They spoke at a symposium organised to celebrate the 70th birthday of Jibrin Ibrahim, a professor and chairperson PREMIUM TIMES Editorial Board.
A panel of speakers on Monday, reflecting on Nigeria's development, called for the mobilisation of Nigerians beyond identity lines.
The panelists, who looked at the country's development through the lens of gender, conflict and democracy, noted that unity of identity would herald the country in the right direction.
They spoke at a symposium organised to celebrate the 70th birthday of Jibrin Ibrahim, a professor and chairperson PREMIUM TIMES Editorial Board, at the Shehu Yar'adua Centre in Abuja.
The speakers included Amina Salihu, the Deputy Director, Africa Office, McArthur Foundation; Chris Kwaja, Nigeria Country Director, United States Institute for Peace; Chido Onuma, the Coordinator, African Centre for Media & Information Literacy; Sam Egwu, a professor of political science at the University of Jos; Yunusa Yau, the Executive Director, Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD).
Politics beyond identity lines
"We need to have a nation that is inclusive, a nation that is acceptable to the majority, a nation where people have common values and ethics," said Mr Onumah.
Mr Onumah, the author of 'We are all Biafrans', noted that the country needs to be structured in a way that Nigerians have a "shared object of love" which he said is the definition of nationhood.
He also noted that Nigeria needed to stick to the original principle of federalism. "We can borrow from the US, Spain and other countries," he said.
Mr Kwaja emphasised on the quality of leadership that does well in managing people's diversity.
He noted that development requires a civic consciousness that goes beyond the identity line and the strengthening of electoral systems.
"We must invest in ensuring that elections work for people. Until then, we will still not be able to address these issues," he said.
Mr Egwu, a political science professor, said civil society organisations have played a significant role in deepening Nigeria's democracy, particularly electoral reforms.
He noted that election observations by civil society organisations and subsequent reports have improved elections in the country.
"We've had seven successive general elections. The elections were very bad at some point. The elections improved; we saw remarkable public confidence that the votes will count.
"When I look at some of the early civil society report, particularly that of 2007, the votes do not count and thereafter some changes took place in the electoral commission."
He, however, noted that the conditions of living of Nigerians have not gotten better.
"Elections have improved but conditions of Nigerians are not getting better," he said.
He added: "The alternative society we are looking for cannot be created by civil society... I think we really need to build a genuine political alternative in this country.
"We've had democracy for 25 years but basically it is heading for economic, political and moral collapse and if the worst happens, there will be no alternative, there'll be chaos."
On gender
On her part, Ms Salihu of McArthur Foundation noted that Nigeria cannot develop without addressing the oppression and marginalisation faced by women in the country.
"You cannot hold down 50 per cent of your population and expect to progress," she said.
She said Nigerian women have for years engaged in unpaid and unappreciated care work. Globally, she said, women's unpaid care work is estimated at $10 trillion according to Oxfam.
While the women are divided by generation and social class, they are still linked by the experience of patriarchy, she said.
She noted that five basic laws sought by Nigerian women have been "thrown out" by the National Assembly.
She said the laws seek the right to transfer citizenship to one's foreign spouse, the right to claim one's state of origin, get 35 per cent of leadership positions, 35 per cent of appointments and the rights of Nigerians in diaspora to vote.
"We hope that as we continue to advocate and organise, we continue to ask the question, where are the women? How are we raising our voice for the future of our daughters," she concluded.
Tributes
Earlier at the occasion, individuals, organisations and groups paid tributes to Mr Ibrahim whose birthday celebration prompted the symposium.
In his tribute to him, Sanusi Lamido II, the 14th Emir of Kano, said he was grateful he met Mr Ibrahim whom they colloquially call 'Jibo' at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria.
"We looked up to them as our seniors in FASS (Faculty of Art and Social Sciences). I was in Economics and Economics was supposed to be the conservative faculty in FASS. But I spent most of my time with friends in Political Science and History. And I must say I am grateful for the opportunity to have interacted with the likes of Jibo and the influence they had on me," he said.
"I must say that the generation of ABU intellectuals has made one of the most profound contributions to intellectual discourse in this country."
PREMIUM TIMES Publisher, Dapo Olorunyomi, described Mr Ibrahim as a lodestar who has guided generations as a teacher, mentor and comrade.
Mr Olorunyomi, in a tribute read by Musikilu Mojeed, the Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper, noted that the relationship with Ibrahim goes back to the days of the radical students' movement and organising towards the goal of a better society. He said the relationship ran deeper than the formal collaborative service within institutions like Premium Times or NEXT Newspaper.
"It is with great pleasure that I am making these short remarks on behalf of the Premium Times Group, which is a family that the celebrant, our very own Professor Jibrin Ibrahim, is a highly distinguished and treasured member of - both as intellectual fount and Chairman of our Editorial Board in the past decade. Hence, honouring him also becomes a ritual of honouring oneself, as he is a vital part of whatever manner of successes we have managed to attain so far," he said.
Book presentation
Six books, four of which were authored by Mr Ibrahim, were also unveiled at the ceremony.
Two of the books authored by Mr Ibrahim - 'Deepening Democracy: Politics' and 'Governance and Deepening Democracy: Political Economy and Plural Society' - were co-published by PREMIUM TIMES Books and the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD).
The others are 'Christianity and Democracy in Nigeria' and 'Family, Identity, School, State: A memoir'.
'Identity, Authoritarianism and Democracy: A reader on politics in Nigeria: The selected scholarly works of Jibril Ibrahim' was also previewed at the ceremony.
The others were other authors. They are 'Christianity and Democracy in Nigeria: Church Leaders' by Matthew A. Ojo and 'Christianity and Democracy in Nigeria: The Churches' by Ogoh Alubo
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About Prof Jibrin Ibrahim
Mr Ibrahim marked his 70th birthday on Saturday, 30 November.
Born in 1954 in Kano State, Mr Ibrahim attended the Roman Catholic Primary School in Sabon Gari, Kano, and continued at the esteemed Barewa College in Zaria where received a bachelor's degree in political science. He advanced his education at Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, earning a master's degree in political science in 1977 and a master's degree in 1983. He obtained his doctorate in Politics from the University of Bordeaux in France.
He was a Professor of Political Science at Babcock University, Ilishan, and a Research Professor at the Institute of Federalism in Fribourg, Switzerland.
He is currently the Chair of the Editorial Board of Premium Times.
Mr Ibrahim is a Senior Fellow with the Centre for Democracy and Development, CDD and was previously its Director.
He has lectured, published and consulted extensively on democratisation and governance in Africa. He is a well-regarded leader in civil society and was the Chair of the West Africa Civil Society Forum.
He was also a member of the Electoral Reform Committee established by President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua and has observed elections in Nigeria, Ghana, Malawi, Togo, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia and Guinea for the Centre for Democracy and Development, Economic Community of West African States, the Carter Centre and the Commonwealth.
He was the founding Director of Global Rights in Nigeria, an international human rights NGO, and served in the leadership of several national and international advocacy and research networks of constitutional reform, electoral reform and civil society strengthening.
For over a decade, he has written weekly columns for. newspapers.
