Thoughts of Dengiyefa Angalapu on Governance, Development and Peacebuilding

06/03/2024

I had the privilege of co-facilitating the Climate Governance Panel at the prestigious African Summit of the Future Dialogue. The topic of our discussion was 'The Africa We Want and the United Nations We Need,' and I was joined by the esteemed Professor Alice Odingo from the University of Nairobi and Richard Ponzio from the Stimson Centre. Our panel attracted high-level guests, including current and past UN and African Union staffers. Our discussion was incredibly robust and confirmed my unwavering belief that Africa possesses the solutions to its problems, but it's the lack of action that hinders progress.

Good facilitation requires you to talk less and listen more to your panellists. Well, if things were flipped a bit and I was a panellist, I would probably put on my radical cap and respond this way "Thank you so much for the opportunity and of course, to the organisers of this very timely dialogue. The problems of Africa are multidimensional. Well, you probably know this is not new and would be thinking of the multi-sectoral issues we are confronted with. In this case, I mean there are considerable mental issues, internal contradiction and tough external pressure. Concerning mental issues, Africans and Africans have lost confidence in themselves. Today, we are discussing the Africa we want and the UN we need. This is a great initiative but maybe we need to tweak it a little by saying the Africa we need and the UN we want. Of course, the knowledge of basic economics suggests that needs should be more prioritised than wants. We can't want a better Africa and need a better UN. I agree it is very difficult, but we can still struggle to survive without the UN but not so much so if Africa is destroyed.

On climate governance, Africa contributes just about 3% of the global emissions and it is the most affected by climate change in the world. This is injustice. We must indeed do something but for us ultimately not without climate justice. We have been too much at the receiving end of civilisation. We don't own the companies for renewable energy but we have to budget huge sums to purchase climate-friendly gadgets that we don't have the expertise to maintain for a problem someone else caused.

Africa is the world's natural resource extractive hub and very little has been done to hold extractive industries responsible for their pollution.

The UN we want that ensures justice and equality of all mankind and race"... Drops the mic.

14/02/2024

Dealing with conflict data daily is scary and depressing. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss. To think that people will embark on NYSC on these roads. God have mercy oh.

20/01/2024

Before the 2023 elections ACLED and CDD collaborated to develop the Violence Tracker to monitor patterns of political violence around the #2023 Nigerian general election. The Tracker featured regular situation updates on and across the country, including in-depth analysis of violence patterns in each of Nigeria’s six geopolitical regions, along with an interactive dashboard updated each week with the latest data on reported , with a special focus on election-related incidents such as on officials and members.

To cap off the joint effort of ACLED and CDD, Olajumoke (Jumo) Ayandele, Afolabi Adekaiyaoja, and Dengiyefa Angalapu wrote a post-election report. This report outlines three major post-election challenges, emphasising the urgent need to address the root causes of political violence and their consequences in Nigeria.
Read the report here

23/10/2023

The participation of former militants in politics is a complex and often divisive phenomenon seen in regions scarred by conflict. Historically, ex-militants have been known to participate in politics by forming political parties or running for office. Notable examples include Nelson Mandela’s tran...

11/09/2023

I know how many media engagements I have avoided because they mentioned Presidential Election Tribunal.

I was finally caught off-guard on this one🤣🤣🤣🤣.

It is not always easy discussing about the "clique of learned colleagues" because you go explain tire, no evidence.

Well, This Morning Daybreak Will Be Taking A Look Again At The Presidential Election Petitions Court Judgement; Lessons From The Judgement In Fostering A Vi...

15/05/2023

Oil exploration is putting the country’s fragile Niger Delta ecosystem at risk of extinction

in Africa Tomorrow > https://futures.issafrica.org/blog/2023/Climate-change-could-tip-the-Niger-Delta-back-into-a-post-amnesty-insurgency.html

15/05/2023

'By deepening challenges and worsening poverty, is creating the conditions for full-scale unrest in the Delta region. Read this Africa Tomorrow here 👇https://futures.issafrica.org/blog/2023/Climate-change-could-tip-the-Niger-Delta-back-into-a-post-amnesty-insurgency.html with

27/04/2023

By deepening environmental challenges and worsening poverty, climate change is creating the conditions for full-scale unrest in the region.

13/04/2023

"LEAVE THAT BAYELSA"
I had always wondered why God had to tell Abraham to leave his family to be blessed. I mean, He is all powerful and there was really no need I said to myself.

A few years ago, I had that same call "Leave that Bayelsa unless you want to serve one politician and become the exact thing you are standing against or you are close to a militant to benefit from a surveillance contract otherwise, there is nothing for you in that state". I felt it was really rude especially because I had so much passion and love for Bayelsa.

To cut it short, the first thing I tell any promising younger colleague is "LEAVE THAT BAYELSA. PLEASE WHEN YOU ARE LEAVING, RUN!!!". Yes, you can stay in it and buy a car or more and even build houses if you follow the trend but dreams are beyond wearing a nice etibor, driving a Corrola and leaving in a one bedroom apartment. Dreams are about self-fulfilment and it only comes from doing a REAL THING that adds to the development of society.

Yes, people are struggling but who are your customers? Same big boys from politics and surveillance!!! Of course, it is almost like a cult thing, it is either you are in the clique or lay allegiance it to benefit.

As a brilliant young graduate, you want to stay in a place where there are no scholarships or job opportunities? Okay, you are waiting for the amnesty scholarship where you will be asked to fill in your militant camp and the name of the leader? Oops, the NDDC scholarship that will make you to look for first class chiefs or your legislator? Dey play oh.

Yeah, I know the old argument that you can be wherever you are in an age of Social Media and make exploits, true but not completely so!!! I made some good friends and landed some good opportunities from across the globe right from my room in Bayelsa but if you leave that state and exert half of that effort, your life will change. Go where no one will ask you who is your leader before engaging you. Go where people will not screenshot your political post to say don't engage him as a bricklayer. What happens around is too similar to cult associations and you need to break free. You need to test your skills against the world. You need to show that you are not employed based on quota but your capacity.

Leave that state if you are not ready to do what you see around. Your environment is very important to your growth. If you like stay!!!