The
American giovernment have criticized Nigeria's military approach in the
settlement of widespread agitations across the country.
Chief of Army Staff, Lt Col, Tukur Yusuf Buratai
The United States (U.S.) yesterday urged Nigeria to look beyond a military option in resolving internal conflicts.
The appeal was made under the auspices of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) in Washington DC when the agency convened a gathering of U.S. officials, diplomats and Nigerian leaders .
The conference as monitored by The Guardian, focused on “Peace
in Nigeria: How to build it, and America’s role” and explored possible
options beyond military operations. The symposium agreed on the need for
the Nigerian government to strengthen the responsiveness of state
institutions, address grievances and perceptions “before they become
reality and improve accountability and transparency.”
Apart from the 15-year Boko Haram issue
in the Northeast, Nigeria’s military is grappling with widespread
conflicts within the country’s borders, the most current being the
second phase of its “Operation Python Dance” in the Southeast that has
put soldiers in direct confrontation with the self-determinist Indigenous People of Biafra
(IPOB). Military authorities have also proscribed IPOB and declared it a
terrorist organisation following which they announced imminent
operations in South-West and South-South regions — a decision that has
drawn the ire of civil society groups and human rights activists.
Re-echoing General Martin-Luther Agwai’s introductory remarks on
centrality of the country to potential peace in Africa, Hushek describes
Nigeria as a vey critical U.S. partner on the continent, but added that
the President Muhammadu Buhari government must in its pursuit of peace
first identify the options that citizens want implemented.
The country is warming up to charged elections in two years and the
U.S. assistant secretary believes the “2019 election will be critical
to Nigeria’s continued prosperity and stability.
“Achieving stability or building political peace is a political endeavour,” he said, just as he explained that responsiveness to people’s needs would “build trust and encourage durable peace.”
General Agwai, former Nigerian Chief of Army Staff and former
commander of the combined United Nations-African Union peacekeeping
force in Darfur, Sudan is one of the members of the Nigeria Senior
Working Group that participated in the conference on peace in Nigeria.
In his opening remarks, Agwai described himself as a simple old soldier
humbled by the presence of the State Department and the U.S. and “privileged to stand and talk to learned people across the world about what we are doing.”
His submissions on peace in Nigeria equating peace in Africa kicked
off the first panel discussion involving Pauline Baker, President
Emeritus of the Fund for Peace and Senior Advisor, Creative Associates
International as moderator; Yau, Yunusa Zakari, Director, Centre for
Information Technology and Development, Kano, Dr. Jibrin Ibrahim, Senior
Fellow, Centre for Democracy and Development -West Africa; and
Ambassador Fatima Balla, former Nigerian diplomat, civil servant, and
politician.
While declaring the discussion open, Baker made specific reference
to agitations in the South-East and urged discussants to be informal. “We tend to look at the outside without looking at the inside,” she remarked, adding that it would be important to think of the fact that Biafra agitation still thrives many years after.
The conference agreed that “Nigeria under President Buhari has
made military gains against the extremist fighters of Boko Haram” but
observed that Nigeria’s varied conflicts have kept more than two million
people displaced and weakened stability in the Lake Chad Basin and the
Sahel region. “Peace and security will not be achievable purely through
armed force,” the USIP said.
It further noted that peaceful Nigeria is vital to long-term U.S.
interests as well as to a reduction in the world’s refugee crisis, and
to the stability of Niger, Chad, Cameroon and other nations of the
Sahel.
“Fortunately, President Buhari’s election in 2015 marked an
advance for democracy as the country’s first peaceful transition of
power to an opposition candidate. U.S. policy has supported his
government’s campaign to push back Boko Haram.
The conference also built on what the organisers said was months of
USIP-coordinated dialogues among the governors of northern states and
civic leaders, including diplomats, retired civil servants, and
scholars. “These dialogues join government officials and civil
society in shaping more inclusive policies that can help prevent violent
conflicts.”
The highlight of the event was a conversation among three of
Nigeria’s most noted figures—Cardinal John Onaiyekan; Dr. Usman Bugaje, a
senior advisor to the Sultan of Sokoto; and Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, a
former vice president for Africa at the World Bank, a former Nigerian
cabinet minister, and co-founder of the anti-corruption group
Transparency International and the Bring Back Our Girls Movement.
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