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3 Nov

LAGOS OPEN PARLIAMENT, 7

 

About  LOP7

Lagos Open Parliament Seven (LOP 7) is an evaluation of the performances of the administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, which span the period between November, 2019 and September 2020.

The Lagos Open Parliament is a project of the Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL) which periodically assesses the programmes and projects of the Lagos State Government. The compilation of this compendium involved media research, interviews, news analysis and visits to project sites in order to adequately assess the policies and agenda of the Governor Sanwo-Olu’s administration.

LOP was designed to champion accountability and transparency in governance. The outcome of the research indicated that Sanwo-Olu remained steadfast in his commitment to good governance in the state. The Sanwo-Olu administration beamed a special focus on infrastructure, traffic management and transportation, with a view to reduce traffic gridlocks on Lagos roads. The administration sustained its aggressive response to rehabilitating bad roads across the metropolis to ease vehicular movement, by engaging the services of some construction firms and the Public Works Corporation.

LOP has been published since 2011 when its first edition generated a lot of reactions among residents of the state who demanded that it should be sustained. The second to sixth editions were published in response to demands from the people of the state. LOP Seven is a replica of the other editions as it is based on exhaustive media survey and use of other research tools to assemble the information contained in the publication.

The process involved gathering of information about developmental projects from members of CACOL’s Good Governance Accountability and Transparency Education (GATE) units across the 57 Local Government and Local Council Development Areas of the State. There were also inputs from representatives of various tiers of government, civil society and community based organisations and other members of the public.

Click the link to read  LAGOS OPEN PARLIAMENT, 7

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9 Jun

CACOL REMEMBERS OLAWALE SALAMI (DON)

9th April, 2023

 

Press Statement

 

CACOL REMEMBERS OLAWALE SALAMI (DON)

 

With the demise of Olawale Salami, popularly known and referred to as, ‘DON OF ALUTA, and DON OF THE STRUGGLE FOR A BETTER NIGERIA’, Nigeria lost one of her most courageous and patriotic citizens, and the Yoruba nation lost an illustrious son. Olawale was one of the legends of the pro-democracy struggles, known for speaking truth to power and championing the cause of justice and fairness – he remained consistent through many decades of activism till his demise.

Olawale’s belief in justice as a primary condition for ensuring peace inspired his participation in the struggle against military rule and towards the restoration of the annulled June 12 presidential mandate. With the return of civilian rule in 1999, Olawale understood that we had only arrived at a milestone on a journey – the journey of democratizing the Nigerian polity which is still in progress even to this day. He quickly located himself in the new order, choosing to position himself as a public critic and activist for a Nigeria that truly embraces democracy, fairness, equity, and justice.

He found the right channels and platforms to give expression to his agitations – a paradox of sorts continuing his fight for democracy and justice with a democratically elected government in place. He went on to earn for himself the reputation of being one of the most irrepressible voices of conscience and reason, who spoke timely, boldly, and thoughtfully on important national issues.

Unfortunately, the plenipotentiary ideologue, Wale Salami, was involved in an accident that affected one of his legs during his itinerary and had to be flown on operation to Cuba. He survived the operation at the initial stage and teamed up with Comrade Debo Adeniran of the Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, CACOL, to add bite to the agitation against corruption which was perceived as Nigeria’s singular most destructive cankerworm, inhibiting progress and rediscovery. He served as the Director of Projects and Programmes at the Humanity Centre and was planning for the second leg of medical operation on the affected leg when he breathed his last, so early on this 9th day of April, 2018, when he was planning for work.

Irrespective of his age, the loss of a loyal colleague in the struggle normally leaves a yawning gap in one’s mind whenever one remembers him. We can only take consolation in the fact that death is the inevitable end of all mortals, without which life would have been so boring, brutish, and in a way, humiliating; hence, we are all born to die.

Today, we at CACOL remember and celebrate you; we would continue to celebrate you, dear Comrade Don! We miss you greatly, especially as none of the troubles imposed on us by the same decadent and short-sighted, political class you left behind has been solved; since we still battle with man-made problems like cashless policy, insecurity, fuel scarcity, etc.

Adieu Comrade Don! The journey continues…

 

Tola Oresanwo

Director, Administration and Programmes, CACOL

cacolc@yahoo.com

 

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27 Feb

OPEN LETTER: NIGERIA AT CROSSROADS OF THE NAIRA REDESIGN

Wednesday, 8 February 2023

 

 

His Excellency,

Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR

President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces

Aso Rock Villa, 3 Arms Zone

Garki – Abuja

Federal Republic of Nigeria

 

 

Your Excellency,

 

       NIGERIA AT CROSSROADS OF THE NAIRA REDESIGN

 

For some days now, Nigerians have been facing the reality of scarcity of cash. Our banks are overwhelmed by angry customers demanding money, the ATMs are flooded with furious Nigerians struggling to withdraw cash, and some spend the whole day hoping to get a few Naira notes to pay bills. POS operators complain of lack of money; a few have charged between 15% and 20% to customers to get some cash. Most Nigerians are stranded because the bank apps for transfers need to be fixed, and most cannot make or receive transferred money. Naira notes are in high demand, and the newly redesigned notes are rare to get unless by a privileged few. There is confusion everywhere, and people are coming to terms with this reality.

However, the pressure this exerts on Nigeria’s fragile socio-political and economic conditions is enormous and gradually heading to a tipping point. Social media are awash with harrowing videos of people’s reactions in various parts of Nigeria, and they all point to the pervading rage, frustration, and hardship people are going through. All these are happening at a time of heightened political activities near the 2023 general elections, with various permutations, intrigues and strategies of political parties and their candidates to win the voters. Without being the intendment of this letter to you, the current situation is a recipe for upheaval if not checked. The political ramifications of the Naira redesign are evident, but the implications, intended and unintended consequences, are unfolding.

A Few days ago, there was a protest in the city of Ibadan where various properties worth millions of Naira were destroyed, as if that was not enough, the peace enveloping Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital was on Tuesday shattered as angry youths took to the street destroying public infrastructures in protest of the scarcity of the new redesigned Naira notes and fuel, at least one person was reportedly shot, though we have not confirmed if it resulted to fatality or not. If this problem is not nipped in the bud, it may escalate to other states and become a nationwide crisis.

Mr. President, if the redesigned notes are in short supply, what happened to the N100, N50, N20, N10, N5 notes and even our coins that were not redesigned? You will recall that there was a time that the twenty naira note was the highest currency denomination in the country and we were living fine.

We believe if for logistics reasons the newly redesigned notes are not available, making N100 the highest denomination in the country for now, will be understandable.

In addition, we feel the pains and agony being encountered by cash-strapped  members of the public who have had to endure both the physical, emotional  and psychological trauma caused by no fault of their own having been forced to return their old notes to the bank and searching all over again for either the old or the new notes.

 

We commend the judgment of the Supreme Court which ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) not to end the use of old naira notes on 10 February. We are looking forward to hearing from the federal government the modalities for the implementation of the landmark judgment.

 

Your Excellency, the pains and agony members of the public are enduring as a result of the cash scarcity on a daily basis are enormous and can only be mitigated by the commitment of the federal government to make these notes available in various parts of the country.

 

Therefore, we are calling on your office to immediately swing into action by directing and mobilizing the Central Bank Nigeria (CBN) to provide palliative measures for temporary relief of the current scarcity so as to prevent the impending pandemonium which will negatively affect the already battered economy of the country.

 

Yours in the service of Humanity,

 

 

 

 

 

Debo Adeniran

Chairman, CACOL

08037194969,

dadnig@yahoo.com,

cacolc@yahoo.com,

www.deboadeniran.com

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27 Feb

PRESS BRIEFING ON THE STATE OF THE NATION ORGANIZED BY THE CENTRE FOR ANTI-CORRUPTION AND OPEN LEADERSHIP (CACOL)

Friday, February 3, 2023.

PRESS BRIEFING ON THE STATE OF THE NATION ORGANIZED BY THE CENTRE FOR ANTI-CORRUPTION AND OPEN LEADERSHIP (CACOL) AS PART OF THE PROJECT ON PRIORITIZING ANTI-CORRUPTION AND ACCOUNTABILITY ISSUES DURING THE UPCOMING 2023 ELECTIONS IN NIGERIA HELD ON TUESDAY 31st January 2023.

 

Gentlemen of the Press, you’re welcome to today’s Press briefing.

CACOL is an aggregate of human rights, community based, and civil society organizations and individuals with an anti-corruption and openness in governance agenda across Nigeria. It is a non-political, non-religious, non-sectarian and non-profit organization. The Centre is a national organization with membership across the 36 states of the Federation.

We are all aware that the nation is confronted with some challenges that we believe are not too difficult to solve with collective will. It is rather unfortunate that corruption is at the root of most of these challenges.

 

INSECURITY

Insecurity is a major concern for everybody in Nigeria and this has created a lot of fear and uncertainty in the society. Every region in the country is battling with various challenges of insecurity which include the activities of Boko Haram in which millions of lives have been lost and the increasing cases of kidnapping. In the last eighteen years, the Federal Government earmarked not less than N10 trillion for the defense of the territorial integrity and internal security of the nation. Recently, President Muhammadu Buhari said his administration spent over one billion dollar on military equipment to recover territories in the North-East captured by Boko Haram. The various state governments equally allocated hundreds of billions of Naira to maintain law and order.

In fact, individual citizens and communities pay levies and salaries to young men and women engaged to secure them and their properties. In spite of the huge funds spent on security, it is common knowledge that the country is currently grappling with the menace of kidnapping, hostage taking, terrorism and armed robbery. We still remember how some terrorists attacked an Abuja-Kaduna passenger train on March 28, 2022, in which about 14 persons were killed and 63 officially declared abducted. Although all the abducted victims of the Abuja-Kaduna train attack were later released, over six billion naira was allegedly paid to the terrorists to set most of their captives free.

On Saturday, 7th of January, this year, no fewer than 31 passengers and staff of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) were abducted by gunmen at the Igueben train sub-station in Edo State, while several passengers were injured.

The deficiencies in regular security forces and shortage  of personnel have led to upsurge of private security outfits. These security entities are hired by banks, oil companies, educational institutions and hospitality businesses to fortify corporate security arrangements. There is no gainsaying that Nigeria has formidable security challenge as insecurity is reported daily in electronic, print and social media.

We believe that high level of insecurity leads to low life expectancy rate, low level of development in education and low investment in economy to promote sound economic growth and development as a result of absence of local and foreign investments that cannot operate in an unsecured environment.

With the lingering security challenges and the inability of the security apparatus of the government to guarantee safety and security of lives and properties in the country, the question that borders everyone in Nigeria today is “can there be security?” Is security of lives and properties achievable now? Is there a safe haven anywhere in the country? Despite huge budgetary allocations to security and subsequent establishment of various units under the various security agencies to control the activities of criminals, armed banditry, kidnapping, child rape, ritual killings and food insecurity are still the order of the day.

ECONOMY

At the start of 2022, Nigerians hoped that, with less than two years to the end of

President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, the government would ramp up its efforts to reduce poverty and unemployment among the populace. In his 2022 New Year message to Nigerians, Buhari was effusive about his intention to secure the country and address its socio-economic challenges.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) recently released the highly anticipated multidimensional poverty report. The report put Nigeria’s poverty index at 0.257, with about 133 million people being multi-dimensionally poor. Sokoto, Bayelsa, and Jigawa States led the list of states in Nigeria with the highest multidimensional poverty index, having an aggregate of 14.18 million impoverished people.

Factors such as healthcare, food insecurity, education, nutrition, and access to cooking fuel contributed the most to the national poverty index. According to the NBS, over half of the Nigerian populace is multi-dimensionally poor and deprived of cooking fuel.

The highlights: 65% of the poor people in Nigeria, which translates to 86 million, live in the Northern part of the country, while 35% (47 million) live in the southern part.

Nigeria has been grappling with high cost of living, which has further widened the gap between the rich and the poor, seeing many more Nigerians fall below the poverty line. This calls for serious concern even as we are now in an election year and most politicians are either vigorously campaigning to win election or supporting their preferred candidates to win while ignoring these pressing issues.

Although the Nigerian economy rebounded after the difficult years of COVID-19, growing 3.5% in the first three quarters of 2022, the recovery has wrought more hardship on Nigerians. This is because the main drivers of growth in Nigeria – oil production and services – don’t usually benefit most Nigerians in terms of jobs and business opportunities. The country’s inflation rate increased to 21% in 2022, compared with an average of 10.6% for emerging and developing economies and 8.8% for the world. This level of economic hardship could present further risks to Nigeria’s security.

Young people have had it worst. Youth unemployment is 43%. It was below 10% prior to Buhari’s administration in 2015. University students were forced to stay at home for nine months during the prolonged strike by the Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities. Till now, the rift between the government and ASSU has not been laid to rest.

The year 2022 has also been unkind to poor and unemployed Nigerians. Rising inflation has raised the cost of living and pushed many into poverty. Because over half of Nigeria’s inflation is driven by rising food prices, many poor individuals and families face hunger. The risk of hunger has been heightened by the recent flooding in many parts of Nigeria, which saw over a million people lose their homes and means of livelihood.

With no insurance, social protection and other safety nets, most of these Nigerians are left to fend for themselves.

Subsidy Regime

While 2022 will be remembered as a very difficult year for youths, workers and the poor, the cabal that controls the Nigerian oil industry were having a field day. Buhari promised to end the corruption-infested oil subsidy, but this cabal secured a postponement. Nigeria spent an estimated US$9.6 billion on the fuel subsidy in 2022. This is expected to exceed $16 billion in 2023.

A greater percentage of the subsidy is likely to fraudulently end up in the bank accounts of the oil cabal. The same cabal has resorted to illegal bunkering and outright theft of oil from the pipelines. Nigeria lost $2 billion to oil theft between January and August 2022. This is about 5% of its 2021 petroleum export of $41.4 billion. Not to be outdone by the oil cabal, former Niger Delta militants now share in the oil largesse. The Buhari administration has awarded them over $100 million (48 billion naira) in contracts to “secure” the country’s oil infrastructure.

Never mind that the government has deployed thousands of government-paid security operatives whose job is to do exactly what the militants are being contracted for.

Political elites continue to live in opulence.

Despite the country’s fiscal challenges, members of the National Assembly have continued to receive their allowances and funds for constituency projects.

Following steep depreciation in the naira, currency speculators have had a field day. The naira plunged by 4% in the official market during the year and by almost 20% in the parallel market.

This has posed significant challenges for manufacturers, as import costs soar amid an acute scarcity of foreign exchange. It’s harder for manufacturers to buy raw materials and expand production. The result is a further decline in their ability to generate well-paid jobs.

CORRUPTION

Granted that corruption is a global menace. Still, it is quite prevalent in African countries, Nigeria included. For many years, Nigeria has earned a considerable sum of money from its natural resources, such as gas and oil, with a considerable portion going down the cesspool created by corruption. Basically, a considerable portion of the money the country earns finds its way into the pockets of a few, leaving millions impoverished.

As a result of corrupt leaders, Nigerian society has gradually become more and more corrupt. There are numerous institutions and departments where one cannot be served without parting with a bribe. This has made the menace one of the biggest problems facing Nigeria today.

The ranking by the global anti-corruption coalition, Transparency International (TI) of Nigeria as a country in which the corruption phenomenon is worsening should not present a surprise to keen watchers and followers of events in the country. The high economic and social instability pervading the polity surely are patent proofs that all is not well, as most of the situations bloom from corrupt practices. Indeed, the persistent refusal of governments at all levels to prune spending, avoid wasteful expenditure and focus only on projects of value to the greatest number have been attributed to corruption. The result is the very poor state of the country in all ramifications.

Rising insecurity, ethnic cleansing and unemployment are still blamed on corruption. Moreover, systemic failure in healthcare delivery and leadership failure has been found to be engendered by corrupt practices.

Corruption is hindering the country’s development, economic prosperity and it is responsible for deepening poverty in Nigeria. Corruption is gradually destroying the country and we would like to use this medium to call on the government and those aspiring for political offices to make known their anti-corruption stance as most of them have been stylishly silent on this important issue.

It should be noted that Nigeria has once again scored 24 out of 100 points while ranking 150 among 180 countries on the 2022 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) released by Transparency International on Tuesday. Although the country maintained its previous year’s (2021) score of 24 out of 100 points, there was a change in rank from 154 to 150, in the newly released index. The CPI is Transparency International’s tool for measuring the level of corruption in the systems of the 180 countries across the world, based on certain prevalent indices. Such indices are bribery, diversion of public funds, public officials using public office for private gain without consequences, ability of governments to contain corruption and enforce effective integrity mechanisms in the public sector, red tape and excessive bureaucratic burden which may increase opportunities for corruption, meritocratic versus nepotistic appointments in the civil service.

NEW NAIRA POLICY/CASH WITHDRAWAL LIMIT

While it is desirable to get all bankable individuals and businesses into the banking system and promote the cashless policy of the CBN, the timing without adequate preparation and sensitization of the critical mass that drives the economy (the SMEs and MSMEs) could prove counter-productive and further drive many below the poverty line. This is another classical example of the inconsistencies and misalignments between the fiscal and monetary policies of the Government. It is absurd to blatantly set traps of processing fees for individuals and businesses who desire to withdraw their hard-earned money from the bank for legitimate and genuine business transactions. It is also important to note that the banking infrastructure and mobile/digital facility to drive the cashless policy are not sufficiently developed. This is not only draconian but also inhuman. Inadequate information sharing/dissemination by the CBN Governor also created unnecessary panic among the banking public.

We would like to make it clear that the CBN and indeed, the Federal Government should replicate the energy and promptness used in implementing this policy to address the issues of dwindling value of the Naira, rising inflation, oil theft, ballooning foreign debt, and get millions out of poverty realm. While Nigerians businesses are groaning under the burden created by not-well-thought-out Government policies, more misery should not be placed on them.

In formulating and executing monetary policy, the governor of CBN is required to make proposals to the president of the federal republic of Nigeria who has the final power to accept or amend such proposals. It is after the presidency has approved it that the CBN’s monetary policy proposals are made as an integral part of the federal government annual budget which combines to approve monetary policy.

The aim of monetary policy may be to check inflation or to stimulate production to aid recovery from a recession. The method adopted to achieve the designed aim is through changes in the monetary supply. A policy aiming at increasing the quantity of money is inflationary, and one that aims at a contradiction of the supply of money is deflationary.

Monetary policy is mainly the concern of the central bank, but the consequences of monetary policy can be so far-reaching for the whole country that no modern government can leave the choice of policy design to its central bank. The inconsistencies in policy implementation have led us to where we are today.

MARWA’S DRUG WAR

We would like to commend the vigour that Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) brought into the drug war in the country. Marwa’s leadership at NDLEA has changed the country’s drug war narrative both locally and internationally. While NDLEA was becoming a shadow of its former self, during the past years, it is now visible and glaring to all Nigerians that the NDLEA is not only barking but equally biting deep, drug barons and dealers that have for years remained invincible and untouchable. Marwa’s tireless efforts against drug abuse and trafficking of illicit substances are exceptionally commendable. We would like to use this medium to call on all the arms of government to support Marwa and the Agency to succeed in making Nigeria a drug free country.

Nigeria’s 2023 Elections

With dates for the 2023 general elections now set by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) – the presidential and National Assembly poll is set for February 25 and governorship and other subnational elections are scheduled for March 11 – the countdown is well underway for what will be the seventh consecutive elections since the return to democracy in 1999. This represents 23 years of unbroken democracy; the longest period in the country’s history.

The 2023 elections will be conducted under a new electoral framework, the Electoral Act 2022. The Act allows INEC to review results made under duress or financial inducement, extends the time for campaigns from 90 to 150 days, and provides for the use of technology to determine the mode of voting and transmission of results. Pundits believe these measures can help manage situations where inaccurate results are returned, expand the opportunity for politicians to visit the nooks and crannies of the country if they so desire and cure the chaotic, vulnerable manipulation and unnecessarily opaque process of aggregating results.

However, instead of reducing the role of money in politics, the Act has increased the campaign finance limit from N1 billion to N5 billion for presidential candidates. The ceiling for all other elected positions have also been increased fivefold, but without any efforts to improve the scrutiny of compliance limits, they are still likely to be exceeded.

The 2023 elections will be some of the most challenging to conduct in Nigeria as the country battles nodes of complex insecurity. The Boko Haram conflict that defined the 2015 election is yet to be quelled, and with bandits operating across the North-West, violent secessionist agitation spiraling in the South-East and farmer-herder clashes ongoing across the country, the 2023 election is set to take place amidst nationwide insecurity. The June 5 attack on a church in relatively stable Ondo State, in South-West Nigeria, which saw more than 50 people killed, was a stark reminder of the insecurity challenges that will make the safety of election materials and personnel a major challenge for INEC.

INEC has also expressed concerns about deliberate attacks on its facilities in some states where materials meant for the elections were burnt. Within the space of three weeks, three attacks were carried out on INEC facilities in Ogun, Osun and Ebonyi states. Attacks on INEC’s facilities have become a recurring decimal in the Southeast geopolitical zone. Two days ago, it was reported that some yet-to-be-identified assailants attacked the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission at Ojoto, in the Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State.

The Commission lamented that incessant attacks on its facilities might cause hitches in operations, saying, though there are no casualties, quite a number of the materials acquired and delivered for the election have been lost. We hope these incessant attacks on INEC’s facilities would stop so as not to affect the upcoming elections.

We are particularly happy that there is a high degree of interest in voting in the 2023 general elections as 79 percent of registered voters in Nigeria have successfully picked up their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) as of Dec. 22, according to a new survey by SBM Intelligence published by Business Day of January 5, 2023.

SBM Intelligence said 6,588 voters were surveyed in 16 states across the country midway into the PVC collection timetable issued by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ascertain how Nigerians who desired to vote and who have completed the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) process were faring with regards to the collection. The study shows that there is a very high degree of interest in voting in the 2023 elections and amongst those who desire to vote, 94 percent of them went ahead to complete the CVR and 90 percent have tried to get their PVCs, even if they have had to visit up to six times to do so.

Osun State Governorship Election Tribunal Judgment

On the judgment of the Osun State Governorship Election Tribunal which declared Alhaji Adegboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress, APC as the winner of the July 16 governorship election, we commend members of the Tribunal for being professional, upright and just despite the enormous pressure they were under. The ruling of the Tribunal would help deepen Nigeria’s electoral system and democracy.

We however, urged those who are not satisfied with the judgment not to resort to violence but remain calm and allow law run its full course.

As an Anti-Corruption group, we are calling on INEC to take lessons from the petition of the APC and the outcome of the Tribunal, especially as it prepares for the conduct of the forthcoming general elections. It is important for the electoral body to note the irregularities pointed out in the judgment of the Tribunal and ensure that such anomalies do not recur in the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections as well as the Governorship and State Assemblies elections on March 11, 2023.

We cannot conclude this briefing without noting the recent admission by the Osun Resident Electoral Commission, Mutiu Agboke that Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) helped to reveal overvoting during the Osun elections. Agboke explained that BVAS helped INEC to expose those who carried out over-voting on the election day during the Osun guber polls. According to him, people were able to do overvoting because they deliberately bypass the BVAS. The politicians in connivance with INEC staff deliberately bypassed the BVAS; it was this BVAS that exposed overvoting during Osun Election. We would like to call on INEC to ensure that all these gaps are covered before, during and after the general elections so that the votes of the people can really count.

 

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

 

Based on our experiences, we want to recommend as follows:

  1. There is need for increase sensitization on Anti-Corruption and Accountability in Elections at the grassroots level.

  1. The Media need to increase their reportage and investigations on Corruption and Accountability issues before, during and after Elections period to enhance political parties and their candidate to incorporate Anti-Corruption and Accountability issues in their Manifestos and Agenda.

  1. There is an urgent need for anti-corruption campaigns to percolate down to the grassroots and even to the level of primary and tertiary institutions to stem the tide of rising cyber-crimes (A.K.A Yahoo Yahoo) among our youths.

  1. Political Parties must be engaged to mainstream Anti-Corruption and Accountability into their manifestos and Activities.

  1. There is an urgent need to amplify the voices of the people at the grassroots because most of them do not even have access to their elected representatives once they are sworn in.

  1. Civil society groups should embark on massive civic awareness of the electorates on the dangers of corruption in electoral process and its impacts on their future

  1. There is a need for more proactive measures by anti-corruption agencies in terms of timely investigation and prosecution of offenders. In the case of Lagos State, the State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption agency had been silent for some months now. We have not heard anything about the Commission since the appointment of Justice Mojisola Olatoregun (rtd.) as Chairman of the anti-graft commission. Considering the level of corruption we have in our society today, one would have expected the Lagos State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption agency to hit the ground running so as to reduce sharp practices in the state civil service. It would be gratifying if the Commission can come out to say there are no reported corruption related cases among the agencies and parastatals like LASEMA, LASSAA, LASTMA, etc

  1. Need to increase citizen’s timely Voter Education and sensitization by both the electoral body and relevant stakeholders.

Thank you for listening.

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13 Dec

RESOLUTIONS REACHED AT THE CONSULTATIVE MEETING WITH SECURITY AGENCIES IN LAGOS STATE

RESOLUTIONS REACHED AT THE CONSULTATIVE MEETING WITH SECURITY AGENCIES IN LAGOS STATE ON PRIORITIZING ANTI-CORRUPTION AND ACCOUNTABILITY ISSUES DURING THE UPCOMING 2023 ELECTIONS IN LAGOS STATE: THE ROLE OF THE SECURITY AGENCIES ORGANIZED BY THE CENTRE FOR ANTI-CORRUPTION AND OPEN LEADERSHIP (CACOL) IN COLLABORATION WITH CIVIL SOCIETY LEGISLATIVE ADVOCACY CENTRE (CISLAC) HELD AT RIGHTS HOUSE, 43, ADENIYI JONES AVENUE, OFF OBA AKRAN AVENUE, IKEJA, LAGOS STATE ON WEDNESDAY, 30TH NOVEMBER, 2022.

Background:

The consultative meeting with representatives of security agencies was organized to dialogue with the representatives of security agencies in Lagos State on prioritizing Anti-Corruption and Accountability issues during the upcoming 2023 General Elections in Lagos State.

Those invited were representatives of various security agencies among who are the Nigeria Police, the Nigeria Army, the Nigeria Air Force, the Nigeria Navy, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, the Nigeria Customs, the Nigeria Immigration Service, the Department of State Security Services, Federal Road Safety Corps, Lagos Neighbourhood Security Corps and some Media Organizations.

The meeting started with the introduction of participants and opening remarks by Tola Oresanwo, CACOL’s Director of Programmes. There was also a paper presentation, by Debo Adeniran, The Chairman of Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL). He highlighted the needs for the security agencies to collaborate and avoid inter agencies rivalry as the nation prepares for the forthcoming general election in 2023.

Observation:

It was observed during the meeting that:

1)    Safety and security of persons and properties is important for the conduct of free and fair elections.

2)    Electoral violence has become a recurrent decimal anytime there is general election since 1999 till date.

3)    Security is without doubt a key ingredient for a violence free election and for the process to be perceived as effective.

4)    Since 1999, security personnel of the various agencies have been mobilized to provide security during elections.

5)    Though the police, being the primary civil force are largely responsible for the election duties. The increasing involvement of various security agencies in the election duty is closely attributed to the high incidence and threat of violence at stages of the electoral process.

6)    The deployment of various security personnel during elections has in many cases, been associated with irregularities by incumbent authorities such as intimidation, electoral fraud, collusion with politicians to undermine free and fair elections and incompetence in handling problems at polling stations.

RECOMMENDATIONS

After discussions and deliberations with the representatives of the agencies, the participants made the following recommendations:

  1. Effective security during elections should not be equated with mere physical presence of security agents. It includes the presence of security agencies, and also their professional roles in terms of being impartial, protecting all political actors and voters and protection of electoral materials, venues, counting centres and prevention of violence during all the phases of the elections.
  2. Prior to deployment of security agents – before, during and after election – there must be proper briefings on roles and responsibilities.
  3. Security deployment must also be professionally executed to curb compromise by erring security officials.
  4. Security agents must be alive to their responsibilities in ensuring the safety and security of INEC officials, INEC infrastructures, voters and election observers, during and after elections.
  5. Law enforcement officials on election duty should ensure that electoral offences published by INEC are either prevented or controlled or do not take place on election days. These offences range from canvassing for votes; persuading any voter not to vote for any particular candidate or not to vote at all at the election; shouting slogans concerning the election; being in possession of any acid, offensive weapon or missile or wearing any dress or having facial or other decorations which in many events is calculated to intimidate voters; loitering without lawful excuse after voting or after being refused to vote; to the offence of voting or attempting to vote, when one’s name is not in the register of voters; among others.
  6. The curricula for the training of the police at all levels should include modules on democracy, elections, political parties and constitutional/statutory provisions on elections.
  7. The independence of the police force should be guaranteed by strengthening its autonomy from the control of the government of the day, the police force should be strengthened in areas of communication, weaponry and transportation for effective mobilization, deployment and enhanced performance.
  8. Inter/intra agencies rivalry while performing election duties should not be encouraged rather all security agencies should collaborate and see themselves as partners in progress working to achieve a common goal.
  9. Security agencies should investigate pre and post-election violence, and bring perpetrators to book. This will go a long way to improve participation in the elections and serve as deterrent to others.
  10. The media should mount pressure on security agencies to be more responsible, accountable and transparent in security provisioning especially during electioneering period.

Signed

Debo Adeniran

Chairman,

Centre For Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL)

cacolc@yahoo.com

dadnig@yahoo.com

08141121208

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13 Sep

Social inclusion (Sine qua non for peaceful co-existence beyond 2023) -Debo Adeniran

CAPACITY BUILDING WORKSHOP FOR CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS & MEDIA EXECUTIVES.

30TH AUGUST, 2022

 

TOPIC: Social inclusion:

 

Sine qua non for peaceful co-existence beyond 2023. – Debo Adeniran

 

Table of contents

  • What is Social Inclusion and Exclusion?
  • Who are those Socially Excluded?
  • Consequences of Social Exclusion
  • Benefits of Social inclusion
  • How to Advocate for Social Inclusion
  • The role of CSOs and the MEDIA

 

What is Social Inclusion And Exclusion?

  • Social inclusion refers to a process by which efforts are made to ensure equal opportunities for all, regardless of their background, in order to enable full and active participation in all aspects of life, including civic, social, economic, and political activities, as well as participation in decision-making processes.
  • Social inclusion can be approached as a goal, an objective, and a process. Its process affects almost all societal activities, and should therefore be approached from various dimensions

 

  • Social exclusion is understood as the condition (barriers and process) that impede social inclusion.
  • Social exclusion is a process through which individuals or groups are wholly or partially excluded from fully participating in all aspects of life of the society, in which they live, on the grounds of their social identities, such as age, gender, race, ethnicity, culture or language, and/or physical, economic, social disadvantages.

 

  • Social exclusion may mean the lack of voice, lack of recognition, or lack of capacity for active participation. It may also mean exclusion from decent work, assets, land, opportunities, access to social services and/or political representation.
  • It may be described as a direct opposite of social inclusion.

 

Who are those Socially Excluded?

  • There is a substantial variation from country to country regarding which groups are subject to exclusion. In Nigeria:
  • Women and girls,
  • People living in rural communities,
  • Persons with disabilities,
  • Youth
  • Older persons
  • Ethnic and religious minorities;
  • Migrants and internally displaced people;
  • Sexual minorities,
  • People without official identification are particularly vulnerable to being excluded.

 

Consequences of Social Exclusion

  • Social exclusion robs individuals of dignity, security, and the opportunity to lead a better life.
  • It leads to agitations from the concerned group
  • Feelings of political distrust
  • It is an albatross to sustainable inclusive growth and popular political participation.

 

Benefits of Social inclusion

  • Every individual and member of society gains from a more inclusive society
  • It encourages and promotes individual development and supports empowerment.
  • Inclusive participation is quintessentially a bottom-up process where action is undertaken by ordinary people.
  • It enhances the quality, credibility and most importantly, ownership of the decisions taken.
  • Every one have a sense of belonging
  • It engenders social cohesion and reduces social vices and crimes.
  • That is why the principle of inclusive society or “society for all” is not an abstract notion but a very practical policy goal

 

The Role of CSOs and the MEDIA  in Engendering Social Inclusion

  • Become a voice for social inclusion in your own space
  • Ask political candidates for their stance on issues bothering on social inclusion since democracy is dependent on the participation and representation of all citizens in democratic institutions and processes.
  • Collaborate and form coalitions to advocate for social inclusion.

 

 

THANK YOU

 

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noimage 12 Sep

MEDIA TRAINING PRESENTATION by Adewale Adeoye, Executive Director, Journalists for Democratic Rights, (JODER)

Paper Presented by Adewale Adeoye, Executive Director, Journalists for Democratic Rights, (JODER) on 2023: Electioneering Activities: Setting the Agenda for Political Actors Through Reportage and Conversation at the workshop organized by CACOL with the theme : Election and the Troubled Democracy: The Role of the Media and CSO held in Lagos on Tuesday, August 30, 2022

Ladies and Gentlemen

 

I think this is a timely workshop that fits into the current socio-political milieu. The media has a traditional role that includes to:

·        Inform

·        Educate

·        Entertain

·        If a may add: To Set Agenda for Local, National and Global Sustainable Development Goals

The above responsibilities should be discharged to the public guided by objectivity, truth and transparency in the promotion of the greatest good of the greatest number.

Historical Perspective:

 

The media has been part of Nigeria’s remarkable history, the country’s ups and downs, the country’s walk on valleys and in the mountains, through thick and thin.

 

Our society has a long history of media intervention which predated the 1914 amalgamation of Nigerian various ethnic groups.

 

I affirm that the media has performed creditably since December, 1859 when the first Newspaper, Iwe Irohin was printed in Abeokuta, now the capital of Ogun State, Nigeria. Long before Iwe Irohin, our ancestral communities employed traditional media to communicate and pass information to the people through the organs of traditional government and a vendor who broadcasted information in the night and day, in the market square or from home to home on the administration of the commonwealth.

From 1914, the media took a dramatic character with the publication of Iwe Irohin in 1859. Let me add that Nigeria has one of the most robust media traditions spanning close to two centuries.

The media played a leading role in the anti-colonialism campaign. After 1859, the Nigerian media mushroomed with speed of light. The focal point was a vigorous campaign against injustice, slavery and colonialism.

 

From 1880, since the outbreak of the Second World war, over 50 newspapers were published in Nigeria. Some of the newspapers were the Lagos Times, 1880,Lagos Observer, 1882, Eagle and Critic,1883, Lagos Weekly Record, 1891, Lagos Standard, 1894, Nigerian Daily Times, 1921. Indigenous newspapers were not left out. Some of the newspapers published in indigenous language were -Eko Akete, 1922, Eleti Ofe, 1923, Irohin Osose, 1925. and West African Pilot ( 1937). The publications were not restricted to the West of Nigeria  In the North, in 1939, the first Hausa Newspaper, Gaskiya Tafi Kwabo, based in Zaria, began publication. Even though the earliest journalists mostly had secondary education but they had deep knowledge about the challenges of their people. The sacrifices they made were enormous.

 

For instance, in 1909, there was Lagos Astrological Review published by Adeoye Deniga. He wrote his newspapers with his hand. It is important to mention that the newspaper industry flourished in the era of colonialism with chains of newspapers owned by private individuals. From 1940, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe controlled the largest chain of newspapers in Nigeria. He owned the following newspapers: Nigeria Eastern Nigerian Guardian (PH), Nigerian Spokesman (Onitsha), 1943; Southern Nigeria Defender, (Warri, 1943); Daily Comet (Lagos/Kano), 1944; Eastern Sentinel, (Enugu, 1955), Nigerian Monitor, (Uyo, 1960). He was for 16 years the Managing Director of Zik group of newspapers (Fred Omu-Journalism in Nigeria: Issues and Perspectives-Published by Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ-Lagos Council-1996)

 

It should be observed that many of Nigeria’s most outstanding anti-colonial leaders were media practitioners like Nnamdi Azikiwe, who established the West African Pilot, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who established Nigerian Tribune in 1948, Chief Anthony Enahoro who was Editor of Daily Times and reputed to have moved the motion for Nigerian independence, Ernest Ikoli, Herbert Macaulay and many others. This shows remarkable contributions of media practitioners to the emergence of the modern Nigerian state.

 

The growth in print media was trailed by broadcast media with the establishment of the Western Nigeria Television Station in December 1959, the first of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa.  After WNTV, the South West region set up the Western Nigeria Broadcasting Service, (WNBS). The following year, the Eastern Regional Government established Eastern Nigeria Television in 1960. In 1962, the Nigerian Federal Authority established the Nigerian Television Service (NTS) which became the predecessor of the Nigerian Television Authority, (NTA)

 

Next was Wire Service. The News Agency of Nigeria, (NAN) was set by the Military Government in 1976 by Decree No 19 of 1976. The focus of NAN was purely information and news. Within a very short time, it became the largest wire service in West Africa and one of the largest in Africa. It grew to establish networks in all the major regions of the world including Asia, Europe and America providing first hand information about socio-political and economic developments in Nigeria to the world. NAN also played a major role in providing the platform for the advancement of Nigeria’s foreign policy which made Africa its centre piece as at that period. In 1992, NAN was empowered through Decree No 87 to engage in commercial activities and also to ‘Promote national unity and stability.’ The introduction of profit into its content was to ensure NAN was self independent as a long term strategy yet, the decline of NAN inability to balance commerce with public service remains a dark spot.

 

It should be noted that the National Broadcasting Commission, (NBC) was established in 1992 by Decree No 38 of 1992. The Decree empowered the Commission among others to advice FG on the implementation of the National Mass Communication Policy.

Today,   with some 33,071 television stations in the world backed with 193million hours broadcast, Nigeria has about 120 TV stations with some 96 networks belonging to the NTA. There are some 50 newspapers across the country and a countless chain of online media. There are some 625 broadcast stations in Nigeria. Only recently, President Buhari gave licenses to 159 new Radio stations.

 

Today, the print and electronic media have become the most dominant sources of information that influence the actions and inactions of Nigerians and also shape the past, present and future of the country. In Nigeria, about 40 percent of the people have access to TV in their homes while over 150million Nigerians have access to radio either through their phones, their radio sets or in their car. The radio is the most influential means of communication in Nigeria.

 

The Role of the Media is Democracy and Good Governance.

Governing a country is largely dependent on conception, distribution and interpretation of information by the people. Information dissemination shapes the form of stability, instability and sustainable development.

 

For more than a century, the Nigerian media has shaped the future of the country. The impact has been more positive than negative. The media has continued to set socio-political agenda for the country. The media on many occasions have come under vicious attacks from the state. During the era of military dictatorship, the media was a target. The media did not flinch. The media was one of the few bastions against tyranny and human rights abuses at a very great cost.  In the years that succeeded independence, the media took up the battle against the military which ran and ruined Nigeria between 1966 and 1999 with a democratic interlude between 1979 and 1983. In the 13 years of Gen Ibrahim Babangida’s tyranny, the media were shut down on many occasions, offices ransacked and journalists either were killed or disappeared.

 

The media will therefore continue to stand up to the face of repression, corruption and ineptitude that characterize governance in Nigeria.

 

The character of the Nigerian Media

The next 100 years after 1859, there was no single media owned by the government either print or electronic until the establishment of the WNBS in December 1959 by the Western Nigerian Government.

However, the first radio station in Nigeria was established in Ibadan in 1932 through Radio Diffusion System using wire linked with microphone. Kano followed in 1944. The first private radio station, Raypower was established in 1994 while the first privately registered Television station, Galazy TV, was established in May 1994.

 

The post colonial government also did not establish any flourishing print media until the forceful takeover of Daily Times and later New Nigerian Newspapers by the Military Government. While the Nigerian print media has been driven by private ownership, it is not the case for the broadcast media, until recently. There was no single privately owned TV Station in Nigeria until 1994 and there was no privately owned radio station in Nigeria until 1994.

 

Objectivity, Truth and The Nigerian Media

While journalism has made tremendous contributions to socio-economic and political history of Nigeria, there are challenges that we need to overcome. First, we must realize that the Journalist is a social animal, a human being and an ethnic subject. S(he) is from a particular location in time and space. S(he) naturally  own biases, emotion, feeling, aspiration that reflect culture, faith values and civilization. The temptation of substituting individual consciousness for that of the community is always there. There in the temptation to be subjective.

 

However, the profession of Journalism is to report phenomena without prejudice either personal or collective. The journalist is not working for himself but for the community. Today in Nigeria, one of the major challenges of sustainable development is the drift of journalism from objectivity to subjectivity. In the past one decade, journalism has suffered unprofessional viral infections and ailments that undermine the essence of the profession itself as the fourth Estate of the Realm. There are a number of factors responsible for this which I may not be able to exhaust in this presentation. I wish to state here some of the challenges that threaten the historical and professional obligations of the Nigerian media:

 

Reporting DIVERSITY in Nigeria

With over 180miliion Nigerians, majority of who are poor and vulnerable, the media need to design an interventionist framework that allows voices from the valleys to be heard. Some of the diversity issues relate to women, the physically challenged, ethnic minorities, religious minorities, women and children. Increasingly the media space is being dominated by the highbrow political class, the media space is being manipulated by the rich, by the ethnic majority, by religious majority and by the physically able and by men.

 

The media should realise that there are political minorities whose views needed to be heard to enrich the political discourse. In recent events, the media has focused strongly on its own understanding of the ‘big issues’ mainly  reflecting the opinion of influential politicians, high level personalities as if the whole world is all about them. Issues that affect the physically challenged, women, children and the impact of Government policies on vulnerable groups are largely submerged, reported as footnotes, not reported or viewed with contempt.  I provide here a checklist of diversity issues that the media should necessarily address.

 

ETHNICITY

How do we report ethnic issues without reflecting our personal biases? Issues of ethnicity should be reported within the framework of global standards that reflect conventions and treaties of which Nigeria is a signatory, in the absence of national and local laws that strengthen self determination.  For instance, the coverage of self determination activities including those who adopt peaceful means have been largely reported within the context of violence and banditry forgetting about global obligation of Nigeria to the universal Declaration of Human Rights, the ILO convention 169, the convention on biodiversity and the African charter on peoples’ right.

The media portray the issues as ‘banditry, unknown gunmen, hoodlums’ which undermined the very serious issues of self determination, exclusion, weak legal framework, absence of the rule of law, poverty and the growing resistance against over centralisation of power and politics in Nigeria. The media sometimes substitute ethnic consciousness with tribalism, supplants the right to self determination with official statements that emphanise ‘threat to Nigerian unity’ without understanding the importance of justice.

Official statements are sometimes reported without a critical appraised within the purview of human rights and available data. For example, self-determination is protected in the United Nations Charter and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights all of which recognize the right of “all peoples” as contained in  Article 1 of the UN Charter states ‘the right of self determination clearly while in Chapter 1 it also recognizes the integrity of the state. (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights). We cannot discourse or report conflict and violence in Nigeria without a clear understanding of the history of our country, its emergence in 1914 and the various constitutional conferences, the post-colonial administrators who have failed to include the people in determining the nature and form of their constitution which is partly responsible for the crisis we have at hand today.

 

INDIGENIOUS ISSUES AND ENVIRONMENT

This is one of the major issues in Nigeria that demands the correct perspective of the media. Communities across Nigeria are showing deep resentment about the encroachment on their land, the threat to their language, their ancestral values and their heritage. This remains a source of conflict across Nigeria. The media has the historic responsibility to put in proper prospective the position of the indigenous communities and their ingrained fear.

 

The environmental is linked to the survival of the people which is connected to the prospect of peace or instability in Nigeria. Environment has to do with land, resources and spirituality.

 

The UN stated in the book Cultural and Spiritual Values of Biodiversity thus: ‘Spirituality it the highest form of consciousness, and spiritual consciousness is the highest form of awareness. In this sense, a dimension of traditional knowledge is not local knowledge, but knowledge of the universal as expressed in the local. In indigenous and local cultures, experts exist who are peculiarly aware of nature’s organising principles, sometimes described as entities, spirits or natural law. Thus knowledge of the environment depends not only on the relationship between humans and nature, but also between the visible world and the invincible spirit world. ‘Cultural and Spiritual Values of Biodiversity- A complementary Contribution to the Global Biodiversity Assessment-United Nations Environment Programme, (UNEP-By Darell Addison Posey-pg 4, 1999)

 

When reporting the environment and the economy, the media space should not be dominated by corporate institutions, multi-nationals and big time investors and their profit. Equally important are in what ways do their activities negate the livelihood of the indigenous communities, their land, their forest dependency, their spirituality and their language? How does the multi-billion dollar Federal Capital City (FCT) impact on local communities, the indigenous owners of the land? While the media report corporate activities on sustainable bases, the pains of local communities where corporate institutions make their money on a seasonal basis are undermined except when the communities have cultural festivals. Issues of environment should take into cognisance the international framework like the The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) which “is the international legal instrument for the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources” that has been ratified by 196 nations including Nigeria. Recently, the Indigenous Inhabitants of Abuja came out to speak on their agony. Their land was taken away in 1976 with stipend paid as compensation. Today, they are threatening brimstone. We owe Nigerians the obligation to report their travails in historic context with the right perspectives.

 

WOMEN AND YOUTHS

We cannot deny the improvement associated with the rights of Nigerian women in the past decades, but there are many rivers to cross. On paper, Nigeria  lay claim to being committed to women empowerment and there are laws that advance the course of women. But generally, the Nigeria woman remains constantly disempowered. For instance, women are employed as entertainers, cooks, dancers in political rallies. Their participation is used for photo opportunism, while political actors rarely present their actionable programmes on women rights. Politicians conceive of empowerment as giving out crumbs to women, providing cosmetic assistance that does not establish any sustainable and institutionalised policies.

 

The media should be the voice for women and youth empowerment. It should be the leading campaigner for greater inclusion of younger people who are today largely attracted to drugs, alcoholism and have provided a potential pool for constant recruitment by extremist groups. There are reports that some 84% of the newly registered 10.4m voters are young people, between the age of 18-30.

 

As the 2023 general election approaches, younger people have demonstrated their strength. Last year September, young people (18 and 34) recorded 71.33 percent registration out of which 40.63n percent were students. At the end of the last registration exercise, 8,784,677 young people newly registered out of the 12,298,944. Students were 4,501,595 out of the figure. This is an indication that reporting the place of youths in the democratic process is an obligation of the media.

 

Journalism and professional obligations

The journalist either conservative or progressive should discharge duties professionally. This means the journalists must never substitute personal consciousness for the consciousness of the people. The media should understand issues from their historic contexts. You cannot be a good journalist without understanding the history of your country’s political economy and the main actors. You cannot be a good journalist without a good and deep sense of history. You are not a good journalist if the people you are expected to educate are ahead, at all times and more knowledgeable than you are.

 

It means to educate, inform and entertain, the journalist requires constant reading, not just consuming internet information but the journalist must keep the mind open to history, to local and  global information, to the changing dynamics of socio-political economy so that the media actor will be able to properly educate, inform and entertain the people.

 

THREAT TO MEDIA INDEPENDENCE

Political and economy influence. The media ownership in Nigeria is skewed in favour of the rich, those who control the means of production and distribution, who are anxious and even desperate to protect personal interests and provide iron cast class-shield for themselves and their contemporaries. The media is constantly confronted with the desire to balance public interests with corporate and socio-economic and political interests of the ruling class.

 

Increasingly, in Nigeria, politicians, some of who are corrupt are taking over the media space not just as owners but also as managers  The Nigerian state has constantly provided the environment for the domination of media ownership by the affluence glaringly expressed in the form of the high cost of obtaining licenses for either radio or television. The political elite whose actions are expected to be challenged by the media are themselves investing in the media industry.

 

Public Media Institutions as Political instruments

There is also a major challenge in the way publicly owned media are administered. Even though State TV and Radio stations are owned by the public, financed from public funds, they are administered as if they are the private organs of the State Governors and State Officials. The same applies to media institutions owned by the Federal Government. State owned media at the Federal and Local levels fail to provide equitable access to vulnerable communities and the opposition political parties at the state and Federal levels.

 

Economic Meltdown

The media also faces sustained threats from economic depression which affects many publishers. Today, only very few media institutions pay sustainable wages while majority of them owe their workers. The consequences are high inter-labour mobility, brain drain, lack of access to working tools, low morale and diminishing interests of young graduates in journalism as a profession.  

 

The State, Terrorism and Free Speech

The media also faces increasing threats from intolerant regimes at the local and national levels which come in the form of arbitrary arrests, detention and even threats to life. The recent case is that of Mr Omoyele Sowore, the publisher of Sahara Reporters who has been grounded in Nigeria by the Nigerian state since his arbitrary arrest in 2019. These are also tricks devised to subdue free speech.

Apart from state sponsored attacks, the media is facing threats from mushrooming armed gangs, terrorists and bandits who recently have made the media their targets. With a state that cannot even protect her own top officials, how can such a state protect ordinary citizens?

 

Summary of What Agenda the Media Should set?

·        The responsibility of the media is to set agenda for peace and stability, sustainable development and livelihood based on truth, the rule of law and objectivity.

·        Set agenda for content and form of governance which includes but not limited to Environmental, economic, political and cultural issues.

·        The media should set agenda for reporting diversity, ethnic minorities, the national question, terrorism in historic context without overlooking the class variables. The media should not only deepen the debate but also enrich it.

·        The media should set agenda for the drastic reduction of corruption, electoral violence, work for ethnic conflict prevention and peace building.

·        The media should set agenda for the physically unable and the challenges they face in assessing polling booths, politics, power and the dividends of democracy.

·        Women and Gender issues

·        Youth political and economic empowerment while challenging under-aged voting, exclusion and ensure electoral accountability.

·        The administration of public media institutions to reflect the content and form of ownership.

·        Corruption in the electoral process. This is a major challenge for the media.

·        The Media should constructively engage the political aspirants not for the purpose of advertising their programmes but for the purpose of engaging them on their policies.

 

What is to be done?

·        In countering the offensive from repressive institutions and violent non state actors,  the media needs a very strong vision not only for collective action but for joint campaign for freedom, justice and media right.

·        The pro-media rights groups, the Nigerian Union of Journalists, (NUJ) need to strengthen their capacity, network with traditional allies like the Nigerian Labour Congress, (NLC) for collective democratic bargaining.

·        Training of journalists should be the kernel focus of all media institutions. Veterans should be engaged to share experiences with the younger generation of media practitioners.

·        Civil society groups should invest in media ownership to stop the monopoly of the media stake-holding by the political class.

 

As Nigerian trudges on through exceptionally tough and delicate terrain, the media should rise to the occasion to confront corruption, mismanagement of public resources, moral decline and ineptitude in high and low places. We do this not just for the society but also to the sake of the very foundation laid by the fathers of journalism, free speech and democracy in Nigeria. Ultimately,  a media that condones the errors of those in power end up as victims of the vicious system they nurture and promote.

 

Thank you

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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12 Sep

2023 ELECTIONEERING ACTIVITIES: ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS, DEMANDING SMART DELIVERABLES

(Being a remark presented at the “a day capacity building workshop for civil society organizations and media executives” organized by the Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL) on Tuesday 30 August 2022 at Rights House, 43, Adeniyi Jones Avenue, Off Oba Akran, Ikeja, Lagos State)

Protocols

I am delighted to be here, representing my Principal, Mr. Akinbode Oluwafemi, the Executive Director of the Corporate Accountability and Public participation Africa (CAPPA)  at this occasion organized by the Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL) to build the capacity of civil society and the media in Lagos State towards achieving the goal of bolstering support for anti-corruption and social inclusion among critical groups and strengthening policies and programs for anti-corruption at the state level as the country prepares for elections in 2023.

No doubt, the 2023 general elections will be a defining moment for Nigeria. If done right, the elections can help consolidate Nigeria’s democracy and serve as a shiny example for the West African sub-region which faces the grim reality of a recrudescence of usurpation of power by the military and other anti-democratic forces [1]’[2],[3].

Hence, this kind of initiative undertaken by CACOL is essential to help build citizens’ civic awareness of their civic obligations and capacity to engage critical stakeholders to ensure not only the integrity of the elections but also to guarantee that the government that emerges from this exercise work for the public good.  Right from its birthplace in Ancient Athens, democracy has always been underpinned and undergirded by citizens’ participation. Therefore, the health of every democracy is directly proportional to the quality of citizens’ participation and awareness. This is why I am particularly elated by the topic of my presentation which talks about “asking the right questions” and “demanding SMART deliverables”.

Nigeria’s democracy is marked by a gross deficit of governance[4],[5] Over the years, the performance of elected public officials has been seen to be below not citizens’ expectations. Also, campaign promises are rarely fulfilled once politicians are in power. This situation has led to widespread dissatisfaction and distrust in the political system. A study undertaken by the Pew Research Centre in 2019 found that “Only 39% of Nigerians are satisfied with the way democracy is working in their country, while 60% say they are not satisfied. Almost six-in-ten (59%) say the statement “elected officials care what ordinary people think” does not describe their country well. In addition, a 57% majority believes that no matter who wins an election, things do not change very much for people in Nigeria”[6]

Asking the right questions

A major factor responsible for unsatisfactory governance outcomes is the lack of productive engagement between the electorate and the political parties and their candidates. Instead of asking the right questions, many voters prefer to settle for inducement and other largesse politicians provide during campaigns. PVCs have now turned into means of earning free money during elections instead of a powerful tool for making transformative changes. Hence, voter inducement was widespread during the recent off-cycle gubernatorial elections in Ekiti and Osun states[7],[8]. For the poorest of the poor in Nigeria, election day is an opportunity to earn enough to cook a pot of soup rather than a day to define the destiny of the nation. No doubt, this is a sad commentary on the state of democracy in Nigeria.

However, while poverty may explain electorates’ predisposition to inducement, several studies show that many citizens also lack the requisite knowledge to engage political actors. For citizens to ask the right questions, they need to be informed, organized, and active. They also must be equipped with the requisite knowledge “to make decisions about policy choices and the proper use of authority, along with skills to voice their concerns, act collectively and hold public officials accountable”[9].

For the purpose of this engagement, I have identified six (6) broad categories of questions citizens must always ask candidates and elected public officials. These are:

(1)   What is to be done? What are the issues?

 

(2)   How will it be done? i.e., budgeting process, mode of implementation (Public, privatization, or PPP), contract system, or public works? (Lekki Epe Tollgate)

 

(3)   Who will pay for it? i.e., will it lead to increased taxation? (E.g. Tollgates for New Roads)

 

(4)   Who will it serve or benefit? i.e., the rich, the poor, etc. (for instance, ultra-modern markets and housing estates which are often built at the expense of the poor and to which they have no access)

 

(5)   How will it extend to the next generation i.e., sustainability, does it come with usurious debt that will affect the next generation? Is it environmental-friendly?

 

(6)   How will women, youth, and other vulnerable segments of society be affected?

Obviously, the above six (6) categories do not exhaust the subject, nevertheless, they can provide an important framework for citizens to engage candidates and elected officials in order to make informed electoral choices.

SMART Deliverables

The acronym “SMART” stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound. It refers to specific criteria to guide in the setting of goals and objectives for better results. The term “SMART” was first proposed by George T. Doran in the November 1981 issue of Management Review[10]. Particularly in the field of project management, the idea is that every project goal must adhere to the SMART criteria to be effective[11]. Therefore, when planning a project’s objectives, each one should be:

(1)   Specific: The goal should target a specific area of improvement or answer a specific need

(2)   Measurable: The goal must be quantifiable, or at least allow for measurable progress

(3)   Attainable: The goal should be realistic, based on available resources and existing constraints

(4)   Relevant: The goal should align with other business objectives to be considered worthwhile

(5)   Time-bound: The goal must have a deadline or defined end

What are SMART goals?

(1)   Specific

The goal should target a specific area of improvement or answer a specific need. Because it is the first step in the SMART goal process, it is important to be as clear as possible. For example, note the difference between “I will make lunch” and “I will use wheat toast, peanut butter, and strawberry jam to create a tasty sandwich for myself to eat”. See how specific it is? This example also illustrates the importance of word choice. Not only are you noting which ingredients or tools will be used to achieve the final goal, but you are also articulating who benefits. Details like these color your goal description, making it easier for collaborators to visualize and align intentions with your project.

(2)   Measurable

The goal must be quantifiable, or at least allow for measurable progress. In this step, you’ll choose what your progress markers or project KPIs are and how you’ll measure them. This might mean adopting the right tools or restructuring your KPI’s to something that you can easily monitor. You’ll also need to define who is in charge of measuring your progress, when these measurements will take place, and where the information will be shared.

(3)   Attainable

The goal should be realistic and based on available resources and existing constraints. Typical project constraints include team bandwidth, budgets, and timelines. Project managers should look to data from similar past projects for insight into what’s achievable this time around.

(4)   Relevant

The goal should align with other business objectives to be considered worthwhile. You can also break your project goal down into smaller, equally relevant goals that will keep the whole team focused. Be diligent about eliminating irrelevant goals and subgoals to save significant time.

(5)   Time-bound

The goal must have a deadline or a defined end. This can be measured in hours and minutes, business days, or years depending on the project scope. To set your project timelines, get feedback from major stakeholders about their deadline expectations, and compare it to team members’ inputs.

How does it relate to citizen engagement of political actors?

The SMART criteria provide a framework for engaging political actors whether they are candidates or elected public officials. Oftentimes, politicians make outlandish pronouncements and promise that they do not intend to implement. Sometimes, a newly elected public official announces they are unable to fulfill campaign promises because of the state of finance of the government they have just been elected to lead. By using the SMART criteria, citizens and electorates can be armed with a tool for productive engagement and for making informed political choices, and demanding accountability.

Therefore, SMART deliverables can be defined as a set of government priorities and projects that meets the criteria of specificity, measurability, and attainability and that are relevant and time bound. For example, in the area of public education, citizens must demand government projects or programmes that are:

(1)   Specific: How many school buildings will be renovated or built anew and how many students are targeted to be enrolled? How many new teachers need to be recruited?

(2)   Measurable: How will the project be implemented, how much will it cost and what are the Key Performance Indicators?

(3)   Attainability: What is the status of the resources of the state? How will the project be funded?

(4)   Relevance: What are the present level of school enrollment and the condition of school infrastructures and how does this project align with the overall objective of the state.

(5)   Time-Bound: How long will this project last? Is it within the financial year or within the four-year tenure?

 

 

Conclusion

I do hope that I have within the limited time available been able to increase our awareness and knowledge of the tool and skills to engage and promote active citizen participation in the political process. Obviously, these discussions and engagements are so crucial and therefore ought to continue beyond the 2023 general elections. Once again, I thank CACOL for inviting me and hope for greater collaboration between CAPPA and CACOL in the effort to promote anti-corruption, social inclusion, and accountability in governance and political processes.

Thank you

 

Zikora Ibeh

Policy and Research Lead

Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa

 

 

 

 

[1] https://theconversation.com/why-west-africa-has-had-so-many-coups-and-how-to-prevent-more-176577

[2] https://guardian.ng/news/four-coups-in-west-africa-leave-doubts-over-return-to-democracy/

[3] https://fragilestatesindex.org/2022/07/08/breaking-the-cycle-military-coups-in-west-africa/

[4] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2158244019865810

[5]https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269751287_Democratic_Deficit_and_Political_Economy_of_Critical_Citizenry_Nigeria_in_Perspective

[6] https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/02/12/as-elections-near-nigerians-view-their-countrys-economy-and-political-system-negatively/

[7] https://dailypost.ng/2022/07/15/osun-2022-a-scramble-road-through-vote-trading/

[8] https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2022/06/26/vote-buying-and-credibility-of-ekiti-governorship-election/

[9] https://www.ndi.org/what-we-do/citizen-participation

[10] Doran, G. T. (1981). “There’s a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management’s goals and objectives”. Management Review. 70 (11): 35–36)

[11] https://www.wrike.com/project-management-guide/faq/what-is-smart-in-project-management/

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2 Aug

CACOL CONDEMNS ATTACK ON OSUN LABOUR PARTY GOVERNORSHIP CANDIDATE’S RESIDENCE

The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, CACOL has condemned in strong terms the attack by some assailants on the residence of the Labour Party Candidate for the July 16 Osun governorship poll, Mr. Lasun Yusuf, located in Ilobu, Osun State.

 

In a release issued by CACOL and signed by Tola Oresanwo, the anti-corruption organization’s Director of Administration and Programmes on behalf of its Chairman, Mr. Debo Adeniran, he stated, “We received the sad news of the attack of the residence of the Labour Party Candidate for the July 16 Osun governorship poll, Mr. Lasun Yusuf with great shock. It would be recalled that some yet-to-be-identified people bearing arms have reportedly attacked the residence of the Labour Party candidate for the July 16 Osun governorship poll, Mr. Lasun Yusuf, located in Ilobu, Osun State. It was reported that, when the attackers could not gain entrance into the building, they fired shots from outside the premises, aiming at the upper floor of the storey building where bedrooms are, and shattered the aluminum windows.

 

In as much as the true intent of the assailants is not yet known, it will not be wrong to think that the attack may be politically motivated. The Lasun Yusuf that we know doesn’t appear to us as a violent person who can be a threat to the wellbeing of any other candidate. He has been in the national assembly for years and we didn’t hear any report of him attacking anybody physically or even verbally. So he is not a threat to anybody’s welfare, so whoever carried out the attack doesn’t seem to mean well for the good people of Osun state and its politics.

 

“We have a very strong view that politics should be a family game whereby all the contestants will see themselves as one another’s keeper. We also believe that the candidates contesting the gubernatorial elections in the state should compete under a peaceful atmosphere devoid of violent attack at one another. We believed that it should be a contest of intellect and capacity to deliver, not a capacity to foment trouble since what they are competing to do is governance not war”.

 

The Chairman further remarked, “Whoever wins the forthcoming election still remains a citizen of Osun state and the same applies to whoever loses and they should cooperate in developing the state rather than engaging in any form of violent attack”.

 

“We are still amazed at the manner of political desperation that could warrant this kind of attack on the residence of one of the gubernatorial candidates in Osun state. We hereby express optimism that the Police will rise to the occasion by investigating this case and bring the perpetrators of this heinous crime to book and hope such elements would desist from their evil ways before they inevitably meet with their waterloo.”

 

Tola Oresanwo

Director, Administration and Programmes, CACOL

08141121208

 

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noimage 1 Aug

CACOL ON ICPC’s RAID OF ABUJA PROPERTY BELONGING TO MILITARY CONTRACTOR

The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, CACOL, has reacted to the recent raid of an Abuja property belonging to a military contractor for alleged money laundering by officials of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

In a release issued by CACOL’s Director of Administration and Programmes, Tola Oresanwo, on behalf of the Centre’s Chairman, Mr. Debo Adeniran, he noted, “The recent report about the raid on an Abuja property, is one that is bound to generate a measure of public comments and interests, due primarily to the kind of society we have inadvertently turned Nigeria into overtime and because it is coming at a time like this when the game of politics is being played all over the country.

However, crime has no other name, especially when it bothers on financial impropriety which we all agree is single handedly responsible for the downward socioeconomic situation of things we are facing today, as a country. This is why we need to commend the sense of responsibility, promptness and due diligence with which the ICPC responded to this case.

Although the Commission has come out to say the investigation is still ongoing, facts available for the time being indicate that the property is owned by the owner of K Salam Construction Company, a military contractor. From the raid, the Commission recovered money and other items from the property namely: N175,706,500; $220,965; G-Wagon; 2022 editions of BMW and Mercedes Benz cars; customized mobile phones; several designer wrist watches, including three Rolexes, and some property documents. Operatives of the Commission also arrested the Managing Director of K Salam Construction Company Nigeria Limited, Mr. Kabiru Sallau.

“We at CACOL would like to implore the anti-graft agency to intensify its investigation into the case involving this military contractor and come out to tell the Nigerian populace the gospel truth about it. We would like to know if truly the company is associated with anyone currently serving or who has served in government. It is a known fact that impunity and the ability to engage in crime without being punished are largely responsible for the current sorry state the nation has found itself. We believe that it is the moral duty of all Nigerians to be well informed and acquainted in cases such as this. We have always posited that the issue of corruption is too weighty to be swept under the carpet, irrespective of whose ox is gored”.

Tola Oresanwo

Director, Administration and Programmes, CACOL

cacolc@yahoo.com

08141121208

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