The Director, Justice Development and Peace Initiative (JDPI) in Ekiti State and a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Ekiti, Reverend Father Emmanuel Kayode Akingbade, X-rays activities of the JDPI for year 2020 and gave highlights of the plans for year 2021 as well as its positive impacts on the Ekiti State government policies in this interview with EMMANUEL ADENIRAN.
Can you share with us what JDPI, Ekiti State has been engaged in?
Justice Development and Peace Initiative (JDPI) is the social arm of the Catholic Diocese of Ekiti State and being the social arm, it is the unit through which the Church interfaces with the society particularly on the issues affecting indigent members of the society. The Church is the voice of the voiceless and so, the Justice Development and Peace Initiative is established to speak for the people on matters of justice and matters of developments with the overall goal of achieving peaceful co-existence. We thank God for the gift of year 2020. The year eventually didn’t go the way we anticipated it. We never anticipated Covid-19 pandemic and ENDSARS struggles. These two events happened and reshaped the year. Our goal in the JDPI like I earlier said is to achieve the mission of the Diocese for the poor. To the glory of God, the Catholic Diocese of Ekiti State was able to support Ekiti State Government with about N1million for palliatives for the people. The Church also expended a couple of millions of Naira on additional palliatives for the people. Apart from these, JDPI did other things for the people.
Like what?
For example, we had interactions with the inmates at the Ado Ekiti Correctional Centre formerly known as Prison Services. We were able to donate items like slippers, towels, sanitary items, toiletries and other essential items to them. They were delighted. We also supported some other groups and that is what we were able to do during the Covid-19 period in the state.
What were you able to do in terms of educating the public about making sure the Covid-19 protocols were observed to the letter?
I was about mentioning that as a matter of fact. The ENDSARS came as a struggle to give the country a new face. We contributed to that struggle by organizing a symposium tagged “Does Nigeria Need A New Constitution?” Eminent personalities in the state participated in that exercise and it was a huge success and the deliberations resulted in a communiqué which we shared with the public. The participants agreed among other things that our Constitution might not be the best. There is even no best Constitution anywhere in the World. It is the people that make the Constitution to work. So, more than any other thing, we need to make our Constitution work. The participants equally agreed that the Constitution we are using at present is a document that did not emanate from the people themselves. So when the Constitution says ‘we the people’, that phrase is more of a lie and so, to move this country forward, there is need to bring on board a Constitution that could be truly said to have emanated from the people.
We also interacted with the public through our radio programme “Know your Rights” on Progress FM every Monday from 3:30pm – 4:30pm. There we shared with the people matters relating to human rights. With regards to educating the people about the covid-19 pandemic therefore, our focus then was to encourage the Ekiti people to adhere to the Covid-19 protocol. Apart from that, we also had what we called ‘a town hall meeting’ which was an interface between the people and the government. We invited Commissioners for Health, Education, Science and Technology, Information, Trade and Industries, Youth and Sports Agriculture and Food Security. Though the Commissioners could not come themselves because of the retreat scheduled for that day, they sent worthy representatives and it was a very wonderful day. The essence of that event was for the people to listen to those who are managing their affairs. Take for example, the representative of the Commissioner for Education said that tuition is free up to the Tertiary Institutions in Ekiti State, and the people said no. He was made to retract the statement. For us, it was a very beautiful thing that such happened.
Sir, what about Information and ICT, is there any programme by JDPI in this area to train young adults who have graduated from school but are yet to be employed?
Yes. Justice Development and Peace Initiative was able to support 18 young persons in the areas of Agriculture. They were trained and they were empowered and also about 20 farmers were equally supported to do dry season farming. We work based on project schedules. For the young people, apart from enlightening them through our human rights radio programme, we also formed human rights’ clubs. For instance, we formed human rights’ clubs in two schools; one in Ikole and one in Igede. About ICT training, we have provisions for different trainings, but these trainings have to be taken one at a time. The ones that we were able to do are the ones that I just mentioned.
Going away a little bit away from that and looking at the current government in Ekiti State which has been in the saddle for over 2 years now, I will like you to point out areas in the policies of the government that you think is not really okay or has been a kind of challenge…
Thank you for this wonderful and beautiful question. Now, as an Institution, our mandate is to build a very good relationship between the government and the people. It seems that there is lack of trust in our society at present. Generally, people don’t believe whatever the government is saying and that is not going to move us anywhere. And so, for us, the first half of last year, we carried out a survey on assessment of government’s performance and that survey was an opportunity for us to ask the people questions about the way they saw the government and the report of that survey was shared with the government. We were not surprised that there was a reshuffle of cabinet shortly after we submitted that report. Now, concerning the areas I think the government needs to improve, seriously speaking, for a government to succeed, it needs to be trusted. Trust is key. Take for instance, there is no trust in the government of the day; if it is saying there is Covid-19, people are saying where is it? Government is so empowered and so structured to see more than the people. When you go back to the philosophy of John Locke, you would see that we need government to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. That was what brought about the formation of government. As such, when a government is not trusted, there is a serious problem. If you ask me of the main problem that we have in our society today, I would say that our government is not trusted. I want to advice government to make itself trustworthy. Lord Denning said that justice is delivered when an average man on the street nods his head in approval. Justice is not abstract. So, if government is serious about its policies, if government wants to be taken seriously, then government needs to convince the people that it is very serious with whatever it is presenting to the people. At present, it seems that our government is one entity, and the people is another entity.
Specifically, in terms of government programme about welfare of the people, do you think Dr. Kayode Fayemi’s administration has done enough?
It depends on what you mean by enough. We need to be sincere with ourselves. What would be the yardstick for saying that government’s performance is enough. We had that problem when we wanted to carry out our survey. At the end of the day, we limited ourselves to government’s constitutional obligations. If you talk about payment of workers’ salaries, Ekiti State may say that it is limited with regards to resources, and therefore it is not paying as Lagos State or Rivers State. I mentioned trust, if the resources of Ekiti State is N10, 000 and we expect the government to spend N20, 000, where do we expect the State to get the additional N10, 000? The people of the state might find it difficult to follow the government that is saying the resources of the state is N10, 000 whereas government officials are seen spending N40, 000 for themselves. It would be very difficult to believe such government. The Yoruba would say that it is only God that can judge the person that shares meat with his mouth. I find it very difficult to say whether government has done enough on this or government has not done enough on that. This is because, what you see as being enough might for me be something far from being average.
Going to the issues of security, you will agree with me that recently there have been cases of kidnap of some notable people within the state. I will like you to give your assessment of the government on the issue of security and also the position of JDPI as an organization.
Security, kidnapping! I was a victim of kidnapping in this state six years ago and so, I wish that word could be deleted from our national lexicon. Be that as it may, so many persons have been kidnapped recently – I think one Commissioner with one other person were kidnapped last year along Isan-Iludun axis, I think that particular road is becoming notorious for kidnapping. I wish that government can pay more attention to that road. In the same vein, our father, Alhaji Akinbami was kidnapped recently in his filling station. The man that was kidnapped in Ijan in his farm in Ijan-Ilupeju Axis, I think he was found. I am trying to say that, to the glory of God, all the people kidnapped last year, whether they paid ransom or the security agencies rose up to the occasion, were recovered alive. I am glad that no life was lost compared to a year ago when a young vibrant lawyer was kidnapped and he was found dead. Having said that, we need to know that every society comprises of human beings, good and bad. The first society from the biblical point of view was the society of Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel, and as small as that society was, somebody killed somebody. In the New Testament, the disciples of Jesus that He formed constituted a society which can be called a Society of Jesus Ministry. A member of that unit betrayed his master. So, as you can see, wickedness is as old as man. Even in the book of Genesis, it is said that God regretted creating man when he saw the quantum of wickedness locked in his heart. And so, there is no time we will not be having bad and evil persons in our society. In the circumstance, I think it is important to charge our security agencies to rise up and do more – protection of life and properties is the first obligation of government. Man is man irrespective of his colour, tongue, tribe, language, or place of origin. Whatever evil we experience here, the white people experience the same thing but the difference is they have a good system to track criminals while here, people commit crimes and go scot-free. Government should improve on our security measures.
What is your suggestion on tackling the menace?
We, as individual persons don’t have the resources to track criminals. Government gets a huge sum of money in the name of security votes. In other words, money is voted for our security. Technology has improved to such level that we can be located from anywhere in the world as we are having this conversation. Such technological devices may only be afforded by the government which controls our resources. My appeal to government is to take protection of lives and properties serious. This obligation should be placed as first line of action. Make this your priority, that as a government, when it is time to do a head count, nobody under your care is lost and no property is found missing.
What activities has JDPI mapped out for year 2021?
This is a new year and we are praying to God to make this year of abundant blessings for us. So, for us at Justice Development and Peace Initiative, we are looking at the sector responsible for dispensing of justice. We want to see a quicker dispensation of justice and we want to see justice delivered to indigent persons without delay. We want to see more of town hall meetings between the government and the people. In this year 2021, we want to support our farmers to be able to add values to their farm produce. We look towards establishing garri processing centers, plantain processing centers, yam flours processing centers for our farmers. We are also looking out to enlighten the populace more on matters of human rights.
On agriculture, if you look around, the activities of Fulani herdsmen have been discouraging people from going to practice farming, what is JDPI as an organization doing to make sure farmers are encouraged regardless of the activities of these herdsmen?
JDPI is interested in mutual relationship between the cattle-rearers, the herdsmen and the farmers. Farmers need cattle rearers, cattle rearers also need farmers. We have peace committee in some places like Ifaki, Itapaji, and Iyemero at present and the essence of putting these committees in place is for peace to reign between the herdsmen and the farmers. We are at present engaging the government of the day on production of agricultural policy so that we can have a blueprint for agricultural practices in the state. More than that, we will still be the governments for protection of lives and properties of the farmers as our overall goal is peace. What we are promoting is peaceful co-existence among the herdsmen, farmers, Fulani, Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, etc. In our radio programs and other enlightenment programs, these issues are not downplayed at all.
Sir, before your closing remarks, we are in 2021 now and by 2022 another governorship election will take place in Ekiti State. What is the preparation of JDPI towards the coming election?
Man is a political animal meaning that every human being has affiliations – I am affiliated to red, you are affiliated to green. Election should not be a do or die affair. Election is a platform for competition between many persons for just one office or post. We encourage people to participate in elections. Our first charge is to encourage the electorate. The turnout for the last election was not worthy of celebration. It didn’t look like we recorded up to 50% turnout. Our first charge is to encourage people to turn out and why they need to exercise their rights. If you have the opportunity to participate and you fail to do so, do not complain about the outcome. JDPI will not help anybody or tell anybody to vote for a particular person. Our involvement is in enlightenment of the people, monitoring of the electoral processes and giving of credible reports. As another opportunity will come our way to elect our leaders, let us think right and do the right thing to get the right persons in the right places to do the right things for things to be right with us.
What is your advice to Ekiti politicians?
My advice to them is that if you win, that might not mean that you are the best. You can demonstrate that you are the best if you perform well. There is this saying “success is the best form of revenge”. You do not succeed by winning election; you succeed by doing well and performing well in the office you have been elected into. Winning is an opportunity to write your name the way you choose.
What are your closing remarks?
It is a new year which offers us a new beginning. There is nothing we can do to change the past but the newness of the time can make us to redirect our lives and make today to be better than yesterday. So generally, to the people, don’t regard yesterday as your best, your yesterday is just a beginning, today can be better.
