TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.
Feature: The power of
sharing knowledge
2.
How it all started
3.
From field survey to pilot
project
4.
Resources and Materials
available
5.
Upcoming events
6.
Funding and expenditures
7.
The key challenges
8.
Events in pictures
9.
Lesson of the Month:
Conflict 101: Understanding Conflict.
1. Feature: The power of sharing Knowledge
It is an ever green truth that has been around for
centuries- knowledge is power. Everyone in the world knows that, from children
to adults. All have tested this hypothesis; in school knowledge gives us the
key to answering those questions and passing examinations. At work it gives us
the ability to perform our tasks, excel in them, be promoted and reach the tops
of careers. In business it gives us the edge to make more money and attain
successes.
But there is even more power with the joy that comes
from sharing the knowledge one has with others, for it generates huge impact -
a rippling effect kind of impact that reaches more and more people, empowering
and changing the lives of millions of people forever.
Such was the case when community team members trained
under the sustainable peace in northern Nigeria (SPINN) pilot project shared
with their communities. Twenty community members consisting of youths, women, elders
and religious leaders in each of four pilot communities; Kawo in Kaduna,
Brigade in Kano, Kpakungo in Niger and Unguwar Mahaukata in Bauchi were
involved. In all 80 community members were empowered with additional knowledge
on conflict prevention and early warning signal. They gained new information on
what conflict is, its broad causes, its stages, handling styles and various
means of prevention. They also capped it up with other key information on early warning signal within which they
learnt about the steps in early warning, the differences and complementary
roles between early warning and early response and off.. course when, how and
to whom to send out early warning
messages. The eighty community members got all these array of knowledge through
the willingness of a few people to share what they know, these are Hassan Alfa
of Alfacare, Samson Auta of interfaith mediation centre (IMC), Jamil Mustapha
and Musa Abdullahi, Interim Chair and Interim Secretary respectively of the
coalition for peace and security (C4PS).
The quartet of original trainers would certainly be
elated to see the eighty community members in turn sharing that knowledge with
other members of their respective communities. By the time they are through
they would have shared with at least one hundred other community members each-
a total of eight thousand people! And be certain that the eight thousand will
share with at least four others, so before long about 32,000 community members
will have some new knowledge about conflict and early warning signal. But that
will not be the end of the chain; more will be reached as the messages are
reinforced through radio, TV and other channels. And when the project is
eventually scaled up to cover more than five hundred other communities across the
northern region, the rippling effect will be better imagined!
Such is the power of sharing knowledge.
2. How it all started
In May, 2013 a group of people from 13 Civil Society
Organisations met at the Women Multipurpose center, Kaduna. The meeting was
called by Hajiya Hafsat of the Global Initiative for women and children, Musa
Abdullahi of Women Rights, Advancement and Protection Action and Jamil Mustapha
Ango of Waff Road Mosque Forum. The topic of discussion was the security
situation in northern Nigeria and what CSOs can jointly do about it. A
situation paper was presented by Jamil Mustapha which generated a lot of
comments by the participants of the meeting.
The major outcome of that very first meeting was the
agreement by all to set up and be a part of a coalition of CSOs to put in a
contribution towards ensuring sustainable peace and security in the whole of
Nigeria, but starting with the Northern region. A five member committee was set
up to produce modalities and procedures for the organization.
The committee was given two weeks to work and present
its report which it did on time. The report recommended that the organization
be named civil society coalition for peace and security in Nigeria (C4PS) and
that it should work in the following areas;
a.
Increasing awareness and
changing attitude of Nigerians particularly at community level on prevention
and management of violent conflicts
b.
Carrying out advocacy
encounters with policy makers and leaders towards gaining their participation
and support to violent conflict prevention and management, particularly at
community level.
c.
Capacity enhancement for
civil society organizations on conflict prevention and management
d.
Research, monitoring and
evaluation
e.
Philanthropic support to
victims of violence, particularly women and children
The report also
recommended a national structure with zonal and state coordinators for the
organization operating under the lead of one of the member organizations. A
five member executive to include; chairman/executive director, secretary,
treasurer, auditor and publicity secretary was suggested. All recommendations
were accepted by the group and it was agreed that the Global Initiative for
women and children (GIWAC) should serve as lead organization with the following
interim executive;
a.
Jamil Mustapha- Interim
Chairman
b.
Hajiya Hafsat Baba- member
c.
Samson Auta- member
d.
Getrude Leads- member
e.
Musa abdullahi- secretary
The meeting also agreed to a suggestion for the carrying out of a field
survey on the situation of peace and security in northern Nigeria and then
carrying out a public presentation which should be used to launch the coalition
to the public. Organizations and individuals during the first meetings include;
YouthCan, NACOMYO, LEADS, IMC, WRAPA Kaduna, Vision Trust Foundation, GIWAC,
Child Protection and Survival Initiative. Subsequently other organizations from
around the northern region joined. This prompted the appointment of additional
persons into the interim coordinating committee to help reach out to these organizations.
The additional coordinating members are;
a.
Aminu Garba Sidi of Bauchi
Muslim-Christian Forum- Coordinator of North East
b.
M. Abubabe of Ebira
National Association- Coordinator of North Central
c.
Abubakar Yau of Kano Peace
Forum- Coordinator of North West
3.
From field survey to pilot project
The very first thing the coalition decided to embark upon was a situation
assessment of the peace and security situation in northern Nigeria. The major
objectives were;
a.
To find out and document the number of
conflicts that have occurred within the last ten years in target states and the
responses made to them by appropriate institutions and communities.
b.
To identify the key actors in the
violent conflicts that have occurred in target communities and those most
affected by such conflicts in the last ten years
c.
To assess the socio economic effects
of violent conflicts in target states and communities as well as adequacy of
efforts at ameliorating such effects.
d.
To identify existing community and
individual level mechanisms for peace building and conflict resolution as well
as the appropriate knowledge and expertise available in target states
e.
To collate individual and community
views on the causes, means of prevention and way forward on ensuring
sustainable peace in the northern region.
The report
of the survey was widely publicized and provided the major tool for a planning
workshop – to develop a framework and eventually a project to address the
problems so identified. The workshop provided for an attitudinal/ behaviorial
change campaign at community level to increase awareness of community members
on the negative consequences of violence and promote their participation in
violence prevention and handling. The project was named SPINN- sustainable
peace in northern Nigeria and appropriate logo produced. A detailed framework
of the intervention with budget estimates was produced as final outcome of the
planning workshop.
Soon after
the C4PS coordinating team started making arrangements to carry out a pilot
implementation of the proposed project. Subsequently four communities were
identified and agreed upon; Kawo in Kaduna state, Brigade in Kano state,
Kpakungo in Niger state and unguwar mahaukata in Bauchi state, one in each of
the geo political zones in the north,but
with the north west having two communities. Then on the 21st
of December, 2013, the first training of community peace teams in pilot
communities was held in Kawo, Kaduna state. Subsequently and by the end of
January, 2014 similar trainings were held in all the three other pilot
communities. In each community, twenty persons, amongst whom are youths, women,
elders and religious leaders have been trained on conflict prevention and early
warning signal. They will work voluntarily to share information with community
members and provide early warning reports to their community leaders and CBO
leaders. They will also organize special community peace activities to further
sensitise and imbibe violence prevention in their respective communities
Monitoring
reports so far carried out in two communities, Kawo and Brigade indicate that
the community peace teams are already up and running in sharing what they have
learnt with other community members and planning towards hosting certain
special events. In Kawo five of the team members working under the Kawo Youth
Peace Association plan to carryout schools sensitization and hold a schools
peace debate as well as an intra community football contest for the youth.
4.
Resources and Materials
available
a.
Report of a situation
assessment of peace and security in northern Nigeria, 2013
b.
Framework for a sustainable
peace in northern Nigeria
c.
Training manual on conflict
prevention and early warning for communities
d.
Hand out on conflict prevention
and early warning for community peace team members
e.
Handbill on C4PS and SPINN
f.
Key messages on SPINN in
English and Hausa
g.
SPINN News
5.
Upcoming events
a.
Appointment of SPINN
Guardians and Champions
b.
Presentation of first
quarter peace scorecard for Northern Nigeria tagged “ Peace in the North on the
way to 2015”
c.
Assessment of pilot project
d.
Fundraising and scale up of
SPINN to all northern states
e.
Formal launch of SPINN
6.
Funding and Expenditures
The funding of all activities carried out
by the C4PS has so far come from voluntary contributions by member
organizations and individual members. Details of expenditure are as follows;
|
S.No
|
Item
|
Cash
|
Kind
|
|
1.
|
Situation assessment of peace and security in northern
Nigeria
|
100,000 ( travels, accommodation, meals)
|
850,000 (questionnaire administration, collation,
analysis, report writing and production)
|
|
2.
|
Public presentation of above named report
|
95,000
|
50,000 (Hall, projector)
|
|
3.
|
Planning workshop
|
100,000 (Hall, materials)
|
250,000 (tea break, lunch, transport, honouraria)
|
|
4.
|
Materials (flyers, key messages,
|
150,000
|
|
|
5.
|
Trainings in 4 pilot communities
|
200,000 (travel, accommodation for resource persons, stationery,
refreshment and lunch for participants
|
800,000 (honouraria for resource persons, DSA for
participants, transport for participants)
|
|
6.
|
Monitoring visits to communities by project team
|
|
50,000 (visits to Kano and Kawo)
|
|
7.
|
Secretarial expenses
|
65,000 (letters, reports, emails, blog site, phone calls
|
|
|
Totals
|
|
710,000
|
2,000,000
|
7.
The key challenges
Some key challenges facing the coalition
and the implementation of SPINN includes funding, technical capability of
member organizations, maintaining the interest of member organizations and
staffing. The coalition is planning innovative approaches to overcome these
challenges
8.
Events in pictures
9.
Lesson of the Month
Conflict Class 101: Understanding conflict?
It usually takes one by surprise
when experts say conflict is good and positive. But yes, conflict that is
identified early, effectively dialogued and resolved amicably often leads to
positive change and progress. Now conflict experts, define it as a struggle or
contest between people with opposing needs, ideas, beliefs, values, or goals.
All experts agree that conflict is inevitable in every society so long as there
are opposing needs and competing ambitions. However it is the responses that
individuals and groups make to such conflicting needs, ambitions or values that
determine the course they take- and we go back to the fact of its being
positive. So if actors or those involved in conflicts act positively by
discussing and resolving their problems the results will be peace and progress.
If on the other hand actors behave negatively, the conflict escalates and leads
to nonproductive results. Therefore,
learning to identify, prevent or manage conflict is integral to every society
and a must for everyone.
. The broad causes of conflict
have been categorized into three forms.
#1. OVER PSYCHOLOGICAL
NEEDS:
These are conflicts which cannot
be seen but affect the psyche of the individual and his/her productive
capacity. These are Conflicts which keeps occurring everyday, where individuals
encounter at least two or three either at home, work or at social outings. Issues that concerns meeting basic needs of
food, housing, security, love and others. Certainly in the search of these
daily needs individual conflicts do occur. For instance in the search for food,
water and shelter and even love, there is often conflict as another person may
want the same thing you want. Other times one’s inability to meet one or more
of these basic daily needs can fuel or facilitate the escalation of other types
of conflicts, for example as the saying goes “a hungry man is an angry man”.
Imagine then getting into a conflict with a hungry and angry man!
#2. OVER RESOURCES:
This occurs when two or more
people want the same resources and there is not enough to go round. Resources
here can refer to money, land, political positions etc. People must certainly
struggle to gain access to such things since they are scarce. Money is scarce
and there are millions if not of billons in search of it, land is also scarce
and so is political positions such as office of the President, Governors and
local government chairmen where there are only one per country, one per state
and one per local government respectively. These days in Nigeria there is a
heightening of struggle over political positions with the approach of the 2015
elections.
#3. OVER VALUES:
Values are the most difficult to
understand and resolve, they are based on belief system and world view. They
cannot be seen or felt, often stored in the brains and hearts of people. Yet
they are held so dearly and sincerely.
Most times people could die easily for what they believe in such as
their ideology, religion or culture.
It is therefore our collective
responsibility to understand conflict in order to make it work for us not
against us.
Contact– Coalition for peace and security in Nigeria
c4psinnigeria@gmail.com.
08023619217, 08034737077, 08033148015, 08035953105, 08036127460
