JULIANA FRANCIS 
Since the advent of the dreaded Islamic sect, Boko Haram, roughly two decades ago, many people have been killed, includ- ing women and children. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 2021 reported that insurgency-related conflicts claimed al- most 350,000 lives in the North-eastern part of Nigeria up till the end of 2020. The Boko Haram insurgency began in July 2009, when the militant Islamist and jihadist rebel group Boko Haram started an armed rebellion against the government of Nigeria. Autonomous groups Boko Haram has fractured into autonomous groups, seizing areas in North- eastern Nigeria, expanding its territo- ries, and spreading to Cameroon, Chad, Mali, and Niger, thus becoming a major regional conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The Boko Haram insurgency has cost the Nigerian government millions of dollars, if not billions. The Boko Haram insurgency, with its attendant blood, death, and displacement of civilians, could have been nipped in the bud if only there had been Early Warning Early Response (EWER) mechanisms, es- pecially at community levels. EWER is the mechanism now being put in place by the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) to nip conflicts in the bud and save lives. EWER What then is EWER? EWER is a mecha- nism put in place to detect likely conflicts or dangers and then quickly red flagged them through media reportage, hoping that quick responses from the government can check them from escalating. If government re- sponses are fast enough, lives will be saved, and bloodletting may be avoided.
Indeed, if there are timely responses to issues, most of the insecurity bedevil- ling different parts of Nigeria may not have been nipped in the bud. This system will detect the early warning of conflict or violence at community levels. The Executive Director of the CISLAC, Mr. Auwal Ibrahim Musa, who explained the importance of the project in Ikeja, Lagos State, during a one-day training for journalists on EWER reportage, sup- ported by Open Society Foundation (OSF) on May 12, 2023, said that EWER will en- hance protection of civilians in Nigeria. He added that for it to become a successful model or project, some observers and journal- ists were vital and will be part of the growing network in the EWER project. Accordingly, CISLAC has trained observ- ers to monitor indicators of conflict in different communities and to quickly flag them. Red flags Journalists were also expected to inves- tigate these red flags and come out with an interpretative report, highlighting dangers and consequences, aimed at compelling the necessary authorities to take action. Musa said: “EWER systems are built to al- low for trained community observers to care- fully observe their environment and report indicators of conflict to community response networks who in turn are expected to apply professionalism in processing information provided and respond accordingly with an aim to de-escalate potential crises.
Therefore, information provided to the public must remain objective and devoid of sensations that are potential triggers to conflict or violence.” He further explained: “Under this project, CISLAC will be complementing the role of internal security agencies by building well- informed and vibrant Early Warning Community Observers in Lagos State, which will be representing the South-West, to enhance collaboration, build trust and ownership with state security institutions, community leaders and community security structures, using the EWER system as a vehicle, to prevent threats of conflict from escalating.” He maintained that the situation calls for more collaboration, communication, coordination and collective support for early warning, conflict prediction and early response mechanisms amongst com- munities and security operatives, which were central in conflict prevention.
The ED also noted: “Howbeit, an EWER system with the buy-in of communities and security operatives but without the commitments of journalists to conflict sensitive re- portage, cannot be as effective as it ought to be. “This is because journalists are the mouth- piece of the civilian populace and where in- formation provided to the public is conflict prone, regardless of how dedicated communi- ties and security operatives are towards early warning and early response, the triggers will always be there to ignite conflict. “It is on this backdrop that we acknowl- edge the essential role of the media as ma- jor stakeholders in conflict prevention, through conflict sensitive reporting.” Security threats To further ensure that the project is suc- cessful, the project will be focused on strengthening capacity, advocacy, accountability and local engagement, towards developing Early Warning and Early Response Mechanisms to enhance protection of civilians in Nigeria, across the six geopolitical zones.
Musa said: “As you are not unaware of, every part of Nigeria is currently battling with an evolving epidemic of multi-dimensional security threats. Lagos State in particular, is bedevilled with clashes between indigenes and non-indigenes based on ethnic differ- ences and more intense is this challenge giv- ing the recently conducted general elections. “This situation calls for more collaboration, communication, coordination and collective support for early warning, conflict prediction and early response mechanisms amongst com- munities and security operatives, which are central in conflict prevention.” Musa explained that the system is built to allow for trained community observers to carefully observe their environment and report indicators of conflict to community response networks who in turn were expected to apply professionalism in processing information provided and respond accordingly with an aim to de-escalate potential crises. His words: “Information provided to the public must remain objective and devoid of sensations that are potential triggers to conflict or violence.” Media He urged the media to collaborate with CISLAC to improve protection of civilians in Lagos State and in Nigeria through objec- tive and conflict sensitive reporting.
He stressed: “We also call on the media to support the activities of EW Community Observers who have been trained to monitor, and report EW threat signals under this project, to amplify these threats signals, to spur security operatives to respond speedily and with pro- fessionalism, as activities unfold in the state. “We call on the media to own the EWER system by leveraging verifiable information and data that will be generated through early detection and to utilise same caution signals, to prevent harm, loss of lives and properties and to de-escalate crises.” The workshop, which had over 30 par- ticipants including journalists from various media outfits in the state, had a technical ses- sion with presentations titled: ‘Media and Effective Early Warning’ and ‘Early Response Mechanisms: Conflict Sensitive and Objective Reportage’, facilitated by Mr. Ikem Okuhu.
Okuhu took the participants on a deep dive on how to expertly handle reports that had to do with EWER, spicing the training with practical sessions. He explained that while carrying out reports that had to do with EWER, jour- nalists should expect responses from relevant authorities depending on the issues raised in the report. He argued that following such reports, if relevant authorities do not respond, it was necessary to carry out a follow up report. He explained: “EWER means inter- pretative reporting. In this method, journalists interpret the problem we are solving and hope to bring out a solution. In interpretative reporting, we piece the information and present it to the people. We interpret and process information to a pre-digested level for the common masses. “A journalist needs to go beyond the obvious to look at the news behind the news.
It seeks to add meaning to news reporting by breaking down issues raised in them. It provided information and deepened understand- ing of other issues and broadened people’s access to ideas and viewpoints concerning important current events. “It means giving the reader everything, in- cluding the fact that he needs to know. Conflict sensitive reporting means insinuating your- self into the community and its problems. It is important to bring the interpretation of the story close to the reader’s environment. “As reporters, we need to know what to put out there and when to be circumspect. Journalists are gatekeepers. EWER is in- tended to amplify and analyse conflicts, it tries to alert to conflict risk, inform deci- sion makers, making and initiate timely responses to prevent violent conflict.” Okuhu said the above will naturally put pressure on the government to make decisions. “The challenge should not be allowed to snowball into crisis. If the Boko Haram issue was addressed at the initial stage, it wouldn’t get to the stage it is today. Journalists should learn to manage information. Journalist re- portage should protect women and children in open conflict situations. “If Boko Haram had been nipped in the bud, all the money, human, economic and social losses would have been saved if the warning had been sounded earlier and responses taken. EWER enables people to prepare for crises and makes people prepare for eventualities,” said Okuhu. The veteran journalist also urged journalists to guard against raising false alarm and exaggeration, improper inter- pretation of signals, partisanship and nepotism in their reportage.
