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Let Asuni and Sa’idu Go Home By Maxwell James
For some days now, I have come to grips with
a torrent of request from well meaning Nigerians to air my opinion
concerning the unlawful, ill – motivated, evil and unjust arrest of my
former boss, Chief (Dr) Judy Burdin Asuni, the Omotoyinbo of Ughelli
Kingdom and the Excutive Director of Academic Associates PeaceWorks (AAPW)
a nongovernmental organization (NGO) that has been working in the areas of
peace and development in Nigeria for decades and also the arrest of
Danjuma Saidu (a Project Director). Of particular interest was a question
from a reporter with Radio France International, Hausa Service. His
question was what did I think about the detention of two major promoters
of peace in the Niger Delta having worked with them as the former Project
Coordinator of the Niger Delta Nonviolent Elections Initiative even as the
region is yearning for such individuals to achieve a sustainable peace and
development? — Dr Asuni and Mr. Saidu represent the zenith of
selflessness in the Niger Delta struggle. I responded that the wrong
persons were in the dock. Or, are they taken hostage by the state? If
anybody deserved to be held responsible for the rise and rise of militancy
and insurgency in that part of the country, those persons, I suggested,
should be the impious politicians in the region that benefit enormously
from the daily uprising in the delta, which Asuni has devoted her all to
fight.
Dr Asuni’s advocacy, if not her method,
resonates in every nook and cranny of Nigeria, even beyond. Her belief,
simply, is that the people of the oil-rich Niger Delta deserve peace,
security and development. She and other like minds in the area have
combined international network and synergy of peace building as a tool for
the effective resolution of the Niger Delta debacle. Her approach has been
unconventional in the main because it recognizes the militants as key
partners – if peace must be achieved. But it has got the nod of the
Federal and state governments, the oil companies and the international
media and global communities working on peace and development in the
region. Asuni and AAPW also enjoy great popularity among the militant groups because of her genuine motives. On several occasions, AAPW demonstrated its reach and the appeal of its mission by spearheading several sensitive peace building efforts in Nigeria. Major interventions to date include the Tiv/Jukun problem in Wukari; the Itsekiri/Urhobo/Ijaw crisis in Warri; and the Ife/Modakeke issue in Osun State. Lower key interventions include: Zangon Kataf, Tafawa Balewa, Ugep, Mangu/Bokkos, Igbo-Ora, Takum.
AAPW has worked extensively in the conflict-prone Niger Delta, especially with an emphasis on peace and development. This has included mindset change/youth empowerment research and workshops for youths. A peace and development initiative was also initiated in collaboration with GTZ in the area of the gas plant in neighbouring towns of Soku/Eleme Sangama/Oluasiri, a project that was funded by the Rivers State Government. Worthy of mentioned was a peace process that was brokered with Eleme and Okrika. AAPW has also worked on the conflict in Chevron’s host community of Ugborodo. On several occasions, Asuni also conducted conflict management and cross cultural training for the staff of NLNG and Shell. She also developed a Community Engagement Plan for a new associated gas gathering project in Bayelsa State few years ago and lately disarmament, reorientation and reintegration
Recognizing the importance of spreading awareness and accurate coverage of conflict issues, AAPW also trained 135 media practitioners, as well as media executives on interpreting violent conflict. Three of Asuni’s project officers had also facilitated conflict analysis for BBC Training workshops for journalists. In 2001, AAPW in conjunction with Search for Common Ground piloted a radio drama, entitled Peace House, which dealt with issues of ethnic and religious tolerance, interpersonal conflict, corruption and other social problems in an infotainment format.
In preparation for the 2003 elections, the Embassy of Switzerland sponsored a traveling theatre troupe of young Nigerians presenting a play entitled “Peace Offering” which focused on non-violent elections. The troupe performed in 7 conflict-prone states and gave 30 performances. The play was revised for national television airing, with funding from the Ministry of Information. The same project that was replicated during 2007 general elections with support from USIP, DFID and NNPC which yours sincerely coordinated in 20 local governments across Bayelsa, Rivers and Delta states with a well documented 13 episode television series entitled “Solution Hour for Peace” aired on AIT and NTA across the three states mentioned above.
Asuni always believes in Nigeria. Little wonder, rather than relying on foreign donors, she worked with the Federal Government for the past several years on developing a Conflict Intervention System. This is based on the National Corps of Mediators which former President Obasanjo’s Africa Leadership Forum and Academic Associates started in 1994. It is worthy of note that the Corps was composed of respected and respectable members of the civil society who have intervened in most of the conflicts that bedeviled Nigeria in the past. As part of its work with government, AAPW trained all national and state officials of the National Orientation Agency in June 2002 and has collaborated with NOA on several other activities, including work with traditional rulers and an all – party’s conference prior to the April 2003 elections. In early April 2003 Academic Associates PeaceWorks also trained 600 top police officers on early warning signs of election conflict. I can authoritatively say here, that this project is still ongoing as it was my last bit in the organization.
Academic Associates PeaceWorks through its legal activities in the Niger Delta and beyond has collaborated and received considerable funding from the British Council and DfID, USAID, OTI, USIS, US Institute of Peace, Westminster Foundation, Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Company, Shell Petroleum Development Corporation, Chevron/Texaco, Ford Foundation, ActionAid Ghana, Conciliation Resources, the Embassy of Switzerland and GTZ. Also the organization had received technical support from IFES, UNDP election project, NDI etc. Worthy of mentioning is also Local support the organization received from the Federal Government of Nigeria, Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta and Nassarawa State Governments, the Nigeria Police, the National Orientation Agency, and Zangon Kataf and Tafawa Balewa Local Governments
Even though the word Niger Delta evokes
images of bloodbath, Asuni’s AAPW disavows violence.
Maxwell James Yenagoa, Bayelsa State
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