and securing financing, among others. Unless we tackle these barriers, our efforts at design and implementation of mitigation programmes will not be effective,” he said.

    On how individuals can contribute to global fight on climate change, he said: “Most times we focus on only the big actions that appear critical for protection of the environment but with little real-world impact. The problem with this is that it ends up distracting us from the small ‘seemingly insignificant’ but real issues. Climate change is real. Consequently, we should be very much concerned with what decisions we take either as customers or when we influence the decisions that are contributing to reducing or increasing ‘carbon foot print.

    “As much as we seek commitment of political leadership at the national and international levels, we as individuals must also reflect on what part we are playing which is either positively or negatively contributing to the bigger picture,” Fagbohun added.

  • Wanted: Non-violent approach to conflict resolution

    Wanted: Non-violent approach to conflict resolution

    Text of a paper presented by Deacon Dele Adesina (SAN) at the sixth Chief Olabanji Akingbule public lecture

    This annual public lecture and awards  programme is aimed at “effecting the requisite changes intrinsic to (the) rather comatose national outlook that our nation currently bears”.

    I believe that what you don’t want, you don’t watch, you confront. It is my humble opinion that we cannot sit down and watch the comprehensive security challenges facing the nation, we have to do something. I believe the nation needs help from both within and without.

    The theme of this year’s public lecture is “Non-Violent Approach to Conflict Resolution in Nigeria”. The focus of the theme is on how to promote peace towards sustainable national development. I am not an alarmist, neither am I a pessimist. On the contrary, I am a man of peace and an incurable optimist in the greatness of this nation. Nevertheless, fiction is different from fact. Imagination is not the same as action and vision is different from the reality.

    The reality of Nigeria today is that Nigeria is a nation on the brink of war. The signs are all over the place. These are indeed perilous times and of course,perilous times exist because of perilous people.

    Any patriotic citizen of this country must unavoidably entertain serious concerns over our state of affairs, the signs are discomforting.

    War as an instrument of conflict resolution is the highest expression of violence. “War erodes human dignity. War humiliates. It destroys, it devastates. The cost of war is inestimable. Its cost is unbearable; war must be avoided at all cost and by all means.”

    The futility of violence as a means of conflict resolution is clearly visible everywhere. The story of Arab spring is a classical example. The question is, how much of peace is obtainable today in Iraq, Libya and Syria. Violence has never achieved any permanent solution. Indeed, most conflicts have been resolved at the end of the day through post war non-violent negotiations and reconciliations.

    Conflicts do exist between one person and another, within nations, or between one nation and another. Conflict may be political, such as power struggle as in Ethiopia between 1971 and 1984 or Democratic Republic of Congo since 1996 or Liberia between 1999 and 2001 and presently, between Russia and Ukraine. It may be ethnic conflict as in Rwanda since 1994. It may also be a combination of ethnic and religious conflict as in Somalia.

    Conflict is a “real or perceived difference which may affect actions or outcomes that we believe are important”The above definition suggests that conflict may exist even when the difference(s) is still being nurtured or have not developed into physical reactions. Conflict is a state of opposition, disagreement or incompatibility between two or more people or groups of people, which is sometimes characterized by physical violence.

     

    Components of conflicts:

    There are six components of conflict.

    (i)  Conflict is INEVITABLE.

    (ii) Conflict by itself is neither GOOD nor          BAD; it is what happens that may end up                      being good or bad.

    (iii)Conflict is a PROCESS rather than a                              moment in time.

    (iv) Conflict CONSUMES ENERGY.

    (v)  Conflict has elements of both CONTENT                    and FEELING. A conflict is rarely just                             about what transpired; it usually has more                         to do with the feelings.

    (vi) Finally, one has a choice in conflict to         be proactive or reactive.  The more non-                        violent one chooses to be, the more                                         proactive a person will become.

    Non-violence is an umbrella term of describing a range of methods for dealing with conflicts which share the common principle that physical violence at least against other people, is not used. There is considerable debate about the precise meaning of nonviolence. For some, nonviolent action is an expedient technique for dealing with conflict or bringing about social change. For others, nonviolence is a moral imperative or even a way of life. Whichever way nonviolent approaches to conflict resolution are viewed, the important thing is that it results in peace and reconciliation.

    At first glance, violence may appear to be a superior technique for resolving conflicts or achieving desired ends because it has obvious and tangible strategies and weapons. Nonviolent techniques on the other hand are often more difficult to visualise. But Theodore Roszak said:

    “People try nonviolence for a week, and when it ‘doesn’t work’ they go back to violence which hasn’t worked for centuries.”

    The Advantages of non-violent method of Conflict Resolution includes the elimination of violence and counter-violence, focus of parties to the issues at hand and the production of constructive rather than destructive outcome. It also helps to arrive at the truth of a given situation while promoting self realisation.

    Different approaches or methods of resolving conflicts have been developed. These majorly are negotiation, mediation, and arbitration. Arbitration is a more structured approach with a differential element of fault findingwhich separates it from negotiation and mediation.

    In negotiation, the individuals or groups discuss problems among themselves to come up with solutions that they can live with. Negotiation experts have advocated a method they describe as principled negotiationwhich involves the negotiation of issues of conflict on the basis of merit, as determined by impartial standards.

    Their first major principle is to separate people from problems, meaning that the parties are allies in finding a solution to a problem, rather than enemies who are on different and mutually exclusive sidesof a problem.

    The second principle is to focus on interests, as compared to positions. When someone has a position, he or she either sticks to itor is forced out of it. If the other person’s position is not initially the same as yours, the situation is set up so that someone wins and someone loses. However, if two people with a problem focus on their common interests (what should come out of it), they have a chance to be creative and find solutions that meet both their needs. This may invariably lead to a win-win situation.

    The third principle is that a variety of possible solutions can be generated through the process of brainstorming. The fourth principle is that solutions should be measured along a yardstick of impartial fairness, which demands that both parties honour the legitimacy of the other party’s interests as well as their own. It is a moot point if the interest of Boko Haram insurgents and their sponsor are legitimate, more particularly when their objectives are largely unknown.

    Mediation as a third method is a process by which a third party is brought in merely to facilitate a discussion between the involved parties. The mediator is not a judge who decides upon a solution to a conflict; rather he or she empowers people to come up with their own solutions.

     

    The Boko Haram insurgency.

    At their inception, many people believed Boko Haram was an Islamic sect fighting christians. Others believed they were agitators fighting against the oppression, poverty, under-development and neglect of the North Eastern region. Yet some people believed that they are revolutionaries fighting against western education.

    Irrespective of the version that one chooses to believe, what stands clear today is that Boko Haram’s conflict has escalated beyond imagination. It has become a global conflict of monumental proportions. Several lives have been lost and many are still being lost. Irrespective also of the version you may believe, Boko Haram has demonstrated to be the enemy of all Nigerians regardless of religion, politics, culture or ethnicity. They have left nobody in doubt that they have no other means but violence to prosecute whatever it is their self imposed mission. But, what is their mission? What are their grievances?  Must these grievances be resolved only through armed conflict?

    It is on record that government had at a time set up a committee on dialogue and peaceful resolution on security challenges in the North-East, under the chairmanship of the Minister for Special Duties with the task of identifying and constructively engaging their key leaders with a view to developing a workable framework for amnesty and disarmament. How far has this succeeded? The Niger Delta militants willingly accepted the amnesty deal, surrendered their arms and renounced violence, further to which the Government pledged to institute programmes that will assist disarmament demobilization, rehabilitation and reintegration into the society.

    Can we pray for a miracle that will make the Boko Haram and their sponsors embrace a non-violent solution to whatever their grievances may be? Today Israel and Palestine are talking in Egypt after several years of armed conflict.

    Although the war is still on, but doors of negotiations appear to have been opened. Perhaps something needs to be done in case of Boko Haram insurgency in this direction. Today, the USA is virtually engulfed with armed conflicts in Syria against the ISIS. One would have thought that after exterminating Osama bin Ladin, the dreaded leader of the notorious Al-Qaeda terrorist organization, America will be at peace. Arab Nations had hardly known peace after the Arab spring – Another example of futility of violence as a tool of conflict resolution.

    I suggest that the authority may have to address several issues which perhaps may have produced the Boko Haram insurgency.  These issues include but not limited to rampant corruption, systemic failure, social injustice, non-adherence to the principle of Rule of Law, ethnicity, social economic issues like poverty, health, unemployment and lack of infrastructure etc.

    Professor James Forest posited that “the link between these many kinds of grievances and the rise of violent extremism is particularly prominent in the North where the people have higher poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, health problems and overall insecurity than elsewhere in Nigeria” The learned Professor submitted that these issues in addition to quality information and intelligence gathering must be addressed in a holistic manner in other to formulate a comprehensive counter terrorism strategy to be able to handle the Boko Haram insurgency. I fully agree that Nigeria requires more than a “traditional kill/capture counter terrorism strategy” as we are presently doing.

    In the words of Bishop (Dr.) David Oyedepo: “Only those who do not know the cost of war will not think of embracing peace; war destroys, peace builds. But it takes a thinking man to realise, embrace, and practice peace. Those who are insane need the urgent intervention of those who are sane if we all must escape the horrors of their insanity”

    May I conclude by saying that the times we are in demand less emphasis on party politics and a concentrated attention and focus on nationalism and patriotism so that together, we can holistically address the Boko Haram conflicts facing Nigeria without or with less violence and bloodletting.