12th Trust Dialogue: 2015:How to make Nigeria the winner–Bishop Idowu Feron

12th Daily Trust Dialogue Theme: “2015 Elections: How To Make Nigeria The Winner” Josiah Idowu-Fearon Ph.D. (ABU). 22/01/2015 The 2015 Elections create an opportunity for Nigerians to decide how to go forward. If Nigeria is to be the winner this time, all stakeholders need to recognise their roles and play them faithfully and with the […]

12th Daily Trust Dialogue

Theme: “2015 Elections: How To Make Nigeria The Winner”

Josiah Idowu-Fearon Ph.D. (ABU). 22/01/2015

The 2015 Elections create an opportunity for Nigerians to decide how to go forward. If Nigeria is to be the winner this time, all stakeholders need to recognise their roles and play them faithfully and with the fear of God. Mr. President in his address at the inauguration of his campaign team had this to say,  “The world is watching, will Nigeria get it right? My categorical response to that is yes, we must. And surely, we will. It is your duty to ensure that through your campaigns and activities, this primary objective is not lost. Our commitment to free, fair, credible and violence- free elections remains unshaken”( Our Stand: Leadership editorial: Jan. 8th,2015, pg.3).

Free and fair elections are the foundations of the democratic process and they include the following:

• ¥Periodic national elections of candidates emerging from a genuine multi-political party system, conducted by observing principles that ensure that all candidates and their parties have an equal chance of competing in the process,
• ¥getting their messages heard and canvassing support, 
• ¥ensuring that neither the candidates nor their supporters will be subjected to bodily harm or intimidation and 
• ¥that all political actors are willing to accept a rotation of government if that be the popular will.

These are the foundations of the democratic process( Dr. SakuntalaKadirgamar-Rajasingham, 2005).The catchwords are “free and fair elections” and we can not conceive of the democratic process without free and fair elections.

Elements of Free, Fair and credible elections depend on:

1)  An enabling legislative framework,

2)   The impartial and neutral practices of election administrators, the media and the forces that maintain law and order and

1. 13) The acceptance of the competitive electoral process by all the political forces in the country.

The perception that an election has not been free, fair and credible develops where there is fraud, violence and intimidation at any of the stages critical to the electoral process. It can also be undermined if the process is chaotic and poorly organized leaving large numbers of voters disenfranchised and confused about the process, issues and candidates. So even if there is no clear criminal intent in the process it may still lead to a lack of credibility in the process.

(The problem I perceive in the Nigerian peculiar situation is that of the negative use of religion, it has been extraordinarily applied in this electioneering period and it needs to be honestly faced and addressed if “Nigeria Must be the Winner in 2015 Elections”. Here are basic truths Nigerians -Muslims and Christians must as non-negotiable scriptural  truths -accept and work with:

Nigerian Christians and Muslims must, as a matter of scriptural truth, accept that there is only One God. “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Dt.6:4).

The Qur’an , on the other hand the Qur’an goes further to affirm: ” Say, He is Allah, the one and only”(Q.112:1). The Qur’an goes further to confirm that irrespective of what the practitioners of these two faith traditions think, this God we profess in One:  wa-ilâhuna, wa ilâhukum wahidun( And our God and your God is one(Q:29:46).

i). This God created everything that is not God;

ii). He is radically different from everything that is not God;

iii). God is good;

iv). He commands that we love God with our whole being; and

v). He also commands that we love our neighbours as ourselves (Volf. 2011:110).

Nigerian Christians and Muslims must accept and respect their differences in their approaches to this One God.

Religious leaders must put a stop to deceiving their followers that the Muslim community is not worshipping the only One God but worshipping an idol. Similarly, Muslim clerics must stop teaching their members that the Christians are worshipping three gods!

Nigerians must stop campaigning on the basis of religion and ethnicity; these two as campaign issues are driving neighbours apart and creating enmity between people created by One God for understanding and even development.

The second reality Nigerians must accept is that both the Bible on one hand and on the other, the Qur’an and Hadith have similar teachings on leadership.

Leadership roles from a Christian and an Islamic perspectives

According to the teachings in Christianity and Islam, the two primary roles of a leader are those of servant-leader and guardian-leader.

First, the leader is the servant of his followers (sayyid al qawn khadimuhum).(Kasule:1998:3). He is to seek their welfare and guide them towards the good.

The idea of a leader as a servant has been part of Christianity: (Isaiah 53) and Islam since their beginnings, and has only recently been developed by Robert Greenleaf:

The servant-leader is servant first. It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first… The best test, and the most difficult to administer, is: Do those served grow as persons?( Greenleaf:1970:7)

A second major role of the Christian ( Ezekiel 34, John 10), and the Muslim leader is to protect his community against tyranny and oppression, to encourage God-consciousness and taqwa, and to promote justice.

A commander (of the Muslims) is a shield for them.( Sahih Muslim: 4542)

Islamic moral character as well as that of the Christian require that leaders emphasize the following four key parameters of behaviour: justice, trust, righteousness, and promise-keeping.

(1) Justice.

Justice is a dynamic characteristic which each Muslim must strive to develop whether he is a leader or a follower.(Umar -Ud-din:1991:24)

O you who believe! Stand out firmly for God as witnesses to fair dealing and let not the hatred of others to you make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice. (Al-Maidah.:5:8)

Do not put your hand with the wicked to be  an  unrighteous  witness.. You shall not follow the crowd to do evil, nor will you testify in  a dispute so as to turn  aside after many to pervert justice…keep yourself far from a false matter  do not kill the innocent  and righteous….  (Ex. 23:1-2, 7-8).

The need to achieve a balance and to take a middle road is quite important in a leader, and is stressed repeatedly by God in the Bible and the Qur’an. The Qur’an describes those “who will be rewarded with the highest place in heaven” as:

Those who, when they spend, are not extravagant and not niggardly, but hold a just

(balance) between those two extremes; (Al- furqaan,25:67-68).

Application of justice to leadership. The principle of justice must be observed by all Muslim-leaders and followers alike. For example, God admonishes Muslims thus:

God does command you to render back your trusts to those to whom they are due; and

when you judge between man and man that you judge with justice (An-Nisaa.4:58)

You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show partiality, nor …you shall follow what is altogether just, that you may live and inherit the land which the LORD your God is giving you ( Dt. 16:18-20).

This is why the Prophet (saw) emphasized that justice must never be compromised by personal affiliations or other considerations.

(2) Trust.

This concept of trust stresses the idea of responsibility towards organizational stakeholders, and holds true whether those entrusting something to Muslims are themselves non-Muslims.

O you that believe! betray not the trust of God and the apostle nor misappropriate

knowingly things entrusted to you.(Al-Anfal.8:27)

As a core value, trust fits within the overall Islamic etiquette governing social relationships.

Application of trust to leadership. Trust is explicitly linked to leadership in the Qur’an. We refer to the story of Prophet Joseph (as). After the king had indicated that he placed great trust in him, Prophet Joseph (as) deliberately asked to be put in charge of the granaries and storehouses, and the demanding task of establishing them and guarding them. As one translator of the Qur’an, Abdullah Yusuf Ali, points out,

Prophet Joseph (as) understood the need to build reserves better

than any one else, and was prepared to take on this task himself rather than throw on to another the burden of restricting supplies in times of plenty.( Ali, comment1716)

Once an individual has accepted to be the leader of a group or organization, he has become their trustee. In a for-profit Muslim organization, the management of the organization is entrusted with the shareholders’ investment. In a nonprofit organization, the management of the organization is charged with watching over the properties in the trust. Consequently, any managerial decision must be balanced with respect to this trust. The concept of trust can be extended to other dimensions of one’s work as a leader or a follower. Should one be wasting time or organizational resources in performing one’s task, one is violating his/her employer’s trust.

(3) Righteousness.

Righteous behavior is described as follows:

It is righteousness to believe in God and the Last Day and the Angels and the Book

and the Messengers; to spend of your substance out of love for Him for your kin, for

orphans, for the needy, for the wayfarer, for those who ask […]; to be steadfast in

prayer and practice regular charity; to fulfil the contracts which you have made; and to be firm and patient in pain (or suffering) and adversity(Al-Baqarah.2:177)

Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people( Prov.14.34)

Application of righteousness to leadership.

Based on the above verses, several moral attributes of righteous leaders become salient:

They act justly and do not allow their personal feelings to hinder justice.

They have iman,

They take care of those in need, and do so for the love of God,

They are steadfast in prayer and practice charity,

They observe all contracts, and

They are patient no matter what type of adversity they may be experiencing.

In general, then, organization participants of all faiths are entitled to be treated with basic human decency and dignity and with the maximum of fair play and justice. In an Islamic organization, a leader is expected to be sensitive to their needs.

(4) Promise-keeping.

All Muslims-whether leaders or followers-are urged to keep their promises. They also

cannot make promises that are unislamic in nature.

O you who believe! fulfil (all) obligations. (Al-Maidah.5:1)

Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, Whatever things are just, Whatever things ae pure, whatever things are of good report, meditate on these things (Phil.4:8).

Keeping one’s word characterizes a Muslim. Breaking one’s word is tantamount to hypocrisy.

Application of promise-keeping to leadership. Based upon the above discussion, keeping promises is very important for all, and a leader is not exempted from this important principle.

I bought something from the Prophet (peace be upon him) before he received his

Prophetic commission, and as there was something still due to him I promised him that I would bring it to him at his place, but I forgot. When I remembered three days later, I went to that place and found him there. He said: I have been here for three days waiting for you.(Abu Dawud)

Summary: What we are saying to all Nigerian Christians and Muslims is this:

• ¥We have One God to whom we render our worship and to whom all will be accountable.
• ¥Our revealed scriptures teach the same lessons on : leadership especially characteristics of leaders and the led, and expectations from both categories. Most importantly and frighteningly, we will give an account to this One God Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent!

Permit me now to specifically, in light of these points address a few specific stakeholders who are responsible for making Nigeria the Winner in  2015 Elections!

Politicians

Exclusive politics and lack of internal democracy among the political parties were blamed for the violence Nigeria experienced in the last elections. There were, for example, allegations of lack of internal democracy in the political parties which led many of aggrieved members to defect and join other opposition parties. Some of those that decamped adopted unorthodox means such as engaging the services of idle youths against their perceived enemies, in expressing their grievances and in seeking redress.

Similarly, there were also allegations that State Governors determined the fate of almost every politician in their state with the same experience replicated at the Local Government level. This led to frustration and increased the desperation of politicians and their tendency for unethical maneuvers which may also have ignited violence with a view to causing instability in the polity.  This lack of internal democracy in the political parties and domination of a party by a few must be discouraged this time for us to have a violence-free elections.

Another practice that needs to be stopped among this class of stakeholders in 2015 general elections is political intolerance  characterized by, among others, retaliatory and reprisal destruction of campaign posters by rival party supporters; the hiring of thugs to intimidate opponents or unwholesome strategies to woo voters by giving them money; and refusal to respect other people’s rights to vote for candidates of their own choice. These  were amongst the principal causes of the post election violence experienced in the last general elections and the primaries that preceded this process now leading to the general elections in twelve days’ time.

According to Lemu Report, in at least ten states, mainly in the Northern parts of the country, there was clear evidence that the Governors in those States,  directed that no other political party be allowed to campaign in their States or some areas of their States. In addition in some cases a substantial population was prevented from voting in some South/South States. These allegations, if true pose a danger to democratic practice and we must not allow a repeat in 2015 so that Nigeria may be the Winner.

Our Expectations of our Politicians:

Politicians therefore on their part need to articulate and convince Nigerians what strategies they intend to design that could enhance on a long-term and sustainable basis, the protection of Nigerian citizens against major factors of risk and vulnerability which include poverty, unemployment, disease and destitution.

They must avoid incisive pronouncements and name calling. Rather they should score their political points by telling Nigerians clearly what they intend to do to address the problems identified. The era of ‘baby politics’ is over and people know better now and ‘stomach infrastructure’ alone cannot secure votes.

We encourage them to send their to the polling stations especially to the interior posts where compromises could be easily agreed on due to the lack of observers.

Religious Leaders

Religious leaders need to refer to their conscience and make bold, non-sensational and informed pronouncements knowing fully well that their followers depend on them for guidance. However they must give their members the right of choice backed by facts.  They have the responsibility to rapidly access accurate facts especially on the election process and disseminate them appropriately through different fora within their administrative set ups. In this vein, they must organise their members who have relative strength in the knowledge of the election process to use their skills to enlighten other members. Religious organisations must create platforms for collating enquiries, complaints and engaging in advocacy.   

Religious merchandising and false prophesy are exploitative and sinful tools of engagement in the election process. Those who know better must sensitively use appropriate platforms to push their privileged knowledge.  

The inflammatory campaign utterances of politicians alluded to above were reinforced by the preaching of divisive sermons of hate and hostility in Mosques and Churches across the country. Some Christian and Muslim leaders incited their followers not to vote for candidates of the other religion. This religious bigotry ( based on selfish interpretation of selected scriptural texts) influenced many and its impact was demonstrated in the violent reaction that followed the collation and announcement of the 2011 Presidential Election result where those believed to have voted for the candidate declared the winner by INEC, irrespective of their religious profession became targets.

It is believed that politicians deliberately imported religious sentiments into political campaigns, inciting people of one religion against the other, in order to gain cheap votes and support.

Expectations: our religious leaders should not only teach the fear of God, they are to demonstrate it by telling do politicians the truth, they are to educate their members on the truth about religions and abstain from partisan politics! Religious leaders must retract from the promotion of one religion or candidate over and above the others.

Traditional Rulers and Institutions

The partisanship of some traditional rulers was a major factor responsible not only for the violence that accompanied 2011 elections but also for the inability of the traditional institution to either nip it in the bud or contain it. This is because there was loss of confidence by the youths in traditional institution that was believed to have been compromised.

An obvious instance of such compromise was cited in Lemu Report as follows:  

(i)   The alleged directive of a Governor in one of the Northern States that no traditional ruler should grant audience to any visiting Presidential candidate other than a particular candidate.  This was said to have led to widespread violence among the teeming, youthful supporters of the other contesting candidate.

(ii) The meeting of the Traditional Rulers from a section of the country with a particular Presidential candidate before the election. This meeting was said to have aroused suspicion as to its motive.

Expectations:

So far from what we have seen a remarkable change in the role of this class of stakeholders in the run towards 2015 general elections, we would plead that they continue to remain non-partisan, demonstrate their role as father to all irrespective of regions profession, tribal or ethnic differences. Traditional Rulers need to be a bit more outspoken especially against divisive campaigns and behaviors of both politician and electorate by calling them to order and not shielding any trouble maker from the wrath of the law of the land.

Voters

Decision of voters must be information driven while voters must focus on the common good of all Nigerians as the point of reference for national unity. A narrow focus on the differences that exist among the citizens would only result in instability. Therefore voters must use their assessment of candidates’ capacity to design programmes that will improve human welfare as the basis of their choice of candidates rather than considering differences such as languages, religions, ethnic origins among others. Voters need to have access to facts that will enable them to have the ability to make informed choices. The government mass mobilisation machinery is limited in capacity and appropriate messages. Community based organisations including neighbourhood associations must help their members to access information.

Expectations

The electorate are encouraged to resist any acts that are contrary to their religious duties: rioting, stealing, intimidation, vandalism, lying, character assassination, vote rigging in any form. Whatever God hates, voters must shun! Remember, no religious leader or politician will stand-in for you on the day of judgement, everyone will give his/her own account before God!

The Media

In Lemu Report, it is stated that there were some false and inciting or provocative broadcasts in some states during the 2011 elections which contributed to the violence. Similarly, it was alleged that some local publications, which suddenly appeared during election period and disappeared shortly thereafter, were reported to have contributed to the violence through their false and inciting contents. Such fly-by-night publications tend to be local as it was in one particular State in the S-S zone of the country and do not belong to the mainstream press. They can be described as belonging to the category of high level pamphleteering using modern technology.

At the international level, the BBC Hausa Service was also alleged to have made a broadcast before the election results were announced that a particular presidential candidate, had an edge over the other candidates. This was said to have given the impression to many supporters of this candidate that the official results as declared by INEC may have been manipulated in favour of the eventual  winner.

In order to make Nigeria the Winner in this 2015 elections, the media must avoid incisive news captions created in an attempt to generate high patronage. They have a social responsibility beyond their commercial interest to facilitate and enhance the election process through user-friendly messages. If they fail in this responsibility we may all fail given their important role in information dissemination and the negative implication of their poor performance in this regard.   

False or malicious reporting of national issues, particularly of a sensitive nature is inexcusable and appropriate legal weapons ought to be deployed against it whenever it occurs (and these laws are in the books) unless it can be demonstrated that the false reporting was a genuine mistake and due effort was made to obtain the facts; or where due apology and retraction was promptly made. Where the reporting is based on facts but considered to be sensitive, the matter is more straightforward although opinions will usually differ on what constitutes “sensitive,” depending on who has or have been offended by the particular publication. The law of libel covers this.

Expectations

In light of the divisive,negative, sectional articles that are already going on, it would be suggested that a similar accord between the various newspaper Proprietors, and members of the Guild of Editors in the country with equal number from the northern and southern axes should be drafted, agreed upon and faithfully implemented in order to make Nigeria the winner in 2015 elections( Vanguard article of the 15th. By one Nnenna).

The Judiciary

Judges must exhibit the strength of character that insulates them from the vagaries of politics. If all stakeholders play their roles effectively, the burden on the judiciary in the election process will be light and the role of the institution would be merely supplemental.

Expectations

A number of Legal women and men in the previous elections lost credibility, most Nigerians believe a good number have enriched themselves through the miscarriage of justice. We still believe there are many who have not soiled their hands. Let justice reign in this land, already there are certain cases from the primaries leading to these general elections, let the legal constituency follow their religious convictions, put the fear of God first and their pecuniary interest last this is the only way this class would make Nigeria the Winner in 2015 Elections.

INEC

Our expectations

1. 1

Who should be a voter?

1. 1Disabled people rarely find elections free and fair when they have no access to polling booths, election materials and are often excluded implicitly or explicitly from campaigning as candidates. In countries emerging from civil war situations this is particularly problematic as large numbers of people are incapacitated by the conflict and may suffer from double exclusion. Hence expanding the access to the rural poor, migrant workers, the disabled and empowering women to be active in the political process remain challenges.

Voting procedures

Accessible voting requires that voting procedures should not be so cumbersome that they have the practical effect of hindering voting. The exclusion of voters – be it as a deliberate political strategy or for reasons of expediency and convenience on the grounds that rural voters, slum dwellers, migrants, the disabled, those in hospitals and prisons are difficult to access, may have the effect of excluding large numbers of people and undermining the credibility of these forthcoming general elections.

It is internationally acceptable to have provisions for mobile voting or special booths for clearly defined categories of people (e.g. migrants, diplomats, refugees, military etc) but they must be carefully monitored to prevent abuses. Representatives of parties, international and national observer groups should be able to monitor the special voting booths and others too in a process that is transparent. The numbers of such booths, the numbers of voters using such booths should be noted and cross referred to the numbers of ballots cast to ensure that there is no fraud and also special measures should be taken to prevent double voting.

Safety during the vote:

The legal framework should provide for the restriction of unauthorized personnel from being in polling booths if it is likely to lead to harassment and intimidation and the police should be permitted to enter polling booths only if authorized by the person in charge on the polling station, to restore law and order and should leave when law and order is restored. However, this should not be confused for the presence of observers and monitors (especially domestic monitors and civil society) as there presence ensures broader participations and is more likely to inhibit fraud and increase transparency.

A transparent, meticulous and honest count, tabulated and consolidated in the presence of representatives of the parties, candidates and election observers ensuring that the entire process that led to the winner being declared is open to public scrutiny is essential.

The process and formula by which votes are translated into legislative seats must be clear and unambiguous. The legal framework should address all details of the electoral formula relating to thresholds, quotas and deal with contingencies such as ties, withdrawals or the death of candidates.

The legal framework should state that candidates, their representative and those of political parties must know where the ballots are to be counted and should have the facility to remain present at which ever location the ballots are to be counted – be it at the polling booth or at a central locality.

Role of representative of the parties and candidates:

Their presence at the polling booths is not the opportunity for last minute campaigning, intimidation or persuasion of voters or election staff and the legislation must clarify what their role and activities at this stage may be.

They must maintain the secrecy of the vote, follow directions of the polling officials, not interfere with the electoral process and be bound by the legal framework for elections. They may not mark or handle except witness records of the poll and they may not remove or destroy any official election records of the election. They are bound to follow direction given by the electoral officers and may note any issue that they have objections to and report them according to established procedures.

International Partners

They have been quite supportive in their capacity as election observers and monitors among others. They however need to further strengthen the technical assistance given to their Nigerian civil society counterparts such that they can produce strategic documentation that can be used to support post-election evidence-based advocacy.

DRUG ABUSE

Availability of illicit drugs of various kinds to the youths and particularly access to Indian hemp and other cheap drugs led to widespread drug abuse by the youths in the 2011 general elections. This widespread abuse of hard and dangerous drugs by the youths played an enormous role in the violence and indeed, is a serious   cause for security concerns generally in Nigeria. Many of those that participated in the post election violence looting and destroying people’s belongings were sheer criminals and opportunists who merely took advantage of the situation to commit crime for the sake of benefitting from it.

Expectations

We are aware of the deceptive attraction of this substance called drugs, even some men and women of God are not safe especially if what they intend doing is not in accordance with their religious professions. We plead with our youths and leaders to shy away from this dangerous substance, remain sane and resist every temptation to indulge. This is a major way of making Nigeria the Winner in these forthcoming elections.

In conclusion, as Christians let

The words of Jesus ( and the Q+ Hadith for Muslims) compel us to act, and to move, beyond business as usual.—David C. McCasland

So let our lips and lives express

The holy gospel & the Glorious Qur’an and Hadith) we profess;

So let our works and virtues shine,

To prove the doctrine all divine. —Watts