Discussion
Details
Among the stakeholder who attended were traditional rulers, the Igbira community, religious leaders, the vigilante chairman, an Ibadan chief, Okada Riders’ Association (commercial motorcyclists union), some local NGOs, Peace Corps, peace and conflict experts and many others.
The roundtable started with an introductory paper from Prof. Tajudeen Akanji about ‘Understanding Issues in Citizenship-Indigene ship Crises in Nigeria – Lessons for Multi Ethnic Cities’. He noted in the paper that many Nigerians have been discriminated against based on their ethnicity in the same country that belongs to all. Although many conflicts arose due to the issue of ethnicity, and citizenship, many mistake such conflicts to be religious, because often times, a particular ethnic group belongs mostly to a particular religion. Ethnicity is used in many forms such as ‘indigenes’, ‘natives’, ‘son of the soil’ to create a dichotomy against others regarded as ‘settlers’ or ‘strangers’. Many conflicts in cities like Ibadan, Kano, Jos, Aba and other places were described in such terms as listed above. How has the issue of citizenship or indigene ship contributed to security or insecurity in the nation? Unfortunately, the constitution of Nigeria does not help matters in this aspect, as citizenship is defined along the indigeneity (descent) line, and less consideration is given to residency. This makes many people to be regarded as settlers and strangers in the societies where they as well their grandparents were born. These individuals have fewer stakes in such societies, and in case of insecurity feel less concerned. He went further to name some of the violent indigene-settler conflicts in Nigeria as Jos in Plateau (1994, 2001, 2004); Namu, Plateau State (early 2006); Tiv-Jukun (2000-2001), ZangonKataf (1986, 1990, 1992); Kaduna (2000).
Prof. Akanji, also examined the aftermath of these violent conflicts, which created further insecurity of lives and properties, as the displaced people were not well catered for. He suggested that to reduce insecurity in multi ethnic cities like Ibadan, equal opportunities should be given to all citizens irrespective of their state of birth or origin. Education should also be made available to all, without any discrimination, and every citizen should have the right to residency, where he will be able to enjoy all rights as the indigenes. As a Nigerian, all citizens should be able to vote and be voted for in any society where they reside.
The main paper presented by Prof. Francis O. Egbokhare looked at the ‘Cross Cultural Perspective of Management of Security Issues in a Multi Ethnic Community’ He pointed out some of the cultural practices that reinforce separation of different cultures in a multi ethnic city like Ibadan, which invariably contributes to insecurity. Segregated urban settlements, where Christians live in one part of the city, and the Muslims, in another part, or the Yoruba’s in one part, Igbos in one part, the Hausas in another part will not help the city to monitor security. Similarly, he noted that some ethnic groups are known for particular trades and professions, which make them easy target in situations of insecurity. And in cases where many ethnic groups are involved in the same trade, the leadership is always controlled by one ethnic group. The aspiration of other ethnic groups to assume the leadership positions in such trades always end in violent conflicts. The religions play an important role as well, as places of worship serve to ethnicity, as the leadership positions are mostly reserved some ethnic groups. And the near collapse of the public schools in Nigeria is not helping the situation as well, as the private schools are created along religious and ethnic lines. This is not good for the security of a multi ethnic city, when the ethnic groups only relate with one of their own. He suggested finding ways of democratizing participation in the discourse and narratives of security, and also to develop a framework for integrating indigenous knowledge and practices into the security architecture in a non-patronizing way. More importantly is the need to develop viable local indicators and predictors of security in addition to developing the capacity to document and interpret obvious evidences.
He suggested also a need for security literacy for the citizens, especially in multi ethnic cities. This should be in form of traditional narratives with relevance to security, and with the right methodology to drive the idea of security home in their minds. Neighborhood registers of residents is also suggested to monitor the number, and activities of the residents in a given area. Multi-cultural activities like arts festivals, carnivals, awards ceremonies, and so on will go a long way at bringing the different ethnic groups together in a multi ethnic city, and this will guarantee inter-ethnic cooperation and reduce inter-ethnic rivalries, which increases insecurity.
The papers were followed by different experiences of the stakeholders; some gave their experiences as being referred as settlers in Ibadan, despite spending over 50 years in the city. And some also recognized the hospitality they have enjoyed as well.
A group work session was conducted, and thereafter the groups presented their opinions on how insecurity could be reduced in a multi-ethnic city like Ibadan.
Mrs. Behrendt-Kigozi, the Director of KAS Nigeria agreed to continue the discussion on Security in Multi Ethnic Cities in 2015.
