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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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Meditating Mood 27 May

NYSC CERTIFICATE SCANDAL: CACOL CALLS FOR RESIGNATION AND IMMEDIATE PROSECUTION OF STELLA ODUAH

The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, CACOL, has challenged the lawmaker representing Anambra-North senatorial district, Stella Oduah to resign if she cannot respond to the allegation of perjury leveled against her.
CACOL, in a statement signed by the group’s Director of Administration and Programmes, Tola Oresanwo on behalf of its Chairman, Debo Adeniran said, “It is no longer news that Stella Oduah did not complete the mandatory National Youth Service. In a letter by the Director-General of the NYSC which was signed on his behalf by the Director, Press and Public Relations, Eddy Megwa, the agency said Oduah commenced her NYSC programme in 1982 but absconded. The letter was in response to an inquiry by a group known as the Concerned Anambra North PDP Stakeholders.

It was reported that in her CF001 forms submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission in 2019, Oduah claimed that she completed her NYSC but her certificate was missing along with other credentials. An affidavit she deposed to read in part, “Sometime in 2010 while in transit from Akili Ozizor in Ogbaru local government area to Abuja, I discovered that some of my personal belongings were missing. “The missing documents are the originals of my West African School Certificate of 1978 from Zixon Secondary School Ozubulu, First School Leaving Certificate from St. John Odoakpu Onitsha; Bachelor of Science in Business Administration Certificate 1982 from St. Paul’s College Lawrence Virginia USA; National Youth Service Corps certificate 1983, national identity card, United States of America Social Security card with numbers in it.”

If she absconded from service where on earth did she see the NYSC certificate she claimed and swore on oath that is missing? Did she print the certificate by herself? Did she lie on oath? This even to a layman is known as perjury.
The CACOL Head further stated that, “What should not be encouraged, under any guise, is a reign of impunity as the country steers towards consolidation of its democratic culture. This scandal in which Mrs Stella Oduah is currently enmeshed is another major, monumental and massive disgrace not only to the hallowed chamber of the Senate where she is currently representing her constituency but to the country at large.

“It is saddening to note that it’s fast becoming a norm for public office holders and representatives of the people to parade fake credentials and with brazen arrogance and confidence still go ahead to swear on oath with bogus credentials in their possession. Although, we know that a Federal High Court had already ruled that possessing an NYSC certificate was not a condition for holding public office but what happened in a situation whereby the person lied on oath”.
“We at CACOL hereby call on the leadership of the People’s Democratic Party, headed by Senator Iyorchia Ayu, to immediately disqualify Oduah who has been screened to contest in the primary from contesting”.

“We also want to implore our election monitoring body, INEC, to intensify the process of screening political aspirants before they are cleared to contest elections. A joint and collaborative effort of all the security agencies would have helped to nip a national embarrassment like this in the bud”.

“Our current situation as a nation demands that public officers and representatives of the people should be seen to be above board and not people who are inclined to crime. It is in this regard that we, therefore, call on the lawmaker representing Anambra-North senatorial district, Stella Oduah to resign with immediate effect and we are also calling on the anti-graft agencies to start her prosecution without further delay”.

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