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| L-R: Speaker John Lebo, Messrs Obasesam Okoi, Wofai Ewa and Dodeye Arikpo |
Efio-Ita Nyok|4 May 2018
In reaction to the resolution made by the 8th Cross River State House of Assembly (CRSHA) on 2nd of May to set up a ‘commission of inquiry’ in respect of the communal land dispute ongoing between Inyima in Yakurr LGA and Oyadama in Obubra LGA, all in Cross River state, a peace expert and former faculty member of Global College at the University of Winnipeg, Dr Obasesam Okoi, has discredited the move made by the 8th CRSHA NegroidHaven can report authoritatively.
Okoi who reacted yesterday said that the news of setting up of a commission of inquiry by the CRSHA was a disappointing one. For Okoi, the 8th Assembly failed to provide a solution to the crisis. The Yakurr indigene who confessed to his expecting an innovative approach described the resort to commissions of inquiry as outdated. He suggested a scientific approach.
His words, ‘I don’t agree with the speaker that a commission of inquiry is necessary because from the debate, the house members seem to know the cause of the problem. What we expected was a solution addressing the problems they have identified. And a commission of inquiry isn’t that solution.
‘A commission of inquiry seems like a waste of resources because historically, such models have never contributed in resolving any conflict in Cross River beyond creating dozens of reports’.
Continuing Okoi noted that, ‘I feel that no serious effort is made to diagnose these conflicts because the process itself is economically expensive and intellectually laborious, requiring significant resources and analytical expertise to sequence the lifecycle of a particular conflict event, much less the spillover effects which often arise from these communal tensions especially in Yakurr and Obubra communities. But the government is not lacking resources. What is lacking is policy direction.
‘Truth is, conflict analysis has gone scientific and we must follow innovative practices to addressing these complex governance challenges that find us collectively vulnerable. Unless members of such commissions demonstrate similar levels of scientific expertise, knowledge of the conflict ecosystem, and the ethics of stakeholder engagement, they will never be able to explore constrictive solutions’.
Speaking earlier, Okoi asserted that, ‘the House of Assembly have failed to provide a viable solution but reverted to the old system of conflict management that involves setting up commissions of inquiries to investigate the causes of conflict and make recommendations to the government which, in all known cases in Cross River, are never implemented.
‘Why do we require a commission of inquiry when the House of Assembly members have already concluded through their debates that the conflict is caused by land even though none of the debaters has actually undertaken a careful diagnosis of the problem? How did they arrive at such a conclusion? Assuming a land dispute actually culminated in the level of destruction in these communities, then what is the solution?’
Corroborating Okoi, another concerned Yakurr indigene, namely, Mr Wofai Ewa, identified lack of implementation of reports from previous commissions of inquiry as one of the reasons for the reoccurrence of intercommunal dispute. His words, ‘CRS already has several reports from past Commissions of Inquiry previously set up by past administrations, and a failure of government to IMPLEMENT these previous resolutions was part of the reason for the recurrence of Communal Disputes.
‘Secondly, the Deputy Governor is in most cases, the statutory head of such Panels and Commissions and should have led the process of REVIEWING AND IMPLEMENTING past resolutions.
The process of setting up another Commission of Inquiry by the Executive or Legislature in the year 2018, truly seems like we have no clue what to do or we intentionally have not the POLITICAL WILL to end these Disputes.
‘Nevertheless, I will wait to hear and learn more about the thoughts behind this new Inquiry Commission and why it hopes to be the last or different’.
In another vein, a security expert by name Mr Dodeye Arikpo while identifying a handful of causes to the conflict among which are distrust, land disputes, outdated traditional practices, etc urged youths of Cross River Central against being used to perpetuate violence. According to him, ‘It is evident that in recent times, several social and political issues have threatened that common heritage. Distrust, politics, competition for scarce resources and age long rivalries have largely contributed to these conflicts, occasioned by land disputes and outdated traditional practices.
‘I wish to therefore urge our people, especially the youths of the Central Senatorial District, to please give peace a chance and refrain from these persistent wars and conflicts which greatly stunt the development f our very blessed communities.
‘The youths should also not allow themselves to be used to fight meaningless wars that only sometimes help to boost the evil agenda of certain persons.
It will be recalled that the 8th CRSHA had passed resolutions bordering on the Inyima versus Oyadama intercommunal dispute in her seating on 2nd May where she decided that 1. The Assembly should embark on, on the spot assessment visit to both communities
2. Setting up of a Commission of Inquiry to look into the remote and possible cause of as well as proffer solutions to the communal crisis
3. All elected officers, appointees of the government from the areas, the Nigerian Police, State Security Adviser, Divisional Police Officer, traditional rulers, etc should appear before the Assembly to give explanations on the recurrence of the crisis.
Efio-Ita Nyok
Is the Blogger-in-Chief, Editor-in-Chief & Publisher of NegroidHaven
