By Mohammed Aliyu
The National Peace Committee, headed by the former Head of State, General Abdulsalam Abubakar (retd.) and other elder statesmen would have been more respected and crucial had they played the committee with the grandeur it deserves. Established in 2014, the committee has not achieved anything following its record. As such, its function is nothing but a jamboree, where aspirants meet and share some private moments, thereby deceiving the gullible who trusted them by their words.
The vulnerability of the committee was so evident in 2019 when one of its members was seen dancing with another aspirant and denouncing the other candidate rather than playing neutral by preaching the peace he claimed to be advocating. Such an immodest attitude alone can create chaos, put doubt in the minds of other aspirants, and ridicule the entire process. Again, no need to mention names but a committee like this ought to have credible individuals that are all respected, who are also mindful of their utterances, actions and even public image – by extension, be less controversial.
To revisit the past, in 2015, President Goodluck Jonathan accepted defeat on his own without any influence from any quarter, as he stated in his book Transitional Hours. In 2019, electorates massively voted for President Buhari, yet no crisis was recorded. Still, the committee’s capacity has not been proven, although they claimed to have calmed Atiku Abubakar, who insistently went to court on his own but failed there.
The 2023 election that brought religion into politics is perhaps dosed with fear of violence, and this is the moment that the peace committee may save the country, but will they? The National Peace Committee is the initiation of some individuals that called themselves ‘Elder Statement’, and members were selected without merit. The peace committee is concerned with only the aftermath of election violence and not other forms of insecurity, let alone proffer solutions to lingering critical issues that the country is bedevilled with now and then. Like the present ASUU strike, agitations, persistent farmer/herder clashes, communal clashes, religious intolerance, and other vital issues that threaten national peace and security that may even not allow any election to hold.
To send a message that the peace committee is not credible, in 2019, PDP presidential aspirant Atiku Abubakar failed to attend the accord signing for reasons known to him. Instead, he went after the public ceremony. Bola Tinubu, another aspirant of APC, again failed to attend the September 2022 Peace Accord. Instead, he sent his running mate, Kashim Shettima. All this weakens the credibility and popularity of the committee. The priority given to candidates rather than parties is a clear sign that the peace agreement has lapses that must be corrected if they want to be relevant in the future. Electorates choose a party, not a candidate, even though they are by extension. Candidates are identified by their parties because, without the platform, they are idle. The peace committee must look inward and prioritise party chairpersons during such occasions. That way, they are dealing with an organisation, not an individual.
In my opinion, the National Peace Committee should be changed to the National Council of Elders, and their mandate should be transformed so that it will have a national look and have representatives from all sections of the country. The members should be credible people who are respected. They should advise the government on solutions to bring lasting peace before, during and after the election circle.
However, the interest of the National Peace Committee is not for peace to reign, nor for good governance but for the personal interest of what they may get in the new government. As such, expect nothing but flaws in their shoddy policies. While they are signing the accord in Abuja, I wish my fellow compatriots would do the same locally since we are the anticipated thugs that will cause violence.
Mohammed Aliyu wrote via aliyu.wasilu@gmail.com.