Politics
INEC Needs Education – Amb George
As Rivers State elector
ate prepare to go to the polls to conclude the legislative re-run elections on July 30, 2016, the National Secretary General of the Universal Peace Builders Association, the body that runs the Ambassadors of Peace Corps, Ambassador Isaac George, gives tips for a peaceful exercise and related matters in this interview. He spoke with Opaka Dokubo in Port Harcourt.
Excerpts:
What has your association been doing in Rivers State?
Unfortunately, we have not been supported by government but, here and there, well-meaning, peace loving people have been supporting our progammes. We have programmes for the youths, we have programmes for couples, we have programmes for singles as well. Every Saturday, we organise workshops on family values to educate the entire populace on the need for peace. Our education is centred on conflict prevention because prevention is far cheaper than resolution. But whereby we could not control it and conflict erupts, then we go into resolution.
Give and assessment of the environment in Rivers State from your background.
The environment is tensed and the federal government has not made matters any better. Mr president should take everyone, whether you voted for him or not, as his son and daughter because he his now the leader of this nations. God has put him there to be the leader, so he must see everybody from God’s perspective and not see wayward children and try to condemn them and say”, I will deal with you, we will exterminate them,” or we will do all kinds of things to you. But he should be able to call them and say “my children, what’s your problem? Let’s talk.” Then he’ll get to understand where they’re coming from and they will also understand his own position.
There’s no time in human history where violence has solved any problem. No matter how prolonged the violence may be, they ultimately go to a round table to resolve conflicts.
What have you found as the causes of conflict situation?
People have been deprived for so long of their basic means of living and when you disposes anybody of what his fundamental rights are, … By right we are supposed to control the resources we find here but government will be involved in the control of the resources in the sense that government knows that we are not going to cheat government and we pay appropriate tax. But whereby somebody comes and gets the oil blocks, gets all the allocation and walks away, the people are improvised. Definitely, they will stand up one day because they will get to a point where they cannot return anymore and they will want to fight they way they’re fighting.
Do you see politics playing any role in this situation?
The founder of my NGO said that there’s no legislation that can bring about peace. Peace, as Kofi Anan said, will come one day at a time, one person at a time. Our founder also said that we must be educated in order to be able to take responsibility for peace. If I own peace and you own peace, them we will never fight over anything because everybody will be contented, everybody will be happy with the environment and with one another.
Right now, the environment is so polluted. In some communities, I saw on television the other day, people can’t even have water to drink, their children can’t even go to school, they’re displaced because of crisis and all of that. So government should be able to support NGOs, like us so that we can put out messages that touch the heart. And then, if government makes a deliberate policy whereby peace, character education, family values will be taught from the primary school so that children who are five years old today, by the time they get to thirty years and they keep hearing such words of peace and they are living for the sake of one another, they will not digress from that.
The Bible clearly says that “teach the child the way to go and when he is old, he will not digress from that. But right now, it is when we become politicians or when we become public figures that we talk about peace and all of that. We ourselves that are talking about the peace don’t have the ingredients of peace.
We are going into another round of rerun elections in Rivers State and we need peace. What have we been doing wrong and how do we get it right?
Some of the things we’ve done wrong is that basically, we’ve not had proper education – education on how to live with one another, education on how to be peaceful yourself because you cannot give what you don’t have. Peace has to come from the heart. Once there’s love in the heart, peace will naturally follow.
UNESCO says that since the construction of wars begins in the heart, the defence of peace should also start in the heart. So the heart is the problem. If we take the responsibility to educate every heart from age four, age five, by the time that generation grows up to be 30,40,50 years, peace must have come to this environment because everybody will be living for t he sake of the state and the state will be living for everybody.
The governor gets there and he knows that he cannot enrich himself, he has gotten there to be able to live for the sake of the people and in return, the people will live for his sake. That’s how peace can quickly come.
What do we do about the situation that we have to remedy now?
It still boils down to education. We need to create a culture of peace. A culture of peace simply means that we’re educated even before we go to hold political positions even if it’s a two-moths or three-months education. Once you pick up your form that you want to contest any public office, you should go through a two-months or three-months governance training, leadership training, peace training, inter-faith training so that when you get there, something in your subconscious will be telling you “No you cannot do this, this is wrong , this is right.”
What has happened over the years is that some people have decided to ignore their conscience because the conscience is always telling us what is right and what is wrong and some of us have decided to totally ignore the conscience. We only start regretting after we’ve done so many evil things. So, education is the key thing – education of the heart.
Even within this short period to the elections, a one-week educational programme will go a long way. It may not totally eradicate whatever ugly incidents that may happen in the elections but it will reduce it considerably. The target should be the youths. If we give the youths character education now, their conscience will be pricked. They will not want to go the direction of the politicians and so on. They will say where are your own children or we don’t want to destroy the state or we don’t want to kill innocent souls. So, even a one-week education to the youths from age 17 to 35 will go a long way.
Are you by any chance asking for support for your organisation to embark on this campaign?
No, not only my organisation. There are so many organsiations, there are so many peace NGOs and if government can reach out to us and we all come together and put heads together, it will do a lot of good particularly for this election and then if it’s a continuous thing whereby in the school curriculum, in the primary school, in the secondary school and even in the university we have this kind of education.
In fact, I was so happy when I heard that in some universities, they’ve started taking peace studies. In a nation like Costa Rica they have a whole university called the United Nations Peace University. What do they do there? They brainstorm on how peace can come to that particular nation and then how it can also be exported to other parts of the world. So, if government buys into this sensitization programme, we can organize a one week education and sensitisation programme on the need for peace during the election, on the need to live for the nation.
What message do you have for stakeholders in this election?
INEC also needs this kind of education we’re talking about because we have to be conscientised, everyone of us, whether you’re INEC, whether you’re police. In the election, INEC is like a father and umpire, they’re the ones guiding us. They have more critical role to play in terms of educating their staff on leadership, on good governance, on peace and all of that.
The police should also see themselves as fathers and mediators. As mediators, you have to be fair to every party and you don’t have to get your emotions involved. So they also need the kind of education that will position them to truly mediate. Essentially, education on family values will help everyone.
Anything else society in general stands to benefit if you get desired support and encouragement?
One of our flagship programmes is the Ambassadors for Peace Corps. Our founder said most of the problems in the world are actually created by educated people, so if we reach educated people with peace education, with character education and family values, even though they’re above 35 years old, it will go a long way. Each family should take responsibility for their family in the sense that the family should own peace.
Our founder says that every family should become a peaceful family. So if the father, mother take responsibility for peace, their children will naturally follow. That’s why the government and other corporate bodies need to empower NGOs to be able to educate families and we need to introduce family education in our educational institutions.
In this regard, do you think the church is not doing enough?
The truth is that the church needs to do more, the church is not doing enough. So we’re also calling on the spiritual fathers of the state, of the nation, of the community to do more because they are supposed to give spiritual guidance. Peace is a spiritual thing. It is not a political thing. It is not a physical thing whereby you can pass a legislation… No legislation can bring peace. So, peace must be blended into spiritual matters and that way, we will be able to get the right leadership.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has begun deploying non-sensitive materials to the zones as it prepares for the 2027 general election.
Acting Chairman of the commission, Prof. Rhoda Gumus, disclosed this in Abuja, yesterday at a bench-marking meeting with a delegation of Kenya’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
“Right now, all non-sensitive materials are almost ready. In fact, today as we speak here, the non-sensitive materials have been lifted to some zones now,” Gumus said.
She said the commission had completed nine of its scheduled activities and was preparing for the next phase.
“We are preparing for the election next year and we have activities lined up. So far, we have been able to complete nine activities and we are still preparing for the next level of activities,” she said.
Gumus said the commission’s leadership had just concluded a tour of the country’s six zones to assess their level of preparedness.
“The purpose was to go round the zones to see how prepared we are, assess what the zones have put in place, their challenges and what to do. We concluded last week and we can see from our tour that we are really going towards the election proper,” she said.
On Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), the acting chairman said production had been completed and distribution to the states was well advanced.
“As of today, we can say that PVCs have been produced and the first, second batches, most of the states have received them. Their PVC collection is ongoing. All those who are supposed to be the voters are supposed to receive their PVCs, and if they don’t have them, it is also another challenge,” Gumus said.
She added that capacity building was under way for staff at the headquarters and in the states, and that the procurement and deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System BVAS devices were also ongoing.
On diaspora voting, Gumus said the commission could not proceed for now because the law did not provide for it.
“Here, because we go by the law, in our electoral law, it is not included there, so we cannot go on for the diaspora voting for now until we amend the electoral law,” she said.
The acting chairman said the commission had arranged for its directors to hold an interactive session with the Kenyan team and present papers on the work of their departments.
Leading the delegation, the Kenyan High Commissioner to Nigeria, Isaac Parashina, said the IEBC team was in Nigeria to benchmark ahead of Kenya’s general election in August 2027.
He said the team was studying how Nigeria handled its diaspora population and special voting groups, as Kenya sought to widen voting rights for citizens living abroad.
“Currently we have about 12 of them who voted in the last general election, but there is intention to expand to around, I think, 26,” Parashina said, referring to the countries where Kenyans abroad vote.
He said the expansion was a constitutional requirement backed by Kenyan court rulings, and would be enforced progressively.
Parashina said Nigeria’s election, which he noted would come in two rounds, would be closely watched across Africa.
“Everyone is looking at what Nigeria will do because it is the biggest democracy in Africa. The success of Nigeria remains a great success to Kenya and indeed to the continent,” he added.
The High Commissioner thanked INEC for receiving the team despite a tight schedule and wished the commission success.
Governor Douye Diri has set a target of at least one million votes for President Bola Tinubu in Bayelsa State in the 2027 presidential election, while charging the newly inaugurated All Progressives Congress (APC) State Campaign Council to prioritise reconciliation, party unity and collective electoral mobilisation.
Governor Diri gave the charge at the inauguration of the 20-member campaign council at the APC secretariat in Yenagoa, where he warned that internal divisions could undermine the party’s efforts to secure victory for President Tinubu and other candidates at the federal and state levels.
Governor Diri urged party members who were not appointed to the council to support its activities by taking the APC’s message to communities, wards and polling units across the state.
He specifically charged the campaign team to mobilise at least one million votes for President Tinubu, arguing that Bayelsa’s voting strength had increased and should be reflected in the 2027 election results.
“I give you a target that in Bayelsa, we must not bring less than one million votes for Mr President. You are going to campaign, and you have a lot to talk about the President. He has done so much for our people,” the governor said.
He listed the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, the second phase of the Nembe-Brass Road, interventions in the power sector, federal appointments for Bayelsa indigenes and the establishment of the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy among the achievements the campaign should present to voters.
The governor particularly praised President Tinubu for the coastal highway project, arguing that it reflected federal attention to the development needs of coastal communities.
“No president, alive or dead, has remembered the coastal people and coastal states to say let us do this signature project from Lagos to Calabar. The first president to think about it is Bola Tinubu, and those were the demands of the Ijaw people,” he said.
Governor Diri also expressed hope that a second term for President Tinubu would provide an opportunity to advance demands for fiscal federalism, greater resource control and state policing, which he described as longstanding aspirations of the Niger Delta.
He said the President had shown indications of addressing some of the demands of younger Nigerians and argued that re-election would allow the administration to consolidate its reforms.
The governor further cautioned campaigners against personal attacks and abusive exchanges with political opponents, insisting that the APC should focus its campaign on issues, policies and achievements.
The governor’s mobilisation directive comes amid criticism from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which has questioned his commitment to President Tinubu’s re-election campaign, alleging that APC campaign billboards erected across Yenagoa promote other party candidates without featuring the President.
The PDP, through its Publicity Secretary, Mr Ikaebimo Mark, said the billboards showed Governor Diri urging voters to support APC candidates for the National Assembly and State House of Assembly elections without identifying President Tinubu as the party’s presidential candidate.
Mr Mark described the omission as an indication that the governor was not fully aligned with the APC’s national leadership.
“When we said that the governor, Senator Douye Diri, is not supporting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, we knew exactly what we were saying. Now Governor Douye Diri has erected APC campaign billboards across Bayelsa State without Tinubu’s picture. He is even afraid to associate himself with the photograph of the presidential candidate of his own party. How can this governor claim to be supporting President Tinubu?” he said.
The PDP, however, maintained that the governor’s public campaign posture raised questions about his commitment to the President’s re-election bid. Its allegation over the billboards now places the issue of the relationship between the state APC leadership and the party’s national campaign among the political questions likely to feature in Bayelsa’s preparations for 2027.
The PDP’s allegation has introduced a fresh political dimension to the APC’s preparations in Bayelsa, even as Governor Diri publicly called on party leaders and members to close ranks and mobilise support for all its candidates.
“Every person picked as a member of this campaign council was carefully scrutinised. I want to tell you that our campaign team is loaded. We parade the best candidates among all the parties in Bayelsa State, and there is no doubt about that,” he said.
He urged members to remain focused and united, warning that political opponents could exploit any divisions within the party.
“Our unity is very important because they would want to feast on our disunity. We will not give them that opportunity. Please, as you carry out this assignment, do not take your eyes off the target,” Hon. Ogoriba said.
SP Edafe explained that during the meeting, the organisers were briefed on the identified security threats and advised against embarking on an open-road procession.
Instead, the police reportedly recommended that the political activities be conducted at a designated venue where adequate security arrangements could be provided.
However, the Command alleged that the organisers disregarded the security advice and proceeded with the road procession.
Meanwhile, the Delta State Government has condemned the political violence that erupted in Asaba, the state capital, on Saturday, confirming that one person was killed while four others sustained serious injuries.
The government described the incident as unfortunate and unacceptable, warning political parties and their supporters against actions capable of threatening public peace, security and democratic participation in the state.
In a statement issued by the Commissioner for Works (Rural Roads) and Public Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu, the government reiterated its zero tolerance for political violence, intimidation and other forms of political misconduct.
Mr Aniagwu said the government had repeatedly cautioned political parties against engaging in activities capable of disrupting the peace, insisting that the incident could have been avoided if the organisers had followed security advice.
According to him, the police had advised the organisers to cancel the proposed street march and instead conduct their political campaign at a designated venue where adequate security arrangements could be provided.
He expressed concern that the advice was allegedly disregarded, resulting in a confrontation that claimed one life and left four other people seriously injured.
The government subsequently called on the police to conduct a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the violence and ensure that anyone found culpable is brought to justice.
Mr Aniagwu further warned that the state government would not tolerate politically motivated attacks against any individual, regardless of political affiliation.
He maintained that Delta State remained safe for residents and visitors, stressing that the government would not allow the actions of individuals or groups to undermine the prevailing peace and security in the state.
The government also urged political parties, their leaders and supporters to conduct their political activities within the confines of the law and demonstrate respect for human life, public order and the rights of other citizens.
The latest development follows an attack on supporters of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) during a political procession in Asaba, which reportedly left several participants injured and campaign vehicles vandalised.
The government’s condemnation comes amid growing concerns over political violence and the safety of opposition supporters as political activities intensify ahead of the 2027 general elections.
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