By Jeleel Olawale
A non government organisation, the Brain Builders’ Youth Development Initiative (BBYDI), has called on security agencies, traditional rulers and political stakeholders to do their best in curbing electoral violence in Nigeria.
The Global Director Of Brain Builders’ Youth Development Initiative (BBYDI),
Mr Olasupo Abideen made the call on Wednesday, at the unveiling of the Election Violence Incidence Tracker Dashboard, and Launching of Issue Brief, Factsheet And Research titled “Election Violence Landscape in Nigeria: A Critical Intelligence Analysis From 1999 To 2022, held in Osogbo.”
Abideen also charged religious leaders and traditional believers to tell their followers why they should discourage people from involving in electoral violence for development of the country.
He said that, there is need for holistic approach to resolving electoral violence across board.
He admonished parents to warn their children not to allow themselves to be used for election disturbance.
He noted that the NGO will collaborate with political parties, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security agencies and media to ensure free, fair and credible election.
According to him, “Election violence in Nigeria is a major problem that threatens the stability of the country and the well-being of its citizens. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, has a long history of election-related violence, with incidents ranging from minor scuffles to full-blown sectarian conflicts.”
According to him, “The electoral violence incidence tracker Application (evit.ng) will help mitigate electoral violence not just by monitoring its incidence but also by preventing its occurrence.
“The platform will monitor and report, in real-time, the early warning signs and triggers of electoral violence across the country. We appeal with citizens and security agencies to work with us in achieving this.
“Following this are a Factsheet on election violence in Nigeria, which we use to provide insights into the risks and key indicators of violence during elections, and an issue brief on managing the risks and potential effects of electoral violence ahead of the coming elections,” he said.
Abideen stressed that the BBYDI electoral violence incidence reporting dashboard will enable citizens to report cases of electoral violence in real-time, identify potential risks with an incident analysis dashboard, detect early warning signs, inform relevant stakeholders, and generate actionable reports to identify problem areas throughout the electoral cycle and alert relevant security actors.
“Our solution is not just for gathering data; it is also a very loud town crier that will tell very loudly on provocateurs during the elections. This easy-to-use and mobile-friendly platform will use on-site and geo-location infrastructure to call electoral violence before it occurs. We are very excited about the potential this has for our democracy,” he concluded.