Council of the Wise   DOWNLOAD REPORT 

The second edition of the key governance issues to be addressed in the 4-serie policy monitoring dialogue hosted by the Savannah Centre and funded by the Ford Foundation. This 2nd edition of PMDP event is titled “Political Leadership, Security and Governance as National Questions”, designed specifically to address the state of insecurity in Nigeria, using a holistic and pro-active approach, by addressing the growing incidences of youth restiveness in the country with separatist ideologies as recorded in the South-east and Niger Delta. Also, internal-communal conflicts/herdsmen and pastoralist clashes in the North-west and North central, violent and political extremism in the North-east (Boko Haram), North-west Shiite Sheik El-Zakzaky led Islamic Movement of Nigeria among others.   DOWNLOAD REPORT

Against this backdrop, the United Nations Office of the Special Adviser on Africa (OSAA) and the Savannah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy and Development (SCDDD) will convene an Expert Group Meeting on “The Role of African Civil Society in Preventing Violent Extremism in Africa”. The meeting will take place on 28 – 29 November 2017 in Abuja, Nigeria. The EGM provides a platform to highlight the important role of civil society organizations in preventing violent extremism in Africa as well as amplify civil society perspectives and examine ways to enhance their effectiveness, capacity and international support.       DOWNLOAD PICTURES DAY I DOWNLOAD PICTURES DAY II DOWNLOAD CONCEPT NOTE

The first edition of the policy monitoring Dialogues centered on “State of the Nigerian Economy: Threats, Challenges, and Opportunities”, the Second Edition was on “Political Leadership, Governance, and National Security”. It was on this basis that Savannah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy and Development (SCDDD), with the support from the Ford Foundation, sort to organise the third edition of the policy monitoring Dialogue in Abuja on the 13th and 14th of July, 2017 at Ladi Kwali Hall of Sheraton Hotel and Towers Abuja with the theme: Unity and National Integration: Threats and Opportunities for National Development. The Third Policy Monitoring Dialogue pursue to build on PMD 1 & 2, considering the strong interconnection between national integration, national security, economic development and good governance. DOWNLOAD REPORT

BACKGROUND Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and the seventh most populous in the world. Its population as at 2006 was estimated at 167.8 million and a registered voting population of 68.9 million of which 29.4million actually voted in the 2015 General Elections, a population that is higher than the voting population of any other country in Africa. This makes her Africa’s largest democracy. 2. The 2015 General Elections in Nigeria were held against the backdrop of high insecurity, economic downturn, deep political divisions and public apprehension, particularly about the continued unity and stability of the country. Further challenges included terrorism, and insurgency in the North- East region; marked decline in the international market price of oil and the attendant decline in the national revenue and the international value of the Naira; high poverty rate; huge unemployed youth population; the proliferation of small arms and light weapons; weak national institutions and the virtual disconnect between governance and the people which had, over the years, entrenched sub-regional and national insecurity. These challenges, especially the breakdown of “social contract” between the governments and the people, as well as increasing radicalisation of distressed groups are not limited to Nigeria alone but her neighbouring countries, the Sahelo-Saharan region, the Horn of Africa and indeed, Central Africa.