When North East Internet Forum deliberated on protection of women, children online

By Rita Michael, Bauchi
The Internet Governance Forum and CITAD, a non- governmental organization, have ended a one-day Internet sensitization meeting in Bauchi.
Participants deliberated on women empowerment and protection of children on the Internet.
The event, with the theme, “The Internet of our choice: Empowering women and promoting children online, held at Prof Iya Abubakar Centre Bauchi. It was attended by stakeholders from all the six states of the North East.
At the occasion, Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Umar Garba Danbatta, disclosed that the commission has developed a Child Online Protection framework to promote the protection of Nigerian Children on the Internet.
Represented by the Director, New Media and Information Security of NCC, Haru Alhassan, Prof Danbatta said that arrangement NCC would soon launch and commence implementation of the Nigerian Child Online Protection Policy.
He explained that the implementation would promote the protection of Nigerian children on the Internet against all forms of negative influence.

He lamented that some Nigeria children through the internet have been influenced negatively by participating on negative issues on the internet, expressing optimism that the framework would protect them against such negative influence.
According to Danbatta, as number of mobile users, digital applications and data networks increases, the opportunities for utilization of the Internet also increases. “It is obvious that with the growing concerns with issues around the privacy rights, safety, security and exclusion, greater attention is required to protect sensitive business and personal information, as well as safeguard national security. The governance of the Internet has therefore become a major global issue.”
He also revealed that the commission has commenced the development of the Internet Industry Code of Practice document, saying, “This document that will guide the Commission and the Industry in developing obligations, processes and procedures for dealing with Internet Content issues, outlines the obligations on Internet service providers, content service providers, application service providers and mobile network operators in relation to Internet inappropriate, offensive or potentially harmful content for minors and vulnerable audiences.
“This will lead ultimately to the establishment of Shared principles, Norms, Rules that shape the use of the internet in the country,” he said.
According to him, “The Commission has also commenced implementation of the National Broadband Policy, by initiating the licensing process for the Broadband Infrastructure Companies. The implementation of the policy is expected to improve Broadband Internet penetration from currently 10 percent to about 50 percent in 2018.

He assured that the Commission would continue to engage with relevant stakeholders and other members of the Local Multi-stakeholder Advisory Group, the planning committee for NIGF to ensure that NCC offers more platforms such as this for the other zones in the country.
“At the end of the discussions and deliberations at the forum, we would have a clear position on what needs to be done, who needs to do what and how it should be done. Also articulating Nigerian’s position in the Global Internet Governance Fora.
He thereby commended the NIGF, Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) and the other organisers for the anticipated success of the forum.

Also, the Excutive Director of CITAD, Yunusa Zakari Ya’u, said that the aim of the forum was to provide a platform for various internet user groups and excluded communities to engage their views.
According to him, ” views and positions harvested from this would feed into both national and international discussions around the issues, including the Nigeria and Global Internet Governance Forum that are holding in November this year”.

He also said that the forum would also provide opportunity for stakeholders from Nigeria to harmonize their positions before going to the Global Internt Governmace Forum holding on November in Mexico this year.
“This is the first Forum after the global internet Forum held in November last year in Brazil and report back to the stakeholders and it is an honour for that this is being done in the North East, the second zone to host the zonal forum.
He thereby expressed the determination of CITAD to continue to educate and sensitize women on the use of Internet facility to make wealth and protect children on Internet.
Also, the Chairperson of Nigeria Internet Governance Forum, Mrs Mary Uduma, frowned at the way and manner young people abuse the use of Internet facility by engaging in negative activities that are capable of destroying their future.
She said that young people and women were supposed to use Internet forum as a platform of learning as well as create wealth to better their lives, saying the aim of the forum is to sensitize and educate Internet users on the positive way of using Internet facility.
She lamented that many youths are being recruited online to join terrorist groups hence the need to counter such evil activities on Internet.

Mrs Uduma expressed determination of the forum to take internet to rural areas to ensure that rural women, children and youth learn utilise internet especially as a way of making wealth and creation employment for themselves.
She said, “With the advent of Internet, you don’t need to always go to market to sell your product because you can market your product online and people will patronize you”.
Mrs Uduma thereby stressed the need to counter western culture on Internet by introducing Nigerian culture as well as local languages that will enable illiterates to utilise Internet facility to better their lives.

 

http://nigerianewsflight.com/article/when-north-east-internet-forum-deliberated-protection-women-children-online

CITAD Expresses Horror Over Corruption in IDPs Management, Calls on EFCC to Intervene

The Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), the key Nigerian NGO which has been monitoring and tracking the efforts to rehabilitate and resettle internally displaced persons (IDPs) as a result of the Boko Haram insurgency in north-eastern Nigeria has expressed horror against alleged corruption in the management of IDPs and what it called the culpable silence of governments at all levels on that. It alleged callousness in the treatment of IDPs, adding in a statement by its Executive Director, Mallam Yunusa Zakari Y’au in Bauchi that its partners in Maiduguri and in other locations had observed various ways in which food items meant for IDPs had been diverted by officials and taken to either markets for sale or misappropriated by these officials for their personal and private use. Coming on the heels of demonstrations on the streets last Thursday in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, by IDPs, the statement also made reference to stories of extortion in which officials demanded for money from IDPs to register to collect relief materials as well as sexual gratification from IDPs.
“We in the north east are happy that the military has been recording successes in liberating a number of areas formerly controlled by the insurgents but we are now extremely worried and alarmed that our brothers sisters, uncles, grandparents and children are dying of starvation due do callousness of these government officials who government entrusted the welfare and wellbeing of IDPs to”, the statement added.

CITAD argued that this is not the first time that these Nigerians had to complain about the systematic starvation that they have been subjected to by people whose responsibility it is to care for them and that many people, especially children, are already dead from hunger and malnutrition, development which it said had been reported in the media. CITAD further claimed that on several occasions, both state and federal governments have been alerted to this but they have often either dismissed it or simply make some symbolic noises and let the matter to continue unabated. The lack of action from government to take concrete measures to stop this haemorrhage of resources meant for IDPs, it said, is resulting in a situation in which government is, by its own inaction, aiding the mass murder of people who have earlier on been traumatized by the Boko Haram insurgents. As such, surviving Boko Haram tend to become only a stop gap for them to be killed by hunger engineered by relied officials, the statement point out.

Situating diversion of relief materials and corruption in lack of proper instrument, institution or national policy to deal with IDPs as a result of Nigeria not having domesticated the African Convention on the Protection of IDPs, otherwise known as the Kampala Declaration, the NGO insists that the country has been relying on adhoc structures. It, therefore, sees this as the time for an immediate enactment of such instrument by the government.

It called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to immediately launch a serious investigation into the diversion of relief materials meant for various IDP camps across the region while also demanding both state and federal governments to take immediate steps to ensure that relief materials, especially food items, are delivered promptly to those unfortunate to have been victims of Boko Haram insurgency. It said anti-corruption war must transcend mere official declaration to the realm of openness, transparency, asking governments to demand accountability from its officials and agents. This, it pointed out, is the minimum expectation form a government that has made a promise to rid the country of corruption.

Buhari’s Leadership Desperately Needed in Military’s Boko Haram Blunders

My former undergraduate ideological mentor at Bayero University Kano by the name of Yunusa Zakari Yau (popularly known as Y.Z. Yau) wrote a Facebook status update on August 15 that aptly captured a barely expressed but nonetheless widespread sentiment. “[President Muhammadu Buhari] seems contented to answer the title of president and watch the old days of impunity rolling back to traumatize Nigerians,” he wrote.

Y.Z.’s status update might have been inspired by a general philosophical anxiety about the progressively disconcerting direction of the Buhari administration. But President Buhari’s baffling silence (and apparent inaction) in the face of the Nigerian military’s farcically inept publicity stumbles after the release of Boko Haram’s recent propaganda video tends to reinforce notions that he is an out-of-touch president who has ensconced himself in the plush luxuries of Aso Rock and allows the country to be on autopilot.

I have written at least three Facebook status updates on the Nigerian military’s ill-advised issuance of a wanted notice for journalist Ahmed Salkida, NGO activist Ahmed Umar Bolori, and self-described Boko Haram benefactor Aisha Wakil. It’s obvious to any perceptive observer that the wanted notice was a mere frivolous publicity stunt designed to deflect attention from the reputational hit the military took from the Boko Haram propaganda video.

There is no greater evidence for this than the fact that when Ahmed Bolori turned himself in to military authorities upon reading in the media that he had been declared wanted, he was told to “go home” and return the following day—after waiting for hours on end and making calls and sending text messages to senior military officers who are personally known to him, including the man who signed the wanted notice. Who issues a “wanted notice” for people without any interest in seeing, much less interrogating, them? Aisha Wakil, who should be in jail based on her well-documented self-admission that she is an enabler of Boko Haram’s mass slaughter of innocents, also bragged that she was available to be detained.

Well, certain conditions should precede the issuance of a wanted notice for people. They should have been invited to answer questions about their complicity in a crime. They should have spurned such invitations to appear before law enforcement agents— and gone underground. And after they were arrested, charged, and detained, they should somehow have managed to escape, and be in danger of vanishing into thin air. None of these scenarios happened.

People who initially defended the military’s bungling, hasty, unjustified issuance of the wanted notice said there was method in the military’s madness. But in the face of the unexpected backlash against its reckless unprofessionalism, the military was impelled to walk back its initial press statement. Director of Defence Information Brigadier General Rabe Abubakar said on Channels TV on August 16 that “declaring [Salkida, Bolori and Wakil) wanted was not our intention. We are inviting them to come and shed more light on Boko Haram so that collectively we can achieve the desired goal.”

But how do you “invite,” through a news release, people whose contact information you already have, with whom you relate on a periodic basis, and whose homes you know? What sort of “invitation” is that? And, although Brigadier General Abubakar said the military was merely seeking the cooperation and help of Salkida, Bolori, and Wakil, acting Nigerian Army Spokesperson Colonel S.K. Usman threatened them in public media. “They were evasive. They wanted everything on their terms,” he said in a press statementafter meeting with Bolori and Wakil. “We are determined. They must cooperate.”

Seriously? How do you injure people’s reputation before the whole world (supposing they are innocent), threaten them publicly, and expect them to help you with the information you need to do your job?

This all frankly feels like watching an unimaginative, low-budget, slapdash Nollywood movie about clueless dolts.

Before I’m misconstrued, let me be clear that I’m NOT calling into question the propriety of inviting, detaining, or interrogating people who might help the military in its fight against Boko Haram. I have a lot of respect for the valiance of our military, which has seen Boko Haram nearly decimated. I support any legal and sensible effort to bring a total end to Boko Haram’s deathly grip on Nigeria’s northeast. But it is irresponsible, and even unlawful, to issue a wanted notice for people who are not in hiding, who haven’t repulsed any invitations, who haven’t been formally charged with any offense, and whose cooperation you desperately need in your anti-terrorism fight.

Issuance of wanted notice for people who haven’t been charged with any wrongdoing is a prima facie case of libel.  As my friend Dr. Raji Bello has pointed out on Facebook, the wanted notice has been archived in national and international media platforms, and is indexed by search engines. Hundreds of years from now, these people will be remembered as people for whom a wanted notice was issued by the Nigerian military. That’s incalculable injury to their reputation. If they are, however, found guilty of aiding Boko Haram terrorists by a competent court, the negative publicity would be warranted.

But more than anything, it’s a grave strategic and tactical miscalculation to publicize information about the people the military needs to get to the root of the nagging Boko Haram insurgency. The three “wanted” or “invited” people could easily have been invited quietly without all the media circus. We shouldn’t be discussing this issue in the media. The military, through its incompetent information management, drew us into this.

The needlessly exhibitionist tactics of the military has the unsettling potential to reverse the gains made against Boko Haram and to further endanger the lives of the Chibok girls and hundreds of other innocent people in Boko Haram captivity.

The media bluster and the incoherent, mutually contradictory press statements from three different military spokespersons these past few days were obviously merely intended to impress President Buhari and to counter Boko Haram’s recent propaganda against the military. But that’s a singularly irresponsible way to handle delicate military intelligence matters like this.

And that’s why President Buhari needs to show decisive leadership now. He isn’t just the president and commander-in-chief, he is also a retired general—and a former military head of state to boot. His seeming silence and indifference to the military’s current avoidable reputational self-destruction is helping to feed the narrative that he is simply “content to answer the title of president”—and enjoy the perquisites that come with it— but either unwilling or unable to do the hard work the title demands and entails. That’s a dangerous narrative he must not allow to take root—if he is still interested in bringing about the change he promised us and leaving an enduring legacy.

 

 

http://www.farooqkperogi.com/2016/08/buharis-leadership-desperately-needed.html?m=1

CITAD’S Hate Speech Monitoring Project in Nigeria

In December 2003, the U.N. International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda jailed several media executives on grounds of incitement and conspiracy to commit genocide and crimes against humanity. Specifically, the tribunal pointed out how the media executives caused the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians without firearms, machete or any physical weapons in actions through articles that created the psychological disposition favourable to genocide.

Nigeria is not Rwanda and nothing on the scale of genocide is observable on the horizon in Nigeria. But it is also important to note the observation of the Jos based Institute of Governance and Social Research that violent conflicts in different parts of the country, especially from 2001 to date, has changed the Nigerian State in profound ways since the end of the 20th Century. It specifically pointed out how those conflicts set neighbours, ethnic and religious groups against one another in violent encounters, each characterised by breach of all accepted rules of engagement in war such as targeting of civilians and non-civilians, including infants, for massacre because they belonged to the wrong group. The institute’s report under reference was compiled in 2010, meaning there is cause for concern with hate speeches in Nigeria since, according to the UN tribunal, hate speeches constitute the eve of dreadful conflicts.

It is against this background that the emergence of a small unit for monitoring and countering hate speech at the Centre for Information Technology and Development, (CITAD) in Kano should be worth our while. Supported by DFID’s Nigeria Stability and Reconciliation Programme as well as MacArthur Foundation, the unit has already released two briefings on what we might call a Nigerians – on – Nigerians hate speech trends on the social media. Its broad take is worrisome. That can be summarised by the conclusion in its July briefing that the social media is a key driver of hate speech involving evidently inflammatory language use that would not be found in the otherwise most reckless newspapers. And the users are very well educated elements.

UNSG, Banki-moon

UNSG, Banki-moon

Catholic Archbishop John Onaiyekan

Catholic Archbishop John Onaiyekan

Sultan Sa’ad Abubakar 111

Sultan Sa’ad Abubakar 111

 

 

 

 

 

Hate speeches as the foremost driver of violent conflicts has not received commensurate institutional attention in Nigeria. It is not clear how well equipped the traditional conflict management institutions in Nigeria are in terms of functional mechanisms for monitoring and regulating hate speech trends. Courtesy of the CITAD hate speech monitoring, we now know that hate speeches came down immediately after the peace accord between the two political parties in the 2015 presidential contest but only to rise steeply again. Today, the trend is so high, indicating a high degree of intolerance of each other. The figures from the July briefing, for instance, shows 618 items conveying religious insensitivity, followed by 507 items on ethnicity, 192 items relating to Biafran agitation. Hate speeches around electoral realm is the least, obviously because there was no major contest of that nature in the month. The pattern for the previous month is the same except that ethnicity had higher score than religion but the two took more than 94% of the total for June 2016.

That is to say that, on the internet, many Nigerians have no inhibitions in using words with intention to insult, offend or convey maximum contempt for some other Nigerians, either along ethnic, religious or spatial lines. The implication is that when you call someone or some group a certain name, you are rationalising doing harm; the caller is consciously or otherwise distancing him or herself from responsibility for the humanity of the other person or group, making the target look deserving of being humiliated or killed or so. Language creates the enemy images which justifies attack, retaliation and vengeance, not the other way. There can be no retaliation if there is no such language. Those who write or utter such words might not connect themselves with the implications but ignorance of that does not exonerate them from liability as the UN Tribunal on Rwanda shows.

Those who are in the habit of dehumanizing or demonizing others must, therefore, know that they are walking on the wrong side of the law and they could end up at The Hague or a similar place. CITAD’ list of hate and dangerous speeches stretch from Insulting people’s religion; abusing people’s ethnic or linguistic affiliation; expressing contempt for people on the basis of their place of origin; disparaging or intimidating women or girls because of their gender; condoning discriminatory assertions against people living with disability. Others are abusing or desecrating symbols of cultural or religious practices; denigrating or otherwise ridiculing traditional or cultural institutions of other people; engaging in deliberate spread falsehood or rumours demeaning, maligning or ostracizing other people on the basis of identity such as religion, ethnicity, gender or place of origin or disability.

At the end of the day, it is back to the state. That is the Nigerian State, which has the monopoly of the legitimate use of violence. CITAD would like the state to reify itself quickly in terms of dealing with the hardship that it says explains the recourse to perceive others as enemies. Governments should equally provide adequate information so that people would understand the true circumstances of all decisions taken. This is grounded on the analysis that, underlying the spread of hate speech in the country are the perception that the Government headed by a Hausa-Fulani/Muslim northerner is discriminating against the Igbos; the counter perception that certain sections of the country are unhappy with the outcome of the 2015 election and are extending the electoral contest by making it difficult for the government to settle down; resistance to the anti-corruption agenda of the government by those who will want do everything to scuttle it and the increasing economic hardship that has resulted from the collapse of national earnings and some decision of the Federal Government.

But the security agencies; INEC; religious and ethnic leaders; the media and the public are not left out in this call to action against hate speech as an actual as well as a potential driver of conflicts in the country. It would be interesting to see what the trend would show in the next few months

 

http://intervention.ng/citads-hate-speech-monitoring-project-in-nigeria/

Again, CITAD Warns: Hate Speech Increasing In Nigeria

The  Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) has issued another warning to Nigerians about  the dangers of hate speech.

At a briefing on its latest research in Kano,CITAD noted that “One is that in July we recorded more hate speech than in June. This means that hate speech is increasing in the country. Secondly as we observed last month, this month also the bulk of the items are relate to ethnicity or religion. We also see the oversimplification of comet process such as rural banditry which is reduced to a conflict between herders and farmers, but which in the spread of hate either speech is cast as the attempt by Muslims to kill non-Muslim people especially in the south east.”

Read excerpts of  the text of Press Briefing on Hate Speech for the Month of June Addressed By Isah Garba, Senior Programmes Officer (Peace and Conflicts), Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) On July 27, 2016, Kano below


“…
I welcome you to the second of our monthly media briefing on hate speech. We will recall that CITAD has with support of our partners, notably the Nigeria Stability and Reconciliation Programme (NSRP) of DFID and the MacArthur Foundation been undertaking the monitoring and countering of hate speech online as part of the effort to preempt and prevent outbreak of violence that is ignited through the spread of hate and dangerous speech in the society.  Starting from last month, we commenced a month media briefing so as to draw attention to key and salient issues that we observe in the month.

This month we are particularly worried that with the increasing acrimonious campaign that is rolling up over the bye election for the member representing Minjibir constituency in the Kano State. We think it is necessary for all stakeholders to come to agreement on what needs to be done to prevent the reoccurrence of violence that terminated the first attempt at the bye election some weeks back.

The Results from July Monitoring Activates
Between June and July of this year; our monitors have documented 779 hate speech items. This brings the total of generated hate speech monitored to 1490 these are categorized as follows:
1. Access to resource related hate speech 82 items
2. Biafran agitation – 192 items
3. Terror recruitment – 27 items
4. Election related 25 items
5. Religious – 618 items
6. Ethnicity – 570 items

Observations

Two facts need to be drawn from this. One is that in July we recorded more hate speech than in June. This means that hate speech is increasing in the country. Secondly as we observed last month, this month also the bulk of the items are relate to ethnicity or religion. We also see the oversimplification of comet process such as rural banditry which is reduced to a conflict between herders and farmers, but which in the spread of hate either speech is cast as the attempt by Muslims to kill non-Muslim people especially in the south east.

With respect to our immediate environment there is repeated use of the Mu hadu a Minjibir and ‘Dan halalar ka fasa” both of which are threats of violence as different political factions prepare for the bye election.

The languages that people are using are clearly language that even the most rapid inflammatory print newspaper would not use. This means that the anonymity and the sense of freedom of the social media is a fact in the generation and circulation of hate speech. Yet as our data, shown over 80% of the items are English. This means that the people are school educated.

An analysis shows that there are four keys underlying the spread of hate speech in the country. These include:

  1. The perception that the Government headed by a Hausa Fulani Muslim north is discriminating against the Igbos
  2. The counter perception that sections of the country were not happy with the outcome of the election and continuing the election contest by making it difficult for the government to settle
  3. The fact that some propel who do not want the anti-corruption to be agenda of the government and will want do everything to scuttle it
  4. The increased economic hardship that has resulted following the collapse of national earnings and some decision of the government

In this situation, government has a responsibility to speak out to its citizens to try to explain things so that some with some others interest do not use the absence of credible information from government to manipulate opinion of the people. We note that in our broad categories of hate and dangerous speech, rumour is a key component. Rumour strives in the void where information is lacking or in the context of opacity where government officials horde information. In the items that we have captured we see number of rumours, some which could easily lead to confusion. Government has the onerous duty to make sure that rumour is not given free reigns by absent of substantive information from its officials.

 

Recommendations

KANO POLITICS

  1. Politicians should not make the Minjibir election as avenue for revenging or paying back the grievances they have against each other
  2. Politicians should make sure they preach for free and fair electoral participation to their supporters
  3. The candidates contesting the elections and their parties should emulate from the presidential candidates of the 2015 election particularly the then president for on knowing that he lost the election called to congratulate his opponent who won. This simple but difficult action not only makes him a hero in the eyes of the democrats but also saved the country from possible disintegration and blood birth.
  4. The Sojojin Baka of all sections of the both intra and inter parties who serve as stimulants to the key actors in the process should know that  as they speak on the air it goes directly to heterogeneous audience that may have different perception and interpretation and finally act differently. In view of this they should guard their utterances and speak in the way that will not promote violence. Rather as they advocate for votes for those they promote they should also advocate for peace as the people they support can only be in office if there is peace, the election can only be conclusive and declared if peacefully conducted and concluded.
  5. The security operatives in the state should be more vigilant and have their ears to the ground to snipe any possible violence and address early warning signs to avoid violence occurrence. In addition they should keep pace with what is going in the media and other political scenes so as to call order any person or group that is about to derail.
  6. The electoral commission should try as much as it can keep to the tenet of the commission in conducting the election and sensitize it adhoc staff on the need to be objective in all the process and the dangers attached to acting contrary
  7. The general public especially those in the constituency, should learn from the sad experience of cancelled April election and fear the possibility of them not having a representative in the house should this by election went violence and declared inconclusive by INEC should INEC keep to its words that if the election is not successfully concluded the constituency will remain without a representative, to avid that they should coordinate themselves and not allow any external person to mar the future of their constituency.
  8. The Media on the other hand should keep to the ethic of the profession as they report political activities or run political programmes especially the live programmes
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Government 

Since the last press conference, we have not seen government taking serious steps to address some the underlying factors that are leading to the spread of hate speech. In this connection, we would like to repeat the same call that we made earlier, that is:

  1. The Federal Government should step efforts promoting inclusive dialogues with a view to arriving at national consensus on national issues
  2. The Federal Government should hasten to roll out programmes that will address the hardship that citizens are experiencing which are providing the fertile space for the generation and circulation of hate speech
  3. Governments at all levels should promote inclusivity in access to decision making processes and to the benefits of governance programmes
  4. Governments should promote transparency and openness in the conduct of government and its officials so that citizens are carried along
  5. Governments should provide adequate information on all decisions taken so that the true circumstances of such decisions are understood by all

Religious and Ethnic Leaders

  1. They should refrain from using inciting language and caution their followers from using hate speech to voice their grievances
  2. That religious and community leaders must always condemn hate speech where it is made
  3. That religious and community leaders should enlighten the public against hate and dangerous speech
  4. That at all times, they should promote dialogue and peaceful resolution of conflicts and support the promotion of inclusivity in all governance programmes and activities at all levels

Conclusion                                                                                                  

As a community we seem to close our eyes and assume that we do not see and hear hate speech. Yet the online channels that we youth engage with are becoming saturated with hate and dangerous speech.  This has two major implications. One is that youth who are most impressionable and  are still grappling with socialization issues are likely to get the wrong messages from this. Second we know that youth are often the major combatants in conflicts. That they are,kyr most likely to be mobilized for conflicts purposes are also the ones coming into contact with various shade of hate speech which with explicit call to action that includes not just discrimination of but killings also can spell danger to our country. We therefore urge people community leaders and indeed all people of influence to join the campaign against hate speech.

In this connection, we also call on the join to join the campaign by providing venue for enlightening and educating people against hate speech and also by deliberately refusing to provide space for the spread of hate speech and messages in their medium.

 

http://newsdiaryonline.com/citad-warns-hate-speech-increasing-nigeria/

Kano Bye-Election: NGO Cautions Politicians Against Violence

By Bashir Mohammed
Kano

Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) has cautioned politicians in Kano state to desist from creating chaos capable of scuttling the upcoming bye-election of the Minjibir local government House of Assembly constituency.
The position had remained vacant following the death of the member representing the constituency, late Tahir Hamisu Gurjiya, early this year and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) slated April for election to fill the position, but later declared it inconclusive after it was disrupted by fierce violence.

Hence, the electoral body had rescheduled the bye-election to be conducted on Saturday, July 30, 2016, the situation that drew the attention of government, security agencies, civil society groups and NGOs towards ensuring a violence-free poll.
CITAD at a press conference in Kano yesterday, called on the politicians in the state not to make the election an avenue for revenge on their grievances, advising them to preach free and fair electoral participation to their supporters.
Addressing newsmen, CITAD’s programme officer (peace and conflicts), Isah Garba, urged the politicians from all political parties to accept defeat and throw their weight on the back of the winner, noting that violence would not augur well to the nascent democracy the country and the state are enjoying.

He added that “the security operatives in the state should be more vigilant and have their ears to the ground to snipe any possible violence and address early warning signs to avoid recurrence of violence in the election.”
He also appealed to the INEC to ensure free and fair conduct of the election, calling on the general public, especially those in the constituency to learn from the experience of the cancelled election and fear the possibility of them not having a representative in the House of Assembly till the end of this tenure.

 

http://www.blueprint.ng/2016/07/28/kano-bye-election-ngo-cautions-politicians-against-violence/

CITAD, Action Aid Push For The Passage Of #NotTooYoungToRun Bill News

Participants at the #NotTooYoungToRun campaign
In a bid to stimulate public discussion around the rational and principles of the Not Too Young To Run Bill, currently under review in Nigeria’s National Assembly, as well as popularize the bill and mobilise citizens support for it, the Centre for Information Technology and Development, CITAD, in collaboration with Action Aid Nigeria, hosted a one-day public debate with youth in Kano on Tuesday.
The debate was part of a series of public debates being organized across Nigeria under the platform of the #NotTooYoungToRun campaign.

The Not Too Young To Run Bill is seeking for the alteration of sections 65, 106, 131 and 177 of the 1999 Nigerian constitution (as amended) to reduce age qualification for the office of the president (from 40 to 30 years); governor and senator (35 to 30) as well as member of Federal House of Representatives and state house of assembly (30 to 25). The bill also seeks to mainstream independent candidacy in the electoral process.

“The youth constitute over 70% of Nigeria’s population,” said Nura Iro Maaji, a youth activist and lecturer at the School of Continuing Education of Bayero University, Kano who was guest speaker at the public debate. “Therefore, a peaceful and prosperous Nigeria is only possible when the youth are given the opportunity to participate in democratic governance processes by the passage into law of the Not Too Young To Run Bill.”

Maaji, who argued that youth inclusiveness will bring about “fresh ideas and cleanse the political process” urged the youth to seek for more knowledge and information about leadership and governance so as to be adequately prepared for the challenge of leadership.

Participants at the #NotTooYoungToRun campaign posed for a group photo
Participants at the #NotTooYoungToRun campaign posed for a group photo

Kabiru Dakata, a senior programmes officer at the Centre for Information Technology and Development, CITAD, who was also one of the discussants at the public debate said the idea of the debate was to “sensitize and educate young people on the bill (Not Too Young To Run bill); seek for their support to ensure it dominates discussions on social media, our communities and households”.

“Historically speaking,” he argued “Leaders of the first and second republics led this country while they were still very young, moreover, youth of this generation are better informed. And we are not saying the older generations should completely leave the scene – they should accommodate the younger ones to participate in governance process more especially because the older ones have since independence been battling to get things right, unsuccessfully.”

Speaking to African Newspage, Vanessa Edhebru, a programme officer at Action Aid Nigeria blamed the youth’s lack of capacity to actively participate in governance processes on “the type of society we have, where youth do not think they have what it takes to engage in governance and electoral process beyond casting their votes”.

Female participants at the debate holding placards of the #NotTooYoungToRun campaign posed for a group photo shortly after the event
Female participants at the debate holding placards of the #NotTooYoungToRun campaign posed for a group photo shortly after the event

“Youth participation will bring about dynamism, innovation as well as cross-generational partnerships that will take Nigeria where it should be,” she said.

Kano legislators performing below average – Don

By Bashir Mohammed
Kano

A senior lecturer with the Kano state Polytechnic, Dr. Sulieman Hashim Rano, has described the performance of legislators representing Kano at both chambers of the National Assembly as woeful and below average compared with other states in the North.

Speaking to newsmen on the  Community Development Charter launched in Rano town at the instance of the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) yesterday, Rano said the legislators were yet to convince the electorate that their stewardship is worth it name, adding that state like Katsina “can be proud of its representatives at the National Assembly.”
He said the issue of delivery in the name of  genuine legislative representation as far as Kano was concerned was quite abysmal as the legislators had nothing substantial to prove to the electorate that they had lived up to their billing, stressing that  their main mission was to serve humanity with diligence.

He said the issue of mediocrity had been grossly promoted to high heavens by those who felt that they can massage their ego by misguiding and controlling their moles at the National Assembly, lamenting that the application of merit in voting credible and intelligent people to power had been thrown to the dogs.
He however stated that the syndrome of amassing huge money in the name of holding a plum political office was doing a great disservice to the genuine concept and precepts of the nascent democratic system in the country.

The don point out that the stellar performance of the political elite in the first republic left much to be desired.
Speaking on the launch of the project, CITAD Programme Officer, Malam Isiyaku Garba Yakasai, said the programme was conceived to expose the rural populace to the nitty gritty of democratic rule and they should expect from the people leading them.
He said the programme was CITAD contribution in uplifting the status of the rural communities in Kano state to serve as a wake-up call to those leading them in the name of democracy to be fully conversant with the burden of proof that lies on their shoulders.

 

http://www.blueprint.ng/2016/07/04/kano-legislators-performing-below-average-don/

Hate Speech: ‘Nigerians Becoming Ethnically, Religiously Insensitive’, CITAD Warns

Kano-based  Centre For Information Technology And Development (CITAD) has warned that despite the efforts to curb hate or dangerous speech during the 2015 elections, Nigerians appear to have now  become ‘ethnically and religiously insensitive or even intolerant.’

The Centre’s finding were disclosed at a press briefing on Friday in Kano by Isa Garba, its Senior Programmes Officer (Peace and conflicts) .Analysing the Centre’s findings between May and June this year ,Garba said “It is seen that the two major sources of hate speech in the period are religion and ethnicity. In fact, the two contribute about 94% of the items captured. This means that Nigerians are becoming ethnically and religiously insensitive, or even intolerant. The co-occurrence of these to a polity that is multi-ethnic and multi-religious can very dangerous as past ethno-religious violent conflicts have shown.”

For a proper appreciation of the issues , we publish below excerpts of CITAD’s  briefing:

 

TEXT OF PRESS BRIEFING ON HATE SPEECH FOR THE MONTH OF JUNE ADDRESSED BY ISAH GARBA, SENIOR PROGRAMMES OFFICER (PEACE AND CONFLICTS), CENTRE FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT (CITAD) ON JUNE 30, 2016, KANO

Distinguished members of the press, I will like on behalf of the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) to welcome you to this conference, the first of its series of monthly press briefing on our hate and dangerous Speech Monitoring and Countering Projects that we will be holding. The purpose of the press briefing is to share with public issues of concern that we observe over the month and suggest cause of action that will mitigate these issues of concern.
Dangerous or hate speech has been defined as speech act that denigrates people on the basis of their membership to a group, such as an ethnic or religious group that has a reasonable chance of catalyzing or amplifying violence by one group against another, given the circumstances in which it is made or disseminated. A Speech act in this context includes any form of expression, including images such as drawings or photographs, dance, films, cartoons, etc
While hate speech has been commonly used, there has over the years been an effort to differentiate between hate and dangerous speech, the former as a collection of all forms of inflammatory speech practices while dangerous speech is reserved for that specific category that leads to itself to inciting people to act or accept violence against others as normal. This distinction is necessary to allow for monitoring of speech that is capable of leading to violence.
In this context, it is also important to concretely specify what qualifies for hate/dangerous speech within the Nigerian context. In our context, we regard as dangerous speech any speech act that is aimed at inciting the audience to denigrate against people others of the basis of ethnicity, religion, gender, geography and any other socially conceived parameter with the purpose of marginalizing them or placing them at some disadvantage that is contrary to the provisions of the universal declaration on human rights as well as the international covenants on rights of the people. This does not include the peculiar joking relations that exist in some communities, practiced between two or more ethnic/linguistic groups that have historically been used as a conflict resolution mechanism. Substantively, we see dangerous/hate speech in the Nigerian context as speech act that:
1. Insults people for their religion
2. Abuses people for their ethnic or linguistic affiliation
3. Expresses contempt against people because of their place of origin
4. Disparages or intimidates women or girls because of their gender
5. Condones discriminatory assertions against people living with disability
6. Abuses or desecrates symbols of cultural or religious practices
7. Denigrates or otherwise ridicules traditional or cultural institutions of other people
8. Deliberate spread falsehood or rumours that demeans or maligns or otherwise ostracizes other people on the basis of religion, ethnicity, gender or place of origin for the accident of one form of disability or the other

Hate speech is major driver of violent conflicts as experiences in several countries have shown. Peace building efforts therefore have always included efforts to both reduce the circulation of hate speech and neutralize the likely impact of these that circulate. This is done through monitoring and countering programmes such as we do.
Nigeria is not immune to hate speech. In fact while from our work we found that after the peace accord was signed between the presidential candidates in the 2015 general elections there was reduction in hate speech, over the last months there has been a rise of volume of hate and dangerous speech in the country.
The Results from June
Between May and June of this year, our monitors have documented 393 hate speech items. These items are categorized as follows:
1. Access to resource related hate speech- 31items
2. Biafran agitation – 90 items
3. Terror recruitment – 16 items
4. Election related 13 items
5. Religious – 168 items
6. Ethnicity – 198 items

It is seen that the two major sources of hate speech in the period are religion and ethnicity. In fact, the two contribute about 94% of the items captured. This means that Nigerians are becoming ethnically and religiously insensitive, or even intolerant. The co-occurrence of these to a polity that is multi-ethnic and multi-religious can very dangerous as past ethno-religious violent conflicts have shown.
We are particularly horrified by some of the messages that people peddle, clearly calling for the killings of others, dehumanizing and demonizing others to create the condition for people to act the call to action. The dynamics of hate speech is that other gets provoked and retaliate in same manner and before you know it, some people take the action step to implement the specified call to action contained in the hate messages.
Recommendations
Many of the hate speech items rise from perceptions associated with action or inaction of government. Others are located within the complex contest of space and resources by various ethnic groups in the country. Not least is also the rise of new violent groups such as the Niger Delta Avengers as well as the continuing Biafran agitation. We feel that the country more than any other time is called upon to manage its diversity. This means that open up spaces for genuine conversation towards promoting national understanding is needed. Specifically, we would to call on
Government
1. The Federal Government should step efforts promoting inclusive dialogues with a view to arriving at national consensus on national issues
2. The Federal Government should hasten to roll out programmes that will address the hardship that citizens are experiencing which are providing the fertile space for the generation and circulation of hate speech
3. Governments at all levels should promote inclusivity in access to decision making processes and to the benefits of governance programmes
4. Governments should promote transparency and openness in the conduct of government and its officials so that citizens are carried along
5. Governments should provide adequate information on all decisions taken so that the true circumstances of such decisions are understood by all

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Religious and Ethnic Leaders
1. They should refrain from using inciting language and caution their followers from using hate speech to voice their grievances
2. That religious and community leaders must always condemn hate speech where it is made
3. That religious and community leaders should enlighten the public against hate and dangerous speech
4. That at all times, they should promote dialogue and peaceful resolution of conflicts and support the promotion of inclusivity in all governance programmes and activities at all levels

Individuals
Individuals must not only refrain from engaging in hate speech but must also refuse to be provoked by it. Once people do not react to hate speech, it loses its capacity to catalyze violence. We urge people to be valiant and to report hate speech rather than act on it.

 

http://newsdiaryonline.com/hate-speech-nigerians-becoming-ethnically-religiously-insensitive-citad-warns/

Group seeks state of emergency in North-East education sector

Dissatisfied by the continuous poor performance of secondary school students in the North-East region of the country in national and regional examinations, the North-East Education and Social Accountability Cluster yesterday urged state governors in the region to declare a state of emergency in the education sector.

In a statement made available to newsmen in Jalingo, the group also urged the state governments in the North-East to go beyond declaring a state of emergency and invest more in the education sector by making available enough funds and materials that would enhance teaching and learning in their states.

The group, which is drawn from various civil society organisations, said: “We also urge that this should go beyond just mere declaration, requiring the states to come up with bold initiatives and corresponding funding and the deployment of transparent and accountable mechanisms for the utilisation of the funds for the sector.”

They observed that “one of the ways we can assess the commitment of the state governments in developing and promoting the state of education in their states is the performance of their indigenes in different national and regional examinations.”

The statement added: “If this stands to be a reliable yardstick, then we can loudly say states in the North-East need to be more committed so that we can begin to see appreciable performance of the indigenes of their states in those examinations.

“In the 2015 WAEC May/June result released in the first quarter of this year, Yobe State came last with only 646 (4.37%) candidates obtaining five credits and above including English and Mathematics out of the 14, 748 students, comprising 10, 807 males and 3,977 females, that sat for the examination in the state.

“Apart from the disheartening performance of Yobe State, none of the North-East states made it to the best 20 performing states in the ranking.”

The statement was jointly signed by Kabiru Sa`idu Dakata, Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), Kano; Mohammed G. Wuyo, Borno Coalition for Democracy and Progress (BOCODEP), Borno; Enoch Raymond, Centre for Environmental Education and Development (CEED), Taraba; Rebecca Hassan, Association of People Living with Disability, Gombe; Aishatu Margima, Women and Youth Empowerment for Advancement and Health Initiative (WYEAHI), Adamawa; Isah Garba, Bauchi Coalition for Improvement of Public Expenditure Management (BACIPEM), Bauchi; Halimatu Laminu, Network of Civil Society Organisations, Yobe; Dauda Mohammad, Northeast Youth Initiative Forum(NEYIF),  Yobe; Asma`u Joda, Centre for Women and Adolescent Empowerment, Adamawa; and Ibrahim Yusuf, Society and the Future, Gombe.

Group seeks state of emergency in North-East education sector

Insurgency: CITAD Urges State Of Emergency In North-East

By Bashir Mohammed
Kano

Executive Director, Centre for Information Technology and Development  (CITAD), Dr. Yunusa Zakari Yau, has called on the federal government to declare a state of humanitarian emergency in the North-east.
Speaking to newsmen in Kano yesterday, Yau said the call had become necessary as greater action was much-needed to rescue millions of people from starvation.

Yau said there was also the compelling need for developing a comprehensive frame work for humanitarian intervention in the North-east, stressing that the federal government was only using the
National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) act which focused attention on refugees from other countries rather than on internally displaced persons.
He emphasised the need for the protection of rural communities in the North-east who as soft target had been bearing the worse burden of the insurgency.

He said even the government military offensive against Boko Haram insurgents had continued to record huge success, it was daily revealing a crisis that had been understated as thousands of people were pouring out with no food, medication and shelter.
He called on the National Assembly to, without further delay, conclude deliberations and pass into law the North-east Development Commission Bill “so that an accounting mechanism and structure for coordination of effort in rebuilding and reconstruction of the region would be in place.”

 

Source: http://www.blueprint.ng/2016/06/01/insurgency-citad-urges-state-of-emergency-in-north-east/

Nigeria Urged To Declare Humanitarian Emergency In Northeast Region

Internally displaced persons in Nigeria
The Nigerian government has been urged to declare a state of humanitarian emergency in the conflict-ravaged northeastern region, to galvanize greater action to rescue millions of people from starvation.

This call was contained in a press statement made available to journalists this week, by the Centre for Information Technology and Development, CITAD, an NGO which has been implementing various programmes as part of the rebuilding and reconstruction efforts in the region, and  was therefore worried about the grave situation in the rural parts of northeastern Nigeria.

The statement, which was signed by YZ Ya’u, CITAD’s executive director noted that whereas the government’s military offensive against the Boko Haram insurgents in the region had recorded significant successes and most of the territories earlier taken by the group, have been retaken, the development was daily revealing a crisis that had been “understated as thousands of people are pouring out with no food, medication and shelter”.

“They are daily starving to death. Over two Millions (2.5 million) have been displaced internally and are scattered across Nigeria. Most of them in impoverished host communities which further worsen their situation. These are different from these internally displaced persons who are in camp. They are the unaccounted IDPs who have no luxury of camps,” said the statement.

“They have been trapped for years in the bush and have no means of escaping. For over four years, these people could not farm, could not conduct business and have lost contact with other communities and the government. They have no homes, food or water to drink. Education had been disrupted. They are dying of both hunger and thirst as well as from drinking of unhealthy water out of desperation.”

The statement decried the fact that efforts aimed at addressing the needs of the internally displaced persons have been largely concentrated in the urban areas and relief materials were being channeled to official camps whereas those disconnected communities were even in greater need of such aid.

“Daily people are dying for want of food and water,” it said  “As the rainy season sets, their conditions will even be worse by the lack of shelter, leaving them at the mercy of the elements that they have been exposed to for so long a time. Already there are reports of tens of people dying every day of hunger, thirst and lack of shelter especially in communities outside Maiduguri and the danger of mass starvation in these communities is so real.”

Amongst others, the statement categorically demanded of governments in Nigeria to “develop a comprehensive framework for humanitarian intervention in the northeast” asking the government to come up with “a policy on IDPs as currently the government has no policy on IDPs and has been using the NEMA act which has its focus on refugees from other countries rather than on IDPs.”
It further called on Nigeria to protect rural communities in its northeastern region whom it said, as soft target, have been bearing the brunt of the Boko Haram insurgency. It also called on the National Assembly, to expedite action and ensure the successful passage of the North East Development Commission bill so as to bring about “accountable mechanism and structure for the coordination of effort in rebuilding and reconstruction of the region.”

 

Source: http://africannewspage.net/2016/06/nigeria-urged-declare-humanitarian-emergency-northeast-region/

Shara: A Community Where ‘No Child Goes To School’

There are over 30 million out-of-school children, OOSC, across Sub Saharan Africa and one-third of that figure, over 10 million, is in Nigeria, according to UNESCO
Student's of Shara community's under-tree school receiving sets of uniforms and learning materials donated to them by CITAD
Student’s of Shara community’s under-tree school receiving sets of uniforms and learning materials donated to them by CITAD

Shara, a very remote rural community in Sumaila local government area of Kano state, in northwestern Nigeria, is a village where, until recently, not a single child goes to school. Over 10.5 million children of school age across Nigeria are not going to school which includes 40% of the country’s children of between the ages of 6 and 11. Moreover, 30% of pupils drop out of primary school and 54% do not get to complete junior secondary school.

Unbelievably, the community, whose inhabitants were in the habit of migrating  and resettling somewhere else whenever a school is built close to them, has now not only secured a plot, but is also seeking the support of government and NGOs to help them build a school for their children. This development has generated a lot of excitement among the community’s children, many of whom are now eager to go to school and acquire education.

This is not unconnected with consistent advocacy efforts of the Centre for Information Technology and Development, CITAD, an NGO, whose fruitful yet exhaustive efforts have successfully changed the mindset of the members of the community, who themselves gathered money and acquired a plot of land on which the school will be built.

So passionate and eager are parents in the community now that they have accepted to see their children learn in an under-a-tree school before a proper structure is built for them. Therefore, today, children from the community are being taught basic literacy skills by volunteer teachers from neighboring communities under a tree which serves as their temporary class before a proper one is built for them.

“We are grateful to CITAD helping us get a school and for giving us uniforms, exercise books and learning materials,” said an excited Usman Sama’ila, wearing his new school uniform. “I want to be educated so that I can develop myself and my community.”

However, it took CITAD and a local CBO, Sitti Forum, series of advocacies and lobbying on the people of the community, who vehemently opposed Western education and were skeptical about allowing their children to be educated in Western-styled schools, to be able to convince them to send their children to school. The community initially rebuffed their overtures and much later began to listen and eventually heed their call.

“We carried out research as a forum and identified communities where there were no schools and decided to help such communities get schools so that their children will be able to acquire education,” said Saidu Saleh Sitti, the chair of Sitti Forum, a community-based organization working in the area. “We carried out advocacy to both elders and youth of the community, tried and convince them on the benefit of getting their children acquire education. It was really difficult trying to convince them.”

Speaking during a ceremony organized for the presentation of school uniforms and instructional materials donated to the pupils of the under-tree school, by the Centre for Information Technology and development, CITAD, in Shara recently, Abdulganiyu Rufa’i, coordinator of the Center’s education program said the Centre, which was working in the education sector in across the states of the northeastern region and Kano, wanted to give Shara’s children the opportunity to be educated.

“CITAD has been working towards the improvement of education in the northeastern states as well as in Kano. In Kano, we are working in Dawakin Tofa, Garun Mallam and Sumaila local government areas. We identified Shara community and are working here because we want to give the children of the community the opportunity to be educated,” he said.

“Our hope is to come up with community-driven efforts for educational development because of our realization that the government alone cannot handle education; education sector is too important and strategic for it to be left in the hands of the government, alone. Therefore, communities need to be empowered with innovative strategies to be able to bring about development of education within their domain.”

Rufai, who said the Centre, was working to improve enrollment and retention of children in school said they learnt about the community through their research which showed that not a single child in the community was attending school hence their decision to carry out advocacy to the members of the community which has now yielded good results.

Also speaking at the event, the education secretary for Sumaila local government, Sabo Aliyu, said the Centre was complementing the government’s effort and  thanked CITAD for intervening in the community, which he said desperately needed education.

He stated that the local education authority would do everything possible to assist their efforts by constructing makeshift classes for the students as well as equip it with desks and chairs for both the students and their volunteer teachers, so as to facilitate learning process.

“I urge parents in this community to send their children to the school, including their girls. This is because if the girls are educated they have the opportunity to study for health-related courses and be able to take care of pregnant women in the community. This will solve you the trouble of exposing your women to men when they are sick or pregnant,” he said.

Bakari Hussaini is the special adviser to the governor of Kano state on education and while speaking at the event, he said millions of children were out of school in Kano state adding that the Governor Abdullahi Ganduje administration was coming up with a policy of free and fair education in the state, towards inclusive education in the state.

“The Kano state government is working on a free and compulsory education policy to address the huge challenge in the sector,” he said. “As I speak to you, millions of children across Kano state, who are of school age are not going to school, hence we are happy with the effort of CITAD and other NGOs working in the state.”

He added that the Kano state government will look into the possibility of building a proper school close to the community in the near future adding that education was the responsibility of all members of the society, and not the government alone.

“All members of Shara community, where ever they are in the country, and anyone that has anything to do with the community should contribute toward the development of education in the community,” he urged

Improving enrollment and retention of children in school will obviously help improve literacy levels among the next generation of Nigeria’s leaders, which will also afford them the opportunity break the cycle of poverty and make positive contributions towards the development of their country.

Moreover, the successful realization of the stand-alone Goal 4 (Education 2030) of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs, and the goals of the Global Partnership for Education, GPE, is tied to the achievement of inclusive and equitable quality education for children across the country.

 

Source: http://africannewspage.net/2016/05/shara-community-no-child-goes-school/

Nigeria: ‘Thousands dying in terror-ravaged villages’

By Rafiu Ajakaye

LAGOS, Nigeria

‘Even as the military offensive against Boko Haram scores successes, it isrevealing an understated crisis,’ says NGO head

Thousands of people in far-flung villages of Nigeria’s northeast are dying of hunger and lack of basic shelter, according to a group involved in rebuilding and reconstruction efforts in areas ravaged by the terrorist Boko Haram insurgency.

“Even as the military offensive against the Boko Haram insurgents continues to record success, it is daily revealing a crisis that has been understated. Suddenly, thousands of people are pouring out with no food, mediation, or shelter. They are daily starving to death,” Yunusa Yau, executive director of the Center for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), which has been implementing various aid and development programs in the region, told a news briefing in the northwestern city of Kano on Tuesday.

Yau said hundreds of thousands of these people were trapped in mountains, bushes, and other hideouts and were unable to farm or trade yet remain undocumented as displaced persons.

Over 2 million persons are recorded as having been displaced in the region owing to the crisis, with some taking shelter in government camps largely found in towns like Maiduguri, Bama, and Yola.

“Relief materials are channeled to known camps but those disconnected communities are even in greater need. The conditions just outside of Maiduguri [in northeastern Nigeria] are calamitous. Daily people are dying for want of food and water,” Yau said.

“As the rainy season sets, their conditions will even be worse due to lack of shelter, leaving them at the mercy of the elements that they have been exposed to for so long a time. Already there are reports of dozens of people dying every day of hunger, thirst and lack of shelter, especially in communities outside Maiduguri, and the danger of mass starvation in these communities is so real,” he added.

The group commended the various nonprofit organizations offering assistance to the displaced persons but said that these efforts so far amount to “scratching the surface”.

It called on the government to “declare a state of humanitarian emergency in the region to galvanize greater action to rescue millions of people from starvation, and develop a comprehensive framework for humanitarian intervention in the northeast”.

“In this connection, we ask that the government, in addition to a blueprint, come up with a policy on IDPs [internally displaced persons] as currently the government has no policy on IDPs and has been using the NEMA [National Emergency Management Agency] Act which has its focus on refugees from other countries rather than on IDPs.”

Source: http://aa.com.tr/en/africa/nigeria-thousands-dying-in-terror-ravaged-villages-/581974

Time to Save Jigawa-Yobe Road Users from Malian Nomads, By Hamza Ibrahim Chinade

Nigerian citizens living in parts of Jigawa, Bauchi and Yobe states annually play host to Malian nomads, who come with hundreds of camels, donkeys and horses as seasonal guests. For several years these nomads source food for their animals on vast farmlands of Jigawa, Bauchi and Yobe states people throughout the dry season. Travelers along major highways, especially Kano-Azare-Potiskum road will testify to the number of camels grazing, and even the women and children of herders selling milk and urine (for medicinal purpose) of camels at military check points. These animals normally move about, freely with no one guiding them.

Unlike the foreign nomads, our indigenous herders follow their animals to wherever they go, perhaps simply because an animal knows no wrong or right, and whatever trouble or offense the animal commits it’s the owner that will be held responsible, this is reasonable. This “brother’s keeper” mentality is the control mechanism alerting our herders to illegal conduct.

Until recently Malian nomads come and go without leaving their host communities with devastating effect of their camping. Nowadays, they scatter these animals across farmlands and the animals sometimes destroy stored farm produce left on the farm (juga in Hausa) and fruits on trees. An issue worthy of everybody’s attention is the unbearable recklessness of these nomads allowing their camels to cross roads at their wish, which has resulted in the loss of lives of many travelers along Kiyawa-Jama’are-Azare-Bukachuwa, Gamawa-Udubo, Bulkachuwa-Chinade-Misau roads, because camels normally appear suddenly on the roads, crashing into speeding vehicles.

I recall a particular incident in February this year, along Azare-Jama’are road, when fifteen people died after their bus hit a camel that suddenly appeared on the road. There are many incidences which claimed lives and properties which ordinarily will have been saved if the right measures were put in place. Sometime I get myself thinking whether our authorities have concern for the lives of their people at all, because if they do, the frequency of these unfortunate incidences is a reason to force them take a proper decision on these foreign nomads in order to save the lives of their people. From the time these people came to Nigeria some months back, no less than 30 lives were lost, let alone vehicles that completely got damaged.

Unfortunately, ever since this horrible scenario began unfolding no single Malian nomad was charged to court for committing any offense or causing lost of lives and properties, I am sure that will not be obtainable in their country, why then is it obtainable in ours? Should we go to other countries and obey their laws and avoid going against their laws, so also they do the same to us, unless we want to create the impression that we don’t care about our people to the extent that a foreigner can cause death of our citizens and go free.

It seems these nomads value their animals more than the lives of our citizens, because in one incident that happened along Gamawa-Udubo road, a 15 seater Toyota Hiace hit a camel that suddenly appeared to cross the road, the vehicle got its windscreen, headlights, bumper and everything at the front smashed while the camel had injuries including broken legs. Thank God no death was recorded from the incident except minor injuries by the passengers, thereafter the car owner looked for the camel owner but no one was found. A source revealed that they are afraid of what is going to happen, that’s the reason they decline owning up. Meanwhile the camel has suffered injuries and it was concluded the only option was to slaughter it and sell it otherwise it will just die. It was sold and the car owner used part of the money to repair his vehicle, although that should be function of a legal body to decide. Later a gentleman who claimed to be the owner went to the police asking that his camel be returned. When he was needed, he did not show up but after hearing that the camel is gone he was asking for its replacement not even minding what the camel had caused. I decided to share this story to show how they care about their animals and not lives of their host communities, people that gave them their farmlands to feed their animals, people that gave them a place to stay, this is to say the least.

Our authorities must liberate us from this worrisome carelessness. We are not saying harsh laws must be provided to completely ban them, no, but traditional leaders, the government and security agencies should collaborate and come up with laws to guide the conduct of these nomads so that their presence does not become a horrible nuisance to the citizens. In the past herders are restricted to grazing areas, and that has helped maintain the peace as well as prevented occurrence of unfortunate incidences, the same thing or similar can be a way out to this menace.

Hamza Ibrahim Chinade, is of the Center for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) Kano 08039467382.