Ondo Election: CSOs Reflect On Relevance Of Signing Of Peace Accord

As political parties in the No­vember 16 Ondo State guber­natorial election gear up to sign a peace accord on Novem­ber 8, Civil Society Organisa­tions (CSOs) have reflected on the relevance of the signing of the peace accord by participat­ing political parties.

Mrs. Eneh Obi, a former Country Director ActionAid Nigeria, who spoke to Daily Independent, noted that the process is expected to drive the conscience and conscious­ness of Nigerians and recall them to the rule of law.

According to her, the Peace Accordisbeingorganizedbythe Peace Committee that was set up to drive the conscience and consciousness of Nigerians, recall them to the rule of law and bring them back to civility, to their own responsibilities, stressing that to be a citizen is an obligation that comes with responsibilities for them to take be accountable for what they do.

She said, “I hope that many minds can repent. It’s a call to order. We’re all writ­ing our history every day of our lives. The way you want to go, you’ll go. The Guardian says conscience is a wound, it stays with you. It doesn’t heal. If you cannot respect elders, you’re placing a curse on yourself. For someone like Abdulsalami Abubakar who willingly handed power over to civilians and he’s coming to you to ask you to respect the law. What is the difference between the military and the civilian? What we have is having elections without de­mocracy. It’s a great call. I com­mend Bishop Matthew Kukah and His Excellency Abubakar and the other members of the committee for not giving up because if we give up the country is gone.

“It’s still a roll call and we’ll continue to do the roll call, if not, we won’t be engaging again. The frustration level is so much that you’ll say, “Why am I bothering myself for this country. I can take a trip outside the country to go and do whatever I want but I love my country. I believe in my country. The Committee still believes in Nigeria and those frustrating it are writing their history and we should allow people to write their history.

“We also call for civic edu­cation for citizens to take their ground because citizenship is the highest office of the land. We shouldn’t leave the fight for only INEC. We try to con­demn them but they’re over­whelmed by the political class. We can’t leave the job to the INEC chairman. If citizens are not asking questions he’ll be overwhelmed and caged. If citizens are standing and demanding their right, even when they come to him, they can see the people outside demonstrating. We’re not empowering them enough.