Emmanuel Ukudolo
November 17, 2015 – Renowned anti-corruption crusader, General Ishola Williams (rtd) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to “replace the Ministry of Women Affairs with a Ministry of Family Affairs if the government is to effectively address the root causes of violence and Internally Displaced Persons in the North-east of Nigeria.
Williams who was speaking on the root causes of violence and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the Northeast of Nigeria said there is the need to distinquish between politics and power.
“We need to urgently redefine politics and power and the linkage between the two with money. In addition, faith, beliefs and action require two-pronged approach: Counter narratives in terms of beliefs, and guidance and role models in terms of action without politics. It is also important to emphasize family (e.g. Ministry of family affairs instead of Women Affairs) with emphasis equally on girl-child and boy-child. We cannot continue to ignore the key role of boys and young men in perpetrating conflict.”
“We must transform the hands that kill, maim and destroy into hands that can save and rebuild. We must do away with all the jargons in terms of peace-keeping, peace-making, peace-building, conflict transformation, etc and come up with innovative sustainable framework for crises/conflict prevention and mitigation at local and national level. For Nigeria, continuous political restructuring with emphasis on subsidiarity is absolutely important,” General Williams said.
According to him, a new institutional arrangement is required at national and regional level for making life better for IDPs, returnees, persons of concern and victims of terrorism.
Also speaking, Hon Justice Samuel C. Oseji on his part called for proper coordination of the victims of Boko Haram to enable them have access to medical treatment and other necessary support.
He criticized “the financial recklessness of leadership and urged the citizens and civil society organisations to ask questions on allocations of budgets and for what purposes the country’s resources and wealth are being spent.
