Post-election violence dominates stakeholders’ summit

The general elections have come and come, but pockets of violence and disagreements over results of the polls have continued to trail the outcome of the election in some states. To prevent ýthis trend, especially in Oyo State, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) has organised a stakeholders’ meeting to address the development. SIKIRU AKINOLA reports.

Whenever elections are conducted in the country, there are disagreements and pockets of violence over the outcome of the polls. Most times, this propensity, according to political pundits, is well conspicuous in the Southwest part of the country, with Oyo State as one of the most bothersome areas. It is never without casualties.

As a precautionary measure in subsequent elections, the Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC) ýhas urged all stakeholders to join hands in ensuring sustainable violence mitigation.

While welcoming participants to the meeting, the Executive Director of WARDC, Dr. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi said the summit became imperative judged by the historical antecedents of the state, adding that “reactions from opposition still trail the 2015 general elections, leading to court cases by the opposition which are challenging the results of the elections.”

Noting that the governorship election in Oyo State was tough not only because the candidates had pedigrees, but because “three of them had been at the Agodi Government House as governors. So, there were lots of expectations as we were not sure of who was ýgoing to win. It was very glaring that it was not going to be an easy win.

While thanking the contestants for cautioning their supporters in order to avert violence, she advised government at all levels to address the problem of poverty and unemployment in order to reduce the spate of violence before and after elections.

Dr. Olusola Ishola of the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan who delivered a lecture on “Issues and Challenges of Peaceful Co-existence in Oyo State” said the state has always been turbulent as politicians who carry over bitter politics and unhealthy rivalries of First and Second Republics are still present in the state.

According to him, the involvement of the members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in politics often make Oyo politics highly volatile and violent, adding that there was the need for reconciliation among the various communities.

He noted that history of political compromises among the security agents is worrisome, citing the examples of political killings at Oke-Ado, Odinjo and other areas during the electioneering process.

“There were unguarded utterancesý among politicians while many media houses also compromised ethics. They were divided along political lines. Mudslinging, name-calling, hate speech were common during political campaigns. There was a deep political disunity among the people,” he said.

He revealed that there was deep-seated political antagonism among the dominant political parties, calling for reconciliation among the various communities in the state.

“No government can succeed without people’s support. Government needs to make itself available to the people. Our leaders must address the cases of unemployment, poor infrastructure, inadequate workers’ salary and epileptic power supply. Our education and judicial systems must be strengthened to address injustice and inequalities,” he said.

He urged people to expose criminals within their communities, saying that “apart from that, they should be counselled against evil doing. You recall that former Governor Rashidi Ladoja was impeached by a motor-park tout.”

Contributing, the Baale of Ikolaba, Chief Safiu Amoo commended the people for shunning violence during the last election.

“People shouldn’t take laws into their own hands. Anybody that is not satisfied with the outcomes of the election should approach the law court and they should wait till judgment is delivered. With the emergence of a new government, I pray God to let us witness the needed change,” he said.

Mrs. Brenda Bepeh of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) said her organisation was committed to peaceful polls, saying that “after the elections, we did an analysis of the states that needed intervention and we discovered that Oyo, Ogun and Lagos states are still not peaceful. We should all join our voices in our community and pass on the message in our different network so that we can move violence out of the South West and Oyo State, especially.

Participants also spoke about their perception of the summit.

Mrs. Omidiji commended her colleagues for the successful monitoring of the elections, noting that everybody must embrace peace from their respective homes till it gets to every part of the country.

Mrs. Balijis Apanpa urged the broadcast media to help in sensitising the people about the consequence of post-election violence, adding that she doesn’t have anything against those who are not satisfied with election results and have gone to court for redress.

For Abdulhamid Olawale of the Centre for Disaster and Crisis Reduction, first-class traditional rulers such as the Alaafin of Oyo, Olubadan of Ibadanland and others should call the two major gladiators in the state to order.

“They should tell them the importance of peace. Also, market leaders should desist from joining partisan politics in order not to cause rifts among members of the market association,” he said.

For maintaining peace before and after the election, Ishola Ibrahim thanked Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State, even as he disagreed that no amount of peace talk by traditional rulers can settle the rift between the two major gladiators except God.

“Traditional rulers should be banned from politics. If there were to be three Orubebes during elections, the rest would have been history.

At the event were the representatives of the police, traders, community and religious leaders.

The post Post-election violence dominates stakeholders’ summit appeared first on The Nation.

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