Opinion
Non-Violence Election 2015: How Realistic?
The presidential candidates of the major political
parties taking part in this month’s general elections recently signed a non-violence pact, resolving to ensure peace before, during and after the polls.
A few days ago, the governorship candidates of the three most viable parties in the state – PDP, APC and Labour parties followed suit by appending their signatures to a similar agreement.
Will these accords minimize election violence that Nigeria’s elections are known for? What do Nigerians think of the development? How can we achieve peace in the country before, during and after the fourth coming elections.
Our chief correspondent, Calistar Ezeaku, sought answers to these questions from some members of the public.
Mr Ben Onitemeka
Community/NGO leader.
Peace agreement has noting to do with the followers of these candidates. You see, those of us who have been opportuned to be in the social media, will discover that their followers say many things that are very annoying. People use abusive languages and talk as if they are representing their pay masters. But, in the actual sense those are not what they should be saying.
The non-violence signed by the presidential candidates and the governorship candidates here in our state should have helped in minimizing violence but it is not happening the way it should have been because the followers are not following that agreement.
So the problem is not the candidates. The candidates are always very peaceful. The problem comes from their followers.
Incidentally, most of the people who make a lot of noise didn’t even register, they don’t even have Permanent Voters Card (PVC). So the only way we can have a better society is by going out to vote. It is only through your vote that you can retain or change a particular government. If you don’t have voter’s card and you keep making noise and all those things, it cannot change the situation. The most important thing, is to go out and vote.
It is unfortunate that here in Rivers State we have a lot of pre-election violence, destruction of posters and all that but I think the security apparatus should be at alert. A lot of these cases can be blamed on the lapses from the security apparatus. Assuming the police, civil defense, JTF and other security agencies are at alert, I think most of these incidents can be prevented.
However, to achieve a violence free election, all hands must be on deck. The civil society groups, NGOs, faith-based groups, have roles to plays. The churches can actually reach out to their members. Definitely every individual belongs to one religious group or the other or an association. We have to reach out to these associations.
Miss Odilabiebuma Adline
-Civil Servant.
I will say the signing of the peace accord is a good move but in actual practice I have not see it working. It is a good move that the candidates of the major political partners signed peace pact, that they should not use abusive languages, that they should do things in a way that should not affect the peace of the society. But after the agreement had been signed, looking at my locality, it doesn’t seem as if they signed anything.
You can still hear the politicians during their campaign attacking their opponents, they still use abusive languages. All those things are still going on.
So, we can only achieve a violence-free election if those involved will stick to the terms of the agreements. We can achieve a pre, during and post election violence if we educate the society. It might take time but we will certainly get there, remember Rome was not built in a day. We still need to talk, and talk and talk, create the awareness. Somebody recently said that we don’t have poverty as such that what we have is poverty of the mind. The mind needs to be educated. People need to know their rights. Not just knowing your right but knowing what to do and when to do it.
I want to also say that mothers have an important role to play. Most of the people causing these violent are youths. Parents, especially mothers need to caution their children and educated them on the dangers of violence.
I also think we need to start from the primary school to educate our children on their civic responsibilities. You don’t bend a tree when it is old. We have subjects like social studies and all that. We need to educate these children on the impact of being good citizens. So it is from the cradle that we need to build.
But what we are doing now is that we are trying to build from the top and you cannot achieve anything from the top when the foundation has not been laid.
So I think our foundation is part of the problem we have today because the people that believe in non-violence are very few.
Only a handful of people believe we can live amicably, that we can belong to different political parties, have different ideas but still live together peacefully.
I think we should always bear in mind that there will always be another election. So, that I don’t win today doesn’t mean I will not win tomorrow. In sports we say, let the best man win and that is what it should be in election, let the best man win.
Mr Ifeanyi Ajaegbu
-Human Development Expert
It is a positive step that they came together to agree that the election should be violent free. But beyond signing peace pacts, we need to ask further questions – how many of their constituencies have they visited with this message of peace. How many of the constituencies have committed themselves to behaving non-violently because signing a peace pact at the national and state levels does not mean that in the rural communities, in the fishing pots the people are going to abide by such pacts. So we need to go beyond agreement. We need to make more concrete commitments. There should be punitive measures agreed upon by all the aspirants that anyone who goes outside the agreement will be punished in this way or the others. From the day they signed the agreement there have been shootings, burnings and all that. So people will just sign the agreement and continue with what they are doing.
My advice to the young ones who are used to commit violence during elections is that they should remember that there is a future beyond the elections. They should remember that they are worth more than the elections. They are worth more than whatever they are going to gain from committing violence and a dead man has no future. Secondly, they should also remember that if they fight and kill each other to put the wrong person on the seat, we are all going to bear the consequences of whatever wrong decision made by the person. The worst thing is that they can even die doing what they are doing.
Each political party has a youth wing. They should turn these youths wings into a conglomerate of young people who could work together for a better Nigeria instead of turning them into thugs.
Mr Anthony Ogina
-NOA Staff.
What I have to say is that we must ensure peace in the country. We are all one Nigeria, so we should not take elections as a do or die affair. Election is just like a football match, a particular team must win.
So a loser should also embrace whoever emerges the winner.
It’s true the peace accord had been signed but the leaders of political parties are not helping matters. They are supposed to tell their followers and the states where they come from to embrace peace that nobody should go into violence. I heard this morning that they stoned President Goodluck Jonathan’s convoy in Taraba State. This is not what we want and it makes nonsense of the peace agreement. Everybody should embrace peace.
Mr Chika Emeh
-NGO Project Manager.
Looking at the violence going on in different parts of the country this period, we must ask ourselves what really do we want and how do we want to achieve it? If we say we want violence –free election then we must ask ourselves how do we achieve it. We should use the religions, the ethnic groups and other aspects of the community to address the issue.
So I will like to see a situation where religious leaders mount the pulpit or go to their mosques and preach violence-free elections. I want to see a situation where ethnic group leaders speak to their people using the media and other means of communication to urge them to shun violence. I want to see a situation where political parties and politicians educate their followers on the dangers of election violence before, during and after the elections.
Infact, more and more studies are now showing that our problem is not pre or during election violence. The major concern is post-election violence. Look at what is happening in Ekiti State. The elections were very free and fair, there were no violence but after the elections, the violence started. Why? Because people do not seem to agree with the results of the elections. There is also this attitude of winner takes it all and all of that. So, if we must check-mate this type of violence, effort must be focused on dealing with post-elections violence-free activities. And that has to do with setting up the necessary structures in the community that will actually looking into the grievances of those who are aggrieved and do we have the judiciary that will be empowered and are ready to dispense as at when do? Do we have the machinery in place to make sure that those who perpetuate violence are punished or are we just leaving them to do whatever they wish?
Again, many people are concerned about INEC’s preparadeness to conduct a credible election. You see, INEC started early enough but surprisingly, it does appear that they are not really prepared.
What we are seeing now with the PVC distribution is not a good testimony because as we speak now, millions of Nigerians do not have access to their permanent voters card. And if care is not taken some people might be disenfranchised and this can lead to violence.
So, I will advice INEC to make sure that every voter who has been registered receives his/his voters Card.
Valentine’s Day, February 14, is one of those occasions that evoke mixed reactions from different people. For some, it is a magical day filled with love, romance, and grand gestures. For others, it is an over-commercialised event that puts unnecessary pressure on relationships and individuals. Personally, I have a balanced perspective on Valentine’s Day—I appreciate the sentiment behind it, but I also recognise its drawbacks. At its core, Valentine’s Day is about celebrating love, which is a beautiful concept. Love, in its many forms—romantic, platonic, familial—is worth recognizing and cherishing. In a fast-paced world where people are constantly busy, having a designated day to express affection and appreciation for loved ones can be meaningful. It serves as a reminder to nurture relationships and make time for those who matter most. For many couples, it is an opportunity to rekindle romance, spend quality time together, and create cherished memories.
However, Valentine’s day celebration has left a sour taste in many marriages and relationships. On this day some years ago, my friend’s five-year-old marriage crashed due to irreconcilable differences between her and her husband which resulted from Valentine’s Day celebration. The man was alleged to have spent the “Lovers Day” in a hotel with another woman, an accusation he denied. There followed accusations and counter-accusations and a series of problems that culminated in divorce. Just like my friend, many people have ugly stories to tell about Valentine’s Day. Many couples have had fights on Valentine’s Day when one of them did not buy a nice enough gift or worse still forgets to buy a gift. Many people, especially the young ones have had to do all kinds of unspeakable things to raise money for the event. All these negative stories have made many wonder if the day is worth celebrating.
Valentine’s Day started out well. It is a very old and religious celebration centred around Saint Valentine. Stories have it that Emperor Claudius II of the Roman Empire decided that young men should be soldiers, so he outlawed marriage. Claudius handed down this decree believing that soldiers would be distracted and unable to concentrate on fighting if they were married or engaged. Valentine, a Catholic Priest, defied the emperor and secretly performed marriage ceremonies. He was thrown into prison and put to death on February 14. Valentine believed in the power of love. He identified with couples that were genuinely in love and paid the supreme prize for his love for others. Valentine’s Day was therefore set aside for the exchange of gifts with loved ones, friends, relatives and others.
Today the meaning of Valentine’s Day is gone because society rewrote it. With all the radio and television and social media hype the day is enjoying, as well as all the activities up in many cities for the event, it is obvious the real meaning of the day is being misused. Many have argued that various love activities on the night of Valentine’s Day are capable of luring youth into fornication, alcoholism and other social vices, and are big threats to the lives of the younger generation. As a matter of fact, many young people are taking advantage of this day to carry out all sorts of immoral acts. Many get pregnant, relationships are broken, many contact dreadful diseases like HIV/AIDS and the future of many is shattered. Valentine’s Day is certainly not meant to encourage people particularly the youth to engage in inappropriate sex and other forms of immorality. History did not tell us that St Valentine was a fornicator. So, it is absurd associating Valentine’s Day with sexual promiscuity.
Meanwhile, the emphasis on romance can make those who are single feel left out, as if their happiness is dependent on having a partner. In reality, love comes in many forms, and self-love is just as important as romantic relationships. Instead of seeing Valentine’s Day as a day only for couples, it can be an opportunity to celebrate love in a broader sense—spending time with loved ones, practising self-care, or simply appreciating life. I think for Valentine’s Day celebration to make more meaning in our lives as individuals and as a society, we must have to do things right. Let us use this day of love to celebrate all the people in our lives. This is what Valentine’s Day should really be like, seizing the opportunity to tell the people we love that they are special to us and actually making time to do something about it. It should be an opportunity to strengthen family ties and friendships rather than just focusing on romantic relationships.
The point of this day is not to indulge in immoral acts in the name of love or ruin your relationship over material things. The point of Valentine’s Day is, or at least should be, to appreciate one another. We are expected to use this date to pay tribute to love, this universal human value that transcends geographic, religious and cultural challenges. There is no doubt that when such selfless, true love is expressed to one another there will be peace in our families and the country in general, especially when neighbourly love is practised not only on Valentine’s Day but every day. Churches, Non-Governmental Organisations, states and federal ministries in charge of youth affairs are encouraged to emulate the former Archbishop of Lagos, Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi, in Okojie who usually gathered youths on Valentine’s Day and taught them the essence of the day and also engaged them meaningfully. Youths need to be occupied with important, useful activities like charity work, visit to the needy. This will enable them to appreciate and love others and at the same time make them better citizens.
Valentine’s Day should be redefined beyond romantic relationships. Some organisations, schools and individuals use the occasion to engage in charity work, visiting orphanages, hospitals, and less privileged communities to spread love in a more impactful way. This is commendable as it highlights the importance of love in all its forms—romantic, familial, and humanitarian. Everything must be done to ensure that the purity of the society is not abused through Valentine’s Day celebration. We should also not forget that love is not about a single day; it is about a consistent effort and care we show all year round.
Calista Ezeaku
Specialised training or education is the bedrock of the development of the much needed manpower that is elusive in many societies. Most developed economies and societies are human capital driven and not necessarily a function of availability or abounding of natural resources. That explains why Nigeria, with more than 40 mineral resources in over 500 locations, is savagely dwarfed in development. But countries like Cape de Verde, a zero natural resources economy is one of the fastest developing economies in Africa. Cape de Verde economy thrives on tourism. China with over two billion people, the most populous nation in the world, is technology driven. And technology is a function of an efficient and effective manpower development. China, unlike some years back when she was grappling with the attendant vicissitudes of a Third World country, today remains the envy of many nations of the world.
A nation that once depended on international donor agencies for financial assistance and economic development, is an economic force to reckon with, giving grants and loans to developing nations and economies, including Nigeria-the acclaimed giant of Africa. “He who pays the piper” they say, “dictates the tune”, so China playing a leading role in the economic and infrastructural development of many African countries, no doubt, has the capacity to influence the political developments in beneficiary countries.Specialised or skilled manpower is an indispensable tool to midwife development in critical sectors of any society. The Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi endeared himself to several youths in Rivers State through his Greater Horizon and Opportunities Programme (GHOP) and the Overseas Specialised Scholarship Programme which saw over 5,000 indigent Rivers State youths trained abroad to remedy deficient manpower sectors of the State.
Though his successor, Chief Nyesom Wike discontinued with the programmes operated through the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency (RSSDA) and scrapped the Agency, the Overseas’ Scholarship Programme and the Greater Horizon and Opportunities Programme, have no doubt beefed up the manpower base of the Rivers State. Today, it is not to gainsay the fact that Rivers State is better in terms of manpower development than before the Rt. Hon. Amaechi assumed the saddle of leadership as the Governor of Rivers State. Manpower development through specialised or skills training has both short term and long term development effect on both the primary and secondary consumers of the training or education. That is why the Chairman of Tai Local Government Area, Chief Matthew NenuBari Dike, should be commended for cultivating and implementing the vision of establishing Tai Science Secondary School (TSSS) to address the dearth of manpower in the Medical Sciences, Engineering, Agriculture and other critical areas that are necessary for the development of Tai Local Government Area.
According to Chief Dike, who is highly commended by the people of Tai Local Government for his novel initiative of driving specialised education through the Tai Special Science School, an Education Trust Fund and a legislation to guarantee the sustainability of the Special Science School. One feature common with all successful people the world over, is leveraging. Chief Matthew NenuBari Dike is leveraging, on Sir Siminalayi Fubara and Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi in the areas of human capital development, through the Tai Special Science School. Inducting 104 students who were selected through rigorous screening exercises, for the pilot human capital development scheme, the chairman noted with dismay that in the past several years, no student of Tai Local Government Area had gained admission into university to study medical, health and science, engineering etc, or any of the core science courses.
The consequences of the dearth of manpower in the critical areas in the local government area, are better imagined than experienced. For one thing, it is implication on the Local Government Area is that in the next 10 years, the LGA will inevitably experience a dearth in the human capital, critically necessary for development of the Local Government Area. No doubt, one of the reasons for the teeming unemployed graduates that have saturated the labour market, is the apparent lack of employable skills and academic qualifications. Many graduates of tertiary institutions are unemployable because courses studied have no relevance to the economic and development needs of the society. By establishing the Tai Special Science School, Chief Dike is intentionally addressing the spate of compounded unemployment and miscellany of hydra-headed challenges that have bedevilled youths.
In the next 12 years, graduates of the Tai Special Science School will not only acquire employable skills and knowledge but will be pivotal to the development of the Tai Local Government Area through the acquisition of knowledge and skills in critical fields of study. Since knowledge can be transferred and generated informally, on graduation, the pioneer students will be better placed to affect, influence and mentor other youths. They will also be models for the younger generation.Education remains the bedrock of development and the greatest assets any administration can give to its people, the amount involved notwithstanding. Considering the cost analysis of the programme and projects which involves building of a science based secondary school, with laboratory equipment, provision of science textbooks, funding of the school, overhead cost, and administrative costs, tuition-free and provision of consumables, No doubt the Tai Special Science School is estimated to cost a large chunk of the Local Government’s income.
Chief Dike’s decision to defy the harsh financial implications to drive the human capital development of the Tai Local Government Area through the novel Tai Special Science School , is an eloquent testimony and the testimonial of the care and love he has for the people. Decimus Magnus Ausonius rightly puts it, “the Earth produces nothing worse than an ungrateful man”. I salute Chief Dike for this uncommon capital intensive initiative.
Igbiki Benibo
Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, Thursday February 6, 2025, triggered curiosity among stakeholders of the Education sector in Nigeria as he announced his proposal to phase out Nigeria’s current 6-3-3-4 education system and introduce a compulsory 12-year uninterrupted basic and 4-year Tertiary education model. Though on Friday February 7, the Federal Government said it was not true that the the 6-3-3-4 system is scrapped, some of the seven-fold “speculated” benefits of the proposed 12-4 system to Nigeria according to Alausa are: Elimination of financial and systemic barriers that often lead to school dropouts; exposing students to vocational and entrepreneurial skills at an earlier stage, equipping them with practical knowledge and preparing them for both higher education and the workforce; implementing a uniform curriculum nationwide, ensuring consistent educational standards across States; Enhancing Economic Development by equipping young people with relevant skills, the reform is expected to reduce child labour and increase employability, contributing to Nigeria’s economic and social development; setting 16 years as the minimum entry age for tertiary education, ensuring students are mentally and emotionally prepared for higher learning.
Considering the benefits the system seems to offer, as outlined by the Minister of Education, one is tempted to pat the back, of the National Council of Education, the highest policy making body on Education. While the introduction of the new system seems good, if the explanation of the Minister of Education is anything to go by, one would ask what was wrong with the 6-3-3-4 system that evident deficiencies could not be remedied? Policy instability and implementation remain the bane of Nigeria’s educational system. When the Universal Basic Education was introduced to replace the Universal Primary Education, stakeholders in the education sector thought that policy would remedy the clogs and deficiencies associated with the Universal Primary Education. But years after the introduction of the policy, there is no significant improvement in the education sector. Rather, the sector is bedevilled by a miscellany of hydra-headed problems. For instance, the Universal Basic Education midwifed the abolition of First School Leaving Certificate Examination and its certification in most states of Nigeria, even though First School Leaving Certificate is being required by some employers of labour to determine the age of applicants and not as a parameter for job placement and promotion.
The Universal Basic Education system which was a nine-year unbroken academic process lacked the manpower, equipment and facilities to drive implementation of the system. The absence of the necessary requirements for smooth take-off and consequent holistic achievement of the policy thrust of the Universal Basic Education made the essence of the policy dead on arrival. Another loop in the system was the seeming complexities in the transition to the Senior Secondary School level. The system makes it mandatory for a student who has undergone nine years of basic education to sit for a qualifying examination to the Senior Secondary level into that same School. If the applicant passed the Junior Secondary Schools Examination, their parents were forced to pay admission fees and meet other requirements before they are enrolled. The Universal Basic Education encumbered unnecessarily on parents’ scarce finances while Principals and teachers leverage on the systemic defects to rip off parents or amass so much money for themselves with impunity.
While Nigeria’s Universal Basic Education policy was patterned after developed nations of the world, and said to be “a best practice in the world”, it never worked after all in Nigeria. If it had worked as the then Minister of Education lulled consumers of education to believe, there would not have been need for the proposed new policy christened: 12-4. What works in other nations of the world does not seem to work in Nigeria, why? The reason is not far-fetched: the will to make it work is elusive. The Federal Government does not work the policy through deliberate and intentional gross under funding of the Education sector against the United Nations’ prescription on the percentage of annual budget nation should allocate to the Education sector. Though the current Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa has painstakingly given reasons why the National Council of Education considered the 12-4 system a comparatively preferable policy to the 6-3-3-4 system, it may still not attain its envisioned peak in operations because of the twin systemic problem of bare-faced corruption and underfunding of the Education sector.
Alausa also advanced Global competitiveness as an advantage of the 12-4 policy. According to him, “many developed nations already operate a 12-year basic education system. Aligning Nigeria’s education system with international standards which will enhance the global competitiveness of Nigerian students and improve educational outcomes”. But without being pessimistic, that the 12-4 system is a working model in developed climes is not a guarantee that it will work in Nigeria. Nigeria is a Third World country, struggling with development, suffocating under the unpleasant euphoria of corruption. The corruption-infested system which seems to allow public funds to be misappropriated, siphoned, outrightly embezzled, by some public servants, sorting, certificate purchase in some tertiary institutions, cannot produce and actualise the quality and best practices of the policy as envisioned by Dr. Alausa.
Nigeria is a rich nation no doubt, with more than 44 mineral resources and abundant human resources, yet her people live in abject poverty. Like the Bible’s Jericho, the “land is pleasant but the water is bitter,” is the experience of Nigeria and Nigeria’s teeming poor. Someone has said, if you bring any of the nations Nigerian politicians travel to on medical or relaxation tourism to run Nigeria, the taps that are dry will flow, the comatose economy will revive, the darkness-ridden homes will be illuminated. Are the benefits of the proposed 12-4 System as outlined mere hype or window dressing? Would the 12-4 Policy be better than the 6-3-3-4 System? Only time will reveal.
Igbiki Benibo
