Friday 30 March 2012

Presentation by Innocent Chukwuma, Executive Director, CLEEN Foundation
at the Centre for the Study of African Economies, (CSAE), Oxford University, March 16, 2012

Introduction
·         Welcome your invitation and opportunity to share your perspectives on law and order situation in Nigeria.
·         Thank Dr. Cheeseman of CSAE for inviting you and framing the topic.
·         Stress that neither the law nor the social order it tries to reinforce and maintain in Nigeria is in the overall interest of the overwhelming majority of Nigerians who are poor and vulnerable. Give examples of where the law and maintenance of it have short-changed the people.
·         Note that this inherent contradiction predates Nigeria’s independence and it’s at the root and heart of rising insecurity in the country as there is simply no incentive for the poor to be part of law and order maintenance in the country.
·         Inform that other jurisdictions have done a better job at managing the contradictions in society by improving state capacity to respond through a medley of carrot and stick approaches.
·         Note however that in Nigeria, we have spentmuch more time on nation building than we have on state building.
·         Highlight that the consequence is that the ability of the state to respond to situations that seriously threaten law and order is consistently suspect due to legitimacy, accountability and capability deficits.

Focus of Presentation
Stress that the theme of the presentation is a broad canvass that allows you to focus on what you really want to talk about. Inform however that it would be deemed a misuse of time if you fail to dwell in some ways on the Boko insurgency in the north, militancy in the delta and of course the Occupy Nigeria protest in January, which were and still are major law and order challenges in the country.

Inform that you would like to structure the presentation through attempting to answer five questions around the three trending topics and after invite the audience to disagree, agree, comment or ask questions, which would hopefully make the discussion a lively and participatory one.

The questions are:

·         In what ways is the Boko Haram insurgency different from the other law and other challenges we have experienced in recent years in Nigeria, such as Niger delta militancy and OPC activities in the Southwest?

·         How has the mainstream media and commentators presented and analysed the group’s attacks?


·         What has been the response of stakeholders in government and civil society to the insurgency?

·         What are the missing links?


·         What difference did the occupy Nigeria protests in January 2012 make?

Inform that you would begin with the first question.


       I.            Differences between Boko Haram and others
Begin by noting that to many commentators, especially those in the south, Boko Haram is simply a northern equivalent of OPC activities in the 90s and Niger Delta militancy in the early 2000, aimed at attracting power back to the north by making the country ungovernable and forcing president Jonathan to hand over to their political elite.

Observe that a closer look at the groups and the goals they claim to pursue indicate that they differ from these other groups much more than they seem similar:

a)     The insurgency is over values, believes and faith even if the underlying factors of deprivation, poverty and alienation are similarly felt across Nigeria. This makes it much more difficult to resolve when compared to conflict over resources and political representation.

b)     Unlike Delta militancy and OPC, it is rooted in the mass of ordinary people in the north, especially the youths most of who are living on the margins of society – Alma Jiri.


c)      The northern political elites are yet to hijack and blunt the goal of the group unlike the case of delta militancy or OPC where the political elites were in the driver seat of the agitation and therefore easy to be brought to the table and make deals with.

d)     The state has rendered Boko Haram leaderless in a visible sense by killing Mohamed Yusuf and driving other leaders underground. This makes it a dangerous and difficult group to deal with in terms of finding political solution. In the case of delta militancy, the leaders were known and on occasions flown to Abuja in presidential jets. Similarly, in the case of the OPC, their leaders – Dr. Frederick Faseun and Gani Adams – were easy to reach and make deals with either in jail or in their homes.

e)     The Boko Haram groups have demonstrated the capability to mount low-scale and audacious attacks in different parts of the country than any militant groups in Nigeria have a ever done. And they seem to be getting better at their art and thus frightening the state and the people in more nightmarish manner than their predecessors. Thus their capacity to ignite the country is not in doubt.

f)       They also appear to have more international connection through the Sahel region than other groups making them a clear and present danger to the corporate existence of Nigeria.


    II.            Media Interpretation and Explanation of Boko Haram

·         Inform the audience that media reporting of Boko Haram’s insurgency and commentators analyses of the groups activities are sharply divided into northern and southern perspectives with very few middle grounds.

·         What this means is that to get a balanced perspectives on the issue you have to read reports from media outlets based in the south and the north. Therefore for every story you read on the group’s activity in the Punch, Sun, Guardian or the Nation, you have to read Daily Trust or Leadership to get a balance.

·         In the southern-based media, prominence is given to attacks involving southern and Christian targets. You are likely to read such screaming front-page stories: ‘Boko Haram kills 30 southerners’, Gunmen kill 12 Igbo, Yoruba in Adamawa. When the victims are mostly Moslems and northerners, you may likely find it buried in inside pages with such sober titles as ‘Boko Haram kills Another 3 in Maiduguri’.

·         Commentaries on the attacks are often slanted to give the impression that northern elites are behind it to wrestle power from Jonathan and the south.

·         However, the northern-based media outlets are also not free of slanted reporting. In their stories, northern victims are highlighted to show that they suffer the most.

·         Their commentators also explain away the attacks as a function of poverty and deprivation as if poverty is a trigger rather than a risk factor in violence.

·         They are also increasingly asserting even though without any empirical evidence that there is link between the violence in the north and the current revenue sharing formula of the country, which appear to privilege the south south where the president comes from.

·         The result of these varying accounts of and interpretation of Boko Haram’s phenomenon is that Nigeria is today perhaps more divided than it has ever been. This makes it much more difficult for law enforcement and security agencies to get the desired support they need from the communities to respond effectively to the existential threat posed by Boko Haram to the Nigerian state.

 III.            Stakeholder Responses: Government and Civil society

·         Stress that collectively, stakeholders in government and civil society have not responded adequately to the existential threat posed by Boko Haram and other extreme groups in Nigeria.
Government response
·         Beginning with the government, observe that it appears divided into three camps:
                                 i.            Security solution camp versus political solution
                               ii.            Northern camp versus southern camp
                             iii.            Jonathan continuity camp versus 2015 handover camp

·         Stress that these divisions have made it difficult for the government to speak with one voice on the situation, with the security camp led by the national Security Adviser stressing that they are winning the battle and urging for total wipe out of the groups, while the political camp are calling for dialogue and for the group to lay down their arms.

·         Observe that so far that the security solution camp appears to be gaining upper hand with the dramatic increase in both the 2011 and 2012 budgets on security, with 2012 crossing the one trillion benchmark.

·         Note however, the ascendancy of the political solution camp buoyed by the killing of the two expatriates in Sokoto and the attendant external pressure by powerful nations on the government to find a lasting solution to the menace of the group.

Civil society response
·         Observe that beyond occasional statements in the media, civil society as a collective has largely remained silent on Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria when compared to the way the sector responded to the withdrawal of fuel subsidy.
·         Highlight the limited efforts of groups like CLEEN Foundation and others have done in response to the phenomenon:
                                 i.            Public opinion survey on call for dialogue with the group
                               ii.            Forum on responding to Boko haram and other extreme groups in Nigeria.
                             iii.            About to commence study on security governance and conflicts in West Africa including Nigeria.

  IV.            Missing Links

Highlights the missing link in the fight against Boko Haram:

·         Profound disconnection between the policy and scholar communities in Nigeria, which has led to very little informed and dispassionate account of what is going on and how they could be responded to, which would feed into policy making. Academics seems to be essentially on leave of absence as far as Boko Haram’s insurgency is concerned.

·         Lack of cohesion in government about what needs to be done, which has made it difficult for the government to tap into its resources to deal with the phenomenon as a result of deep division and suspicion among the major functionaries. 

·         Lack of political will within the government to deal with the tripod of issues behind the seeming invincibility of the Boko Haram group:

                                   i.            Alma Jiri phenomenon and other destitute children drawn from neighbouring countries such as Cameroon, Niger and Chad.
                                 ii.            Financial support from some politicians and wealthy people to the group, which enables it to procure arms and weapons, training and compensation for the wounded and families of dead members.
                               iii.            Influence of local ideologues that frame the violent and hate ideology of the sect.
·         Rising poverty, deprivation and alienation of young people across Nigeria and in particular the north amidst the wealth of the country, which is being squandered and wasted by those in political and economic authorities.

     V.            Occupy Nigeria Protests and the Difference it made

Note that in the midst of despondency and divisions created Boko Haram’s attack, the Occupy Nigeria protests in January in response to fuel subsidy removal by the government came to present a different picture of what is possible and forward looking as far as Nigeria is concerned:

·         It started as a protest against fuel subsidy removal but ended or introduced a new phase of struggle and campaigns against waste and corruption in government.

·         United Nigerians across ethnic, class and religious divides.

·         Showed that Nigerians can fight back against oppressive system if the messaging and mobilizations are couched in such away that they connect and resonate with the livelihood challenges confronting the people.
·         Brought out the middle class to for the first time in a long time join the struggles of the people for better deal in the Nigerian state.

Major lessons
However, the major lessons of the protests and while it could not be sustained beyond one week are follows:
·         Leadership of such a protest in the future should no longer be left in the hands of the trade union movement.

·         A national platform is needed to drive the process of building on the gains of the protests.

·         Social media has become a key tool for catalysing change in Nigeria that can no longer be ignored.

·         A national opposition party is needed to work with civil society groups for change in Nigeria.

·         Various measures are currently being initiated currently in Nigeria to take forward the lessons of Occupy Nigeria Movement and build on it.

Conclusions
There is a lot to make one feel despondent about Nigeria with regard to law and order situation. But there is also a lot more to make you assured and hopeful that change is around the corner.

Don’t give up on Nigeria!

Thanks You!


This is to announce the commencement of the 2012 National Crime And safety Victimization Survey. The annual Crime and Safety Survey is a research that CLEEN Foundation has conducted since 2004. The national surveys have interviewed at least 11,000 people all over the country each year, asking people about their experiences of crime, perceptions on governance, road safety, human rights and other related issues. The results of the survey are usually disseminated through the media and through publications that critically analyse the generated data. We believe that we are through this survey, contributing to the existing body of knowledge on crime and safety levels in Nigeria, which would help the leadership of relevant security and safety agencies in policy formation and effective deployment of their scarce human and material resources.

This year, we are going to interview 11,418 people nationwide. To achieve such sample size, the CLEEN Foundation sub-contracted a research organization known as Practical Sampling International PSI, based in Lagos state, with affiliations all over the country. The PSI engages field researchers in all the 36 state including Abuja to administers the questionnaires

Briefings for Field work ended today for Lagos state while Briefing for other States begins on the 3rd of April and ends on the 4th of April. Field work and Quality control begins in earnest across all location on the 5th of April.

The Organizing Team Lagos that is Lead by Dr Eban would be happy to receive good suggestions in areas that need improvement.

Once again  Thank you all.

Tuesday 27 March 2012

“Project Development Cycle Training course” designed by CLEEN Foundation provides ample opportunity for human rights activists, practitioners and advocates, community based organizations, development partners, public and private organizations/servants and governmental agencies to acquire the necessary skills required for quality service delivery.  It is packaged for organizations and anyone with curiosity and interest to undertake research and development activities. Fundraising can be part of our local staff work if they are well trained in seeking and managing information.

Proposal writing poses many challenges, especially for small and unskilled NGOs. In just five working days experts within the sector will take you through the theoretical and practical aspects in project development cycle, equip you with the fundamental skills required to conceptualize, develop, plan, implement, report and measure the impact of the project using modern measurement and evaluation tools. The overriding aim of the training is to build your capacity to develop new thinking and approach for greater effectiveness in service delivery. It is participatory and hands-on.
The training contents are summarized as follows:

1.  Introduction

 2. Project Lifecycle
2.1                                            Steps in Preparing a Proposal
2.2                                            The SWOT tool and its importance in proposal writing
2.3                                            The Actual proposal
2.4                                            Monitoring & Evaluation
2.5                                            Introduction to M & E Tools
2.6                                            Financial Management in NGO/Budgeting
2.7                                            Introduction to NGO Report Writing
2.8                       Human Resource Management for governmental & non-governmental organizations
2.9                                           NGO Fundraising
2.10      Policy  & Human Rights Advocacy

Resource Persons
  1. Mr. Innocent Chukwuma, Executive Director CLEEN Foundation/Security Consultant (Lead Trainer)  Good Practices in Fundraising & Human Resource Management in NGO;
  2. Mrs. KemiOkenyodo, Deputy Executive Director CLEEN Foundation/Security Expert- (Trainer)- Project Development Cycle/How to Develop Logical Framework Analysis in Grant Proposals;
  3. Mr. ChineduNwagu- Manager Accountability & Justice CLEEN Foundation/Security Expert (Trainer) - Proposal Writing;
  4. Mr. Odunayo Ola- Admin & Finance Manager CLEEN Foundation Budgeting & Financial Management in NGO
  5. Mrs. KemiOkenyodo, Deputy Executive Director CLEEN Foundation/Security Expert- (Trainer) – Measurement & Evaluation/Concept Oriented Monitoring.
  6. MsChigozirimOkoro, Programme Officer CLEEN Foundation (Trainer/Training Coordinator)- Introduction to NGO Report Writing,  Policy  & Human Rights Advocacy
Tuition Fees
The subsidized rate for governmental and non-governmental organizations is fifty thousand naira (50, 000) only for 2staff. Community Based Groups and interested persons will pay forty thousand naira (40, 000) only for 2staff. The fee includes course materials, certificate, group photograph; tea and lunch break at the training sessions.

Registration
Registration is both ways online at www.cleen.org and direct contact to the training coordinator or any of the branches of CLEEN Foundation offices located in Lagos, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja or Owerri the Imo State capital; payment should be done preceding the training. For payment and further enquiries please contact either:

ChigozirimOkoro: chigozirim.odinkalu@cleen.org or 08038279489

Enayaba Napoleon: napoleon.enayaba@cleen.org  or 08030752568

Friday 23 March 2012

Training of Informal Police on Organisational Management Feb 2012

The training is been organised by CLEEN Foundation with support 
from DFID under the Justice For All Programme (J4A)



















Consultative forum between Civil Society Organization South West and National Human Right Commission Nigeria Held at CLEEN Resource Center, Lagos Nigeria









Youth & Policing Forum Ajegunle June 2011






Youth & Policing Forum Mushin June 2011







Youth And Policing Forum @ Ajerobi Police Station Ajegunle






Youth And Policing Forum @ Area D Lagos Police Command







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