COMMUNIQUE ISSUED AT THE END THE 2ND COMMUNITY SECURITY ARCHITECTURE DIALOGUE ON EARLY WARNING AND EARLY RESPONSE, ORGANISED BY CIVIL SOCIETY LEGISLATIVE ADVOCACY CENTRE (CISLAC)/TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL IN NIGERIA (TI-NIGERIA) WITH SUPPORT FROM OPEN SOCIETY FOUNDATION AFRICA (OSF-AFRICA) HELD AT AMBER RESIDENCE, IKEJA LAGOS ON 16TH OCTOBER, 2024.
PREAMBLE:
CISLAC/TI-Nigeria with support from Open Society Foundation Africa (OSF-Africa) organised Community Security Architecture Dialogue on Early Warning and Early Response. The Dialogue aimed at strengthening local participation and expand community-based early warning and early response network and system. It brought under one roof, a selection of Traditional Rulers, Community Observers, members of the Community Response Networks, Security Actors, Civil Society and Local Government officials, to analyse early warning information and coordinate response efforts. There was an “Opening Remark” from the Executive Director of CISLAC, Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani). The Dialogue had some technical sessions with Presentations titled CSAD: A critical reflection from previous engagement and Building community resilience against threats: the prospects, challenges and way forward. It was attended by about 30 participants. After brainstorming exhaustively on various thematic issues, the following observations and recommendations were made:
OBERVATIONS:
As disasters and other threats become increasingly common, especially those occasioned by climate change, increasing globalization, and urbanization, hence, building resilience has become imperative to enhance communities’ adaptation and coping capacity in the face of difficulty and adversity.
While the recently promulgated financial autonomy for Local Governments provides enabling opportunity for enhanced Community Security Architecture system, institutionalising proactive transparent and accountability mechanisms have become imperative for impactful implementation.
Porous international borders with unmanned entries and exits enabling infiltration of undocumented nationals pose a significant challenge to resilience building against threats at all levels.
Unregulated movements of locally-fabricated weapons coupled with poorly controlled illicit ammunition, exacerbate community susceptibility to threats, while hampering their coping capacity.
Lack of synergy, duplicated institutions with over-lapping mandates hinder adequate resource allocation and capacity to facilitate rapid response to reported threats.
Poor accountability of the implementation of Security Vote constitutes a major barrier to anticipated effort at bridging the gaps in resource allocation to strengthen Early Warning/Early Response system at sub-national levels.
Lack of trust between community and response institution, inadequate intra-community cooperation on communal rules and regulations as well as systemic bribery and corruption at institutional levels are major impediments to proactive and inclusive dialogues at raising public consciousness and sensitivity against threats.
Advent of social media with growing misinformation and unverifiable facts, especially on social media platforms pose significant threats to proactive effort at building synergy and cooperation between community and response institutions.
RECOMMENDATIONS
We, the participants recommended as follows:
Building community resilience through social connectedness and disaster preparedness to promote various systems that contribute to community’s overall health.
Harmonise for adequate regulation, the existing self-regulated public structures operating at all levels, to prevent tension-propelled operational duplicity for enhanced synergy, transparency, accountability and coordination in operational activities.
Strengthening the capacity of community management and securing communal resolution/buy-in to promote efficient operationalisation of Community Security Architecture system.
Creating a Community-based Peace Initiative to uphold monthly security dialogue on threat signals, while eliciting timely response.
Enhancing community sensitisation on EWER with training and retraining programmes for response institutions to building synergy in reporting and response to threats.
Strengthening operational mandate and capacity of existing centralised database like LASRRA to ensure demographic accountability for adequate planning and enhanced institutional response capability to threats.
Promoting inclusive participation in Community Security Architecture system and dialogues, to harness communal support for efficient functionality of Early Warning and Early Response structure.
Signed:
Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani)
Executive Director, CISLAC/TI-Nigeria
G.O Lawal
COAPPT
Monsuroh Abdulsemiu
Independent journalist
