CITAD presents Book on Community Resilience to PCNI

The Executive Director of the Centre for Information Technology and Development CITAD Y.Z Ya’u has presented copies of the book Understanding Community Resilience in the Context of Boko Haram Insurgency in Nigeria to the PCNI. The book published by CITAD with the support of the United States Institute for Peace (USIP) is a research finding on fostering resilience among communities impacted by the insurgency as a key security strategy for the nation. Receiving the books, the Vice Chairman of the PCNI, Tijjani Tumsah, congratulated CITAD on the publication and commended the organization for their consistent and timely research themes and reiterated that the PCNI takes cognizance of the findings in its work with stakeholders and communities. The research was conducted in over 16 communities across six states of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Kano and Jigawa and the objective was to understand what factors make communities more resilient to violent action and atrocities perpetrated by terrorists in the North-east part of the country as well as enhancing communities’ capacity to bounce back from devastation.

PCNI Awaits Resilience Experts

The Presidential Committee on North East Initiative, (PCNI), is ready to anchor the process of reconstructing the region on a policy package experts have prepared. The committee says this is because resilience has become the key issue before, during and after the insurgency. In apparent reference to the ‘bouncing forward’ slogan which measures autotelic subjectivity resilience thinking aims at in security practice, Alhaji Tijani Musa Tumsah who spoke when editors of the new book on community resilience in the context of Boko Haram said the resilience architecture in both the book and the promised policy briefing were bound to be tremendously helpful. “We look forward to the policy briefing”, he declared, assuring that the PCNI would further publicise the book.  Pledging unremitting willingness for further collaboration, Alhaji Tumsah praised the CITAD for its commitment as well as the depth of its resources in relation to the issues involved in the Boko Haram crisis. He expressed his satisfaction with being at the Policy Dialogue held by CITAD in Gombe, saying that from there, he made his conclusions.

Mallam Y. Z Ya’u, the Executive Director of the Centre for Information Technology and Development, (CITAD) who made the presentation on behalf of the two other editors of the book had told the Vice-Chairman that their research could assist PCNI in terms of the determinants of resilience and that grounding the reconstruction task on such evidence was the only guarantee for restoration of normalcy. He added that it is in the same vein they have prepared a policy briefing which they plan to submit to PCNI, pointing out how sure they were that the briefing provides organisations intervening in reconstruction the nature of what are needed to do so.

Report of the mobilization meeting on continuous voter registration exercise.

By Sagiru Ado Abubakar.

In its effort to improve access to electoral participation and decision-making society especially in local societies where people with disability, women and youth are still denial access to electoral process, the Center for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) on 5th July, 2017 has organized Mobilization Meeting on Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) for the 18 SCEEP Communities in Kano State. The Mobilization Meeting aimed to reduce level of marginalization of people with disabilities, women and youth in the electoral process that resulted in very low-level of participation of these groups in voting and their inputs in decision-making organs of the society both appointive and elective. On 27th April, 2017 the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) commenced the year round nationwide Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) across the country. Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) is an exercise meant for the registration of citizens who turned 18 years of age after the last registration exercise; or those who for one reason or another could not register in the previous exercises.

In his opening remarks, Ahmad Abdullahi Yakasai said that, the Mobilization Meeting was organized to mobilize participants from SCEEP Communities in Kano State to embark on house to house campaign on Continuous Voter Registration Exercise in their respective communities. He explained that the meeting was part of activities of the project CITAD has been implementing since 2015 titled ‘Strengthening Civic Engagement with the Electoral Process (SCEEP)’ with support from Department for International Development (DFID) through ActionAid Nigeria. He regretted that from preliminary reports CITAD gathered, still now people are not patronizing the registration centers.

Hajiya Suwaiba Adamu Salihu, Senior Program Officer, National Orientation Agency (NOA) made paper presentation on Importance of the Continuous Voter Registration. In her presentation, she said that the CVR will enable citizens who have turned 18 years of age since the last registration as well as those who did not register during the last exercise in 2014 to register as voters.  It also allows those seeking transfer of their registration centers from one state to another or within a state from one polling unit to another to do so. Also, the registration will enable citizens who have their temporary voter cards (TVCs) and whose names are on the register to collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and to attend to other complains on PVCs (e.g. loss or damage of voter cards, for correction on cards, etc). Lastly, she expressed her gratitude to CITAD on this effort which she said is a complement of their work in the state.

Malam Bala Ibrahim Shittu, Administrative Secretary, Independent National Electoral Commission, Kano office, made the second presentation on the Process of Continuous Voter Registration (CVR). Malam Bala talked about the legal frame work for the conduct of Continuous Voter Registration, which he said that is located in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999) that empowers the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct registration of persons qualified to vote and to prepare, maintain and revise the register of voters. He then said that the current CVR is being implemented in phases on quarterly basis. 1st phase is from 27th April to 25th July, 2017. Thereafter, display for claims and objection will take place. The second quarter begins subsequently for another three months. That is to say is a continuous exercise unlike the previous ones that usually last for 2 weeks or at most a month. This gives a wider opportunity for many to be registered, he explained.

Alh. Garba Lawan Muhammad, INEC, Public Relation Officer (PRO), Kano Office, listed the criteria for those that are eligible to register. He said that person must be a citizen of Nigeria, must have attained the age of 18 years on or before the registration day, 18 years or above but could not register during the last registration exercise, person must be resident, works in or originate from the local government area or ward covered by the Registration Area Center and must present himself/herself to the officers for registration and able to provide proof of identity, age and nationality if requested.  Other criteria he said person has PVC or TVC but the name is not on the register of voters, or person has registered before but his/hername/photograph/finger print were not captured, such person must provide his/her temporary voter card. He then urged the participants to do whatever possible to mobilize more people to register in their respective communities. He said that one of the responsibilities of INEC is to mobilize people to register but INEC do not have enough personnel that can go round everywhere in the country to do that. He gave INEC hotline as 09067090909 that the participants can call on any issue related to CVR whenever need arises during their mobilization effort. Finally, he listed ten additional CVR centers that have been designated by the commission in Kano State. He said that this brings the total number of the centers in the state to 54.

During general comments, questions and observations, Malam Haruna Muhammad Inuwa, a disabled person from Dakata community in Nassarawa local government expressed his worry over the difficulties disabled people have been coming across during the CVR. Malam Mukhtar Zaitawa appealed to NOA to multiply its effort in order to mobilize more people to register. He observed that he did not hear any announcement from NOA over the radio or by using town criers on the issue of CVR.  Malama Aisha Garba from Zinyau Community, Rano local government tasked INEC to improve security measures around the registration areas; she said that doing this will allow more women to register especially in the local communities. Both INEC representatives and the representative from NOA shed light on the above mentioned claims. At the close of the meeting INEC officials presented some publications to CITAD on election related issues.

The mobilization Meeting took place at NSITF Hall, and attended by 36 participants from 18 SCEEP communities in Kabo, Karaye, Gaya, Rano, Nassarawa and Kano Municipal local governments.

CITAD Pays Advocacy Visit to Kano Commissioner of Police

By Hamza Ibrahim Chinade.
The Curbing Hate and Dangerous Speech in Nigeria Project team of the Center for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) has paid an advocacy to Alhaji Rabiu Yusuf, the Commissioner of Nigeria Police Force, Kano state command. The team was led by Isah Garba, Senior Programmes Officer (Peace and Conflict) and coordinator of the project. Briefing the commissioner, Isah Garba explained that hate speech has become rampant especially on social media and that remains a serious threat to peaceful coexistence of a multicultural and religious country like Nigeria, hence the need for intervention like the one put in place by CITAD i.e “Monitoring and Countering Hate and Dangerous Speech” to mitigate threats and sensitize social and traditional media users on the dangers of making hate speech. Garba urged the police to identify prominent hate speakers especially along religious and ethnic line and engage them through sensitization and other professional strategies that the command knows better in order to get them stop hate or provocative speech that may lead to violence.

Responding, the Police Commissioner commended CITAD for the project and the visit that he said will open doors of collaboration between the organization and the command, he said the police has measures of checkmating hate speeches and is using it’s public relations unit to sensitize people on violence provoking comments or utterances emphasizing the command’s readiness to partner with CITAD in that area. The commissioner received the visiting delegation in the presence of the command’s Public Relations Officer DSP Magaji Musa Majiya, Personal Assistant to the Commissioner DSP M.A Hassan and ASP Abubakar Dutsan Ma. The Commissioner was presented with publications of the Center for Information Technology and Development (CITAD).

CITAD trains peace club advisers, students on ICT

From Uche Uche Damaturu.

In an effort to nip in the bud causes of violence that has bedeviled the country which, apart from the destruction of lives and properties, slows down meaningful development, the Centre for Information Technology and Development has trained 40 teachers.
Speaking to our reporter in an interview shortly after the end of the training ceremony, which took place at the GSS Damaturu, the programme officer, peace and conflict CITAD, Isah Garba, said the essence of the training is to provide the advisers with entrepreneur skills that would help them in fighting some drivers of conflicts which he said, is poverty, in the effort to ensure that peace rains in the society.
He stated that by using ICT skill, the student for peace could use social media in sending peace messages, and countering hate and dangerous speeches online, and thus help to promote peace in the country.
He revealed that CITAD has established peace clubs in six secondary schools in the state and appointed selected advisers in the schools and they in turn also train others in the activities of CITAD.
These advisers and students are earlier taught the techniques of countering dangerous speeches or preventing them tactfully by interfering with this process in any of several ways that includes inhibiting the speech, limiting its dissemination, undermining the credibility of the speaker, or inoculating the audience against the speech so that it is less influential, or dangerous.

CITAD condemns quit notice to Igbo in Northern Nigeria

From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi

A Non Governmental Organization, Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) has condemned the thread by some by some Arewa youths for Igbo to vacate Northern Nigeria.
The Senior Programmes Officer of CITAD, Isah Garba stated this in a press statement made available to newsmen in Bauchi on Thursday.
It said “CITAD read a statement asserted by some groups that include Arewa Citizens Action for Change, Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, Arewa Youth Development Foundation, Arewa Students’ Forum and Arewa Emancipation Network yesterday during a press conference they jointly held in Kaduna threatening the Igbos residing in northern part of the country to vacate the region by 1st October, 2017.
“In view of that, we want to categorically state that we condemn this statement in strong terms and make it clear that this view did not represent the views of the millions of people in the northern Nigeria.
“Specifically we want call and draw the attention of these ‘youth’ to note that this is not the right way to address the problem and this will rather escalate rather than solve problem. They should also know that many Igbo both in the north and even the Igbo land did not subscribe to the idea of separating the country nor are they party to the Biafra agitation.
According to Garba, this is an issue that needs constructed yet diligent approach by the government not by individuals or groups of some few individuals. Also there is nowhere in the world where two wrongs make a right, therefore, if others are advocating dividing the country, it is wrong for others in the other end to demand for the eviction of any other person from any region in the country.
He said such statements fall into the categories of dangerous speech adding that it is repugnant to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and even the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
He thereby called on the government not to consider such actions and reactions as trivial issues as such have full potentials of catalyzing violence and may infringe the rights of the targeted victims.
“The government should find immediate and proactive measure of addressing such issues before be fall out of control as well as Be objective and unbiased in handling such issues
CITAD urged general public to remain calm and should not allow themselves to be used by some few individuals in their attempt to achieve political interest or any other interest best known to them saying “Both the target audience and victims of the statement should not react to such statement either in offensive or in defense,” he urged.

CITAD makes case against digital marginalisation of women

By Etuka Sunday

Civil Society Organisation (NGO), under the auspices of Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) yesterday raised a voice against what it described as digital marginalization of women in Nigeria.
CITAD said, a research conducted in four communities namely Doganjiji and Azare in Bauchi state and Dakata and Zaura Baba Kano state showed low digital usage by women in the North due to several factors, therefore, there was need to bridge the gap.
Speaking at Civil Society Consultative Meeting on the Internet Code of Practice Development in Nigeria, organised by CITAD, its Executive Director, said, women should be given equal right to access information in the internet especially those at the rural areas.
He said, the Nigerian government, through the telecommunications regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) was set to develop a Code of Practice for internet usage in the country and given the importance of internet to critical development, civil society would like to make input to the process.
According to him, in order to generate the input, CITAD brought different civil society organisations together to deliberate on the issue and come up with positions that they can submit to the NCC process.
The objectives of the proposed code among others are to protect the rights and interests of internet service providers and consumers, provide jointly agreed and effective solutions to the issues of discriminatory traffic management practices;
Ensure adequate safeguards are put in place by service providers against abuses such as unsolicited messages; outline the obligations of Service Providers in relation to offensive and potentially harmful content for minors and vulnerable audiences.
Also speaking in a presentation, the Chairperson, Nigeria Internet Governance Forum/West African Internet Governance Forum, Mrs Mary Uduma said, there is a money set aside by the federal government through NCC USP Fund running into billions of naira which is not utilised.
She advised that communities should identify their needs and approach the Federal Government through the NCC.

Boko Haram: CITAD launches Book on community resilience

From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi

A Non Governmental Organisation, Center for Information Technology and Development ,CITAD, has launched a book on how communities across states of the North East and elsewhere cope, repel or rise from the effect of Boko Haram insurgency.
The book, “Understanding Community Resilience In The Context Of Boko Haram Insurgency In Nigeria” was published by CITAD with the support of United States Institute for Peace (USIP) and was edited by Jibrin Ibrahim, Chom Bagu and Y.Z Ya’u.
The book was divided into 11 chapters that dwell on many areas by various contributors.
In his welcome address, the Research and Communication Assistant, CITAD Hamza Ibrahim who represented the Executive Director, Y.Z Ya’u said that the book was the product of a two years research by the center supported by the United States Institute of Peace.
He said that the reseach was carried out to ascertain factors which enable communities to cope with the challenges they faced as a result of the Boko Haram insurgency across the communities studies in the north eastern states and elsewhere.
According to him, Kano and Jigawa states were also studied alongside four north eastern states of Borno, Yobe , Adamawa and Bauchi.
He said that 17 communities were selected and studied across all the states where the research was carried out.
On her part, one of the researchers and a lecturer with Bauchi State University, Dr. Asabe Sadiya Mohammed while giving an overview of the research contained in the book noted that various factors were considered to arrive on its findings.
According to her, the communities studied in Bauchi where she carried out her research were selected based on some categories based on their strength, location as well as how they were affected by the insurgency.
While speaking, Yunusa Ado of Bauchi State Ministry of Religious Affairs and Community Development said that the research carried out will will in a way help Nigeria articulate policies to tackle not only the Boko Haram menace but the widespread insecurity in the country.

An Wallafa Littafi Kan Dalilan Nasarar ‘Yan Boko Haram

Cibiyar fasahar zamani da cigaban al’umma mai sun CITAD dake Kano ta guddanar da bincike da kuma wallafa littafin dalilan dayasa hare haren da masu tada kayan baya suka samu nasara akan wassu al’umomi ayayinda kuma suka kasa samun nasara akan wassu.

An wallafa Littafi mai suna “Understanding Community Resilience in the Context of Boko Haram Insurgency In Nigeria” wanda ya gano cewar rabuwan kai da rashin yarda da kuma rashin amincewa da juna da tuntuba batare da bambancin addini ko kabila ba ya taimaka wa al’umomi wajan cimma nasarar kau da wadannan hare hare.

Da yake tsokaci akan littafin jami’in bincike da sadarwa na cibiyar Malam Hamza Ibrahim Chinade, yace binciken ya gano cewa daga cikin dalilan da su kasa wassu al’umomi kin bada bayanai ga hukumomi sun hada da tsoro da rashin amincewa da kuma rashin tabbas akan illar da zata iya jawo masu idan sun bada irin wadannan bayanai, mai yuwa ma tana iya kasancewa wanda aka baiwa bayanin yana cikin masu tada kayar baya.

Ya cigaba da cewa wani abu da za a iya cewa kusa abun mamaki shine a lokacin da aka fara rikicin Boko Haram, akwai al’umomin da suka baiwa jami’an tsaro bayanai ya zama masu matsalla kuma babban dalili shine rashin yarda.

A jawabinta na kaddamar da littafin Dr. Asabe Sadiya Muhammad, ta jami’ar Gwamnatin jihar Bauchi, ta bayana cewa dalilan wallafa littafin shine domin fahimtan abinda ya jawo da kuma hanyar da za a bi domin hana afkuwar irin haka da kuma hanyar dakilewa idan har hakan ya nemi faruwa.

https://www.voahausa.com/a/3925055.html

Group seek for an end to insurgent activities in the country .

 By Bukola Afeni

The executive director of CITAD Mallam Ya’u said a large number of boko haram members are initiated due to poverty and socioeconomic factors in the country .
The executive director gave the indication at a public presentation of a book on community resilience on Boko haram in Abuja Mallam Ya’u is also urging communities to access information on what can be done to remain security conscious in the environment where they reside.
“It is not only about bringing arms and ammunitions around the community ,but by maintaining security ”

“Communities need to come together to protect itself from unnecessary violence acts in the society”
“Violence provides a framework of operation ,and we need to research and find out the modalities behind the insurgent activities “he noted.
The executive director is therefore urging all Nigerians to be united in eliminating the boko haram activities in the country .
“When the people are unified in fighting insurgent activities,the country can make progress in terms of security “he added.

He also disclosed that the government should seek for means of eliminating poverty from the country ,by creating employment opportunities to the teeming youth .
According to Mallam Yau when Boko haram first gained prominence in the country ,some of the members attested to the fact that they were initiated into the group, because it will provide a means of livelihood for them.
“While some joined the group because they don’t have vision in life ,and lost hope of excelling in life”he noted.
In the same vein ,the executive director noted that Borno state is the centre of movement in the North east ,and hence become the centre of Boko haram in the country ..
Speaking further ,the lead researcher ,professor Jibrin Ibrahim said there is an urgent need for community and religious leaders to engage in advocacy to bring people together in fighting insurgency in the country.
According to Professor Jibrin ,the boko haram ideology has created a radical extremism that infiltrates the religious movement.
While noting that the religion that is meant for peace and tranquility has resulted in violent religion .
He further noted that the group has developed an ideological framework to work with religious leaders who understand the people in different communities. “The society is meant to have an alarm bell that identifies deviants in the society ,and put an end to the activities ,no matter the statistics “he added.
Professor Jibrin stressed that the core problem with public education is that the standard has fallen drastically .
“The level of graduates we have now is not encouraging ,majority of the graduates are illiterates ”
The declining quality of education is more important ,and there should be an urgent need to address it .
Reacting to the high number of almajiris in the North east,he said there has been a fundamental transformation of religious activities into activism in the country .
“The religious activities had made some of the youth to engage in beliefs that is inimical to the growth of the country ”
“The youth need to reconnect from.some of the erroneous beliefs for the communities to move forward “he added.
The director MacArthur foundation ,Dr kole Shettima said there has been an indictment on the education system because people have lost confidence in it .
“We are perpetrating a lot of inequality in the society ,the wide between the rich and the poor is so wide ”
“The elite do not send their children and wards to the public school facilities .
Citing Lagos state as an example ,he said the state has fewer public schools ,compared to the North which has a large number of public facilities .
In addressing the issue of insurgency ,extreme inequality is one of the triggers ,which has to be nipped in the bud .
Government should provide skilled jobs that youths can venture into,and serve as source of empowerment.
There is an urgent need to criminalise hate speech ,and preachers that practice such should be severely dealt with .

Islam and Violence Controversy Returns at Presentation of Book on Boko Haram

Arguably, the first of such book to have rolled out of the press in Nigeria entered the national market today along with the controversy as to the very nature of Islam in relation to violence. This question turned out to be the most substantive one in the discussion that followed a background and content review of book at its presentation in Abuja attended mostly by journalists, academics and civil society activists. The 432 page book titled Understanding Community Resilience in the Context of Boko Haram Insurgency in Nigeria concluded that Nigeria as a whole is nowhere when it comes to the capacity of communities to resist criminality, terrorism, militancy or ruptures, in short and that the study of resilience in six states cutting across the northeast and the northwest by the research in the context of Boko Haram provides the mechanisms by which communities could and should protect themselves.

One of the questions asked in the aftermath of the briefing is whether Islam is not inherently violent in relation to other religions. This attracted three comments, two of them from professors of Political Science while the third is a co-editor of the new book. Of the two professors, one is a Christian while the other is a Muslim. All three cautioned against such claim if not in historical context of militancy or violence.

Professor Jibrin Ibrahim who spoke last but who offered the most elaborate clarification said a lot of social and political factors come into play when we talk about religion and violence broadly, adding that what is most crucial in the case of Nigeria is that both Islam and Christianity have been undergoing internal transformation since the mid 1970s.

While this has taken the form of Pentecostal factionalisation in Christianity, it assumed the Izala challenge to Sufism in Islam, he said. “We are, therefore, living in a time when there have been transformation and religion has been the most active arena for activism”, Professor Ibrahim, an Anglican, said, pointing out how religion has become very crucial area for social mobility, from educational provisioning to employment. Noting how this is also happening at a time of state withdrawal from social services provisioning, Professor Ibrahim added how all these affect socialisation because young people who move out of mainstream Christianity or Islam almost always end up replacing the authority and wisdom of their parents with the wisdom and authority of their new religious faction or group and hence the possibility of their being directed along certain lines. Citing just two of such, he mentioned the tendency among certain Christians to reject medical attention or blood transfusion, concluding that the Nigerian society has allowed “the minority to take the upper hand on interpretation of religion”. He, therefore, called for spending more time on the Sociology of religion.

Professor Nuhu Yaqub, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Abuja and immediate past Vice-Chancellor of Sokoto State University who also intervened in answering the question as to why Islam appears to be more violent argued against starting to compare which of Islam or Christianity is more violent. There is none of the two that preaches violence, he maintained, backing the statement up by saying that Islam which insists that God is with the person who is patient could not be a violent religion.

Contending that militancy in Islam should be placed squarely in their historical context, Professor Yaqub noted Muslims’ sense of being submerged by the West’s relationship with Islam. Like the Chinese, some Islamic civilisations such as Iran consider theirs to be old and resistant to impositions by looking for evidence of such, he pointed out, arguing that “some people use their frustration to react to what is happening around them”.

In his comment on the question, Mallam Y Z Y’au, Executive Director of the Centre for Information Technology and Development, (CITAD), the publishers of the book said the matter should be seen from the point that violence would always find a framework and the framework could be religion. But that, he said, does not mean that the religion which provides violence a framework is violent. He recalled a study by the United States Institute of Peace on why those who joined Boko Haram did so. The result showed that over 70 % of those who joined did so in terms of socio-economic reasons.

His explanation connects with one of the policy recommendations of the book in the content review he presented before the discussion session. That is the challenge of “people teaching what is not the religion at all” in schools partly because any Christopher Daniel in Nigeria is assumed to be capable of teaching Christianity just as any Garba Mohammed is also assumed to be competent to teach Islam. “Beyond regulating how people teach and practice religion, there must be scrutinising of what is taught”, he submitted.

Cardinal Onaiyekan

Cardinal John Onaiyekan, the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja would most likely agree with the immediate point above, having called attention to the problem of no one knowing the content of what multiples of religious leaders might be dishing out in the villages at a time all manner of people claim the status of religious leadership. Onaiyekan was speaking on June 13th, 2017 at the Conference on Protection of Holy Sites organised by the peacebuilding INGO, Search for Common Ground, (SFCG).

Similarly, Ignatius Kaigama, the Bishop of Jos and President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria would most likely agree with Professor Jibrin Ibrahim in the light of his memorable warning at the Catholic Bishop’s Conference at Our Lady Queen of Nigeria Pro-Cathedral in February 2015. Insisting on avoidance of flamboyant spirituality and noisy liturgy in favour of “teaching the people values of internalised prayers from the heart” Bishop Kaigama warned against “market place prophecies and visions, charismatic display of talents and material salvation”. Emphasising sober Christianity without tricks, rhetoric, fanfare and the craze for social media publicity, the Bishop put the conquest of poverty and narrowing of the yawning gap between the rich and the poor as the core challenge for Christianity.

The categorical nature of his intervention as reported by the News Agency of Nigeria, (NAN) speaks to the factionalisation Professor Ibrahim talked about in the case of Christianity. In the case of Islam, there might exist no better account than the documentation in Where I Stand, the joint autobiography of the late Sheikh Abubakar Gumi with Professor Ismaila Tsiga, published by Spectrum Books in 1992. Chapter Eleven of the book has been interpreted by some as a prediction of Boko Haram.

Even if only to the extent of the recommendation on checkmating the lack of centre of authority in religious teaching and practice, Understanding Community Resilience in the Context of Boko Haram Insurgency in Nigeria might have done its duty to the Nigerian State and humanity as far as use of religion by any violent group to legitimise violence is concerned. There are about six more such recommendations on building up resilience in the communities in the book.

Beyond the policy arena, the book provides the conceptual, theoretical and methodological jump off points for students of resilience in the social sciences in Nigeria as well as an African case study of resilience in the wider world. Resilience is, at the moment, a hotly contested concept in critical security studies where it has been dubbed the structural adjustment version of security provisioning – pushing that responsibility from the state to the people by naturalising such transfer in popular psychology. That is the debate this book might trigger in the Nigerian context where it is certain to be the first of such published material on the subject. It is published by CITAD, the Kano based knowledge NGO which has already published highly successful titles recently.

CITAD makes public presentation of a book on community resilience to combat insurgency

By Rita Michael, Bauchi

The Centre for Information Technology and Development, (CITAD) with support of the United State Institute for Peace (USIP) has made a presentation of a book on Community Resilence in the context of Boko Haram insurgency research as a key security strategy for the nation.

The research of the book, according to CITAD, was conducted in over 16 communities across six states of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Kano and Jigawa .

The objective of the book was to understand what factors make communities more resilient to violent action and atrocities perpetrated by terrorists in the Northeast part of the country as well as enhancing communities capacity to bounce back from devastation.

While making a formal presentation of the book at the NUJ Press Centre in Bauchi on Thursday, the Head of Department of the Faculty of Arts of the Bauchi State University,  Dr Asabe Sadiya Mohammed, described community resilience as the ability of communities to rebound, maintain and strengthen thier functionality during and after a disturbance or to cope successfully in the face of extreme adversity or shock.

She said, “In this research, we focused on factors that make some communities able to resist, repel and recover from penetration by insurgents and their actions, involving the destruction and decimation of communities.

“In doing this, we looked at community agencies in the context of Boko Haram insurgency and attempt to answer key questions such as ” how do communities act in ways that build thier resilience to insurgency.”

Also, CITAD Research and Communication Assistant, Hamza Ibrahim Chinade, who spoke on outcomes of the research, explained that community resilence prospers when there is a robust community platform for active citizen participation and democratic decision-making which when absent breeds activities of insurgents.

He said, “Addressing challenges of unemployment and poverty, building a credible and acceptable leadership, strengthening community governance , addressing extreme social inequality, encouraging community policing were recommendations of the research to strengthen community resilience to Boko Haram.

CITAD Sensitizes Youth on N-Power Program.

By Sagiru Ado Abubakar.

The JOPIS Unit of the Center for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) has on 2nd July, 2017 organized sensitization lecture on N-Power Program for graduates in Kano State. JOPIS stands for Job Placement Information Services. Is a scheme by CITAD to assist youth looking for employment and entrepreneurship opportunities by bringing information about job opportunities to them. The sensitization lecture was organized in order to soften some issues marred the 2016 N-Power application in Kano State. It could be recalled that both people and Kano State government expressed concern over the low number of youth selected to participate in the Federal Government’s N-Power program last year. People were complaining that despite the fact that Kano is the most populous state in the country, N-Power data shown that over 20,000 youth from Kano State applied for the program in 2016 but only 4, 966 were selected.

At the beginning of the sensitization lecture, Sagiru Ado Abubakar, Head of the JOPIS Unit said that       N-Power is a Federal Government Program designed to tackle youth unemployment in the country. The N-Power Program involves massive deployment of 500,000 trained graduates who will assist to improve the inadequacies in the public services in education, health and civic education. The program was initiated by Federal Government considering current high level of unemployment, harnessing Nigeria’s young demography through appropriate skill development efforts to provide an opportunity to achieve inclusion and productivity within the country. In 2016, 200,000 graduates have been deployed to different governmental institutions for public services. The 2017 N-Power Program focuses on the remaining 300,000 vacant positions. While addressing the participants on the criteria for N-Power application, Sagir said that, Graduate Category- the N-Power Volunteer Corps is the post-tertiary engagement initiative for Nigerians between 18 and 35. It is a paid volunteering program of 2-year duration. The graduates must possess any post-tertiary qualification including an Ordinary National Diploma (OND), Nigerian Certificate in Education (NCE) and any Degree qualification as may be specified by the program. The successful applicants will undertake their primary tasks in identified public services within their proximate communities. Finally, he said that an N-Power volunteer Corps comprises 4 key areas, namely, N-Power Agro, N-Power Health, N-Power Teach and N-Power Tax.

 

Kamal Garba Alasan, Assistant Head of the JOPIS Unit, demonstrated to the participants the N-Power registration portal. During the demonstration, Kamal displayed the following as prerequisite for the      N-Power registration. First Name as shown on the BVN record, Middle Name as Shown on the BVN record, Last Name as shown on the BVN record, Gender, Marital status, Email, Phone number, Date of birth, Nationality, State of Origin, Local government, Residential Address, State of residence, Local government of residence, Nationality, BVN, Bank Account Number, Bank name,            and physical disability if any.

Other requirements were educational history of the applicants which included qualification, last institution attended, discipline, NYSC, and computer skill. Lastly, the participants were given chance to register N-Power Program free of charge at the center.

CITAD Launches Book on “Community Resilience in the Context of Boko Haram Insurgency” in Dutse, Jigawa State.

By Ali Sabo:

The Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) conducted a research on Community Resilience in Boko Haram affected states between 2015-2016 with support from United State Institute for Peace (USIP). The purpose of the research was to investigate the factors that make communities vulnerable and more resilient to violent action carried out by the insurgents in the North-Eastern states and some part of North West and North Central states respectively, and to also examine the resilience mechanism of Jigawa State to Boko Haram attacks. And finally, the research seeks to draw lessons on how to deepen resilience and enhance community capacity to bounce back from trauma, destruction and damages caused by the insurgents. The study was also conducted within the context of a larger learning from peace theme whose goal was to find effective strategies to prevent mass violence in society.

 

Having undergone validation at different levels, the research has now been published as a book titled “Understanding Community Resilience in the Context of Boko Haram Insurgency in Nigeria”. To make it public and serve as a document that provides lessons to strong, weak and non affected communities, CITAD presents the book to the public at the presence of Journalists, academicians, Civil Society Organizations and Students. The launching took place on the 22nd of June, 2017 at the Board Room, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Federal University, Dutse.


The launching was facilitated by Ibrahim Mohammad Machina of the Federal University, Gashua who served as the presenter of the book, Malam Isah Garba, Senior Programme Officer (Peace) CITAD as the discussant and Dr. Dalhatu Yola as the chairman of the occasion. At the end of the programme questions were entertained from journalists and other participants at the event.

Online hate speech among Nigerians increasing

A report by an NGO, Center For Information Technology and Development (CITAD), has said there is increase in hate speech among Nigerians on social media.

CITAD Bauchi office Senior Programme Officer, Isah Garba, disclosed this while speaking at a press conference on ‘Monitoring and Countering Hate and Dangerous Speech’ in Bauchi yesterday, saying that CITAD with support from McArthur Foundation had carried out a survey using an automated online platform to monitor and counter hate and dangerous speeches online as well as monitor selected newspapers and other printed mediums and came up with a report. He said the report indicated that 60.3 percent of hate speeches recorded came from Facebook, 5.9 percent from newsletters and four percent from blogs surveyed within the period.

“In our report we found that 63 percent of the hate speakers are prominent people while 39 percent of them reported as non-prominent. This is also a serious issue of concern as the percentage of the prominent people making hate speeches is on the rise,” he said. The report shows that 35.2 percent of the hate speeches surveyed insults people for their religion; abuses people for their ethnic or linguistic affiliation; or express contempt against people because of their place of origin.