THE SHADOW OF DEMOCRACY HAUNTS GENERAL IBRAHIM BADAMOSI BABANGIDA (IBB).

By Louis Brown Ogbeifun | June 9, 2010

Democracy allows people to think and behave in a particular manner based on the respect for the will of the majority while also allowing the minority to have their say unmolested. Several times, Nigeria tried to adapt to the tenets of this maxim but the military came calling at intervals from 1966 -1999. One man who would have been the greatest Nigerian in Uniform had the opportunity to put things in proper democratic perspective but the inherent selfish nature of man destroyed the good works he would have left for prosperity.

That man is General Babangida. General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (IBB) GCFR He was born on August 17, 1941 in Minna in Niger State. He was the President of Nigeria from August 1985 until he stepped aside in 1993. He had the singular opportunity and honour of making Nigeria a stable democracy but he fluffed it. Though he started the transition, he willfully refused to complete it.

After several years, that singular misjudgment has resulted in the shadow of democracy chasing him where ever he goes.  The perception of Nigerians is that the 1993 elections in Nigeria remains the fairest election so far in our electoral history. It was an election that the President elect, Bashorun M. K. O. Abiola and his Vice, Ambassador Babagana Kingibe were Muslims. Yet Nigerians never bothered. It was after that election that Nigerians were awakened to the north-south and Christian/Muslim divide like never before. IBB himself recently alluded to the fact that he organized the best and most credible election in Nigeria. This is double-speak and an afterthought. I am not convinced he meant it because he hinged the reasons for the annulment of the 1993 presidential elections on corrupt practices.   Having done this great damage to the psyche of Nigeria and Nigerians, Babangida is clamoring to come back as the next civilian President of Nigeria come 2011. The questions on the lips of all of us are:

1.  How can somebody that did not believe in democracy while in the military now aspire to head democratic institutions?.
2. Can somebody give what he/she does not have?

The angst in us is that if the 1993 election had been allowed to stay, Nigeria’s democratic experiment would have matured and Nigeria should been moving towards advanced democracies. The stakes are high but the odds are undoubtedly many against the gap toothed General. A summary of his score card will reveal:  

ECONOMY

• All the structures put in place by IBB to actualize the dreams of the Structural Adjustment Programmes were used as the drain pipes for siphoning money into foreign accounts by the ruling class.
•  More than 4,000 per cent increase in tuition fees in tertiary institutions.
• Increased corruption. The very structures meant to restructure and breath life back to the economy became the noose that snuffed life out of the economy.
•  Naira that was at par with the dollar when Babangida took over suffered more than 500% devaluation. It was the beginning of the death of the Naira.
• Militarization of civil appointments. This led to unfettered corruption in all the social institutions in Nigeria.
• In bid to privatize most government enterprises, capacity utilization was at a 30% all time low when he left the Government House.
• Incessant  protests against the SAP policy and the cumulative infrastructural decay
• Negative and harsh SAP impacts on the civil populace without any corresponding positive adjustment in their conditions of living

HUMAN CAPACITY UTILIZATION

There was erosion and total collapse of the middle class. No thanks to our academia that were used in the formulation of the policies that wiped out the middle class. There is no economy that is known to have grown without a very strong and vibrant middle class. Babangidanomics led to massive” brain and capital flight” from the country. This was the beginning of emigration in droves of all facets of the professional groups from the country to the rest of the world. This was worsened by. On top of this, there was massive retrenchment of workers that heightened the country’s unemployment situation. 

POLITICS and anti-democratic actions of IBB

• Spent over 40billion naira on a transition programme that ended in catastrophe.
• Banned and unbanned several politicians from contesting elections. The National Electoral commission under Babangida annulled the first round of presidential primaries on August 7, 1992.
• Annulment of the June 12, 1993 general elections.
  
• Refusal to hand over to the winner of June 12 elections led to several untoward reactions including the death of Chief M.K.O. Abiola who died during his incarceration.
• The arrest, detention and eventual death of Shehu Musa Yar’Adua.
• Self-succession agenda after eight years in office.

HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE

1. Bombing and killing of Dele Giwa. Major Debo Bashorun (rtd) on the death of Dele Giwa who is against Babangida coming back to rule Nigeria said”………I am one of those who know that he is connected to the death of Dele Giwa. That is why they have been trying to kill me”.

2.       Repression of all opposing voices. He closed  down several media houses including Concord, Punch, Guardian and Sketch newspapers; Newswatch, News magazines and radio stations 

3. The questionable killing of Mamman Vasta, his childhood friend. Ordinarily, we all know that the sentence for coup plotting is death. But when General Domkat Bali, a member of his ruling junta and indeed the Chief of Defence Staff of the ruling Council at that time said later in an interview published in the Newswatch in 2006 “My regret is that up till now, I am not sure whether Vatsa ought to have been killed because whatever evidence they amassed against him was weak” it becomes a matter of moral burden on Babangida to counter Domkat Bali’s assertion. IBB owes the country an explanation on what truly transpired in a very remorseful way. Life is sacred and should not be snuffed out of anyone with a drunken bravado of  rulers.

4.       Killing of the students that took part in the anti-SAP strikes from 1986 to 1989 

CORRUPTION

There are four serious allegations that General Babangida cannot wish away with the snap of the finger. They are:

1. $6 billion purported to have been missing from the national treasury during Babangida’s reign.
2. The $120 billion said to have been siphoned out of the Nigerian treasury into offshore accounts by dishonest politicians, $20 billion is allegedly traceable to IBB directly as president from 1985 to 1993. - Jeffrey Robinson.
3. The $12.4 billion Gulf war oil windfall during his regime, which remains unaccounted for uptill this moment. The Okigbo report on this has not seen the light of day since it was set up in 1994.
4.  His era entrenched corruption in every facet of our national life.

Judiciary

The Judiciary was so polarized to the extent that the judiciary played the ignoble role of giving teeth to the annulment of June 12. It is on record that more than any other regime; Babangida’s regime used the courts to subvert and killed democracy. This was evident by the proxy use of Nzeribe’s ABN, (an unknown body to the laws of Nigeria) to annul 1993 elections. That judgement was given in the night by late Justice Ikpeme. The irony of it all is that even while out of the military, he still used the court to protect himself from appearing before the Oputa led Human Rights Violation Investigation Commission (HRVIC). 

Religion

Babangida unilaterally, upgraded Nigeria’s status from an observer to full-fledged member of the Organization of the Islamic Conference. There was huge resentment by Nigerians over this unilateralism. Though he denied it, but subsequent investigations affirmed the full-fledged membership status.

What people say about IBB

Professor Akin Oyebode:”…….. He has dirty rotten underwear that he wants to clean so that people will give him a new improved IBB.  IBB is a bad statement to the whole world that at the end of the day we again brought Babangida to the scene.  I don’t want my children to live under Babangida.  I won’t live under Babangida.”

Mr. Femi Falana: “I am not quite sure that Nigerians can stop him from exposing himself to ridicule.  He has been lucky that he is not in jail now.  His coming out to contest will provide an opportunity for Nigerians to deal with him squarely and confront him with the annulment of June 12 election, the murder of Dele Giwa, the Ejigbo tragic plane crash, the destruction of our values as a people, corruption, and massive violation of human rights.”

 M. D. Yusufu in Karl Maiers, “Babangida went all out to corrupt society.  Abacha was intimidating people with fear.  With him gone, now you can recover.  But this corruption remains and it is very corrosive to society.” As a former top cop, he knows the meaning, colour and the effects of corruption on people.

Reacting to a question by Niyi Odebode, on what he thinks of Babangida’s presidential ambition, Major Debo Bashorun (rtd) said “That is a disaster waiting to happen. People that have criticized him will be in trouble. What did he leave that he is coming to take? I know him very well. I was close to him. I was involved in his life. I was involved in his wife’s personal life. If he comes back, the country will be sold”.

Bishop David Oyedepo: “the ghost of the annulled June 12, 1993, presidential election will continue to haunt Ibrahim Babangida for life” Nothing can be truer than this. The major opposition he is facing in his ambition to rule Nigeria is the annulment of June 1993 presidential election.

Oputa Panel: “on General Ibrahim Babangida, we are of the view that there is evidence to suggest that he and the two security chiefs, Brigadier Halilu Akilu and Colonel. A. k. Togun are accountable for the death of Dele Giwa by letter Bomb. We recommend that this case be re-opened for further investigation in the public interest.

On IBB’s call to immortalize Abiola, Festus keyamo said ”Nigerians at this point should demand for the trial of IBB because what he is saying now is a confessional statement. He is saying that Abiola won the election and that he annulled it, which is a criminal offence”. 

It is not a sin to aspire to becoming the executive president of this country, but Nigerians have to be sure that anybody occupying that number one seat should be somebody that can be trusted. It should be somebody that will not use the same instruments meant for the protection of their lives and properties against them. It should be somebody that does not believe in amassing wealth for only himself/herself and immediate family alone. It should be a God fearing human being that has sanctity for human life. It should not be somebody that has a tenure and wants to change our constitution to elongate his/her tenure. It should be somebody that truly believes in democracy and ready to die for it.  It should be somebody that believes in the rule of law and not someone who will allow the court to be delivering unwholesome judgements in the middle of the night at his/her beck and call.

If Babangida truly believes and can thump his chest that he meets these requirements, let him commence his campaign. But before then, he must in conjuction with the political class swear that they will allow the will and the votes of the people to count failure which the people should react to reclaim the stolen mandate by massive civil disobedience.

To Babangida, he needs no advice from anybody to know that he should just stay in his 50 bedrooms’ mansion instead of seeking to come back to the few rooms in Aso Rock. Aso Rock is now to small for him considering the massive wealth at his disposal. If he had attended the Oputa Panel, taken sole responsibility for the annulment of June 1993 election, apologized to Nigerians and vowed never to slide back to those anti democratic morass; perhaps he would have been better positioned to actualize his dream come 2011. As long as he believes in the military bravado that civilians do not matter and that he has so much to bribe and muscle his way back to political stardom, the seat reserved for those who respect democracy will continue to elude him. Let him not make it a do-or-die affair because it will not pay off. If he forces his way to Aso Rock through election rigging, he will face civil unrest on daily basis. That may force him to step aside the second time to come back no more. Let him not cause Nigerians sleepless nights because when the heat is on, he will either abdicate the throne or throw Nigeria into a huge political crises. He should save himself anymore embarrassment. Let him not push his luck too far because he can for now at least quietly enjoy his wealth since successive administrations said they have no evidence of corruption against him.

To President Jonathan, the only thing he can do to write his name in gold for posterity is to organize free and fair elections in Nigeria come 2011. With free and fair elections, Nigerians can determine who rules over them. When elected leaders know that they are voted into offices by Nigerians, they will surely govern to please and deliver dividends of democracy to the people. If the peoples’ votes count, there are no doubts in my mind that antagonists and murderers of democracy will never prevail against the will of the people. 

To fellow Nigerians, we all should blame ourselves for the corrupt political space we find ourselves.  The irony of our national life is that those who connived or whose parents connived with Babangida to annul June 12 1993 elections are occupying positions of authourity everywhere in the country. Yet, we pretend as if that is right. For instance, Senator David Mark, an influential member of that Babangida Junta, one of the G-34 that signed away June 12 mandate in the name of peace pact and a man who was widely quoted as saying that telephone was not meant for the poor is the President of the Nigerian Senate and the 3^rd in command in the hierarchy of our leadership strata.

The leaders of SDP and NRC that were the two leading parties at that time who betrayed Nigerians on June 12 mandate are decision makers in major political parties in Nigeria at the moment. Some of the Obas and Emirs that perpetrated and supported IBB are even more influential today than then in the determination of our political future. They dictate who become what and who in this country. We see them, eulogize them, wine and dine with them only to turnaround and reject one out of the many. This should not be so. They all betrayed us and must all be made to face the music.

Babangida was not alone on this annulment saga and should not be the only issue because Nigerians have the capacity to refuse him any more space in the Presidential palace at Aso Rock if we have the free hands to choose our leaders. Let us tell all those connected actively or remotely with that annulment to leave us alone. Let us chase them out of whatever positions they are illicitly occupying. In labour parlance, injury to one is injury to all.  They injured our brothers and sisters in the struggle. They stabbed and crippled democracy. So, they should not have any hiding place. We should not allow them further harvests from the toils of the activists who were incarcerated, humiliated, suffered and died for the restoration of democracy.  If not, whether Babangida is the president or not, he will continue to reap from our commonwealth because his boys and apologists are in high places.

What is happening to IBB should be a hard lesson for those who have the  opportunity to discharge some duties on behalf of a people but instead decide to abandon the same people for a pot of pottage.

 Notes:

http://naiwuosahon.webs.com/apps/blog/show/1757097-general-ibrahim-badamosi-babangida

May, 2002: Human Rights Violation Investigation Commission (HRVIC) Reports, Nigeria

www.newswatchngr.com   

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Governors and Presidential Convoys: a threat to Road Safety in Nigeria.

By Louis Brown Ogbeifun | April 23, 2010

On March 8^th 2010, Businessday reported that Lyel Imoke was involved in an accident after the burial ceremony of a PDP stalwart in the State. The accident was said to have occurred Saturday 6^th March 2010 in the wee hours of the morning on his way to Obudu ranch, Cross River State Nigeria where he wanted to rest for the night. The report further stated that the Governor sustained a fracture of one of his limbs while the Governor’s Chief Security Officer (CSO) was also said to have been injured.  No mention was made of the driver of the vehicle. Later, it was reported that the driver has been suspended from duty.

Topographically, the road leading to Obudu Ranch is hilly and steep.  At 2.30am one would expect it to be “pitch” black, foggy and accompanied with poor visibility. The driver was said to have complained of tiredness and poor visibility. Two kilometers to the 11 kilometer ranch, the driver was said to have lost control of the vehicle and the crash occurred. 

The 234NEXT on April 8^th 2010 reported that the driver was said to have been on the road for “some 17 hours” prior to the time of the accident. This is at variance with the report of Businessday but in consonance with the abuse of drivers and the undermining of road safety on Nigerian roads by government officials. On this issue, some questions that the managers of Imoke’s protocol must answer are:

1. Why must a driver that resumed duty in the morning still be driving at 2.30 am?
2. Did the driver truly complain of tiredness and poor visibility?
3. If yes, who ordered him to continue with the journey?
4.  Shouldn’t another driver have been asked to take over from the tired driver?
5. If yes, why was he not deployed?
6. Why Obudu ranch at that time of the night when the Government House would have been easier to reach?
7. Was a panel constituted to investigate the crash?
8. If yes, what were the findings of the panel and was the driver liable for the crash?
9. Was the driver given fair hearing before the suspension from duty?
10. Shouldn’t the protocol and Chief Security Officers have rightly advised the Governor?

Judging from the antecedents of some our public officers, I know that sheer bravado, sycophancy and overzealousness must have led to the suspension of the driver. As a labour activist, it is my candid opinion that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the Civil Society Organizations must stand up for this driver. He should not be sacrificed to cover the inefficiency of some public officers that failed in their duties. He should be recalled to his duty post immediately.   

This issue has brought to the fore the carelessness and recklessness of the entourage and convoys of elected public officers. They are known for over speeding and lack of respect for other road users. The pilot and lead vehicles scare other road users and force them off the road. In such malady, both past and previous leaders have been involved in fatal road accidents.

On 25^th March 2010, vanguard reported that about five people were seriously injured along Kankara-Seme-Gusau road when two SUVs on Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State’s convoy had a head-on collision with a commercial vehicle.

On 22^nd March 2001; Thisday reported “the convoy of Vice-President Atiku Abubakar was in Calabar involved in multiple accidents which left the Deputy Speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly, Hon. Patrick Antigha Ene and some policemen seriously injured”.

On 23^rd August 2009, Elendu reported that “Nigeria’s Senate President’s convoy was involved in a motor accident early on  Sunday 22^nd August 2009. The accident occurred about 150 meters to the Games Village estate on Oladipo Diya road, Abuja at about 11.15am. According to eyewitnesses, a black Land cruiser V8 sports utility vehicle which was one of the two land cruisers in the Senate President’s convoy ran into a stationary Audi vehicle.  Two of the Senate president’s aides were injured”.

 The examples are legion. Most of the accidents have been attributed to man-made errors. On April 10, 2010, the Champion reported that Uduaghan, the Governor of Delta State was quoted as saying “Some of the convoy drivers are reckless and take advantage of being in the convoy to be irresponsible and misbehave in movements. It is even worse sometimes when the Governors are not in the convoy”.

This is a statement of fact. The other leg of this statement is that the Governors and these public officers are the real culprits by proxy. Our laws prohibit any driver revving above 100 kilometers per hour (KMPH) even on the express way. So, for any public officer no matter the position, to allow his or her driver to over speed is tantamount to abuse of office and the breach of the road safety laws.

The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) was established in 1988 vide FRSC Act Cap 141 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria LFN, 1990 as amended. This Commission has tried over the years to maintain sanity on Nigerian roads but the activities of Presidential and Governors’ convoys pose grave danger to other road users and undermine the activities of the FRSC. Public officers should learn to respect the law.

Let us cultivate the habit of respect for other road users. A little patience and caution on the side of those who should know will greatly reduce carnage on our roads. I sympathize with those injured in the Lyel Imoke’s accident especially those left behind while Imoke was flown abroad. I wish them speedy recovery.

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The Concept of Mediation and Its Relevance in Modern Court. Paper presented by Louis Brown Ogbeifun (ChMc (Nig); CEDR accredited Med, (UK); MTI Accredited Mediator and Trainer in Workplace Conflicts (USA).) To a Workshop on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) for Magistrates’ of the FCT. Organized by the Abuja Multi-Door Courthouse, High Court of the FCT in conjunction With the Security Justice and Growth Programme of the British Council. At Rockview Hotel; On 26TH November, 2008

By Louis Brown Ogbeifun | April 14, 2010

Let me sincerely thank the Multi-Door Courthouse, High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja and the British Council for this singular honour and privilege, that has made it possible for me to stand before eminent jurists, not as an accused person but as one who would be leading discussions on the concept of mediation and its relevance in modern day courts for the next two and half hours. I say discussion because I am not going to be talking on something new to you. You are all mediators in your own right. All we would be doing this morning is the robbing of minds on how to make the practice of mediation more robust at the Abuja Multi-Door Courthouse.

This workshop cannot come at a better time when we have so much pressure on the judiciary because of the rights imposed by the constitution on the ongoing nurturing of democracy in Nigeria. So, I congratulate the organizers of this workshop for their support and their foresight.

Introduction.

According to Covey (2004:10); people share so much in common, yet are magnificently different. They think differently; they have different and sometimes competing values, motivations and objectives. Conflicts normally arise out of these differences. This definition presupposes that conflict is inherent in any form of human relations because we are different in values, genetics, physiology, mental disposition to issues, approach to issues; our reasons for going into a relationship, satisfaction of needs, our goals and objectives, our expectation of others and the way we perceive things. These conflicts arise because of the changes that occur in the process of interaction.

For conflict to occur, there must be an interdependent relationship and when two or more people come together to progress the course of this relationship; conflict becomes inevitable. The relationship could be formal or informal such as in marriage, workplace, business, politics, meetings, market, family, crime, health and educational institutions and in the field of diplomacy.

(Hornby 2001:239) defines conflict as a “situation in which people, groups or countries are involved in a serious disagreement”. Conflict cannot be said to be good or bad. It is the way we manage conflict that matters. If well managed, it could become a motivator that will spur us to achieve greater results in our daily endeavour. If mismanaged, it develops into crisis.

Conflicts can be resolved using adjudication, violence, self-help, arbitration, litigation or mediation. The State might also resort to the use of force, coercion and intimidation to suppress conflicts. Arbitration, violence, self-help and litigation are adversarial in nature because judgements are given to depict a win-lose situation or the other party disarmed through the use of brute force by the stronger party. In the process, relationships are broken and the vanquished being unable to vent their pent up feelings, wait patiently for the appropriate time to revenge. This is where the use of Mediation, which stresses a win-win option, holds the ace for a lasting solution to conflicts.

In Nigeria, Mediation is not a new concept. Before the advent of the British rule, our forebears and traditional rulers effectively used mediation to resolve family and communal conflicts. Mediation was then employed based on the use of power, hunches, history and experience. In modern times, traditional rulers, religious leaders and organizations still use mediation as an out-of-court settlement process. This is also is largely based on the use of experience, the organizational rule books, norms and traditions.

The mediation process we are going to be discussing in the next few hours is a structured and systematized method of resolving disputes. It involves the training and certification of the practitioners to enable them practice in the formal sector like the courts and in the informal sector as experts. Mediators are trained to understand human psychology and the reasons behind some actions that take place at mediation, which hitherto were hidden at the beginning from both parties

The Concept of Mediation.

According to Honeyman and Yawanarajah (2003), mediation is a “process in which a third-party neutral assists in resolving a dispute between two or more other parties. It is a non-adversarial approach to conflict resolution. The role of the mediator is to facilitate communication between the parties, assist them in focusing on the real issues of the dispute, and generate options that meet the interests or needs of all relevant parties in an effort to resolve the conflict”.

The U.S. equal Opportunity Commission says of mediation “Mediation is a fair and efficient process to help resolve your employment disputes and reach an agreement. A neutral mediator assists you in reaching a voluntary, negotiated agreement…..”

Ogunyanwo (2005:27) defines mediation as “a voluntary (unless ordered by a court), non-binding, private dispute resolution process in which a neutral person, the Mediator, helps the parties try to reach a negotiated settlement”.

The Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR); (2004:26) defines ”Mediation as a flexible process conducted confidentially in which a neutral person actively assists the parties in working towards a negotiated agreement of a dispute or difference, with the parties in ultimate control of the decision to settle and the terms of resolution”

I would want to define Mediation as an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) method, conducted in private, in a confidential manner, facilitated by a third-party neutral that assists the disputants to reach their own proffered solutions to the issues in contention; with a voluntary settlement agreement signed by the parties upon the successful closure of the dispute.

From the above definitions, it might be misconstrued that any agreement reached through the mediation process is not enforceable because the process is voluntary. This definitely will not adequately represent the views of the various authors because once the disputants voluntarily append their signatures or thumbprints to a settlement agreement it becomes binding.  It behooves on them to respect and carry out the obligations spelt out in the settlement agreement, which they were not coerced to sign.

Attributes of the definitions

• There are parties to the dispute
• Alternative dispute resolution process
• Voluntarism.
• Conducted in private.
• A confidential process.
• Flexible process
• Fair and efficient process.
• Facilitation of communication between the parties.
•  Involvement of a third-party neutral
• Active involvement of the mediator in the process
• Interests and needs.
•  Process owned and controlled by the parties
• Signed negotiated agreement/settlement.
•  Non-adversarial.

Conflict, the reaction to it by one of the parties and the final resolution could be likened to a submarine operation. The missiles you see oozing out from above the surface of the ocean to enemy positions is carried out by a huge military hardware called the submarine, which lies somewhere in the belly of the ocean. You can only detect the submarine position using special instrument. The commander-in-chief who gave the approval for the deployment of the sub-marine and the eventual strike is out of sight and should be thousands of nautical miles away from the point of action. Not until that power source is assuaged and both parties come to an agreement on their own or a third party mediates for a cease fire, the raining of the missiles on the enemy territory will continue.

The process and structure of conflicts are very complex. What underlies the issues presented by the parties is much more than meets the eye.  Beneath the problems brought to the table are hidden interests, emotions, power play, traits, attitudes and needs. It is like the iceberg whose crest depicts an infinitesimal aspect of the bundle of complexities that lies beneath. Therefore, a mediator has to be trained to have a helicopter view of all the issues in mediation and effectively meet the challenges of mediation.

Mediation is the tool that helps bring disputing parties together, discovers the aforementioned complexities, helps to explore into the root cause(s) of disputes, brings to the surface the hidden interests and needs of the disputants and at the end restore broken relationship of the parties to the pre-dispute level.

For you to be successful in mediation, you need to put into perspectives the followings:

1. Try to unravel the root cause(s) of conflict.
2. You need to get to the root cause of conflicts for you to be able to assist the parties in resolving it. Detect the authourity calling the shots.
3. You need to determine who is calling the shots (authourity) and detect the power play for you to be able to help the parties move closer to settlement.
4. Determine the interests and needs of the parties.
5. You need to detect and determine the needs and the interests of both parties, which in most cases are hidden beneath what they come to mediation with.
6. Deploy the appropriate tools.
7. You need to deploy the right tool (method) to make sense out of the mediation process. Choosing the wrong approach might ruin any chances of settlement.
8. Deploy the right conflict resolver.

The resolution of conflicts no matter how simple requires tact, understanding and patience. You need to get the right person, who can aggregate all the above factors to enable the parties benefit from the mediation process on a win-win basis.

Who is a Mediator?

A Mediator is one who is trained to use his/her knowledge and experience, to facilitate dialogue between disputing parties with the sole aim of reaching a settlement agreement.

The mediator is not a Judge or an Arbitrator. The Mediator is interested in the relationship with and between the parties; manages the process and helps the parties concentrate on the content of the dispute. He/she acts as a coach to the parties. While doing this, the mediator must in all circumstances, maintain his/her neutrality and be mindful of the confidentiality of the process.

Roles of an effective mediator.

The role of a Mediator is a sensitive one. The effective mediator has three domains of importance in the mediation process and these encompass the entire mediation process namely:

1.  Pre-Mediation.

2.  Intra-Mediation.

3. Post-Mediation.

Pre- Mediation:

The parties

• Develops rapport with the parties.
• Gets the brief from both parties
• Arranges to meet with the parties
• Speaks to the parties on the negotiation history and their concerns
• Clarifies the role of the mediator.

The Process:

• Develops and agrees to framework by both parties.
• Fixes date, time venue, rooms, etc.
• Obtains agreements on the terms of mediation.
• Checks that someone with authority will be available on the table.
• Discusses documentation and exchange of documentation between the parties
• Arranges for the arrival of the parties

The Mediator

• Appears neat but not too flamboyant or colourful.
• Confident.
• Ensures that the flip charts and all materials to be used are carefully arranged
• appears relaxed, alert and confident
• Conveys believability, energy and purpose
• Arranges for refreshments
• On hand to welcome the parties

.Intra-negotiation:

• Sets the scene and sets the tone.

• Ensures that the physical environment is conducive.

• Ensures that seats are arranged in a manner that will enhance good interaction.

• Quickly motivates the parties to early interaction.

• Opens the mediation well.

• Determines the order of presentations, the use of caucusing and joint meetings.

• Informs the parties of progress.

• Sets the ground rules.

• Alert on tension, cultural and ethical issues.

• Radiates confidence.

• Builds trust.

• Uses humour effectively.

• Uses effective communication strategy:

a. Listens attentively.

b.  Paraphrases.

c. Uses open ended questions.

d. Deals with verbal and non verbal cues.

• Establishes mediator’s authourity.
• Reinforces confidentiality.
• Maintains time balance between the parties.
• Alert on issues of power imbalance.
• Motivates the parties by accepting and rewarding valued contributions.
• Allows parties to express emotions.
• Supports the parties equally.
• Shows empathy.
• Not judgmental.
• Effective use of silence.
• Maintains his role as a process Manager
• Explores and identifies interest based issues and priorities.
• Directs the focus of parties to interest based issues and away from the problems.
• Invents strategies to overcome deadlock.
• Helps parties to analyze risks and benefits non-settlement.
• Summarizes points of agreement.
• Helps parties with the writing of the settlement agreement. If they have representations, allow their Lawyers to draft the agreement.
• Ensures settlement agreement is signed by both parties.

Post- mediation process:

• Maintains a working relationship with parties.

• Acknowledge their inputs and ascribe the success to them.

• Makes follow-up contact with parties.

• Encourages parties to keep in touch.

• Where there is a deadlock, let them continue to explore mediatory channels.

Uses of mediation:

• International disputes.
• Social disputes.
• Medical disputes.
• Civil cases.
• Commercial disputes.
• Labour and industrial relations’ disputes.
• Communal disputes
• Educational disputes.
• Workplace disputes.

Factors that aids mediation:

1. Power balance.

Where one of the parties has legal representation and the other does not, mediation becomes an uphill task. Boulle (2005) believes that it will be unfair to mediate in an instance where one of the parties does not have legal representation. Though a major issue, I strongly believe that a mediator should be able to take note of the power imbalance and skillfully guide the parties through the process.

2. Parties voluntarily opting for mediation.

Mediation achieves a higher rate of settlement where the parties opted for mediation before going to the law courts.

3. Trust and confidence of the parties in the Mediator.

Once the parties trust and have absolute confidence in the Mediator, the process runs smoothly with fewer hiccups.

4. Complexity of the dispute.

The less complex and integrative the issues are, the easier and better for mediation. A one issue dispute in mediation will be easier to handle than that which involves multiple issues.

5. Capability and competence of the Mediator.

The capabilities and the competence of the mediator are very critical factors in the mediation process. A less experienced mediator may find it seriously challenging to get involved in multi-issues dispute as often times experienced in commercial.

Phases of mediation.

 There is no hard and fast rule guiding the phases of mediation. Since it is a flexible system, many authors have designed the phases used over time in their mediation work. Generally, there are five phases of mediation namely,

1. The preparation phase.
2. The opening phase.
3. Exploration phase.
4. Bargaining phase
5. Closing phase.

The preparation phase.

This is the planning phase, where the parties agree on a mediator, meeting with the parties, taking of briefs, informing the parties of what the process entails, parties agree on the date, venue and signing of the initial mediation commitment or contract.

The opening phase.

This phase involves the introduction of the parties and the mediator, setting of ground rules, re-echoing the roles and responsibilities of the mediator and the parties, the opening statements and the stressing neutrality of the mediator and the confidentiality clause. The phase begins with the opening statements by the parties and they are advised to give it their best.

The exploration phase.

The mediator through the agreed structure tries to help the parties to the understanding of the issues, which in this case are the needs, interests, the problems and the issues. Once these are discerned, the mediator strategically helps the parties to focus on interest based needs.

This is the most trying phase for the mediator. He could decide to hold several private and joint meetings. He watches the parties for body languages, does reality testing, paraphrases, uses open ended questions to encourage the parties to talk more, reinforces the confidentiality clause and summarizes what each party says for clarity. Be alerted of the tension around the mediation room, watch out for emotions and allow the parties vent out their feelings. Deploy your listening skill to the fullest. Seek first to be understood than to understand. Do not interrupt their presentations.

The bargaining phase.

Kanakrieh (2007) identifies five types and manners of bargaining that takes place in mediation as follow:

1. Bargaining concerning rights: The essential consideration in focus here is about legal rights.
2. Reconciliation bargaining: The objective of this is the bringing together of the disputants for the sole purpose of reconciling them.
3. Distributive bargaining: The consideration here is to effectively resolve the issues of fixed resources in the dispute
4. Bargaining on the basis of interest: This method focuses on the interests of the parties outside the disputes of rights.
5. Integrated bargaining: This method deals with a whole lot of issues. This includes, interests, rights, resources and the real issue in dispute.

It is the duties of the mediator to develop the strategic plan to deal with any of the types of bargaining highlighted above. 

Elements of Effective Collective Bargaining Process.

• Takes place within a social framework devoid of technical and legal encumbrances.

• Parties agree on date, venue and time of negotiation.

• Recognizes the bargaining partners as equal and therefore allows bargaining on equal terms.

• Negotiates on all matters connected with disputes.

• Flexibility.

• Understanding the socio-economic implications of a deadlock.

• Finding an equilibrium that will enhance face saving safety nets for both disputants.

• Carrying out negotiation in an atmosphere devoid of harassment, threats and duress.

• Bargaining in an honest and transparent manner (good faith bargaining).

Good Faith Bargaining.

To bargain in good faith means that the parties will meet as agreed with the mediator and negotiate with open mind over the issues in dispute.

To bargain in good faith, the disputants are encouraged to do the following:-

1.    Approach bargaining with open mind.

2.    Follow the ground rules, which will enhance the prospect of a negotiable settlement.

3.    Regard all items within the scope of bargaining as rightly negotiable and problems that should be solved bilaterally.

4.    Discuss demands freely, fully and justify negative reactions with reasons.

5.    Considers compromise proposals in an effort to find mutually satisfactory basis for agreement or settlement.

6.    Give information that will enable the other party to bargain responsibly.

Generally, adoption of good faith bargaining by disputants creates respect and mutual trust during the process of negotiation and it promotes a win-win outcome. In addition, it goes a long way to determine the course of a future relationship. It is a practical necessity, which is helps both parties to move closer their interests and needs.

Negotiation.

Nierenberg (1968) defines negotiation as a game, but a cooperative exercise, and builds a “need theory” to optimize it. This definition weighs its concept on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Nierenberg’s work presumes that a negotiator can decide to work against each level of her own or her opponent’s needs depending on her orientation and perhaps the specific goals to be achieved. On the other hand, Cohen believes that anything can be negotiated. He refers to the world as a giant negotiating table and recognizes three critical elements involved in negotiation, namely, information, time and power.

Negotiation is a consensual bargaining process in which the parties attempt to reach an agreement on a disputed or potentially disputed matter. It has often been used interchangeably with bargaining. In whatever context it is used, considering the need for future interaction between disputants and for the purpose of reaching a win-win outcome it may be defined as “the building of a consensus in order to resolve a dispute between parties that are interdependent and that look forward to a future business interaction and cooperation”.

Challenges of negotiation.

1.    Needs.

2.    Interests.

3.    Time pressures.

4.    Negotiation styles.

5.    Skills of the negotiator and the disputants.

6.    Power balance.

7.    Information.

8.    The negotiator’s goals and orientation.

For a successful negotiation to take place, certain conditions are necessary in the negotiation chain. These include:

• Access to relevant information to deal with and participate in dialogue.

• Will and commitment to engage in dialogue.

• Respect for fundamental rights of freedom and the principles of bargaining.

• Appropriate institutional support.

• The parties must identify and agree on the issues in dispute.

• The parties must admit that their interests, goals and needs are not entirely incompatible.

• They must recognize the need to co-operate in order to achieve the goals.

• They should dwell on areas of mutual benefit.

Working towards an agreement will require both parties to remain on a platform that will accommodate both of them irrespective of the differences in opinion or class. They must see each other as equals and the following will also add value to the negotiation process.

A one-item dispute for negotiation is easier to deal with than many-items’ agenda. When negotiating on several issues, it is advisable not to sign off any agreed item until agreement is reached on all issues. By this method, either party can allow a face saving trade-off for a more holistic agreement in order to prevent a deadlock.

Negotiation Strategies.

Negotiators often adopt two strategies, namely:

• Positional (competitive) negotiation strategy.

• Principled (problem-solving) negotiation strategy.

 The Positional or Competitive Negotiation Strategy.

This is the traditional negotiation strategy and it is characterized by a winner-takes-all attitude in which each negotiator sets a minimum limit. According to Roger Fischer and William Ury, in Century Business, this winner-takes-all mentality may manifest in two ways: soft and hard.

The soft negotiator desires an amicable settlement, therefore wants to avoid personal conflict, and so makes concessions readily in order to reach an agreement.

The hard negotiator on the other hand is a bully. He adopts a strategy to wear out his opponent. The strategy most often is counter-productive as it ignites in the soft negotiator a spirit of competition. He rises to the challenge and the effect is the inability of both parties to reach a negotiated agreement.

Key Characteristics.

• Predetermined gains and setting of minimum limit.

• Focuses on people.

• Positions are entrenched on perceived best options.

• Making justification for taking extreme positions.

• Parties threaten and deploy unwholesome tactics to force agreement by the other party.

• Staging walk outs and using bluffs as a tool.

• Giving only when an offer is made.

• Giving in bits and never conceding any large amount at a time.

• Never pressured by time and prepared to remain at negotiation table for as long as the other party is willing.

• Psychologically wears off opponent.

Positional bargainers engage in this strategy for various reasons, which include:

• Preservation of reputations.

• Reliance on constituent power base, e.g., the unions knowing that shutting down the refineries and crude oil platforms will bring management and or government to their knees.

• Ego preservation.

• Fear of hostility from constituents, e.g., union leaders may not concede any ground outside the mandate of congress because they may be impeached afterwards.

• Mistrust.

• Broken relationships.

• Vengeance.

• Refusal to grant any privileges to the other party outside recognized rights, e.g., unions may direct their members to refuse overtime jobs while management may refuse to grant union leaders time to travel for union engagements.

• Incessant skirmishes.

Principled (problem solving) Negotiation Strategy.

The second strategy that has gained enormous acceptance as an alternative to the traditional strategy is the principled negotiation strategy. The “Getting to yes” by Fischer and Ury in the Harvard Negotiation Project in 1981 tends to have been the springboard upon which this strategy emerged.

The key characteristics are:

• principles rather than positions guide negotiation

• stressing problem solving

• objective standards as a basis for decision making

• separating people from the problems

• strengthening relationships

• focusing on co-operation

• efficient use of negotiating tools

• win-win outcome

• fair and open minded presentation of issues

• satisfactory  outcomes

Fischer and Ury have the strong conviction that the adoption of a co-operative approach would remove inefficiencies associated with the traditional “positional” approach yet give both parties the satisfaction of having a win-win outcome without either side having a feeling of exploitation. This is possible because the approach allows the use of their Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA) in reaching a mutually acceptable outcome.

The above does not suggest that deadlocks may not occur even when a principled negotiation approach is adopted. The Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) in appraising a possible deadlock option says, “In principled negotiation, negotiators seek to develop good relationships with the people on the other side and, if deadlock occurs, they may reconsider their BATNA or involve a third party to help develop agreement on interests or provide objective standards for a fair settlement”

Furthermore, it is the belief of CEDR that even in the best principled negotiation; some competitive or positional elements are likely to be present. There may be tensions between creating value and claiming value; and where negotiators work hard to extend the pie, there is still the question of who gets which slice.

The negotiation or bargaining phase helps to bring the parties closer to the settlement agreement. All the agreed terms in this phase are summarized for clarity and understanding of the parties.

 Closing Phase.

This is the phase where one of three things may happen. The parties might settle and then proceed to sign an agreement or the parties might fail to reach an agreement or the parties might decide to adjourn for further hearing.

If the parties reached a settlement, the mediator assists the parties to write down the terms of settlement for them to sign. If they have legal representations, allow the lawyers to do it but devoid of technicalities. Once the agreement has been signed then the mediator should congratulate the parties for resolving the dispute themselves.

Where the parties refused to settle, thank them for the efforts and encourage them to continue to seek other ADR options but seriously counsel them to still be open to mediation.

Advantages of mediation.

1. It is voluntary.
2. It is not an imposed system. Parties voluntarily opt for mediation. Where it is court- referred or court annexed, any of the parties has the right to opt out of the process at any time during the proceedings.
3. Mends broken relationship.

Litigation and other forms of conflict resolution are adversarial and breaks relationships but mediation facilitates the coming together of the disputants that were hitherto distanced by the dispute. This helps them to restore broken business relationship.

1. Saves time and money.

The system is quick and Mediation can take a matter of hours or days with a lesser cost of resources. This is at variant with protracted ligation and court based civil cases that may take months or years.

2. It is flexible.

The entire process from the beginning to the end is flexible and not bogged down by any form of bureaucracy. It helps to discover the real issues and parties are free to opt out of the process when they are no longer interested in the process for whatever reason.

3. Non-adversarial.

Mediation ensures a win-win outcome for all the parties. This makes the parties happy at the end of the process.

4. It is fair and efficient.

The parties mutually agree on who their mediator is and are the owners of the process. In addition, the method is open and cost effective. Therefore the parties perceive the system as fair and efficient. In litigation and arbitration, the court has control over the entire process.

5. Parties design the framework.

The parties agree on venue, time, parties to be present on mediation, who speaks on behalf of the disputants, when to present arguments, seat arrangements etc. In litigation and arbitration the parties are subjected to the dictates of the environment designed by the State or the Arbitrator.

6. Focuses on interests and not the problems.

Resolution of conflicts will largely depend on underlying selfish interests of disputants in the purview of needs, desires, power and rights, which the mediator must use his competence to detect and deal with. The process helps the disputants overcome underlying emotions and by redirecting them to the real issues.

7. Co-operative, problem solving approach.

Promotes cooperation among the parties and involves them to realistically generate workable options to the solution of the dispute.

8. Futuristic.

The traditional systems of dispute resolution seek remediation and therefore concentrate on the past. In the alternative, mediation seeks to bridge the gap between the disputants to enable them relate on a platform mutually agreed and helps look into the future benefits derivable from their relationship.

9. Promotes communication.

The parties vent their feelings without restraints. The phases of mediation encourage them to freely discuss the issues without any structured format. Parties face themselves to negotiate their own outcomes.

10. Private and confidential.

Mediation is held in privacy and proceedings are kept strictly confidential. It allows the parties to open up to the mediator during private meetings with the assurance that only the information approved by either party will be revealed to the other. This helps to the preservation of the privacy and reputation of the parties.

11. Reduces power imbalance.

In mediation, everybody is equal and the mediator helps to maintain the balance of power.

12. Win-win outcome.

Parties that reach a settlement agreement leave the mediation room happier than they came in because there is a sense of no loser but winners.

Once an agreement has been signed, the outcome of mediation becomes binding because:

The parties voluntarily submitted themselves to the process of mediation (if referred by the court, one of the parties may opt out during the process and return to the court).

• The parties both agreed on the framework.

• The parties voluntarily took part in the whole process, made inputs into the terms of settlement and at the end signed the settlement agreement.

• Where it is court-referred the settlement is duly registered as consent judgment.

The role(s) of the judiciary in the process of the deployment of mediation as an effective ADR method could be found in the words of Certilman “Decisiveness and willingness to use the authority of office may be the very traits which make judges effective dispute resolvers and administrators but they may also be anathema to mediation’s collaborative nature, where the buy-in of the parties is essential to success. Judges serving as mediators should be trained to leave their judicial demeanour in chambers and focus on the non-adjudicative nature of mediation. The use of coercive techniques will do damage to the public’s perception of the mediation process and should be eliminated”.

With the overflowing of court dockets, carrying over of cases that have spanned several years and the destruction of business relationships; the need for the collaborative efforts of the judiciary at making mediation the first line of choice before other forms of dispute resolution methods cannot be over emphasised. However, this cannot be achieved without the buy-in of the Judiciary whose domain lies the discretion to determine which of the cases should be referred for mediation.

Reasons for the adoption of mediation in modern day court practice.

1.  Judicial bureaucratic bottlenecks.
2. Delays in judicial processes.
3. Overloaded court cases.
4. Increasing legal costs
5. Time wastage in litigation.
6. Frustration.

 Relevance of mediation in modern courts.

1. Court-annexed or Court-referred mediation promotes enforceability of settlement agreement reached through mediation and increases the confidence of disputants in the mediation process.

• Helps the courts to reduce court cases’ overload.
• Saves the time and efforts of the judiciary thereby improving the turnaround time of cases in both civil and criminal cases.
• Mediation on long term basis ensures quicker dispensation of justice by the law courts.
• Opens a new vista for practicing and young lawyers to diversify their specialization outside the traditional specialties.
• Potential for a large number of cases to be processed in a relatively short amount of time (Drake and Lewis).
• Increasing the efficiency of case processing, improving the quality of justice and improving collection of judgment (Hadeen and Cov).

 Conclusion.

Mediation as a tool used in the resolution of disputes is gaining wider acceptance all over the world and should be encouraged at all the levels of the judiciary in Nigeria. Where and when it is appropriate the jusdicial system has nothing to lose in the adoption of mediation as a first line option in its approach to dispute settlement. Rather, its value in the administration of justice is of inestimable value. Let us be open to the use of mediation in a wider spectrum. This will allow our Judges concentrate on more complex cases that really requires their attention.

On the other hand, disputants and the public develop trust and confidence in Court-annexed or Court-referred mediation because all those involved in the disputes believe that the entire process is still part of the court system. While the case undergoes mediation, the lawyers still keep their briefs and no attendant risk is involved as parties can easily return to the court if there was a deadlock.

Mediation is quick at dispensing socio-ecnomic justice and the restoration of broken relationships. It is the bride of ADR. Please, it is in your place as administartors of justice to marry it into  the juducial system with love and open hearts. I can assure you with uttmost certainty that you will not regret being a party to the enthronemnt of mediation as a frontline ADR mechanism.

The public is interested in the quick resolution of disputes by the courts and not the method(s) used. When once the judiciary can be used as a platform to substantially dispense off cases in time, reduce costs and efforts on litigation especially in small matters, the public will see the entire judicial process as efficient and effective. Therefore, it is in our interest to ensure that this public trust and confidence are not misplaced. As Judicial officers, I urge you to kindly continue to encourage the use of mediation no matter your personal or institutional opinions.

Lastly, I wish to state that CEDR (UK); MTI (USA); ICMC (Nigeria) have been the building blocks of the enrichment of this paper because of the studies I had done with them as reknowned Mediation bodies.

Thank you for listening.

Notes.

Annie de Roo and Rob Jagtenberg Mediation in the Netherlands: Past - Present – Future in http://www.ejcl.org/64/art64-8.html

Bhatt, N. J; Legislative Initiative for Court Annexed Mediation in India in http://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/adr_conf/niranjan%20court%20annx%20med13.pdf

Bittel, L.R; Ramsey, J.E; (1995); Encyclopaedia of Professional Management, vol.2; Grolier International, Danbury, Connecticut.

Bittel, R. et al; (1995); Encyclopaedia of Professional Management vol.1 (2^nd edn), McGraw- Hill.

Boulle, L, (2005); Mediation: Principles, Process, and Practices. LexisNexis Butterworths.

CEDR (2004); The CEDR Mediator’s Handbook: Effective resolution of Commercial Disputes, U.K.

Certtilman, S.A, The Judges as mediators: Retaining Neutrality and Avoiding the Traps of social Engineering.

Cohen, H (1980); You Can Negotiate Anything, Little Stuart, New York

Convey, S. R (2004); The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, New York, Free Press

Dana, D (2005); Managing Differences, Prairie Village – Kansas, MTI Publications.

DeJong, William. 1983. The Use of Mediation and Arbitration in Small Claims Disputes. Washington, DC: Department of Justice.

Drake, W. R. and Lewis, M. K; (1988); “Community Justice Centres—A Lasting Innovation,” Dispute Resolution Forum: The Status of Community Justice.

Hedeen, T and Cov, P.G (2000); Community Mediation and the Court System: The Ties That Bind in http://www.mediate.com/articles/cohed2.cfm

Hornby, A. S (2000); Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, London University Press.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediation#History_of_mediation

http://www.adrmeda.org/romeconference07/materials/Mediation%20to%20Settle%20Civil%20Disputes.pdf

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=979818

http://www.eeoc.gov/mediate/index.html

http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/mediation

http://www.athropolis.com/news/berg-pic.htm

Kanakrieh, W (2007): Mediation to Settle Civil Disputes: Introduction in Administration symposium and Justice Administration Istanbul – Turkey.

 Nierenberg, G. I (1968); the Art of Negotiating; Dutton; New York.

Ogbeifun, L. B (2006); The Role of Labour Unions in the Oil and Gas Industry In Nigeria: A Practitioner’s Perspective, Concept Publications, Lagos.

Ogunyannwo, S (2005); The Effective Mediator (A Complete Guide for Practicing Mediators, HMB Publishers, Lagos.

Roger Fischer & William Ury: (1981); Getting To Yes, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, Massachusetts.

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THE PLACE OF THE NURSE ANAESTHETIST IN THE MODERN DAY HEALTH INDUSTRY AND DISASTER/EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT:AT A CONFERENCE ORGANIZED BY NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF NURSE ANAESTHETISTS OF NIGERIA (NANAN) ON 25TH – 26TH APRIL 2008 AT THE CONFERENCE HALL, ASOKORO DISTRICT HOSPITAL, PLOT 31, JULIUS NYERERE STREET, ASOKORO, ABUJA.

By Louis Brown Ogbeifun | April 11, 2010

Let me congratulate NANAN; Abuja Chapter for this laudable step in organizing a conference that has brought together Nurse Anaesthetists to brainstorm on their relevance in the modern day medical health care delivery system and their place in emergency/disaster management.  Continuous updating of knowledge is a critical factor in capacity building and human development. As you know and for so many reasons, the human resource is the most critical variable in an enterprise.

The Nurse Anaesthetist

The Nurse Anaesthetist is a Registered Nurse who has gone through a specialist programme in anaesthesia and has passed the examinations to be so Certified as Registered Nurse Anaesthetist (CRNA). The certification qualifies him or her to administer anaesthetics to a surgical client. During this period of care, the nurse anaesthetist has both legal and moral obligations of ensuring that the client returns to the level of pre-operative functioning of all the senses and the cardiopulmonary systems soon thereafter. Despite the independency associated with the practice, majority of our hospital policies put the medical responsibilities on either the Anaesthesiologist who is a physician or the Surgeon.

The Nurse Anaesthetist belongs to the Advance Practice of Nursing (APN), a global term for describing specialized skills over and above the basic nursing certificate. These skills enable the practitioner meet with the challenging and emerging complex roles played in the course of caring for the needs and comfort of the clients. This training under this name APN is, Nurse Midwives, Accident and Emergency (A&E) Nurses, Intensive Care Unit (ICU) Nurses and Nurse Anaesthetists.

Characteristics of a certified nurse anaesthetist

• Specialization: In Nigeria, majority of our Nurse anesthetists hold the R.N. certificates plus the Diploma in Nursing Anaesthesia. In several advanced nations e.g. the United States of America (USA), the nurse anaesthetists requires a master’s or post master’s degree to practice anaesthesia. In 1998, the UKCC advised Nurses on the need for advanced practitioners to have a first degree level of education and increased professional responsibility.

• Application of theory and research in the integration of practice that would serve the best interest of the clients

• Knowledge management

• Evaluation of practice and research findings

• Network and inter-sectoral collaboration

• Independence

• Accountability

From the above, for practitioners to practice safe anaesthesia, it is imperative to have the knowledge of medicine, knowledge of pathological processes responsible for the clients coming in for surgery, skills to understand what the surgical team would seek to achieve, the challenges of the procedures, basic understanding of anatomy, physiology and pharmacology and above an up-to-date facilities. The aforementioned would give rise to the first task in our client care, the pre-operative care/evaluation.

Roles

1. Hospital Base Care
2. Accidents/Disaster Management
3. Major events

a)  Hospital base care

• Care of anaesthetic equipment and drugs

b)  Pre-operative care (Out-Patient or wards):

• Pre-operative assessment to determine the best procedure and safest anaesthetic
• Prescriptions of preoperative  medications

c)      Operating theatre (intra-operative care)

• Administering of induction and maintenance doses of anaesthtetics

• Administration and monitoring of fluids and electrolytes all through the surgical procedure

• Monitoring of vital signs

• Alerting the surgical team of unforeseen challenges

d)      Post-operative care

• Monitoring of vital signs and the recovery rate of the client

• Follow up visitation to assess upper respiratory system functionality especially if intubation had been carried out

e)      Accident and emergency units-assist in the resuscitation in emergencies

f)       Intensive care

g)      Pain management

Of the above, the most common of our routine are the Pre, intra and post-operative (PIP) care of clients, which seem to be the focus of our practice in the third world because of using the Nurse Anesthetists to fill the gap of anesthesiologists that are in short supply.

The emergence of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in February 2003 somewhere in Asia and the Acquired immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) has changed the face of anaesthetic practice. While local anaesthesia with intravenous sedation or regional anesthesia is considered appropriate in SARS, the choice of technique and medication regime in AIDS will depend on systemic manifestations of AIDS and opportunistic infections. The P.carini infected client might have impaired oxygenation. More than often, most clients coming in with the above ailments could come into the hospital malnourished, dehydrated and anaemic. That makes it imperative for the Certified Registered Nurse Anaesthetist (CRNA) to be grounded in the understanding of the ever changing dynamics in all medical disciplines in order to know his bounds. The certified nurse anaesthetist cannot be too experienced or too busy to ignore baseline laboratory examinations.

However, in modern and advanced societies; the scope of practice of the Nurse Anaesthetist has widened to cover accidents/disaster management and actively covering major events outside the normal hospital setting. In the United States where nursing is given prominence and dependency of practice, though nurse anaesthetists are under the supervision of anaesthesiologists, nurse anaesthetists administer between 27 and 30 million anaesthetics annually.

2.         Emergency/disaster management

Emergency

This is a sudden event that requires urgent, efficient and effective action(s), which would mitigate the negative consequences of such event(s) on lives and properties and on the long run prevent further losses or damage(s) to lives and properties. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines emergency as a sudden serious and dangerous event or situation which needs immediate action to deal with it.

Disaster

This is an unanticipated event or chain of events, which ultimately lead to loss of lives and destruction of properties. Disasters could be man-made e.g. fire due to pipelines vandalism as it occurred in Jesse (1998) in which over 1000 persons died and Inagbe in the eastern part of Lagos in 2006 in which more than 200 persons died; electrical faults, vehicular or plane crashes, explosions from bombs and terrorists’ act. Disasters could also be as result of natural phenomenon e.g., tornado, hurricane earthquakes, floods/erosions etc. Our region has been relatively safe from these natural occuring disasters.

Accidents, emergencies could occur in the form of natural disasters (tornadoes, flood hurricane, landslide, earthquake, etc) or could be man-made (auto and plane crashes, fire, war; etc). The resultant effects according to Sharon and Idolia among others are: “injured people and animals, damaged properties and overall confusion though each type of disaster has its own special hazard”. The area that is very critical to the Nurse Anaesthetist is the preservation and restoration of the cardiopulmonary functioning before they are transported to hospitals.

 A typical disaster scene is characterized by chaos. The community expresses disbelief and shock because of the extent of damage and the loss of close relations. This is where the calmness and skills of the Nurse Anaesthetist become vital.

Whenever disaster occurs, the first phase of operations involves the fire brigade and the law enforcement agencies. They evacuate victims from the disaster zone to a safe place where the medical team can render medical services to aid the victims.

When the site is declared safe, the medical team, which is usually led by a physician, determines those to be given emergency care in order of priority. In disaster management; urgency, efficient and effective actions are taken using the triage measurement, restoration of cardiopulmonary functions on site and prompt transportation to a medical facility.  Nowadays, early transportation by aero medical evacuation, infusion and mobile transfusion have saved several lives that would have been lost through hypovolaemic shock. Tis is mostly achievable in the advanced world through the use of medical air ambulances. Here, we still rely mostly on road transportation for the evacuation of the injured.

For optimum functioning, the Nurse Anaesthetist would need a course in disaster management, which would centre on the following:

• Volunteerism

• Command

• Control

• Communications

• Cooperation

• Evaluation

It is noteworthy that though disasters e.g. wars are damaging and devastating, their occurrences have helped in no small measure in the evolution of effective management of emergencies and disasters. The Korean War saw the emergence of helicopters as medical tools, the Vietnam War brought about the emergence of aero-medical evacuation in civilian practice and the Spanish war introduced mobile blood transfusion

In our environment, it is usual to see an ambulance vehicle racing towards an accident scene or a crash site with a nurse and sometime with a doctor with the sole aim of evacuation without the complements of anesthetist(s). This may be due to shortage of such manpower or just lack of the will to involve them in such activities. But this orientation has to change because the Nurse Anaesthetist is better equiped for such evacuations.

In the advanced world, the health care delivery system has gone beyond racing to scenes of accidents, disasters and emergencies with the sole aim of transportation of victims to hospitals. In Sweden, it is common to see emergency cars at the trail of ambulance vehicles. Emergency car is a passenger car registered as a rescue vehicle. The emergency car furnishes the ambulance with a near perfect hospital based support and competencies. The reason for this is simple; the nurse anaesthetist is more equipped in skills of preservation of the airways than the nurse or the general medical practitioner that we usually rely on for rescue operations

For optimizing the potentials of the rescue teams, the following should be considered as necessities:

• Planning

• Effective communication among team members

• Effectuating the drawn up disaster plans e.g. transportation, adequate medical supplies and effective coordination of personnel.

• Prevention of secondary disasters like fires and crashes of rescue vehicles

1. Major events

• Sporting

• Political

Necessary actions

• Establish and secure two large bore IV lines

• Take and send blood for grouping and Cross match

• Label tubes and forms properly

• Prevention of further blood losses (pressure and application of splints)

• Infusion/transfusion

• Regular monitoring of vital signs

• Watch urine output. This will help in the assessment of volume-replacement.

Challenges

• Learning Needs: The nurse anesthetists in developing countries have had their educational needs ignored for so long because of inter and intra professional challenges. The University of Nigerian Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Enugu which has contributed immensely to the provision of these critical professionals, would have been closed down long ago because of intra professional supremacy war. Unfortunately the powers that be have refused to acknowlege the enormity of responsibilities that the Nurse Anesthetists have shouldered in the health care delivery system in Nigeria.

• Obsolete equipment.

• Poverty

• Erratic power outages, inadequate water and medical gases’ supplies. Lack of up-to-date rescue vehicles

• Lack of manpower

Your place in modern day health care industry and disaster management was ordained by God at creation. This was demonstrated in when Adam was anaesthetized during the creation of Eve. After the surgery both woke  into a painless state. Therefore your role in pain management and saving or preservation of the critical organs before help can reach victims in emergencies/disasters cannot be overemphasized.

However, to effectively carry out this divine calling, you must at all times be abreast with the latest methods, medication, equipment and procedures that will enhance your capacity to perform your tasks. In not too far a time, I foresee our nation toeing the path of the advanced nations in setting the minimum standard of a first degree in sciences to read anaesthesia and progress towards the postgraduate level. It is in this you can authoritatively ask for the kind of autonomy that is needed to put you in your rightful place.

Thank you and god bless.

References

Aitkenhead A.R; Smith G. S. (2001); Textbook of Anaesthesia, Churchhill Livingstone, London

Kenneth Kronohage; The Future role of Nurse Anaesthetists in Swedish pre hospital emergency.

Mondello, E; et al (2006); The Role of Anesthetist in Disaster Medicine, Italy

Nagelhout, J. J. and Zaglaniczny, K. L. (2005); Handbook of Nurse Anesthesia, Elsevier Inc; United States of America

Sharon Mantik Lewis and Idolia Cox Collier, Medical-Surgical Nursing-Assessment and Management of Clinical Problems, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York

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MANDATORY SECURITY SCREENING FOR THE GROUP OF 14 REVERSED

By Louis Brown Ogbeifun | April 3, 2010

On December 25^th 2009, a Nigerian by name Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab was alleged to have carried out a failed attempt to bomb Detroit bound Delta flight NWA flight 253. This led to a blanket mandatory screening of air travelers from 14 labelled state sponsors of terrorism by the United States of America. The 14 States are Afghanistan, Algeria, Cuba, Iran, Sudan, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen. This action of the US incensed the sensibilities of all rational minds.

As a reminder of my reaction in my January 5^th 2010 post on this issue; I said  “ to now perceive every Nigerian entering the United States as terrorists is unacceptable, it is a breach of social justice and against all principles of fairness………. So, why must the incidence of only one man lead to the designation of Nigeria as a terrorist nation? ……………….. Every passenger should be subjected to the same measure and equal treatment. Let no Nigerian be humiliated the way it was in times past when the European Union (EU) perceived every Nigerian as a suspected drug peddler and 419er when indeed the EU Banks kept the proceeds of our leaders’ illegal loots”.

On April 2, 2010, Reuters in Washington was quoted as saying that the United States has announced new security measures on Friday to replace the mandatory screening of air travelers from the 14 aforementioned States. From now on, air travelers shall be subjected to extra screening based on acts connecting them to terrorism. This makes more sense.

This indeed is a welcome development because the earlier blanket mandatory screening of Nigeria and others based on nationality, religion and the acts of a few individuals from these countries was to say the least unfair, unjust and devoid of social justice.

I congratulate and praise His Excellency, Barak Obama; the President of the United States of America for listening to the voice of reason. It takes a man of conscience to reverse an earlier decision based on the rationality of the opinion of others. I applaud everyone involved in this policy reversal and for doing the right thing.

People should face security scrutiny based on suspicious behavior, character, travels and links to terrorist groups. Governments should ensure that suspects on terror lists no matter how remotely connected to terrorism, are put on no fly list. Lastly, any information given to any security agency on suspects no matter how trivial; must be treated with utmost dispatch and seriousness. It is against the rule of natural justice for anyone to be selected for segregated actions or punished on the basis of religion or nationality. Never again must this happen.

Terrorism, fundamentalism and extremism should be fought with all vigour because no one can tell who the next victim is. Terrorist gangs all over the world must disarm to give peace a chance. Their leaders should return to the dialogue table. Though dialogue is a tortuous process, its results are amazingly enduring, pacifying and gratifying. In the same breath, world leaders must strive at all at all time to give social justice to the people. Herein lay the panacea for a peaceful co-existence of people and nations.

Note

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kuvo/news.newsmain/article/0/2/1631728/US/New.airline.security.measures.announced �

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MUAMMAR ABU MINYAR al-GADDAFI AND DAVID MARK’S MAD MAN COMMENT

By Louis Brown Ogbeifun | April 1, 2010

Official Jana news agency and BBC news reportedly quoted Gaddafi as saying that Nigeria should be split along religious and ethnic lines using the Yugoslavia’s and the Pakistan’s model. His initial position was that Nigeria should be split into North and South. To him, this remains the panacea to the incessant sectarian violence in Nigeria. The truth is that Gaddafi and his likes have longed worked for the Islamization of Nigeria without success and since this has been impossible they are gradually working towards the balkanization of Nigeria along religious and ethnic lines. They are fanning embers of ethnicity to win those ethnic chauvinists to support this cause. This revelation has only blown the lid off the plans of the Gaddafis. It has shown that most of the crises in Nigeria are sponsored by very powerful individuals from within and without.

Those living in glass houses should not throw stones. When they do, such stones should not be thrown into a hugely populated area because the entire populace will show their angst in various forms. Some will pelt the glass house with rotten eggs, others with tomatoes while others will go further to use expensive shit (courtesy of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti of blessed memory).  The comment on Nigeria by Gaddafi amounts to throwing stones into the heart of a huge population from a glass house and the reactions have been negatively overwhelming to the helmsman of Libya. Now he is complaining of the names people call him. For someone who says he believes, and persistently pursues the agenda of a one United Africa to now preach balkanization of another country shows share incoherence of thoughts and ideology. This is perhaps why David Mark called Gaddafi a mad man. So, why is he complaining?

There is no mistaking the fact that Gaddafi is a religious bigot who has even carried his extremism into the heart of other nations with the intent to destroy and kill innocent citizens. He has canvassed destruction of other countries on the platform of religion. He has wittingly sponsored and supported mass killings of people as typified by the Lockerbie disaster. In November 2009, Gaddafi took his conversion programme (dawah) to the heart of the Vatican by attempting to convert about 500 Italian escorts to Islam. So, Gaddafi’s initial position matched his reckless ambition to Islamize the world. His path to his second modified position was taken as a result of reactions from across the globe over his meddling in another nation’s affairs.

The hatred for Nigeria is unprecedented and has a long history. Libya has deported more Nigerians than any other country has done. Many Nigerians have been seriously abused and debased in the den of Gaddafi than every other nation. The deportees in 2000 alleged that over 500 men and women died in the deportation attacks on Nigerians. The recent event has shown that the repatriation of Nigerians has nothing to do with illegal status of those deported but share hatred for the people of Nigeria. The only offence of Nigeria has committed against Gaddafi is that Nigeria has persistently opposed Gaddafi’s inordinate ambition to rule over the entire Africa as the emperor of an African Union. His latest utterances on Nigeria have confirmed that unlike the Statesmen in Europe seeking to strengthen their regions, he is a man after the pursuit of an Islamic Africa with him as the president of presidents.

In 2000, Panafrican News Agency in 2000 quoted a top Libyan government functionary as saying “Eudy described the repatriated Nigerians as gangsters, saying: You know them better. The people we are sending back have no legal stay. These people are smuggled gangsters”. Let us even assume that those deported had no valid papers to stay in Libya, must they be debased before deporting them? Must they be referred to as gangsters? Rather than apologize for what they did to Nigerians, Eudy justified their sins against humanity. So if a Libyan top government functionary can refer to those Nigerians as gangsters without qualms and it so pleased Gaddafi, why must Gaddafi be angry over the comment of David Mark? The words of the Acting President as quoted in the Trust Newspaper say it all, “He (Jonathan) said he was surprised that Gaddafi was angry over Mark’s response which was targeted at him alone (Gaddafi) but his comment (Gaddafi) injured 140 million Nigerians”. In September, 2009 arisenigeria wrote a protest letter to the Libyan leader of extra judicial killings and maltreatment of Nigerians in Libya.

To those clapping for Gaddafi, they should know that in the history of mankind, there is hardly any nation that has been split on religious lines that enjoys peace thereafter. The Yugoslavian and Pakistani experiments have not brought peace to the regions in question. If people must part ways, those involved must be the people to agree and say so.  Any impositions from outside will only breed anarchy. If the will of the Gaddafis prevail in the case of Nigeria, the world must be ready to deal with a human tragedy of unprecedented magnitude.

When Gaddafi proposed his theory about Nigeria, tongues wagged; he was called names and the Senate President was also quoted as calling Gaddafi a mad man. Some others believe he is suffering from extreme senility. Whichever way one looked at Gaddafi’s split theory, he has made his point by letting out the cat out of the bag on what his likes are planning from outside about Nigeria. Let it not be lost on us also that the United States and her allies are already planning how to intervene in a future factionalized Nigeria.

There is no doubt that Gaddafi has done well for his people. He conjured green in the desert and has in place housing, education, health and food for his people. What the world expect from him and others preaching the demise of Nigeria is to preach religious tolerance, unity and engage Nigerian leaders to do what they have done for their own people. Afterall, they meet and talk on bilateral issues.

What Nigeria needs is good governance, employment generation, uninterrupted electricity supply, housing for the masses, effective health and educational systems, poverty reduction, equity of every man before the law and true federalism. Nigeria has advantage in her size. Nigeria from 1914 though a contraption of Britain, we can live together with good leadership in place afterall United States of America is a very large country but their leaders overtime have made things work for the good of the people.

Irrespective of these comments by the Gaddafis, Nigerians should see the comments as a motivation to change our paradigm rather than get drowned in these talks of negativism. The comments are clarion calls to up the beats of our political leaders to become effective democratic drivers that will deliver dividends of democracy to Nigerians. They are also reminders that as a people, we have made life too comfortable for our rulers. They are also reminders that now is the time to hold our leaders accountable in all facets of governance.

Looking inwards, there are so many ills we need to correct in this country. In the North, we were told that Sharia will bring sanity and peace to the people. As at today, we have more open confrontations, killings, sectarian crises that have claimed lives than the pre-Sharia era. In Sharia dominated states, those who steal goats and commit minor offences have their hands chopped off when the pen robbers, treasury looters and corrupt public officers who steal billions of naira walk the streets as free men and heroes. This cannot be said to be justice.

As a people we are denied the right to freely choose our leaders. Political parties that are supposed to be a mirror of the larger administrative structure lack internal democracy. Even as a family, they deny themselves the rights of true family members. When party members win primaries to represent their parties, the parties decide overnight to switch the victory in favour of those who lost, like the Rotimi Amaechi case. How can such parties who are unfair to their own card carrying members be fair to other Nigerians who are not members of their political parties? How can those who do not believe in fair play and justice give justice to Nigerians?

It is common place to see elections rigged and people who stand in the way of election riggers assassinated with impunity. When election riggers mount the saddle of power, they will plot to remain there for life. They milk the treasuries dry and foist unemployment, poverty, hunger and disease on Nigerians in order to protect their hegemonies. Our politicians do not sit to plan for Nigerians. They have turned their nocturnal caucuses to avenues to plot who holds what positions and who shares what booty. They superintend over how to undo their opponents, share the loots of the country and rig the forth coming elections. This is a very serious misnomer that must be seriously challenged.

Education and health care have been brought to the lowest ebb since our independence and it does not seem to bother our leaders. Recently, one of the examination bodies (NECO) recorded less than a 2% pass in its November/December 2009 examinations.

It is only in Nigeria that the President is the property of the immediate family even when the country’s resources are used to maintain them. Appointments are based on sheer political sentiments instead of merit and rationality. Each time EFCC speaks, it is like the modern day corruption is far bigger than what it was during the 1999-2007 Obasanjo’s era.

The baseline for economic development is the availability of electricity on continuous basis. This is a mirage in Nigeria. The Niger Delta that oils almost all the economic activities of Nigeria is like a war thorn area with the people living in abject poverty and squalor. As I write this article, kidnapping for ransom is the order of the day in some parts of Nigeria. In all the six geo-political zones, the socio-economic woes are the same. So, what is wrong with us as a people that we are unable to manage our huge resources to the benefit of the larger society?

Time has come for us Nigerians to rise and tell our leaders to do the right thing. We must say no to election rigging. Once we are able to be the ones to elect our leaders through open and transparent electoral system, then we shall also have the right to call for their sack if they are not serving our interests. Nigeria has the capacity to be great again only if we as a people refuse to play along tribal and religious sentiments.

Irrespective of what the Gaddafis think of us as a nation, we should prove them wrong by retracing our destructive footsteps as a people in order to re-invent Nigeria. The truth is that if our past and present leaders treat Nigerians fairly by developing Nigeria in line with modern day states, will anybody be waiting to propose service of songs over Nigeria?

Therefore, rather than ruminate over what others want to make of our bad situation, time has come for us to wake up. Let us see it as a tonic to galvanize our inner energies into beneficial attainments. The Civil Society Organizations have started the push. They should sustain the struggle for a just and equitable Nigeria and never looking back until justice is done to all Nigerians irrespective of their stations in life.

Nigerians that are being used to divide the rest of us in exchange of a pot of pottage should realize that hunger, poverty and disease know no tribe, gender, colour nor religion. Let everyone know that time has come to stand up to fight for and protect our inalienable rights to qualitative education, right to choose our leaders without molestation and intimidation, right to qualitative health care, right to good life, right to food, housing and employment for all Nigerians. We must not be compromised on these issues because only on these platforms can our ideal dreams be realized. Nigeria like dry bones must rise again. That is if we are determined to make Nigeria walk alongside other developed nations.

Notes

http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/32/051.html

http://muslimahmediawatch.org/2009/11/conversion-perversion-gaddafis-attempt-at-dawah/

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Conflict Resolution in Religious Organizations, being lecture delivered by Ogbeifun Louis Brown on December 25th 2009 at the Pastoral Centre, Agbarho delta State Nigeria during the End of year In-gathering Seminar organized by the Divine Encounter Renewal Fellowship, Warri.

By Louis Brown Ogbeifun | March 12, 2010

“Do not react to primary instincts. Reactive actions destroy relationships. Respond to issues thoughtfully.” -Ogbeifun

Let me thank the organizers of this in-gathering for inviting me to talk on the theme “Conflict Resolution in Religious Organizations”. The theme is well chosen and timely too. In our country, there are inter and intra religious conflicts. The latest was the one that occurred in Jos where people lost their loved ones and lives. No one is too sure, if the last has been heard of such ugly development.

(Ogbeifun: 2008) “Most conflicts arise from ego trips and needs” The effective administrator responds to conflicts thoughtfully rather than react to conflicts intuitively, impulsively and immediately. When you react thoughtfully, you improve your projection, your power, your charisma and your strength. When you react impulsively, you destroy the essence of relationship”.

CONFLICT:

The Oxford dictionary defines conflict as: State of opposition, fight, struggle, clashing of opposed interests, incompatible. It has a Latin origin, fligo flict - strike. (Coser 1956:8). Defines it as “a struggle over values and claims to scarce status, power and resources in which the aims of the opponents are to neutralize, injure, or eliminate their rivals” Conflict is a natural phenomenon. It cannot be totally eliminated from any society. Conflict is inevitable and inherent part of human life (1 Cor. 12). Conflict cannot be said to be good or bad. What matters is the mode of settlement of any given conflict. For conflict to be successfully resolved to the satisfaction of disputants, the method deployed focus on settling the problems and address the opposing interests

Religion

It is a belief system that involves the worship of a single or multiple deities. Each religion has its ethical values and ways of life. Religion teaches morals, shapes the lives of followers, uses guidelines and books of faith and gives hope. It is supposed to be the vehicle that drives the behaviour of followers towards each other.

Christianity

Christianity is rooted in Abrahamic religion. It has gone through several transformations. It believes in God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.  Some areas of disagreement include paradise on earth, trinity, the role(s) of the Holy spirit in the affairs of adherents, my father’s house, life after death, Armageddon, rapture etc. It appreciates the beginning of human existence in the proclamation of God in Genesis and the hope for a future reward if followers revere  the Creator and obeys the commandments of God. It abhors sins like adultery, fornication, worshipping of other gods etc. It is made up of Conservatives and the Liberals.

Islam

Islam believes in the worship of God, called Allah. It believe in the prophets and angels. It firmly believes that Muhammad is the latest prophet and it is founded on the five Pillars, the Qur’an, the Hadith, and the fatwas and the Sharia as a guide for all Muslim life.

Judaism

It is founded on the covenant relationship between God and a chosen nation (Jewish people) and the oldest of the Abrahamic religions, Judaism has gone through  several stages of transformations and sometimes destructive revolutions. Other forms of religion include: Unitarianism,  Zoroastrianism, Buddhism,  Hinduism- Kharmic orientation. What goes around comes around,  Atheism-discourage pple form believing in supernatural beings or scriptures that rule life,  Paganism-combination of tradition and Christian beliefs,  Bahai, Candomble, Jainism,  Jehovah’s witnesses,  Rastafari,  Mormons etc.

Causes of religious conflicts in religious organizations

1. Leadership styles

2. Lack of transparency and accountability in governance

3. Financial matters 

4. Immorality

5. Views of adherentsv  Poverty

 6. Illiteracy

7. Competition

8. Politicization of religions Management of diversity.

9. Intolerance

10. Hatred

11. New ideas 

12. Changev  Lack of vision and mission statements

13. Limited knowledge

14. Fundamentalism

Types of religious conflicts

1. Intra-personal religious conflict
2. Inter-personal religious conflict
3. Intra-religious conflict
4. Inter-religious conflict

Intra-personal religious conflict

Causes of intra-personal religious conflicts include, imbibing wrong teachings, personal challenges limited knowledge, greed, false life style, guilt trip and bitterness.

Inter-personal religious conflict

Causes on intra personal religious conflicts include, affiliations, peer group influence, stiff competition for offices, envy, jealousy, pettiness, distrust, blame, anger and bitterness.

Intra-denominational conflict

This is a behemoth that is destroying religious organizations in Nigeria. For instance, divisions along ethnicity and factions due to the struggles for power and control of the finances have led to breaking away of several factions from the main bodies. The cause of this type of conflict include, competition, Complex religious rites, inadequate doctrinal  knowledge, envy, jealousy, bad governance, lack of accountability, false doctrine, leadership crisis, financial crisis, greed, selfishness, distrust, blame games, anger, bitterness  and ego

Inter-denominational conflict

The causes of inter-denominational conflicts include: False doctrine, ineffective leadership, selfishness, disrespect for others, Ego, pride, blame, anger, bitterness, lack of knowledgepoliticization, hatred and Intolerance. 

Ways of resolving conflict (the human approach):

• Flight 
• Fight (gossip, slander, recruit sympathizers, we vs them, assault and assassination)
• Vengeance
• Traditional Approaches focus on the cultivation of an attitude of patient negotiation, seeking mutual understanding, tolerance and accommodation (Leader in courts,  Use groups and associations)
•  Litigation
• Alternate Dispute Resolution methods

Ways of resolving conflict (the Lord’s ways): 

The complete book of everyday Christianity offers very vital and effective conflict resolution strategies. Some of them are include:

• Look unto God, deemphasize the conflictual situation and show compassion to your enemies; (1 Peter 3:13-15; Luke 6:27-39).
• Different methods, styles, times and places (1 Samuel 25:26-35; Esther 7:1-6; Proverbs 6:1-5; Acts 16:22-24; Acts 22:22-23, 29).
• Forgiveness
• Communication should be in line with God’s ways (Ephesians 4:29-32).
• Use conflict to get closer to God, seek his wisdom, might and love (1 Cor. 10:31-33). I did wrong; I shall strive not to do this again.
• Identify and accept your responsibility to the conflictual state (Matthew 7:5). I know I caused you some hurt please……  

The Use of Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR)

(Ogbeifun: 2008) “ADR is an acronym for alternative dispute Resolution. This process uses some methods in arriving at decisions to assist parties in a dispute to a mutually agreed resolution. The    final decisions in some of these processes are binding while others are not. These methods include but not restricted to preventive, negotiated, facilitated, advisory, fact finding and imposed”

Almost all the ADR mechanisms are in use but most religious organizations hardly use Mediation, which to me is safe, friendly and effective.Mediation can be said to have three major areas. These are: 

Self Mediation

This approach encourages one of the parties or disputants to make the first move when in disagreement with another (Matthew 5:24; “leave your sacrifice there beside the alter. Go and be reconciled to that person then come and offer your sacrifice”. 

Managerial Mediation

It is a tool used by leaders to settle issues constructive confrontation Jesus engaged  people in a constructive manner to confess their sins and went further to assist them to reach an understanding of how to resolve their own conflicts by (John 8:1-11, Matthew 18:15) 

Formal third party neutral mediation

If self and managerial mediation fail, then proceed to take any of the following two steps:

• Involve a few number of the church (Matthew 18:16 that will serve as advisers or counsellors to both disputants in other to restore damaged relationships (Phil. 4:3).
• Report the dispute to the church (Matthew 18:17).

Ways to prevent conflict

• Early intervention 
• Honest and effective leadership
• Good  governance
• Acknowledge and see God in all your actions or and in what you say
• Be gracious in speech, attitude and character (Col 4:6)
• Respect for everyone that comes your wayv  Respect for the opinions of othersv  Speak only edifying words (Eph 4:29)
• Be truthful in every sense (Eph 4:15)
• Do not associate with slander or gossip (Prov. 20:19)
• Mutual respect and dependence.
• Provide opportunity for dialogue.
• Bring needs and interests to the fore.
• Group cohesion.
• Mentoring and coaching Christians to grow like Christ ((2 Cor. 12:7-10).
• Provide opportunities to vent pent up feelings.
• Release tension  

Effects of unresolved conflicts

• Health costs
• Destructive tendencies
• Divisions
• Decreased productivity
• High turnover of members
• Loss of goodwill
• Retrogression 

Summary

Conflict in religious organizations is inevitable because we are different in several ways. We were created into an adversarial world. We have a lot of imperfections as human beings, different background, orientation, knowledge and perception. Conflict helps us not to take others for a rideand therefore makes us stand on our toes. Doing nothing about conflict destroys the fabric of religious organizations. 

Conclusion

Unresolved conflicts are tearing churches into shreds. Religious leaders should provide effective leadership to those who look unto them for direction. Many religious organizations are in court over properties and leadership crises. Litigation is adversarial and cannot resolve religious crisis but mediation can. It is the use of a proactive strategy of nipping conflicts in the bud and the preaching of the truth after His words that can assist you to reduce the level of conflicts in religious organizations. Other measures Include: the genuine use of  division of labour, putting in place conflict resolution and disciplinary committees, good governance and respect for the body of Christ. 

(Ogbeifun: 2009) What you are confronted with in the secular world today are ethical crisis and a debased value system. You cannot hold religious organizations responsible for these. They are not the problems. The choices you make as an individual, the interpretations you give to spiritual instructions and the decisions you finally take outside the will of God for man are responsible for the conflicts in religious institutions.   

Thank you for listening and I wish you a very successful in-gathering.  

References

http://www.soupornuts.com/twenty-traits-of-successful-people/

http://ezinearticles.com/?Top-3-Values-That-You-Must-Have-If-You-Want-to-Be-Successful&id=1410182

http://www.icbs.com/Kb/inspiration/kb_top-10-traits-of-highly-successful-people.htm

http://www.positivityblog.com/index.php/2007/03/21/why-some-people-almost-always-are-successful/

http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/CliffsReviewTopic/Types-of-Religious-Organizations.topicArticleId-26957,articleId-26932.html#ixzz0ZaL7ebVF

http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/CliffsReviewTopic/Types-of-Religious-Organizations.topicArticleId-26957,articleId-26932.html#ixzz0ZaKywkWG

http://www.urbana.org/complete-book-of-everyday-christianity/conflict-resolution

http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/rights.htmlhttp://www.accenture.com/Global/About_Accenture/Company_Overview/OurCoreValues.htmhttp://www.louisbrownogbeifun.com             

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RODHAM CLINTON’S SPEECH: A CHALLENGE TO NIGERIA AND THE CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS

By Louis Brown Ogbeifun | January 31, 2010

During the Bill Clinton years as the President of United States, I was an avowed follower and admirer of the Clintons because of the charisma, effectiveness and aura of effective leadership President Bill Clinton brought to bear on the world’s socio-economic landscape. Even when the Lewinsky saga raged, I fasted and prayed for the Clintons because of the positive things his administration was doing and the food they had to put on the table of the Americans. I thought then that any successful impeachment at that time will spell doom for the American people. The era of Bush that followed proved me right. For Rodham Clinton, I particularly admired her courage and forbearance on the Lewinsky issue.  Out of office, I still see Clinton as a model of an effective leader that has eluded my dear country for so long.

I also do appreciate the passion with which the American leadership sides with the downtrodden masses of Nigeria.  I am profoundly in agreement with Mrs Clinton that Nigeria is suffering from severe deprivation due to the massive looting of our treasury by some of our past and present leaders. I also agree that there is the need to change from this unwholesome attitude if we must get Nigeria back on track. In doing this, every Nigerian must be ready to fight against the present system where nothing seems to be working. As at the time of this post, Nigerians are spending hours on end at gas stations queuing to buy gas when indeed we should be a net exporter of these products. The slough and sleaze in our banking sector is a disgrace to modern day banking. Our electoral system is nothing we can be proud of as a nation and there is nothing to show that our leaders have learnt anything from our chequered history. I have also written in some of my previous posts, that, our government must do something about the religious crisis, Niger Delta militancy, corruption and other executive recklessness.

I also agree that our destiny is in our hands and that we must brace up if Nigeria must rise again. I have said it times without number that no foreigner will build Nigeria for us and that once the milk and honey (oil and gas) that brought them here dry up, we shall be left in the cold. When the Niger Delta militants threw the oil and gas sector into tatters, the so called friends of Nigeria have abandoned her. So, Nigerians especially the Civil Society Organizations must rise to deliver Nigeria from the claws of our selfish leaders.

However, I disagree with the postulation of Madam Secretary Clinton on her recent statement, on the reason for Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab unacceptable act of terror.

When Madam Secretary, Rodham Clinton visited Nigeria in August 2009, I watched the clips of her speech and interactions on the electronic media on the 12^th of August and I was in deep shock seeing the intermittent claps for her when she was mentioning the ills and evil in Nigeria. Paradoxically, those clapping, smiling and hailing her to go on, would have buried their heads in shame and be weeping right there for our country. Why? Over the years, the citizenry including the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) that organized the parley have made life too easy for the Nigerian rulers. I believe that our resilience has been carried overboard and therefore become accomplices in what is happening in the Nigerian State. Here, we have a great country hitherto the toast of several highly placed nations in the sixties and seventies, now a midget among nations. If we all had done our bits, I am sure we would be having a better country we can call ours by today. At every turn, every dick, tom and harry finds a way to ridicule Nigeria. The latest was in far away United States. Madam Secretary found the slightest opportunity to lash out at Nigeria and tell the world how corrupt we are, and the evil we represent. In making statements, world leaders should be mindful that everybody in Nigeria is not evil. Majority of Nigerians are very good people. Let them not forget that Okonjo Iwealla and Oby Ezekwesili of the World Bank are Nigerians who also served in public offices in Nigeria. If they were bad people, I am sure the World Bank will have no place for them. The touted corruption, advance fee fraud and other vices are perpetrated by less than 1% of the populace in active connivance with people from America and other advanced nations. The list is of such connivance is legion but a few examples will suffice in this write up.

(Compass: 2009) “Swiss logistics provider Panalpina said it has started settlement talks with U.S. authorities over alleged corruption involving Nigerian customs officials and American oil companies”. (Russell Gold: 2008) “In a wide-ranging foreign-corruption investigation, fired former Halliburton Co. executive Albert J. “Jack” Stanley pleaded guilty to orchestrating more than $180 million in bribes to senior Nigerian government officials. The bribes were used to win a contract to build a liquefied-natural-gas plant in Nigeria”. (Sahara Reporters: 2009) “Former congressman William Jefferson has been sentenced to 13 years in jail for corruption that involved US companies and Nigerian officials” (WSWS: 2004) “In December 2003, Pentagon auditors uncovered a overcharge of $61 million by KBR on a contract to supply fuel for the military in Iraq. Halliburton was also suspected of overcharging by $67 million on food for military mess halls in Kuwait and Iraq. In January 2004, Halliburton repaid $6.3 million in overcharges and kickbacks for fuel contracts in Kuwait. In February 2004, the Pentagon announced that Halliburton would repay it for $27 million in KBR overbilling for meals served to troops at five military bases in Kuwait and Iraq. The meals were never delivered”. Has the United States forgotten too that Switzerland is a haven for “corruption funds” from Nigeria. Why has the United States not dragged Switzerland to the Hague for economic crime against humanity or lash at the Swiss people for keeping looted funds in thier vaults at every turn?

It is in the US, that a State Governor bargained to sell the vacated Senate seat of President Obama. The 2000 Florida debacle during the Presidential election between George Bush and Al Gore and the “unusual event of the winning candidate having received fewer popular votes than the runner-up” (Wikipedia) cannot be forgotten in a hurry. It was in the heart of civilization (UK) that Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab got indoctrinated and had access to Al-Qaida.

I cited these few examples to show that criminality and corruption are pervasive and not just an exclusive preserve of any country. Referring to the 2009’s Christmas day bomber Umar farouk AbdulMutallab; who tried to blow up the NWA/Delta flight 253; Mrs. Clinton at a town hall meeting of the State Department of employees on January 26^th 2010, virtually wrapped Farouk’s delinquency on bad leadership in Nigeria, the mismanagement of our economy, corruption, growing illiteracy and insecurity. She sarcasticaly and derogatorily said that “Farouk took to the path of terrorism because he was disturbed by his father’s wealth and the kind of living conditions in Nigeria that he viewed as being not Islamic enough”. This to me is a very wrong answer to an innocent question and making mockery of the Nigerian State. If Farouk was disturbed by the stupendous wealth of his father and reacting to the ills in Nigeria, one would have thought that the best place to vent his feelings and anger should have been here in Nigeria and not against any United States’ interest just like Mcveigh and major Nadal Hasan did. I feel there is a great disconnect between Madam Secretary’s reason for Farouk’s underlining intent(s) and his final action.

Taking Mrs. Clinton’s comment on its face value, would it have been overfeeding, reaction to his own father’s wealth, the level of poverty, disease and illiteracy in America that led Major Nidal Malik Hasan to kill his fellow Americans in the Fort Hood shooting spree, which caused so much distress to hundreds of families? The American government agreed that the action of Major Nidal Malik Hassan was a terrorist act but Madam Secretary in the entire Fort Hood encounter in November till now has not told us the discontents that led a Major in the American Army, on the soil of America to turn the gun meant for protecting Americans against fellow Americans.

If Farouk was indeed reacting to the perceived societal injustice, corruption in Nigeria and disturbed by the stupendous wealth of his father, will it then be right to say that Major Nidal Malik Hassan of the 2009 Fort Hood fame, Timothy McVeigh and his accomplices that bombed the Alfred Murrah Federal building in Oklahoma City on April 1995 (all Americans) killing 168 Americans and injuring about 600 more were also disturbed by their father’s wealth, reacting to the level of corruption, disease, hunger, poverty in the American system to have made them commit such havoc and heinous crime against the American State?

The cases of Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab and Major Nidal Malik Hassan showed that that these two folks had links with an Al-Qaida Cleric in Yemen. If Madam Secretary must know, this is the Islamic ideological voice the duo listened to. How come that all through the planning phase of the Fort Hood incidence in 2009, the US with all her high technology in information gathering never found out the plot of Major Nidal Malik Hassan against America?

On the other hand, the father of Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab warned the United States through her agents in Nigeria of the activities of Farouk and his visit to Yemen. Were the security agents that had the information and refused to act on such sensitive information also disturbed by their own fathers’ wealth? Was it a reaction to hunger and disease in America that made them keep sealed lips and refused to act on such vital information? From the above, Mrs Clinton’s submissions on the reasons Farouk took to the path of infamy represented one side of the coin, unfair judgement and double speak.

During the Bill Clinton era, there was less tension around the globe. At that time, Americans were loved by the world. The question is, few years after his departure from the White House, one would love to ask, what astronomically went wrong, that Americans became targets of terrorists all over the Islamic world? The leaders of America must find sincere answer(s) to this question. The truth is that America and her allies focus so much on external enemies and forget that the mouse in the house is the one that signals the mouse in the bush that there is food inside the house.

Apart from the issue of Farouk, there are underlying reasons for the United States’ cold shoulder towards the Nigerian State. Some of the reasons include, the rejection of the U. S. Military Africa Military Command (AFRICOM) on African Continent, the decision not to extridite Charles Taylor to the United States, the introduction of Sharia in the Northern parts of the country and religious insurgencies etc. Though a hard pill to swallow, the truth is that all countries including America have had an ugly past that their citizens cannot proud of.

The Farouk issue only came in handy to express the unhappiness of the U. S. with Nigeria.  We must recognize that terrorism is a very grievous anti-human activity which must be rejected and fought with all seriousness. World leaders should get serious in seeking to unravel the real reasons behind terrorist activities rather than wish it away on a platform of sarcasm like Mrs Clinton did.

Recently, there have been increased terrorist activities in Afghanistan and Iraq despite the heavy presence of the allied forces. More men in uniform are dying than ever before in these places. The funding of military and intelligence gathering activities is also escalating. In Pakistan, terrorist activities have taken a new dimension despite the billions of dollars in aids and personnel. Why?

Name calling, the blame trade and looking for scape goats are wrong tactics to deploy in times like this.  Therefore, time has come to change tactics because the terrors of today are beginning to be more daring in leaps and bounds. The effective management of information, which has been ignored for so long should take the front burner and remain the bedrock of anti-terror war. The second aspect that could deal a fatal blow on terrorism is the identification of the linkages with the terrorists’ financial lifelines and cut them off. As long as terrorists are well funded, terrorism remains a thriving business for their leaders. The 2009 December 25 aborted bombing of the NWA/Delta 253 and the 2009 November Fort Hood incidents are examples of ineffective management of information, which needs urgent attention.

On terrorism, extremism and fundamentalism I opined in (Ogbeifun: 2010) “Terrorism is evil and must be roundly condemned by every responsible human being. Head or tail, terrorism, extremism and fundamentalism are whirlwinds that blow no one any good. To forestall these extremes of thoughts and actions, governments all over the world should also provide the platform for social justice, equity and fairness that will allow every citizen to become whom he or she wants to be………………Let us not lose focus of how fundamentalism, extremism and terrorism led the world into several preventable wars in the Middle East. Yesterday it was Lebanon and Gaza; today it is Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq. With the insurgence of the Maitasines, Boko Harams and Kalo-Katos; the face of tomorrow’s terrorism may well be in Nigeria. The time to act is now!”

Irrespective of the views I have over Madam Secretary’s statements, I hold a very strong conviction that no matter the reasons behind terrorism, extremism and fundamentalism that will make individuals or a group of people take human lives and wreck havoc on mankind, they are evil and cannot be condoned. Mrs. Rodham Clinton’s Speech should pose a Challenge to all well meaning Nigerians and the Civil Society. It is a wakeup call for us to rise up and do everything possible to liberate Nigeria from the claws of the oppressors and treasury looters. Let this house not fall, so that we can have a Nigeria we would hand over to the next generation.

Death in the sky as contemplated by the likes of Umar Farouk AbdulMtallab has no respect for race, social strata, tribe or religion. It could happen to anybody when travelling. So, the world must unite to fight global terror.

My prayer is that, where we fail to catch the terrorists at the planning stages of their evil designs or at the point of the execution of their plans; may they persistently suffer equipment failures like the cases of Umar Farouk AbdulMtallab and Reid the shoe bomber, so that those behind the threat(s) can be exposed and brought to justice.

http://www.compassnews.net/Ng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=36105:panalpina-set-to-resolve-corruption-cases-in-nigeria-with-us-authorities&catid=50:business-news&Itemid=708

http://louisbrownogbeifun.com/?p=88

http://royaldutchshellplc.com/2008/09/04/halliburton-paid-180-million-in-bribes-to-senior-nigerian-government-officials/

http://saharareporters.com/news/4233–former-us-congressman-involved-in-corruption-case-with-atiku-gets-13-years-in-jail.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2000

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/oct2004/hall-o30.shtml

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Democracy on trial in Nigeria

By Louis Brown Ogbeifun | January 26, 2010

In all human history, effective leadership is about sacrifice, responsibility and accountability (SRA). Therefore, in an ideal democracy, leaders are supposed to put the people first and deliver dividends of democracy to the people based on the principles of SRA. That is why in successful democracies; there is effective educational, health, judicial, electoral and social welfare systems.

Paradoxically, here in the largest democracy in Africa, Nigeria’s democracy is about the welfare of the leaders and the leaders come first in all things. This is why the average Nigerian lives below poverty line with a few individuals having billions of pounds, Euros and dollars in foreign vaults. The high profile corruption cases successfully prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) in the last eleven years of our democratic experiment is heart rendering. It shows that our leaders have learnt nothing from our past historical antecedents, do not believe in proper democracy and do not care about what becomes of the masses of Nigeria.

Our democratic space is filled with military rulers and their apologists who when they were in power in 1966-1998 never believed in anything democracy. They killed Nigerians that dared speak for democracy. They extinguished the candle of democracy through military coups. Unfortunately, these same people are now masquerading as democrats and the godfathers of politicians in Nigeria. These same people who harassed, maimed and incarcerated labour leaders, social critics and civil society leaders have hijacked a supposedly clean process and turned democracy into a curse for Nigerians. Our democracy is demon infested because the non-believers in democracy are in the pinnacle of democracy. The question is how can those who do not believe in democracy give dividends of democracy? How do we expect those who plotted to kill democracy work to preserve a system they never believed in?

In an ideal democracy, the leaders make huge sacrifices for the survival of a nation. Pa Mandela is a typical example of how a leader sacrifices to enthrone ideals of an effective democratic system. After his tenure, he voluntarily stepped down. President Mbeki who came after Mandela also showed what it is to be a statesman. When sensed that there was serious threat to South Africa’s democracy he decided to step down for peace to reign.

But here, the people are made to tighten their belts and urged to make the needed sacrifice to make the nation work, but the leaders expand their belts and live the best of life in affluence and luxury. In a democracy, the leaders are accountable to the people.  But in ours, only the followers are accountable to the leaders. The leaders are only responsible and accountable to themselves, their political godfathers and their families. This is because they climbed to the top most of the political ladder through stolen mandates. They got their votes through ‘wuruwuru, jibiti, magomago and ogboju (Nigeria’s parlance for indecency, crooked ways, corruption, coercion). They forced their ways to the top through ill gotten wealth which they in turn use to enslave the rest of the country. Therefore, they believe they owe the people nothing.

Talking about responsibility, the Farouk Abdul Mutallab attempted bombing of NWA flight 253 shows how a leader should take responsibility in governance. Obama and his security team now accept the responsibility for the near mishap. They came out to own up to their failures and promised to address the lapses. Never in this nation will our leaders do that. Rather than face the real issues, those at the top want to play the ostrich. Recently, the Governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido said Nigerians who externalize our internal matters ruin the image of the country. No sir! It is the other way round.

Rather, the political rulers are the ones ruining the image of this country by their reckless corruptive tendencies, maladministration, extreme economic banditry and political brigandage. The world knows that our political class has held the country hostage and that we are in bondage in this country. They know that our leaders do not care for the masses of this nation because they have embassies here, their citizens’ work and live here. Tell me where in any oil producing nation that majority of the citizens live in abject poverty. So, we need not say it before they inform their home countries about the reversal of the character of democracy by Nigerian politicians. Therefore we are only reinforcing what they already know. Anyway, we need to speak out before we all perish in silence. When those of them at the helm of affairs provide us with uninterrupted electricity, education, health care, social justice, flawless electoral system and equality of all citizens; we shall stop complaining

Going down the memory lane, General I. B. Babangida (rtd) annulled the June 12 1993 presidential elections that threw the entire country into years of tears, sorrow and dysfunction.  Till date, he is yet to fully accept the responsibility for that misjudgement and apologize to Nigerians for that misdeed against the masses of this nation. No matter the connivance of the civil populace that led to the annulment, the bucks of all that happened during his regime should be shouldered by him as the chief accounting officer of that time. No excuses.

As at the time of Obasanjo’s (OBJ) departure from Aso Rock, the country was in darkness because of power outages, manufacturing activities were in bad shape, the university lecturers were on strike, most of the hospitals were in dire need of refurbishing, almost all the trunk A roads were in deplorable conditions, the courts were overloaded with unresolved criminal and political matters, no single high profile murder case was successfully prosecuted, the Niger Delta region was at the highest point of anarchy, disorderliness and insecurity, petroleum pipelines’ vandalism was at its worst, prisons were over congested, kidnapping for ransom was at an all time high, graduates were roaming the streets because of very high unemployment situation and victory at the polls was a do-or-die affair.

In the above circumstances, all we needed to reverse the sliding of Nigeria into coma was to ensure that an energetic, physical and emotionally stable personality took charge of the affairs of Nigeria. OBJ in his wisdom thought otherwise. Rather, he used all the powers at his disposal both as the Chairman of the Board of Trustee of PDP and the President of this nation to foist Yar’Adua, a chronically ill person to preside over a nation that have been raped, milked dry, anaemic and already on imminent danger list. At last, the bubble busted.

On his part, the good man Yar’Adua tried to impress Nigerians by setting very high target in the name of seven point agenda. He tried to make things work to no avail. He tried to combat corruption but he forgot that corruption has teeth that can bite to the marrow. As a man of peace, when he realized that everything was failing apart including his own health, he decided to channel all his energy towards the achievement of peace in the Niger Delta through an amnesty programme he granted to the militants and freedom fighters. This was achieved with a resounding success and in decades, the Niger Delta spent their first Yuletide in quiet in 2009. As he attempted to consolidate the amnesty process, the stress of governance, which compromised his health status, had eaten deep into his fragile physiologic frame and it took a dive for the worse. He was flown to Saudi Arabia for treatment on 23^rd November 2009 and since then Yar’Adua became Nigeria’s first e-President.

Just like OBJ never wanted to be a Nigerian civilian President, which the North forced him to accept, Yar’Adua also never indicated interest in the Presidency until OBJ’s kitchen cabinet shopped and coerced him to be the President of Nigeria. OBJ muscled his way through illicit electoral process right from the PDP primaries and ensured that only Yar’Adua succeeded him.  Even Yar’Adua in his post election speech confessed that the polls were flawed and promised to rectify the anomalies.

The qualities in Yar’Adua which Obasanjo highlighted as the yardstick for choosing him as his successor are an afterthought. There were two cardinal reasons Obasanjo rooted for Yar’Adua.  First, Obasanjo does not like anyone surpassing him in any area of endeavour. This can be discerned from some of his statements. He believed that when he left government after his military service, Nigeria worked and that when he came back in 2003 Nigeria had collapsed. He saw in Yar’Adua a weakling, a yes man and a man that will cover his tracks. Unfortunately, the mien of the man Yar’Adua deceived him and soon after the elections, Yar’Adua the supposedly harmless man roared like a lion against everything OBJ stands for. This irked OBJ and had been working tirelessly to have his pound of flesh.

Secondly, Obasanjo wanted to compensate the family of his bosom friend, Late General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua who wanted to be the president of this nation but prevented by the same political cabals.

Reacting to critics on how Yar’Adua emerged as the President of Nigeria in the last elections, OBJ in the character of our leaders not taking responsibility for their actions sought respite in the explanations that he never knew Yar’Adua was chronically ill. Haba! Has he forgotten that the man Yar’Adua once collapsed and had to be rushed to Saudi Arabia during his pre-election campaign?

At this point, what Nigerians expected from OBJ was to have been manly enough to do the right thing by apologizing to Nigerians that he caused the present political log jam through the scheming that brought Yar’Adua to power.

As an elder statesman, OBJ would have taken one of the following steps rather than coming out to fool Nigerians with his pontificating on high moral grounds and denying Yar’Adua at his critical moment of need:

1. Summon a meeting of all former Presidents and elder statesmen like senator Pius Ayim did to deliberate on the issue of the vacuum created by Yar’Adua’s absence.
2. Based on the outcome of the elders’ discussions, he would have explored all presidential options to personally advise President Yar’Adua on the proper thing to do.

My prayer is that Yar’Adua should get well soon so that he can come back to his beat. But before then, since he was said to have signed the appropriation bill on his sick bed in Saudi Arabia, let him also, in conformity with section 145 of the Nigerian constitution transmit a message to the National Assembly that for now, he is not in a position to continue with the rulership of this great country. This will empower the Vice President who is a member of the same party with the President to be sworn in on acting capacity. This has happened in several countries. President Bush momentarily handed over to his Vice, Dick Cheney in 2002 to enable him have a surgical operation. Fidel Castro of Cuba handed over to Raul Castro when he went into the hospital for surgery In July 2006. Anything short of this arrangement is a serious breach of the Nigerian Constitution with very grave repercussions.

Let Yar’Adua concentrate on his health and come back a healthier President. Once he is fit enough, he should inform the National Assembly that he is ready to assume duties.  The vacuum created by the absence of Mr. President has put our democracy on trial. For us to come out clean, all the political actors especially the National Assembly members must apply the constitutional provisions now!  For the President of the most populous country in Africa to be ruling from abroad as e-president and talking to his people through foreign media is unacceptable and insulting to all known sensibilities.

This is not about North or South. It is about the preservation of the corporate entity called Nigeria. It is about the respect for the country’s Constitution, which is the supreme authority that governs this nation. It is about the rule of law in which the chief pontificator is Yar’Adua. It is about trust and confidence in his Vice. These political manoeuvring by the mavericks and tacticians in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) will collapse and throw this country into crisis.

History has shown that social classes do not exist forever. Times were when monarchies reigned supreme. In the 60s, 70s, and 80s; military rule was relished with fervent candour in Africa. Socialism and communism were fashionable at a point in world’s history. But all that have changed. Today, the world is canvassing for democratic governance that is people directed.

Instead of following the democratic precepts as expounded by the originators, Nigeria chose the path of democratic madness, which Fela called democrazy which is elite centred. In this part of the world, we have redefined democracy. It is no longer a government of the people, by the people and for the people but a government of the few rich people, for the few rich people and by the few rich people. This type of democracy stands on its head with its legs up. Since it is self centred, not in consonance with the ideals of those who originally defined democracy; it will not stand the test of time. We cannot continue to behave as if we are not a part of the global network and expect to be among the first 20 economic powers in 2020.

The present day politicians in Nigeria especially the ruling class MUST change their paradigm and do things the right way. Doing it right should start with resolving the present vacuum created by Yar’Adua’s absence through the evocation of the relevant sections of the Constitution. On the President’s health status, the visit of the members of the National assembly members to Saudi Arabia is a waste of our funds because the only way that trip can help us is if they are enpanelled medical experts chosen in consonance with the dictates of the constitution to appraise the status of the President’s health. Since they have refused to empanel a medical panel to take a professional decision on the health status of the President, the only option in resolving the current leadership vacuum in Aso Rock is the application of Section 145 of the Constitution.

Way forward

• Irrespective of the political divide, political leaders must learn to take rational and objective decisions that are premised on truth and good conscience.
• The only option in resolving the current leadership vacuum in Aso Rock is the application of Section 145 of the Constitution.
• The legislators should endeavour to take the constitutional and electoral reforms to logical conclusions before the tenure of the National Assembly expire.
• The legislators must discuss and pass the Freedom of information Bill, which will assist every Nigerian to source and reveal systemic leakages embarked upon by political office holders.
• Nigerian leaders must begin to put the interests of the common man and that of Nigeria before theirs at all times.
• To reverse the declining democratic space, leadership must be premised on accountable, transparent, responsible and good governance.
• The next elections should be organized with the best of intentions.
• For the masses, time has come to take your destiny in your hands. Praying without concerted efforts and guided actions are like asking God to score a goal in your opponent’s net without you kicking the ball.
• The youths must resist the temptation of taking stipends from politicians to take the negative path of being used as political thugs.
• The senseless killings of political opponents should stop. The killing of Dipo Dina, a former Action Congress candidate in the last elections is a bad omen of things to come.
• The votes of the people must count; any subversion of the will of the people will spell doom for our democratic experiment.

Except these are done and everybody taking an active role to preserve the sanctity of this nation, we might by our actions or inactions lay a grand design for a massive social change. When this change comes it will not be ordinary. Will it be through the ballot box? Not likely but possible. Will the change ever come, yes it shall. Then, Will it be through mass mobilization or violence?  I do not have the answer(s). The answers rest with the ruling class and Nigerians. The choices of the mode of change will be theirs to determine. What will galvanize the masses towards the direction of the desired change shall be dependent on the action(s) of the political class. The Anambra governorship election in February 2010 will be a test case. The 2011 general elections will be the preview of what the future holds for Nigerians. From then on, anything is possible.

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Terrorism, extremism and fundamentalism

By Louis Brown Ogbeifun | January 5, 2010

Terrorism is the application of destructive and other violent methods in the pursuit of radical ideologies. It is an extreme application of force and coercion to intimidate and subdue opponents.  Though terrorism targets certain institutions, nations and persons, its overall effect is often devastating to the human race. Terrorism destroys both its perceived enemies and other innocent people. It could be likened to the cytotoxic drug that destroys both the normal cells and the invading cancerous cells in the human body.

Fundamentalism on the other hand is having an entrenched position that contrasts with the original religious doctrines or beliefs. Extremism is the taking of extreme and divergent positions on political and economic philosophies that is at variance with acceptable defined societal moral and political views. Extremists and fundamentalists see themselves as the genuine adherents of their different religions. Terrorism strives in the agar of extremism and fundamentalism.

However, while the Christians and other religious organizations use moral suasion to convert others or voice out their discontents with government policies, some Islamic sects of northern extraction in Nigeria use violence and unleashing of terror on society in order to express their discontents. This is typified by the activities of Maitachine (Maitasine), Boko Haram and recently Kalo-Kato sects.

The sects see others who do not believe in their views as infidels and pagans. There have been instances where children of perceived religious opponents are kidnapped and kept away from their parents. In Boko Haram’s camp, other peoples’ wives were kidnapped and made baby factories for the leaders. Is this not more haram than what they are fighting against? Would one say that these are religious piety or righteousness? On the long run, all these three ideologies share some common denominators, which are:

1. Minority versus the majority.
2. The use of force and coercion to intimidate and subdue opponents.
3. Psychological trauma or physical destruction of lives and properties.

Though Muslim scholars and faithful have repeatedly say that fundamentalists do not convey the views of the majority of Muslims and that Islam is a religion of peace, we are yet to see any major shift in the sprouting and radicalization of the operations of the sects.. The sects are well funded. Surely, those funds cannot be from other religious sects but from within the Muslim family.

Extremism and fundamenlism have been practised by some sects as highlighted above but Nigerians have never been associated with international terrorism. However,  December 25th 2009 has changed all that. The tragedy that was averted on board the American airliner NWA flight 253 on December 25^th, 2009 has again called to question the safety of air travels in the hands of terrorists. But for the failure of Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab’s device, the story would have been different. When the NWA flight 253 occurred, US officials initially blamed Nigeria for Farouk’s incidence but they later blamed systemic failure and vowed to bring those responsible to book.  They enjoined all actors involved in international travels to urgently rise up to the occasion. In response to the incidence, Nigerian authourities played the ostrich. They were amazed and fell short of saying that it was not in our character to act as terrorists. Yes! we are not known for international terrorism but does government not know that internal terrorist acts can snowball into something bigger? Such self denial is at best, a disservice to this nation. When we deny our inadequacies we disallow those that can assist us with possible solutions to do so. The act of Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab has shown that nothing is impossible in the crime world. How does one rationalize that someone from a very affluent background like Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab can take to terrorism.

Going through the memory lane, there is no denying the fact that some level of terrorism have have taken place internally in Nigeria. Some have been gruesome while others have failed. The death of Dele Giwa on Sunday, October 19, 1986 was through a parcel bomb. What do we call that? This was state terrorism against a citizen. Up till the time Gani Fawehinmi died, he was emphatic in his pursuit for justice that the State under the military killed Dele Giwa. Up till now, nobody has been nabbed for that innocuous act.

On December 22^nd 2009, just three days before the NWA flight 253 occurred, a middle aged man was alleged to have gone to deliver some parcel bombs to the most senior man on duty at Super screen television office at Onipanu in Lagos. However, before he could deliver his concoction of death, one of them detonated leaving him bombed in his own device. What do we call that, a tea party? These acts are not enough to label Nigeria a terrorist state.

Terrorism has very disastrous consequences. apart from the physical and psychological pains, it sets human beings, races and religious organizations apart. But no matter the level, it is a preventable act. However, my major headache is that before our security forces go into action, the sects have wrecked havoc on society. It happened during the Maitasine, Boko Haram and Kalo-kato uprisings. The question is what has happened to pre-emptive security strategies? Take the case of Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, we were told that the UK refused him visa at a point based on certain findings. Sound judgement! On the other extreme was United States of America that had information that would have assisted her to avert the tragedy but refused to respond appropriately. But for providence, the destruction of lives and NWA flight 253 would have been a thing of the past.

The way the United States is handling the issue of terrorism will only earn her more enemies. Of all the 14 countries listed for enhanced security screening, about 12 are Islamic countries. Undoubtedly, terrorism is seen by the United States as an act of war. So, these countries have been inadvertentlty declared arch enemies waging war against the United States, which is not true in the case of Nigeria. The United States and Nigeria have enjoyed the best of relationships and this sholud not be slaughtered with a one off example of a child that went off limit.

In the next few weeks, events are likely to bring forth the forgotten memories of Nigerians that were stripped naked at screening rooms or made to stay hours at immigration interrogating rooms at international airports in Europe. Time was when every negative thing like human trafficking, advance fee fraud, alias 419, drug peddling and every crime committed by a Blackman were ascribed to Nigerians. Now, Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab has compounded our image problem by adding us to the world of international terrorists. The far reaching consequences of what Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab has done are not only to himself and his family but to Nigerians.

We have again become the cynosure of all eyes at international airports. Good Nigerians in Diaspora will now have to battle with smoothing the rough edges of Nigeria’s battered image. Few hours ago, the TSA in the United States released a list of 14 countries that must go through enhancement security check. Listed among these countries is Nigeria. Every minute, a gun man is killing somebody in America. This does not mean that all Americans as killers. When the Oklahoma bombing masterminded by Americans took place in 2001, America was not branded a terrorist nation. so, why must a single Nigerian who trained abroad now earn the entire Nigeria the toga of a terrorist state?

Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab represents the opposing side of the real Nigerian. Nigerians love, respect and value life. Nigerians are a happy people. This is why I believe the father of Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab alerted the United States Embassy barely about a month before the December 25 Detroit incidence.  Even at that, United States did nothing. So, to now perceive every Nigerian entering the United States as terrorists is unacceptable, it is a breach of social justice and against all principles of fairness.

It has been found that Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab was not trained in Nigeria. He had most of his adulthood experience in the UK where he rose to becoming the President of an Islamic society in his school. Since then, he has travelled to several countries and hardly lived in Nigeria. For this act, he was trained abroad and not in Nigeria. and TSA has forgotten so soon that the father of Farouk reported his own child’s activities to the American Embassy at Abuja since November 2009. Since then, America did nothing to forestall the incidence of December 25^th 2009, If the United States had acted squarely and fairly on senior AbdulMutallab’s report, would junior AbdulMutallab had been allowed to fly into America?

Every minute in America and Britain, some of their citizens are either shooting or sticking knife into people. Does that make all Americans and British people  murderers? The answer is no. So, why must the incidence of only one man lead to the designation of Nigeria as a terrorist nation? I seriously think that the American government only latched on this opportunity to carry out a long term plan to blacklist Nigeria.

Senior AbdulMutallab, a Nigerian, did a marvellous job by unveiling the activities of this young radical and reporting the security threat to the American Embassy , which the united states’ security agencies failed act on. This information if acted upon would have stopped Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab from carrying out the senseless act. I believe this is part of the conspiracy theory that has its root in setting Nigeria up for the slightest opportunity to blacklist the country. The last straw was found in Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab’s tragedy.

America failed the world by having such sensitive information but refused to act on it. It is America’s negligence and systemic failure of her security operatives that nearly caused the killing of about three hundred lives on board flight NWA 253. America should take responsibility for the lapses instead of going ahead to punish innocent Nigerians with segregated and selective security screening. Perhaps the TSA thought the senior Mutallab is an American.

In 2009, the Telegraph.co.uk wrote in the online February 7^th Edition that “Barack Obama has been warned by the CIA that British Islamist extremists are the greatest threat to US homeland security”. Indeed, Farouk had most of his brain washing while at UCL in the UK. Why did TSA not impose enhanced security screening measures against any one travelling from the UK? Reid, a British terrorist attempted to Bomb American Airlines Flight 63 on December 22, 2001, why did the TSA not impose enhanced security screening on all British citizens premised on the above two incidents? Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nicholas masterminded the Oklahoma City Bombing on April 19, 1995 that killed hundreds of people, why did TSA not commence enhanced security screening of all Americans?

Let no one be in doubt about my commitment to the fight against terrorism. I have always preached change through the use of any civil options. I detest terrorism, I have never supported it and will never do. I believe that terrorism is a cowardly act. I am totally in support of whatever measures that is to be put in place all over the world to enhance the security and safety of travellers and wipe out terrorism without singling out Nigerians for the enhanced security option. Every passenger should be subjected to the same measure and equal treatment. Let no Nigerian be humiliated  the way it was in times past when the European Union (EU) perceived every Nigerian as a suspected drug peddler and 419er when indeed the EU Banks kept the proceeds of the illegal loots of our leaders.

The following quote from peace to the world in 2009 (www.louisbrownogbeifun.com) is still as relevant today as then. “All those involved in terrorism, militancy and sabotage in the name of freedom fighting should lay down their arms and imbibe dialogue over whatever grievances there are to save further destruction of lives and properties as witnessed in 2008. No nation develops in an atmosphere of anarchy and dysfunction. As we journey through the year, let us be ambassadors of peace without borders so that the world can witness peace in the New Year. Here lays the panacea for the emergence of a peaceful society, walking towards the cohabitation of minds and bodies that will ensure that peace reigns in 2009”.

Terrorism is evil and must be roundly condemned by every responsible human being. Head or tail, terrorism, extremism and fundamentalism are whirlwinds that blow no one any good. To forestall these extremes of thoughts and actions, governments all over the world should also provide the platform for social justice, equity and fairness that will allow every citizen to become whom he or she wants to be.

For Nigeria, time has come for the Emirs, Muslim leaders, Clerics and the Governors of the Northern states to act decisively to stem the tide of extremism and fundamentalism among the adherents of radical sects in the North. The Federal Government should also note that extremism and fundamentalism as practised by the aforementioned sects will destroy Nigeria, except government rises up to its responsibilities. Let us not lose focus of how fundamentalism, extremism and terrorism led the world into several preventable wars in the Middle East. Yesterday it was Lebanon and Gaza; today it is Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq. With the insurgence of the Maitasines, Boko Harams and Kalo-Katos; the face of tomorrow’s terrorism may well be in Nigeria. The time to act is now!

References

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/4550144/CIA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_City_bombing

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/04/us-airport-security-enhanced-screening

http://www.louisbrownogbeifun.com

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