By Simeon Mpamugoh
An inter-ethnic summit to address the importance of peace, justice and development in Nigeria was recently organised by Justice, Development and Peace Centre (JDPC), Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos.
The theme of the summit was “Cultivating a culture of peace in Nigeria: A call to action,” and took place at St. Leo’s Catholic Church Hall, Toyin Street, Ikeja, Lagos.
Keynote speaker, Mr. Femi Falana, a senior advocate of Nigeria, noted that, without justice, there could be no peace. He regretted that some of the religious and traditional leaders who shuttle from their domains to Abuja during crises were more interested in profit than suing for peace.
He said: “They go to Abuja to collect money and to deceive government they are going to ensure that peace reigns within their domain but government has discovered that some of them are not truthful.”
He cited examples with the last protest whereby government did not summon some of them because government knew they had been misled in the previous protests.
He disclosed that 11 young Nigerians had been charged with treasonable felony for protesting and demanding good governance, while 76 others were going to be charged for the same offense in November 2024, adding that the suspects when convicted risk life imprisonment.
He said: “The question government is asking with the hounding suspects is: ‘how dare you protest in Nigeria? If you protest, here is your fate.’ But I and my law firm will defend all of them free of charge because we fought for the rights to protest without police permit, and those who are in power today had enjoyed the rights. So, we are going to insist that all Nigerians are allowed to enjoy their rights to protest for or against the government at anytime they desire.”
He noted that Nigeria wasted over N3.5 billion on the last election, adding that as the clock ticks for another election circle, Nigerians must demand the introduction of the technology, as it was the only way to reduce the enormous amount of money expended and wasted on elections. “Nigerians must insist that INEC perfect the use of bimodal voter accreditation system (BVAS) machine for accreditation so that once people are accredited properly the next thing is to transmit the election results,” Falana said.
He also gave the example with America’s elections that were transmitted live, real-time, such that before the end of election day, the winners were known because the results were being transmitted and everybody was watching and taking note.
He called for a similar system in Nigeria, restating that it was the only way to reduce the colossal sums of money wasted for elections in the country.
Falana disclosed that “Nigeria files the highest number of election petitions in the world,” pointing out that, in Kenya, the day elections were concluded, within seven days, the candidates filed their election petitions. “You don’t need to go to court requesting to inspect election materials because they are automatically given to candidates once the election is over, so you can go to the tribunal. You are not going to go to court again for permission to serve the opponent. No! With technology and your number, the papers can be posted to you through WhatsApp or email. So, you can’t go to court to say that you have not been served once there is an evidence that you have received it.
“We must move with the times and save costs so that we can have money for development. Most candidates engage in malpractices to win election because the cost of going to tribunal is much more higher than money spent in an election. We must stop this disgraceful conduct that in every election everybody must go to court, it doesn’t happen anywhere in the world.”
On the profiling and disenfranchisement of a particular ethnic group during the 2023 elections, Falana said: “It was a sad news. Victims of injustice must learn to fight so that it doesn’t happen again. We were looking for people who were not allowed to vote so that we can go to court to make a point but no one showed up.”
He noted that Nigerians were united in poverty and injustice adding that “on a daily basis, police arrest people and extort money from them. They don’t care whether you are Yoruba, Igbo or Hausa, they just want the money. And when you get to the market and want to buy goods, you don’t find out whether the trader is Yoruba, Hausa or Igbo, you just have your money to buy. So our people are united in their suffering and poverty, while those in the ruling class are united in looting the treasury. The victims must be united, regardless of religion or ethnicity, to fight for their rights.”
He tasked Nigerians and civil society organisations to show interest in budget presentation in the states and the National Assembly so that they would know what is allotted to each area.
“Every year, they talk about building roads and providing pipe-borne water, to which they collect taxes. We should not sit at home and complain. We must take action under the law to demand accountability.”
He challenged both Christians and Muslims to be dutiful more than ever before by interrogating their representatives on their achievements in government so as to put them on their toes to deliver dividends of democracy to the people.
He frowned at the way traditional rulers give out chieftaincy titles to politicians, and awards by Christian leaders who run private universities: “These titles and awards should be given to those who are deserving of them. It’s regrettable that some of these titles and awards are sold to them. It’s time we begin to challenge these traditional rulers who sell chieftaincy titles and churches that are making mockery of Christianity. They built universities from the church fund and the children of the poor in the church cannot attend the university because of high school fees yet their leaders buy jets and Rolls-Royces. When someone opposes it, he is hounded with the name of Jesus Christ; using the name in vain. The Pope is the most travelled religious leader in the world, yet he doesn’t own a jet. He travels in economy class.
“We have had Nigerians like Aguiyi Ironsi and Adekunle Fajuyi who paid the highest price for the unity of the country before the civil war but nobody remembers them. We only talk about how Awolowo and Azikiwe fought so that Yoruba and Igbo can be enemies forever.
“Some of us are aware that late Dr. Alex Ekwueme, former Vice President, was instrumental to the issuing of the license to Olasubomi Balogun for the establishment of the First City Monument Bank (FCMB). In the South West there were no cases of abandoned property because after the war the Igbo who left their property because of the war came back to receive both the rent and their property in the care of the Yoruba. So those areas our people had shown evidence to live together, we don’t talk about them. It is only those who had turned emergency politicians and want to divide our people we talk about.”
In his contributions, Dr. Reuben Abati of Arise News postulated that Nigeria was established, founded and led by three different ethnic groups adding that, till date, “We are still three different countries pretending to be one and this is the basis of the problems we have in recent times.”
He wondered how we can mediate among the over 250 nationalities in Nigeria to ensure peace, saying: “We cannot have peace if there is no meeting ground. Ethnicity remains the major divisive factor.
“How many people can recite and commit to heart all the ‘lies’ in the new national anthem, which was changed on the ground it was more relevant than the other? When you meet people from other countries, they see themselves first as citizens of their country but in Nigeria we see ourselves first as either Hausa-Fulani, Tiv, Ibibio, Kanuri or Urhobo because it is the zone where we are fixated. This is a challenge and a call to responsibility not only from the churches or mosques but also the individuals.”
He said that Nigeria has a collective responsibility to ensure that the church and mosque promote peace, stressing: “The church that serves a purpose is the one that tells the people the truth. I believe that this is why during the 2023 general election some churches decided that if you don’t have voter identity card, don’t come to church, because it believed at that point in time that the church can liberate the people. You can use your vote to change your destiny.”
Abati denounced the leadership recruitment process saying: “It is very unfortunate that we don’t have peace in Nigeria because of the leadership recruitment process. We’re at a point whereby those who lead us are those with money and godfathers. This is not the way it is in other parts of the world.
“The people who lead in other climes are the top bracket. We need to show concern about leadership recruitment and education. Many of those who lead us are not knowledgeable, they don’t know how government is run, they go there for power’s sake. So it is important that, as individuals, we look at the profile of the various people who want to lead us, not just say ‘Oh! Omo wa, yi o se,’ (He is our man, he will perform). No! That is not what they do in developed countries of the world where the whole process is issue- driven.
“We have reached a stage in Nigeria where we’re running rice and palliative economy and everybody is happy about it. We need to pay serious attention to leadership recruitment and innovation to have peace. Nigeria is not disturbed by poverty of resources but poverty of ideas and that is why people are saying “ebi npa wa,” (We are hungry), #EndBadGovernance. So, this whole enterprise called Nigeria requires to be restructured, refurbished and reorganized. This is not a responsibility to be left with government alone, It’s also for the individuals to participate.”
A development expert, Mrs. Ngozi Iwere, noted that there was no way one could discuss anything without mentioning the government because they are everywhere. “However, one can be depressed sometimes and we forget to look at what is working well in our country.”
She observed that there seemed to be a consensus among the people that nothing was working in the country, noting: “It is right we are talking about poor governance but at the grassroot level, things are working. One of the areas we are getting it right is in peace-building. At the community level, villages, towns and homes, government is nonexistent yet they have their own communal governance, which is working.
“If someone steals a goat in the village, for instance, or there is a conflict, they don’t call the police, they know where to go to report the matter and it will be settled instantly. So, they have their conflicts resolution mechanism and who will be present to adjudicate on the matter and justice will be dispensed at the spot, and sanctions will be imposed. The communities are steadily building peace.”
Iwere, who is the executive director, Community Life Project (CLP), Lagos, hinted that “what is really keeping the country together, we have not fallen apart, no chaos and anarchy is the efforts people are making in their little communities to ensure there is social cohesion and the fabrics of the society kept together,” adding that these were the things we should celebrate.
She commended the religious community, noting that they were constantly resolving conflicts, whether it was within the unjust societies, different groups in the churches or families at home. “While these are ongoing, we need to build on It by learning how to run our affairs at the grassroot, and to inject in some of the key issues like justice at the grassroot level.
“We equally need to take seriously the issue of governance because when we talk about justice, we are talking about justice for the citizens i.e citizenship. While we feel bonded to one another in those communities making sure there is peace and justice among us, many of us are not seeing ourselves as citizens of Nigeria; people with a stake in governance, part owners of the billions of naira being siphoned outside the country; yet if our secretary and treasurer steal the contributions in our unions and societies account, we demand they should account for it but we don’t care when we hear that the local government chairperson, governor or legislator had enriched himself with our money. Because we don’t see the money being shared by our leaders in Abuja, Alausa or government Houses as belonging to all of us.
“One of the challenges we see at the grassroot is how to conscientiously let people know that public money is our money even as much as the one we worked for, or even more because if we don’t add that to our agenda, we are going to continue to be in this situation where justice and peace elude us and there will be so much misery.
“We also need to care about what is happening when we hear that banditry is taking place in any parts of the country. Ending bad governance is every citizen’s business and we must participate where there is a call for action because without good governance and justice we are not going to have peace.”
Public Analyst, Bala Sankey, opined that the seed of growth and development could only be planted on the soil of peace. He added that where there was no peace, one wouldn’t find a noticeable development.
He said: “Nigeria is heading towards Golgotha at the moment. No one should be fooled because things are not right with the country. We are in a wrong direction and anyone that says that Nigeria is progressing is not true to himself because Nigeria is indeed moving backwards.”
Sankey expressed distraught with the current government saying that the immediate past president provided a hint about fuel subsidy removal by removing subsidy on kerosene, aviation fuel and diesel yet it never worked. “It was clear that removing subsidy on petrol pump will stagger the whole system. And at the point we were diagnosing it, somebody was literarily sick already and you said you want to create more wounds on his body and give him palliative. What if the wound is created and turned to cancer?, he asked, describing it a classic case of what the current government has done with the removal of subsidy on petrol pump price.
He said: “Subsidy is a global concept and economic pain cushioning concept used to cushion the pains of the citizens and to that extent, if it is not working in Nigeria, it will not invalidate or vitiate it global definition and relevance. It simply means that something is wrong with the country that is not making subsidy to work.”
He debunked the notion that we don’t know how much crude oil we produce daily blaming it on vandalism. “There are powerful group of Nigerians who connect illegal pipes through the export terminals passed through the bushes and grasses and at the point the crude oil and gas will be going, and they start stealing our crude oil thus making the pressure on the terminal to go down. And those who carry out this deadly job are expert welders.”
Former chairman Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area, Comrade Ayodele Adewale, urged Nigerians to show some determination in choosing the right leaders. He said: “If Nigerians as multitudes and in unison determine to come out to vote during an election day and stand by their votes, it will be different to rig the election.”
He said that the local government autonomy was another space to impact on the people adding “in some countries they don’t know who their governors, provincial head or president are but they know their mayor.”
He tasked the citizens on the need to mobilize themselves by joining a political party reiterating that the local governments were being empowered financially to function effectively and efficiently.
On a lighter note was a health talk with Dr Chinenye Nwankwo who advised the audience to build their mental wellness by exercising, good habits and healthy relationship so as to overcome challenges.
She said that some negative emotions like anxiety, fear etc were normal, pointing out that “when they persist, it becomes bad for one’s health and cause some problems which can lead to poor appetite such that one no longer enjoys what he/she enjoyed eating before.”
She called for intentional attitude of taking care of one’s mental health and how one looks. “So many things can impact on our mental health: finance e.t.c and if you are not financially robust, it affects you, and overtime affects your health and your blood pressure will go up, which calls for prioritizing sleep.”
Julie Iregbu on her part listed ten take aways of the summit which included: access to basic education and welfare for the citizens and human rights and justice. She said: Recognizing that access to quality education and social welfare services are fundamental to a peaceful society, there is therefore need to prioritize education and social welfare as rights for all citizens to reduce poverty and support social resilience.
“We must focus on upholding human rights and ensuring access to justice especially for regions affected by conflicts, and accountability for human rights violations e.t.c.”