23 October 2013
ABUJA, Nigeria – On 23 October 2013, the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) marked AU Democracy Day with a symposium on rising insecurity in North Eastern Nigeria. Organised in Abuja, Nigeria, with support from Open Society Initiative of West Africa (OSIWA), the one day symposium drew participation from among members of the Nigerian security sector, including the Nigerian Police, the National Defence College and other relevant government agencies, as well as from civil society, academia, media and the diplomatic corps.
The symposium was part of the activity for the Ratification, Popularisation and Implementation of the AU Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance and the ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good governance.
In her welcome address, CDD Director Idayat Hassan noted the geographic dimension of insecurity in Nigeria and lamented the slow action of state actors in the face of incessant killings in the country’s north. The event’s guest speaker, Professor James Kantiok, presented a paper titled Boko Haram, the Government and Peace Negotiation, in which he decried the colossal loss of life and emphasised the need to engage in negotiations with Boko Haram. The paper drew reference from former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s ‘back door diplomacy’ during her country’s conflict with the revolutionary Irish Republican Army (IRA), and most recently, America’s behind the scenes negotiations with the Taliban in Afghanistan. The presentation also examined Boko Haram’s demands, which include the Islamisation of Nigeria, the fight against corruption and a quest for justice.
A panel of discussants chaired by Professor Okey Ibeanu and compromising of Dr. Hakeem Baba Ahmed, Dr. Ukoha Ukiwe, Dr. Dayo Oluyemi-Kusa, Profesor Sam Egwu and Christian Ichite deliberated on how to best engage the group in negotiations. The presentation and discussants decried the group’s lack of organisational structure and examined its demands, particularly the Islamisation of Nigeria, the fight against corruption and the quest for justice. It also noted the practicability and or impossibility of some of the demands due to the multi-ethnic and multi-religious nature of the country, and emphasised the general need to make effort to bridge the gaps between the rich and the poor.
The discussants also identified salient challenges to such an negotiation, including the deep historical and sociological nature of the insurgency and religious conflict in the Sahel; the imposition of the brand name ‘Boko Haram’ against the group’s true ideology; the lack of a political element and structure to table grievances for negotiation, with many of the group’s leaders either killed or incarcerated; lack of trust in government, religious and traditional leaders due to the breach of several agreements in the past; the ideological nature of the cause; arms proliferation; the use of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs); and the hard stance adopted by the military in its engagement with the group.
Based on a general consensus on the need for negotiation, the symposium advised the adoption of two-pronged approach that will attempt to both combat corruption and pursue negotiations using trusted and prominent members of the society as peace negotiators. This effort would include adopting an African mediation process that leverages local institutions such as the traditional and religious leaders; and adopting short term, medium term and long term intervention approaches with a broad view of addressing poverty. In addition, the discussants also encouraged the Nigerian government to identify and block the group’s sources of funding, as well as to open discussions with willing factions of the group.