Nyerhovwho Oghenetejiri
As the general elections approaches, some of the lessons learnt from the near peaceful conduct of the October 25, 2014 Local Government Elections in Delta State particularly some of the roles played by Non Governmental Organisation in making it near violence free is worth mentioning for all including the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to learn from with a view to also guide us in the conduct of the March 28 and April 11, 2015 general elections.
One of such NGO is the Development Support Care & Empowerment Foundation (DSCAEF) that put in place The Election Situation Room Model to partner the Delta State Independent Electoral Commission (DSIEC) to respond with a view to enhance voter education as well as respond to real issues aimed at improved flow of information using dedicated hotlines(mobile) and improved flow of logistics for sensitive and non-sensitive electoral materials particularly for riverine communities and violence prone areas.
The domesticated Election Situation Room by DSCAEF brought together a broad coalition of 25 civil society groups, the media, the Nigeria Bar Association, Community Based Organisation(CBOs) among others to partner under a collaborative framework with DSIEC to work with the security, community representatives, (chiefs, traditional rulers, youth groups, women groups, religious bodies, interest groups etc), the political class as well as broad range of stakeholders with the overall aim to ensure that the election is free, fair, credible and peaceful.
Some of the activities of DSCAEF worth mentioning are among others the recruitment and training of over 50 committed and dedicated election observers that monitored the conduct of the council elections, they were mandated to monitor the election across the state and report back to the Situation Room using mobile phones through, SMS, calls, whatssup, Bluetooth and the blackberry to give on the spot assessment of voters, politicians, security agents as well as electoral officials, this to a very large extent accounted for reduced open vote rigging, violence and enhanced confidence in results of votes counted and announced hence there is reported low electoral judicial cases after the Delta State Local Government Elections as the process was to a very large extent free, fair, credible and low rate of electoral violence compared to what obtains in the past.
DSCAEF’s effective collaboration with the print (Urhobo Voice, The Pointer and some national newspapers) and electronic media(Delta Broadcasting Service (Radio and TV and other local radio stations) using media campaigns such as press releases, jingles, radio and T.V talk shows to sensitize eligible voters goes a long way to make the people shun acts of violence particularly the youths, voter education on how best to exercise their franchise, protect their votes so that it counts and contribute positively to the electoral process.
The NGO also embarked upon advocacy visits to various communities across the three senatorial Districts of the state, they visited community leaders, youth groups, women groups, traditional rulers where they held Town Hall meetings with eligible voters on why the election should be peaceful, free, fair and credible as well as refrain the youths from acts capable of instigating violence to mar the electoral process.
There was also optimal use and deployment of the social media such as Twitter, YouTube and Face book to reach out to potential voters and enlighten them on the need for peaceful conduct of the election, to exercise their franchise among others just as the mobile phone bulk SMS was used to reach more than 100,000 mobile phone users also educating them on the electoral process.
\The above activities of the NGO (DSCAEF) no doubt contributed to the near success story of the Delta State Local Government Elections and if copied and built upon at the national level, the forthcoming general elections would also be near success and their actions/activities deserves commendation considering what obtains in past elections till just recently as I will give a brief over-review of what it used to be in the past in Delta State especially in crisis prone areas.
It could be recalled that most if not all local government elections conducted in the state since 1999 are fraught with electoral malpractices and violence. It is noteworthy to state that these elections have been marked by election rigging, ballot-box snatching, hijacking of sensitive election materials, killings, kidnapping of candidates amongst other unwholesome activities. Certain parts and localities of the state were most noted for the perpetuation of these activities which claimed scores of lives before, during and even after the election-day proper. This scenario has resulted in avoidable deaths, arson, maiming and destruction of both private and public properties. Moreover, the issue of political-thuggery is a serious threat to democratic consolidation in Nigeria because it scares credible candidates, particularly women from active participation in the democratic process. This is coupled with weak institutional capacity on the part of the state’s local electoral umpire- the Delta State Independent Electoral Commission, (DSIEC) to conduct credible elections for the benefit of the teeming voting population in the state.
It is in an attempt to help reverse this ugly trend that the NGO stepped in with these innovations to stem the ugly rising trend and to a very large extent succeeded in their collaboration with relevant stakeholders to ensure that elections in Delta State nay Nigeria are made more peaceful with voters enlightened on their rights to protect their votes and ensure it counts. This no doubt if encouraged and practised more would help to deepen our nations’ fledgling democracy.
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