In spite of several peace agreements signed by stakeholders participating in this year’s general elections, political parties’ supporters have continued to destroy campaign billboards of their opponents, Fisayo Falodi writes
Tension-gripped Nigerians breathed a sigh of relief on January 14, 2015 when the chairmen and presidential candidates of the political parties contesting in this year’s general elections signed the famous Abuja peace accord.
They had hoped that signing the peace accord would commit the presidential candidates to issue-based campaigns instead of activities that would further heighten their fears.
Tension-gripped Nigerians breathed a sigh of relief on January 14, 2015 when the chairmen and presidential candidates of the political parties contesting in this year’s general elections signed the famous Abuja peace accord.
They had hoped that signing the peace accord would commit the presidential candidates to issue-based campaigns instead of activities that would further heighten their fears.
The peace accord, drafted by the former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations, Chief Emeka Anyaoku and a former United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Anan, initiated the move to prevent the reoccurrence of the violence that trailed the 2011 general elections in which many people, including 10 members of the National Youth Service Corps killed and property worth several billions of naira destroyed in the Northern part of the country.
The proponents of the accord also sought among other things the commitment of every relevant stakeholder in the elections and security agencies to sign an undertaking that they would allow peace to thrive before, during and after the elections.
The initiative was also meant to commit those involved in the electoral process to avoid any behaviour that will endanger the political stability and national security of the country; placing national interest above personal and partisan concerns and to fully abide by all rules and regulations as laid down in the legal framework for elections in Nigeria.
President Goodluck Jonathan, however, took the opportunity provided by the signing of the peace accord to inform Nigerians that the post-2011 general elections violence cost the country huge amount of money.
He said that his administration had paid N3bn compensation to victims of the 2011 Kaduna post-election violence, even though about N15bn was due to them.
The President said that other states affected by the post-election violence got between N5bn and N7bn, adding that the level of destruction in Kaduna State alone was almost more than all the other parts of the country put together.
“So that is the kind of thing the country faces. At the end of elections, we do not need to kill people. We do not need to get our houses or industries burnt. I believe we will get there if we are sincere to do what is right in this country.
“The emphasis here is electoral violence not electoral malpractices. With electoral malpractices, the court can help to some extent, but there is nothing the court can do about electoral violence. If a property is burnt, it is burnt. If you identify the suspect, he can be charged for arson. It is often difficult convicting people.”
But Saturday PUNCH observed that the already doused tension has been rising as the supporters of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party and the opposition All Progressives Congress – the two parties which are major signatories to the peace accord – have shunned the lofty message of the document. They have shifted their attention to the activities that are capable of causing violence even before the election day.
The parties’ supporters have intensified the anti-peace activities by destroying campaign billboards and posters of their opponents in a manner that suggests that they are not interested in the content of the accord, which major purpose was to promote peace before, during and after the general elections.
In major cities of the country, especially in Lagos, many campaign posters of the APC presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, and those of the PDP candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan, have been destroyed by political thugs who felt that doing so would further promote the candidature of their principals.
In Amuwo Odifin Local Government Area and some other parts of Lagos State for example, majority of Buhari’s campaign posters were said to have been destroyed by PDP sympathisers, a development some APC supporters described as the height of provocation.
Though APC supporters said they would resist the provocation, they nevertheless asked their PDP counterparts to stop the practice.
Also on Lagos Island, APC supporters are said to have defaced many Jonathan’s campaign posters.
A PDP chieftain, Mr. Wale Onileile, said the APC-led government in Lagos State prevented his party access to federal roads for the purpose of pasting campaign posters.
He said, “The moment we put our posters on the federal roads in Lagos State, the state government said we could not do so except we get approval. We have never removed APC’s posters, we only asked for small space to paste our own.”
Even hoodlums did not consider the heavy presence of security agents in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, as a threat as they were said to have defaced some campaign posters of the PDP presidential candidate, an action observers believe could arouse emotion.
Just early in the week, soldiers had hectic time dispersing dozens of youths suspected to be APC supporters who were destroying the billboards and campaign office of a former Borno State Governor, Alhaji Ali Modu Sheriff, in volatile Maiduguri.
The youths, not done with the destruction of Sheriff’s campaign office and other property found within the premises, allegedly moved to the popular Shehu Lemu Way in the city and destroyed every PDP symbol in sight.
Observers are, however, asking the supporters of the two political parties to stop engaging in activities that could further aggravate the already risen tension of the people.
They said the campaign posters are a form of vehicle to educate the people on the messages and the ideas candidates for elections want to share with their supporters and voters.
A political scientist, Mr. Kehinde Fashore, said such messages summarise the main ideas of the campaign and are repeated frequently in order to create a lasting impression on the voters.
He therefore asked those behind the destruction of the campaign posters to join efforts aimed at making the rescheduled election violence-free, instead of “arrogating to themselves non-existent power” that could cause disaffection among the people. According to him, such practice should not be encouraged in volatile states like Lagos and Bornu, among others.
Fashore also praised the National Peace Committee for the 2015 General Elections headed by a former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, for reiterating the need by the political parties and their candidates to re-commit themselves to the ideals of the Abuja peace accord.
He said, “The peace initiative by every concerned Nigerian is to ensure that everyone, irrespective of his or her religious belief, shuns moves that are capable of plunging the country into violence. So, it is necessary that politicians prevail on their supporters to stop heating up the polity in the interest of all.
“Religious and community leaders also have a duty to educate their followers on the essence of peace. They should understand that no one will be safe in case the activities of those surreptitiously causing unrest in the country are not checked.”
The Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar-led committee had urged the Independent National Electoral Commission to improve on the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards so as to ensure that no eligible voter is disenfranchised.
In a statement signed by Abubakar, the committee calls on all Nigerians to remain calm and the political parties to re-commit themselves to the ideals of the Abuja peace accord.
An activist and founder of Centre for Rehabilitation of Exceptional Persons, Mr. Kunle Oyegoke, is of the opinion that the destruction of the billboards and other campaign materials persist because political parties failed to educate their supporters on the need to shun actions that could trigger off disaffection by refusing to lay good examples for the people to follow.
Oyegoke, who noted that huge amount of money must have been spent to produce the billboards and other campaign posters, said their destruction by hoodlums or political party supporters might have obstructed the purpose for which they were meant to serve, which is educating the voters on the pedigree of candidates for elections.
He said, “It is very unfortunate that many of our political leaders are not enlightened enough to know that it is not civil for anyone to destroy the posters of his opponents more so when the posters and the billboards are not the ones voting. It is the people that vote according to the credibility and antecedent of their candidates, aside from the manifestoes of each of the political parties, but unfortunately people are not aware that posters do not vote.
“We also note that the posters and billboards are expensive; huge amount of money was spent to produce them. But their destruction would definitely affect the purpose for which they were meant to serve.
“The untoward activities introduced into Nigeria’s politics should not be allowed to take their root in the system because they portend danger for the development of the country. Conscious efforts should be made to discourage them.”
BY FISAYO FALODI
