Measure public opinion, mood of various ethnic Nationalities to end insecurity in Nigeria- Sen.Anyim
Gracia Simeon -Abakaliki
The former Senate President and former Secretary Government of Federation Senator Anyim Pius Anyim has called on the federal government to measure the public opinions, mood of various ethnic Nationalities to end killings and other insecurity ravaging the country.
Sen. Anyim, disclosed this in a statement made available to Standard times on Thursday.
According to Anyim, constant measuring, monitoring, and analyzing trends in opinion and attitudes from every tribe, will help policymakers provide policy responses to feelings of alienation, marginalization and anger.
He then call for equity, fairness, Justice and equality among all tribes to calm conflicts in the country.
His words” pre-modern nation differences will remain a trigger for conflicts except if the modern state is properly welded together by equity, fairness, justice and equality and at times by human and economic developments. I dare say that building a nation out of multi-ethnic nationalities requires deliberate planning and effort at all stages. It requires conscious and constant review and management of the conflict triggers that ultimately undermine national consensus and unity.
“In our case, may I ask, have we ever measured public opinion and mood of the various ethnic nationalities in Nigeria since after the war or even since after independence? After the war, we changed from parliamentary to presidential system of Government.
“Have we measured public opinion on which works better for Nigeria? Have we tested public opinion about our federation among the multiple nationalities in the country? I must say that constant measuring, monitoring, and analyzing trends in opinion and attitudes will help policymakers provide policy responses to feelings of alienation, marginalization or anger. I cannot over-emphasize the need for academic research and statistics to measure views, the mood of society, beliefs, trends and perceptions.
” In my opinion, our response in this regard has been rather uncoordinated, haphazard and devoid of a coherent strategy backed by data. In 2011, Roper Center, one hundred and fifty years after the American civil war, conducted studies and opinion polls to measure public perception about the cause and impact of the American civil war.
“These triggers will always spring up as the different ethnic nationalities interact and compete for space. It is the responsibility of the leadership at all levels to evolve broad based strategies to pre-empt the triggers and diffuse them before they snowball into national crisis.
“Civil war in the context of modern nations states is always a cause for concern because it is usually borne out of misunderstanding between or among communities or ethnic groups that hitherto came together to form a modern nation.
“Research has shown, that pre-modern nation differences will remain a trigger for conflicts except if the modern state is properly welded together by equity, fairness, justice and equality and at times by human and economic developments.
“I dare say that building a nation out of multi-ethnic nationalities requires deliberate planning and effort at all stages. It requires conscious and constant review and management of the conflict triggers that ultimately undermine national consensus and unity”
