Isaac Shobayo
The International Organization for Peace Building and Social Justice (PSJ) and the Conference of Autochthonous Ethnic Communities Development Association (CONAECDA) have called on the federal and state governments to ensure those displaced from their ancestral lands by terrorists return to their ancestral homes.
Addressing journalists in Jos, Plateau State, as part of the activities to mark the 2023 World Day for Social Justice, the Executive Director Peace and Social Justice, Ishaya Inuwa Durkwa said apart from improving the security situation, there is the need to care for the displaced people while the security agencies and the government should reclaim such communities and return them to their rightful owners.
“It is important for the governments at state and national levels to ensure that apart from improving the security situation, they achieve the restoration of communities to their homelands, care for the displaced, restore livelihoods, and provide qualitative education and employment for Nigerians across all skills and especially in the areas of agriculture, green economy, digital economies, and service sector, including care for the elderly.
“There are cases of land grabbing, villages that were sacked, houses burned and destroyed, farmlands destroyed, kidnappings, banditry, and all forms of crisis from the North East to the North West, North Central, South-South, South West, and South East.” No geopolitical region is spared.
“Now, all these atrocities going on only prove that the scale of justice must be balanced.” When we rehabilitate the aggressor, we must rehabilitate the victims through acts of restorative justice.
Whatever happens in the elections of 2023, whoever emerges as our next leaders, we call on them to balance the scale of justice.
The Executive Director pointed out that Nigerians cannot continue to play the ostrich, thinking all is well, whereas the nation is imploding, and called on the government to
to double up on ensuring that its teaming unemployed youths are gainfully employed, otherwise they become a ready tool to perpetuate anarchy.
He called on the government to bring justice to orphans and widows and ensure victims of injustice are adequately catered, adding that this will go a long way toward breaking the circle of violence.
Durkwa appealed to the government and people of influence to come together and see that justice is given to people waiting for justice, saying that justice delayed is justice denied.
He urged the political class to embrace justice and fair play as the nation prepares for Saturday’s election, adding that no nation can progress and fully develop without social justice.
The Executive Director said there is injustice everywhere in Nigeria, added that it appears that the Nigerian government, whether by commission or omission, is either willing but not able or able but not willing to solve these problems.
“Therefore, they do not give attention to social justice issues.” Somewhere, we believe that our government can deal with the problems of agitations, killings, kidnappings, land grabbing, and banditry. Our armed forces were gallant and showed strength of character and heroism in dealing with insurrections and civil unrests across many African nations.
“Our soldiers served in ECOMOG; they played important roles in restoring peace in Liberia and many other places.” Therefore, we have what it takes to deal with our own issues. Sadly, even our security forces have not been spared. Many fell to the swords and bullets of aggressors in extreme circumstances. We are left with throngs of widows and orphans of our fallen heroes.
“This is why our government must be seen to demonstrate the will to attend to social justice issues.” It has been said that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
But we must also salute our government’s efforts in the many ways that they have demonstrated or will the sword of justice in our nation. This is demonstrated through a series of programs or interventions to negotiate with agitators to deradicalize members of militant groups and crush defiant groups.
He, therefore, called on the government to strengthen such interventions but added that as good as these interventions are, sometimes Nigerians can’t help but question the scale of justice.
His words: “To this we say, the scale of justice is not balanced because while we deradicalize and reintegrate militant groups, in which case they are the aggressors, we leave their victims unattended to.” Many of the victims are women who have become widows, some are children who have become orphans, and all together, they live as strangers in IDP camps and as needy in their fatherland.
