ABUJA – Africa Vision 525 Initiative, an NGO has called for urgent need for African Scholars and Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to undertake election focus research to identify electoral crises and violence.
Mr Okello Oculi, the Executive Director of the NGO made this known in a workshop on Election Research on Thursday in Abuja.
Oculi said that it had become imperative to develop urgent scholars for election research in the country as elections in the country needed more attention to reduce violence and crises.
He said that the research would need the support of local sources such as Tertiary Education Fund (TETFUND).
He acknowledged that TETFUND had created a window of support for the research for publication in journals and books by academics in Nigerian universities.
According to him, the 2011 elections raised a lot of crises and violence in the country, whereby no fewer than 800 people were killed during and after the election.
He commended former President Goodluck Jonathan for accepting defeat to avert electoral violence and the loss of innocent lives across the country.
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“The fact is that the former president congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari long before the announcement of the final result completely changed the chemistry of the nation.
“If elections pose danger to national security and stability, it becomes pertinent for scholars to investigate and do a research and inform Policy Makers on their finding,’’ he said.
He recalled that Ahmadu Bello University in 1995 conducted a research funded by the UNDP on massive dissolution in leadership, whereby people were disenchanted at the local, state and federal levels.
He said that the result of the research created yearning for good leadership that would fight corruption in the system and move the country forward.
Alhaji Alkassum Abba, the former Vice Chancellor, Adamawa State University said that the call for urgent election research was to know the cause of electoral violence and to proffer solution for future elections.
In his speech, Mr Wole Olaoye, the Columnist for Daily Trust and a member noted that history was no longer offered in schools to enable Nigerian students to know their origin and the background of the country.
Olaoye urged policy makers to revive education system for Nigeriam students to know the history of the country rather than keeping them in the dark. (NAN)
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