Discussion
Details
Mrs. Hildegard Behrendt Kigozi, Country Representative of KAS, Nigeria, welcomed the participants and outlined the promises made by the new government of President Buhari.
Mr. Mohammad Lawal commented that the government had made tremendous efforts to end the menace of Boko Haram, while Mr. Prince Herbert, another participant, said that the military needs better media work. He stated that the international media men go to conflict areas while most of our own journalists rely on the reports of the military.
Mr. Ben Oyekunle was of the opinion that a government is judged based on its election promises while another participant felt that the issue of corruption is the biggest problem in Nigeria and that the economy is too much dependent on oil.
Mr. Paul Ahiave stressed the need for a counter Terrorism Strategy in the Sahel Region. There is a need for stability in governance to stop illicit flow of funds.
Samson Adeniran, KAS Project Manager, felt it was time Nigeria adopted the short code for police. Like 199, 911, 112 e.t.c. instead of the 11 digit numbers which are hard to remember in times of emergency.
Mr. Herbert Prince, who had just returned from election monitoring in Burkina Faso (West Africa) and Bayelsa State (Nigeria) observed that voting in Burkina Faso was not based on religion. In the Sahel region Muslims voted for Christians. He noted that ballot boxes were not accompanied by armed escorts or any kind of security and there was a high level of participation. The CSOs came together and had 6,000 observers.
In contrast in Bayelsa State, the militants had already taken sides. They threatened to kill or kidnap the candidates; in general, the level of electoral violence was high. This was a total contrast between Burkina Faso and Nigeria.
The hopes for a better 2016 and the advancement of the new Government in all its programs where expressed and the Roundtable came to a close after Mrs. Behrendt-Kigozi thanked the participants once again for their presence throughout the year 2015 and their contributions.
