An Imo Based Peace and Conflict Resolution Practitioner, Sir Chidi Emeagi says the just concluded political party primaries across the country has actually opened a flood gate of conflicts and squabbles that may precipitate age long acrimony capable of threatening the very peace of Nigeria’s larger society if something urgent is not done.
Emeagi, a mediator and conciliator, explained that a situation where supposed winners of primary elections were either coerced to unwillingly withdraw from the race or be rigged out on broad day light whilst the elections were going on, remain a manifest dictatorship and oppression that could leave the victims with no other option than resorting to self help which would certainly affect the entire society at the long run if nothing is done to nip it in the bud.
Emeagi who spoke to NIGERIAN NEWSGUIDE weekend said the recent political party primaries particularly the major ones was marred by the highest degree of irregularities, manipulations and oppressive tendencies that had pitched the “losers” against the “winners”.
He noted that the conflicts emanating from the manhandling of the said elections would seriously affect the performance of the political parties involved at the main polls.
According to Sir Chidi Emeagi, the fact that the new electoral laws do not permit losers to defect to other political platforms to possibly clinch tickets clearly indicates that there is fire on the mountains that needs to be quenched before it razes the mountains and the inhabitants down .
“These men and women that reportedly lost their primaries are not smiling no matter how they are pretending at the moment. They are stranded and feel betrayed, oppressed and given high dosage of injustice.
The Leaders of the political parties that dispensed this high dosage of injustice are not even helping matters. They are threatening the “losers” with fire and brimstone thus adding salt to injury. I think what should be done to contain these myriads of conflicts that may snowball into wild fires, is to announce the real winners and ask those wrongfully handpicked to wait for another season.
Our political parties know those that won the primary elections, they should stop playing the ostrich. Again, if the option of announcing the real winners is already overtaken by time and events which I doubt, then peace and conflict resolution mechanisms should be activated wherein the roots of the conflicts should be dispassionately looked into and truce brokered in the end.
What we have at the moment among the reported losers is negative peace, it doesn’t last long because the injustice and remote causes of the conflicts and the inherent fault lines have not been properly situated and addressed.
Positive peace is only achievable when non- interested parties, I mean when peace and conflict resolution experts are consulted to possibly broker a truce among the losers and the winners to make way for a win-win situation”, Emeagi concluded.
