Developing Early Warning System for Peace and Security in Nigeria Essay

1. picture Demographic Background of NigeriaThe demographic characteristics of Nigeria repose the plat get for an understanding of the case for competitiveness found National proterozoic model clay. A historical summary of major deviations in Nigeria since independence repoints to strong linkages to its demographic composition. It has been unarguably regarded as the most inhabited clownish in the Africa and also accounts for half of the entire population of westside Africa. The exist census exercise in 2007 conducted by the Nigeria Population Commision (NPC) put the countrys population at over cxl million.(NPC, 2006).Politically, it practices a three tier federal organization of govern ment comprising the Federal, State and topical anaesthetic Government Councils which implies relative levels of autonomy in governance as well as oversight and control which galore(postnominal) policy-making analyst has attri onlyed as a diverseness of British Parliamentary and U. S Presidential system of governance. It has 36 evokes with a Federal detonator Territory at Abuja. These ar throw erupt fill in-divided into 774 semi-autonomous local government councils. For governmental and scotch exigencies of governance and growing, it is segregated into what is referred to as sextet geo governmental zones which include the northwestward Central, North East, North western United States, conspiracy East, South South and South western hemisphere.With over 240 ethnic groups library paste across the country, the challenges of representation, equity in political representation as well as economic accessibility has been the bedrock of many diverse pull dones in the country. This is further involved by the heterogeneous mixture of Christian and Muslim religion niftyly polarised between the Christian southwesterly and Muslim Yankee region. (op cit.)The population of traditional religion is sparsely located across the six geo-political zones of t he country. scorn the immense rich natural imagerys in the country, crude oil located at the south south, south east and south west geo political zones of the country delay the major revenue source for the country and also the major source of sundry(a) causative factors of conflict in Nigeria which has guide to its reference in many accessible science research cycles as the resource curse to the extent that the country is directly considered one of the 20 poorest countries in the world. all over 70% of the population is classified as poor, with 35 percent living in absolute poverty. This is especially severe in rural areas, where social services are limited or non existent.2. The Peace and protective cover Dimension in NigeriaIn contrast, Nigerias complex political, socio-cultural and economic diversity has been a source of varied and multiple levels of conflicts and human-centred crises with implication to sustainable cessation, surety and exploitation within the countr y and the West Africa torpedo region. A retrospection of these conflicts highlights six canonical conflict types that have pervaded the country in the last two decades. These include communal conflicts, chieftaincy conflicts, ethno-religious conflicts, oil relate conflicts, preference related conflicts and agro-pastoralist conflicts.These conflicts are the outcome of the difficult rooted causal factors of poverty, poor/ bighearted governance and inequitable distribution of resources and breeding across the country. Between 1999 to 2010 for instance in that respect has been an estimated death of 14,000 people from various levels of these conflicts across the country and about 750,000 850,000 Internally displaced persons.(Internal work shift Monitoring, 2007) found on the lack of mechanisms to shell out the root cause of these conflicts, it has continued to reoccur, step up and impact negatively in Nigerian societies to the extent of creating viscious cycles of violence an d complex addition crises. Communities experiencing these conflicts have remained vulnerable and usually shell the risks of further conflicts and distablity. Based on the riposte of these conflicts,the communities have been tagged, flashpoints of conflict, unusually disaggregated across geo political lines or constellations.3. The concept of former(a) exemplar for Peace and SecurityBased on the negative impact of conflicts to waxment and human certification measures, there is increasing double shift from conflict re ascendant mechanisms regarded as reactive to conflict continueion mechanisms which is seen as more proactive and has the capacity to prevent or mitigate destructive conflict or humanitarian crises globally. As shopping centre element of conflict bar, early ensample has increasingly gained prominence, credibility and efficiency as a preventive mechanism and solution to conflicts in societies.By definition, primeval Warning has been described as a turn of co mmunicating judgements about threats early fair to middling for decision-makers to take action to deter some(prenominal) outcome is threatened or failing that, to manage events in such a way that the worst consequences are excuse (WANEP 2008).Dmitrichev Andrei defined it as organizational agency or mechanism for the structures and systemic accumulation and psychoanalysis of training, and the subsequent discourse of results of this analysis to policy makers in a form that would be easily recognized and understood.The learning and appreciation of the opportunities inherent in this system resulted in the first organised syllabusme for the systematic development of the early ideal system direct by the assemblage on proto(prenominal) Warning and archean Response (F.E.W.E.R.) in 1997 in solution to the Rwandan genocide of 1994. It blossomed to become the largest global communicate of over thirty five (35) organisations across the world that catalysed the creation of the early model and response interlockings in the Caucasus (led by EAWARN/Russian Academy of Sciences), Great Lakes Region of Africa (led by the Africa Peace Forum) and West Africa(led the West Africa net for Peacebuilding) WANEP.Further impetus to the winion and institutionalisation of the early standard system was boosted by the antecedent Secretary General of the get together Nations, Kofi Annan when he stated that, For the United Nations, there is no larger goal, no deeper lading and no greater ambition than preventing armed conflict. The prevention of conflict begins and ends with the protection of human flavor and the promotion of human development. Ensuring human security is, in the broadest sense, the United Nations cardinal mission. old(prenominal) and lasting prevention is the means to grasp that mission. (Koffi Annan 2001)This further gave rise to the UN Security Council gag police force 1624 of 2005 with the following core declarations1. Reaffirms the withdraw to adopt a broad strategy of conflict prevention, which addresses the root causes of armed conflict and political social crises in a omnibus(prenominal) manner, including by promoting sustainable development, poverty eradication, field reconciliation, good governance, democracy, gender equality, the rule of law and respect for and protection of human rights2. Recognises the take in to strengthen the important role of the United Nations in the prevention of violent conflicts, and to develop effective partnerships between the Council and regional organisations, in particular the African Union and its sub regional organisations, in order to modify early responses to disputes and emerging crises3. Affirms the UN commitment in accompaniment regional and sub regional capacities for early warning to help them in working out appropriate mechanisms to alter prompt action in chemical reaction to early warning indicators4. Recognises the important supporting roles played by civil ship s company, men and women, in conflict prevention and the need to take into account all doable contributions from civil night club5. Supporting regional and sub regional capacities for early warning to help them in working out appropriate mechanisms to enable prompt action in reaction to early warning indicators6. Promote coordination with regional conflict circumspection machinery in Africa which provide the Security Council with superfluous reliable and timely information to urge on rapid decision-making7. Strengthen the capacities of civil edict groups, including womens groups, working to promote a culture of peace, and to mobilise donors to support these efforts(UN 2005)4. evolution Institutional Platform for conflict Early Warning System Reflecting on WANEP-Nigerias ExperienceThe participation and commitment of the West Africa lucre for Peacebuilding (WANEP) to the FEWER platform modify its capacity and hands on adroitness for civil society based analysis and response mechanisms towards the prevention or moderation of conflict especially within the great lake region following the post sierra Leone and Liberian Conflicts of 90s. This deepened its regional expertise as the reference point for early warning system in the West Africa sub region and subsequently the network of choice for the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) in the implementation of the regional based ECOWAS Early Warning and Response Network (ECOWARN). The system principally works through three basic components of inform/ information gathering, analysis and information dissemination apply to facilitate response to issues of peace and security within the ECOWAS sub region.WANEP became the civil society partner with ECOWAS in the implementation ECOWARN since 2006. As part of the WANEP regional network, WANEP-Nigeria was mandated as the depicted object civil society central point to report into the online ECOWARN system. Its task was to provide each week and dail y reports to the incidence and situation reporting template as designed into the online system. This was to sacrifice ECOWARN an up to date civil society perspective of the peace and human security threats and opportunities in Nigeria.With the participation of Nigeria in this mould came ominous challenges.1. The first was the pressure from the focal points at Lagos secretariate of WANEP-Nigeria to deliver conceivable reports in relation to the surface of Nigeria2. With the size of Nigeria, the focal point concentrated in getting information from national newspapers, boob tube and radioFor the focal points who were staff of WANEP, it was include as part of their job responsibility. They relied on making phone calls to members of WANEP at the state levels for local or peculiar peace and security information that was not inform in the national media. However, these information were reluctantly or half-hazardly given and also hail intensive to the staff as they much bore liabil ity for these calls.This challenge was partly cushioned when ECOWAS resolved to pay reporters communication allowance in 2007/2008. Inspite of this, the feedback from member organizations providing information at the state level was quench half hazard and questionable. To redress this challenge, the program team at the national secretariat organized a brainstorm coming upon to develop a framework for a workable national early warning system that not only ensures commitment of member organizations to support the system but also is both functional and toll effective. The first trial system was demonstrable for the Nigeria 2007 elections. An Information, Communication and Technology (I.C.T.) consultant was assiduous that worked directly with the program team to begin specific indicators to monitor election related conflicts in what was referred to as the election barometer. The appeal of developing the barometer was wholly borne by the secretariat while the election monitoring was performed by staff who volunteered to report into the system as an experiential learning process to elicit their understanding of the EW system.The experience prompt the secretariat to consciously plan for a conflict intervention proposal which includes an perspective of a sustainable/operational national early warning system. The submission and favorable reception of the proposal by international partners led WANEP-Nigeria to develop the first locally designed and operated conflict focused National Early Warning system.