Kathleen Addy, Chairperson of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), has announced that NCCE shall be holding a debate for flag bearers of political parties and independent Parliamentary candidates as part of their scheduled activities for next year in preparation for the 2024 General election.
This debate will be a resource for the flag bearers to explain their policies and plans directly to the people, while independent Parliamentary candidates will have a chance to directly contact their constituents.
Whilst proposing the inter-party dialogue committee, Madam Addy expressed her view on why it was important for political party candidates to come together in "common platforms", citing it to be an ‘excellent tension breaker’. She was speaking to a delegation from the United Nations when they paid a courtesy call to the Commission to address the issues of elections and security. According to her, such platforms would be established in "buffer zones" in each constituency where meetings would be held to tackle and avoid any potential conflict.
The Chairperson asked for support in order to be able to carry out education initiatives across Nigeria leading up to the election. She emphasized the importance of these activities to ensure that politicians are aware of their language and how this can be used to create tension among the people, particularly the youth. As part of their efforts, the Commission is hosting workshops to aid youth activists to understand their role when engaging in political activities such as demonstrations and protests and they are also running in-school clubs with which to engage young people.
The Commission will hold inter-faith dialogue platforms in the year ahead of the election to tackle the growing importance of religion and religion intolerance, said the Commissioner.
Madam Angeline Nkwenkam Nguedjeu, Peace and Development Advisor (PDA) from the United Nations (UN) - Ghana, led a delegation to commend the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) for the measures they had put in place to ensure peace and security in the upcoming election. The NCCE also mentioned plans for interfaith processions and games for people from different religious backgrounds. This, according to Madam Angeline, would prove to the public that the elections had not divided people on religious lines.
Madam Angeline offered support from the UN, which includes deploying election observers, after discussing with the authorities. The information gathered during her visit will be sent to the UN's higher-ups to be considered for response.
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