You’re in a jail in a remote region of southwestern China. The men who arrested you have confiscated your mobile phone, which contains photos of a Public Security Bureau official brutally beating a young man who organized a protest over the working conditions in a local salt mine. No one knows where you are and the police officer sitting opposite you is not smiling.

But what he doesn’t know is that you have already used your phone to send the photos over the Internet to a prominent human rights organization who has distributed it to the international press. Your phone has automatically replied to a text message inquiry as to your whereabouts with your GPS coordinates. A friend is on her way to the jail in a jeep with a civil rights lawyer, and your detention is already being discussed in Congress. The same friend has remotely erased all incriminating material off your mobile. Without evidence, the police have no choice but to set you free with a warning.

The Guardian–a revolutionary mobile phone software–will embody a number of such James-Bond-like features especially designed with these situations in mind. Its developer, Nathan Frietas, who has been writing code since he was eight years old, is one of a growing community of digital specialists who are bringing their skills and knowledge to social justice causes. He describes Guardian as “the first open-source, secure, privacy-focused mobile phone with a target user base of activists, human rights advocates–people working for good and change within difficult circumstances.” Open source describes an approach to the design, development, and distribution of software that allows public access to the source code, and encourages peer-based collaboration to customize the source code for the needs of specific users.

“The exciting thing is that this software is being developed already around the world by many different open-source developers,” says Freitas. “Guardian, in a sense, is pulling these pieces together.”

Guardian’s software is especially designed for privacy and security, including a foundational network that protects anonymity and offers secure web access. Internet use is the critical issue of mobile phone security, as mobile phone operators generally have much more control over their networks than do Internet providers. Guardian also offers encrypted SMS, voice messaging and walkie talkie options, ingenious ways to hide information, and instant one button erase all for sensitive content. The software will also include custom citizen journalist tools as activists often find themselves playing the role of reporters in places where access by independent journalists has been restricted.

Tenzin Dorjee, Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet, sees the Guardian phone as “a game-changing tool” for social justice movements. He points out how Tibetans routinely get arrested, tortured and imprisoned for phone conversations that are tracked and censored by Chinese authorities.

Freitas himself served for four years on the board of Students For a Free Tibet and Guardian was directly inspired by his experience with Tibet activists. A former senior manager at Palm, the mobile technology company responsible for the Palm Pilot, he became frustrated by stories of activists having to resort to eating their SIM-cards or smashing their phone and flushing them down the toilet. “You have to do something better than eating SIM-cards and flushing mobiles.”

The Center for American Progress agrees. In a recently published report, the liberal think tank calls on the US government to take steps to apply technologies such as mobile phones to the issue of human rights abuses, and proposes direct collaboration between human rights workers and new technology researchers and developers.

“As new technologies are discovered, new human rights applications will emerge,” the report reads. “If the US government is to be the global human rights leader its citizens want it to be, it will need to ensure that human rights are a principal beneficiary of the development of cutting-edge innovations.”

The Guardian software is designed to be compatible with Google Android mobile phones, 18 variations of which will be on the market by the end of 2009. Anyone who buys an Android phone and has Internet access will be able to upgrade to Guardian for free, says Freitas. “The vision is that some young person somewhere in the world goes to a night market, picks up an HTC [Android] phone, downloads the software off the internet, and we’ve enabled someone to have this phone in their pocket. ” Once someone downloads the file onto a secure digital (SD) card, they can then pass the software from one phone to another, by-passing the Internet.

Security phones with encrypted voice and SMS messaging that scrambles the data into a form that can’t be understood by unauthorized people, already exist. But their price tag puts them beyond the reach of the average user. The idea of Guardian is to create a crypto-phone that is accessible for everyone. Don’t get an iphone, says Freitas, because AT&T shares its user information with the US government and Apple is close-sourced. According to Freitas, Blackberry’s developer, Research in Motion, has collaborated with various authoritarian states “and doesn’t make clear what they’ve compromised in their security.” Do not buy these products, he says, “because you can’t trust them.”

Guardian looks destined to become a must-have for human rights defenders the world over. But activists aren’t the only people interested in protecting their privacy and security, and the projections for Android phones puts Guardian on the breaking end of a potentially massive wave. Analysts predict that by 2012, Android will become the world’s 2nd most popular smartphone platform, pushing iPhone into 3rd place, and that the shipment of Android phones will close in on 32 million by the following year.

Ben Wood, an analyst with CCS Insight, told the BBC that social networks “are the fuel propelling the momentum,” behind an anticipated explosion in the sales of smartphones next year–a market that has proved persistently resilient to the global recession. While the rest of the world is exchanging jokes, pick up lines and film reviews, however, civil resistance groups and activists are using communications technology to more effectively network and organize against authoritarian states. This is an example of what Patrick Meier calls an irevolution–the merger of technology and individual empowerment that he believes has the potential to change the balance of power between repressive regimes and resistance movements in favor of the resisters. Meier, a doctoral research fellow at the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, sees the Guardian phone as one example of the “technologies of liberation” to emerge from this union.

But Meier is quick to point out that authoritarian states will naturally respond by stepping up their own systems of control. “Just at the same time as civil resistance groups, civil society groups, and transnational networks, are starting to leverage these technologies to create more transparency and accountability, obviously repressive regimes are not going to just sit still and watch that happen.”

It’s a good bet that states like China that have become expert in managing citizen access to information, will respond to Guardian by stepping up their monitoring and filtering technologies. And if these attempts are successful, then people working against the interests of authoritarian states may be making themselves more vulnerable by using these phones, especially since their increased sense of protection will encourage them to act less cautiously with politically sensitive information.

“In the state-of-the-arts censorship system in China, there is a great need for technology that provides secure data and communication tools, says Sharon Hom, the Executive Director of Human Rights in China. “The Guardian phone could be empowering, depending upon specific functions, ease of use, and price–and its ability to stay ahead of the censors.” It’s this ability to stay ahead of the censors (and hackers) that will be the measure of Guardian’s success.

Greg Walton, a fellow at Toronto University with the think tank SecDev and consultant for Psiphon–a human rights software project whose censorship circumvention software is part of the Guardian package–is cautiously optimistic about Guardian’s future. In the Spring of 2009, his group at Toronto exposed “Ghostnet”–an international computer spy ring that had infiltrated embassies and government offices around the world. Walton is part of Psiphon’s “red team” that attempts to hack its own technologies to find possible security weaknesses that the “black hat” hackers (i.e. the bad guys) might manage to exploit.

Walton describes Freitas as a “software curator” bringing together the best of open-sourced software. “It may seem counter-intuitive,” he says, “but people have made very strong cases for the inherent security of open source software.” This is because anyone can download the code and read it line by line, looking to see if it’s been tampered with. “Because the code is openly available to hundreds and thousands of developers, it’s far more likely that they’re going to discover security vulnerabilities in the software than were the codes proprietary or close-sourced, as is the case with Microsoft, for example, where there is a very limited pool of software engineers looking for flaws and vulnerabilities.”

Walton is the author of a seminal study analyzing China’s censorship and surveillance systems. If Guardian proves to become the tool of choice for activists, he says, “the Chinese state is going to mobilize significant resources both technical and human, to monitor and block networks of people using it.” He points out that China now leads the world in internet censorship, a technology that was once believed to be impervious to government interception.

“It’s definitely an arms race,” admits Freitas, who envisions keeping one step ahead of the “black hat” hackers through regular system upgrades that can be easily downloaded, much like Firefox.

The trend of toys for social fraternizing becoming tools for social change is on the rise. Twitter did not define the post-election Iranian protests, but it galvanized international concern by bringing the living rooms of the world into the dust, terror and excitement of the streets of Tehran. Perhaps more importantly, it created a forum to unite the personal and real-time narratives of ordinary people that not only challenged state propaganda but made it seem silly.

The Guardian phone may well have a similar role to play in future movements. And as ordinary citizens gain increased access to secure communications technologies, the autocracies of the world may find it increasingly difficult to dominate the story.

Rebecca Novick is a writer and founding producer of The Tibet Connection radio program online at http://thetibetconnection.org

“Despite the abundant resources Nigeria is blessed with, there is still prevalent poverty in the land. This is due to lack of patriotism, commitment and judicious use of available resources; otherwise the campaign against poverty would have been unnecessary in Nigeria.”   —-Alh. Dr. Abdulmumuni Kabir Usman (HRH Emir of Katsina)

PADEAP NIGERIA Stand Up campaigners in Northwest Nigeria have mobilized more than 3 million people (over three times the number that stood up in 2008) to Stand Up and Take Action against poverty and demonstrate their resolve to continue to support the MDGs.

From school assemblies, worship places, public rallies, symposia, symbolic events and media programmes all over the zone, citizens sent a unified and even stronger message to all stakeholders to intensify efforts of putting an end to poverty.

PADEAP started the events by holding a ‘Talakawa’ summit in Zamfara. The approach adopted by PADEAP is to localize and advocate for grassroots ownership of the campaign. Everyone present participated in the campaign putting their leaders at the national, state and local levels on notice that their promises to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 must be met – no more delays or excuses are acceptable!

In partnership with Zamfara based Peace Education Development Organization, (PEDO) Nigeria, The talakawa summit aimed to address the fundamental problem in good governance, the wide chasm that exists between elected representatives and their constituents. Interaction between these important groups in governance is very crucial to the actualization of the MDGs. This is exactly what the summit focused on.

During the event PADEAP Programes Director focused on Goal Number 5 ‘ It is unjust and cruel that Nigerian women continue to die of avoidable causes during pregnancy and child birth. Government and their partners in development need to develop national Action Plans for the reduction of maternal mortality. Women, community groups and local health providers need to participate in these plans to ensure plans reflect local realities. Time for action is now. Women must not continue to die giving life! —— Tominke C. Olaniyan PADEAP international Programmes Director

Key “Stand Up and Take Action” events included:

Schools Stand Up Activities:

Stand up campaigners this year partnered with Ministries of Education in Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara States to observe Stand up moments during school assemblies in secondary schools. Over a million youth and children in over 800 schools were mobilized via this channel. PADEAP also held stand up events in Ahmadu Bello University Zaria and Usman Dan-Fodio University Sokoto. Ahmadu Bello University remains the largest conventional University in the whole of West Africa.

Stand Up Take Action events in Churches and mosques:

High number of participants in this year’s Stand up campaign came from worship places, especially the mosques. Worshippers in all Northwest Nigeria stood up for good governance which is a necessary requisite in the fight against poverty. This notable break through was achieved by the overwhelming support the campaign obtained from the community of Ulamas in the zone. Thousands also stood up during church services and prayed for political will for government to deliver more on the MDGs.

Other Stand Up Events:

Public Rally events: Public sensitization rallies were organized in all States in collaboration with trade unions, CBOs and commercial transport road workers to further raise public awareness on the MDGs.  Special cooking events were organized on the 16^th to commemorate the International Food Day, which was incorporate into the campaign period this year. Also, in a symbolic event farmers in Kebbi State competed in a donkey race to raise awareness on environmental degradation due to desert encroachment. In Kaduna State, a debate was organized between two secondary schools on the Topic: ”Achievement of the MDGs: who is most responsible?” the debate was held inside the Kaduna State of Assembly chambers with most law makers in the state observing.

The people have the power to create whatever change they want including eradicating poverty! — Haj. Hajara Samaila (Principal, Government Girls’ Secondary School Funtua)

About PADEAP Nigeria

Pan African Development Education and Advocacy Programme, (PADEAP), has been working in Funtua, Katsina State since 2000. We seek solutions to African problems using pan-African approaches. In Nigeria, we run a public resource centre; an open space for access to information and interaction on global education. Our adult literacy for women, youth peer education and rights education programmes are mediums through which we create a vehicle of education and advocacy for sustainable development in local communities.

——–

More than 173 Million People Gather at “Stand Up, Take Action, End Poverty Now!” events, setting new world record for largest mobilization in history

A Guinness World Record shattered this weekend when 173,045,325 citizens gathered at over 3,000 events in more than 120 countries, demanding that their governments eradicate extreme poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). “Stand Up, Take Action, End Poverty Now!”, now in its fourth year, has been certified by Guinness World Records as the largest mobilization of human beings in recorded history, an increase of about 57 million people over last year.

“The more than 173 million people who mobilized this weekend sent a clear message to world leaders that there is massive, universal, global demand for eradicating poverty and achieving the Millennium Development Goals,” said Salil Shetty, Director of the United Nations Millennium Campaign. “In particular, we have seen citizens determined to show their governments that they will hold them accountable for keeping their promises to end hunger, improve maternal health and abolish trade-distorting agricultural subsidies. They will not accept excuses for breaking promises to the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people, who have already been hardest hit by the global food, economic and climate crises they had no role in causing.”

In Asia more than 100 million people participated (101,106,845); in Africa more than 37 million people participated (37,848,412); in the Arab region more than 31 million people participated (31,394,459); in Europe more than 2 million people participated (2,102,121); in Latin America more than 200,000 people participated (229,371); in North America nearly 200,000 people participated (191,535); and in Oceania more than 170,000 people participated (172,582).

“Stand Up is proven to be a growing global mobilization, as well as an ongoing grass roots movement from remote areas and cities in so many countries, both rich and poor,” said Sylvia Borren, Co-chair of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP), who attended several “Stand Up” events across The Netherlands last weekend. “These are the voices of young people, women and men demanding the eradication of poverty, and new answers to the food, economic and climate crises. We will carry this overwhelming message forward in the weeks and months ahead to influence both the Copenhagen climate discussions and next year’s MDG review.”

Currently 1 billion people around the world are hungry and 500,000 women continue to die annually as the result of pregnancy and childbirth. The vast majority of these deaths are preventable.

The mobilization was organized globally by the United Nations Millennium Campaign, in partnership with a range of organizations including the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP).

The 3,000 events across every inhabited continent this weekend included:

In New York, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon lead schoolchildren in Standing Up on Friday.

In Bangladesh, civil society campaigners raised the call “National Unity Can Eradicate Poverty,” urging that a “Poverty and Hunger Free Bangladesh is Possible Now.” The Prime Minister led the nation in pledging to remain united to develop the country by 2020. At a rally in Dhaka, she called upon all political parties to jointly fight corruption and stabilize democracy.

Despite the typhoons that hit the Philippines just before “Stand Up,” 35.5 million people in the country Stood Up and the “I Vote for MDGs” campaign, a survey on the issues voters believe should be prioritized by the 2010 Presidential candidates, was launched.

In Nepal the President read a Stand Up Pledge with members of the Constituent assembly at an event broadcast live on national television, followed by a concert in a large open-air theatre in the heart of Kathmandu.

In the United States, the Irish band U2 brought 50,000 concertgoers to their feet for a “Stand Up” moment during their October 18 concert in Norman, Oklahoma.

From Cape Town to Cairo and from Accra to Kampala, millions of Africans stood up in churches, mosques, schools, markets, streets and work places to call on their leaders to end poverty and inequality. In Uganda, the Local Government Association joined “Stand Up” by launching a historic award to honor the best-performing local government. The inaugural award was presented to the Kasese District.

In South Africa, housemates on the hit television show “Big Brother” made passionate appeals to world leaders to end poverty and led the continent in reading the “Stand Up” pledge, collected food for disadvantaged children and wrote a song on poverty. They called on African leaders to stop maternal death, end hunger and address climate change.

In Nigeria, legendary African artist Femi Kuti led over 60,000 people attending the annual event commemorating the life of his late father Fela Kuti, in pledging their commitment to campaigning fervently against poverty and injustice. Femi urged participants at the festival to be bold when holding their governments accountable, noting that Africa has enough resources to end poverty. Accusing African leaders of mismanaging public resources through corruption and poor governance, he called on them to focus more attention on programs leading to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

At Federation Square, Melbourne, a concert organized by Make Poverty History Australia and AusAID included a flash mob stunt and performances by entertainers including Diafrix, a musical group of African refugees.

Citizens of Papua New Guinea Stood Up for the first time this year, in churches and government buildings, with support from the government Department of Community Development.

In Halifax, Canada, citizens marched against poverty in a rally organized by Make Poverty History.

In Italy, more than 400,000 people participated in 200 sports events across the country. The people of L’Aquila, which was hit by a devastating earthquake in April, ran a marathon to show their support.

In Paris, the streets were invaded by 4,000 roller-bladers on Sunday proudly sporting ‘Stand Up, Take Action, End Poverty Now!’ t-shirts.

In Spain, coordinated marches nationwide included a rally in Madrid on October 16 which was followed by an outdoor concert featuring Spanish rock bands.

Peru was one of several countries which used “Stand Up” to start a process of climate justice hearings aimed at gathering the testimonies of people whose lives and livelihoods are being destroyed by global warming.

“Stand Up” was also supported by the entire United Nations system, with events organized by United Nations Information Centers (UNICs) across the globe. In Egypt, for example, 25 million worshippers Stood Up in mosques, more than 2 million worshippers Stood Up in Coptic Orthodox churches and thousands more Stood Up in schools across the country, in a mobilization organized by the UNIC in Egypt.

Hundreds of people gathered on October 16 at the International Labor Organisation (ILO) headquarters in Geneva to Stand Up Against Poverty in a joint action with UNDP and UN agencies, led by ILO Director-General Juan Somavia.

For more information, photos and b-roll contact:

Kara Alaimo

United Nations Millennium Campaign

Kara.Alaimo@undp.org

Telephone: +1 212-906-6399

Ciara O’Sullivan

Global Call to Action Against Poverty

Ciara.osullivan@whiteband.org

Telephone: +34 679 594 809

About the Campaigns:

The UN Millennium Campaign was established by the UN Secretary General in 2002. The Campaign supports citizens’ efforts to hold their governments to account for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. The Millennium Development Goals were adopted by 189 world leaders from rich and poor countries, as part of the Millennium Declaration which was signed in 2000. These leaders agreed to achieve the Goals by 2015. Our premise is simple: we are the first generation that can end poverty and we refuse to miss this opportunity. For more information, visit www.endpoverty2015.org.

The Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) is a civil society alliance of social movements, international NGOs, trade unions, community groups, women’s organizations, faith and youth groups, local associations and campaigners working together across more than 100 national coalitions/platforms. GCAP is calling for action from the world’s leaders to meet their promises to end poverty and inequality. In particular, GCAP demands solutions that address the issues of public accountability, just governance and the fulfillment of human rights; trade justice; more and better aid; debt cancellation; climate justice; peace and security as well as gender equality and women’s rights. For more information, visit www.whiteband.org.

www.StandAgainstPoverty.org

Email from the Millenium Campaign:

Copyright © 2009

2 – HELP US GROW. Invite all your Facebook friends to ‘Fan’ this new page.

3 – SHARE. Interact, share, like and comment on posted articles, photos, videos and status updates.

4 – TAKE ACTION. Go to www.standagainstpoverty.org to learn how to participate in the 2009 Stand up Action, Oct 16-18.

5. SHOW FLAG. Download our Stand Up Champion Banner here: http://www.box.net/shared/cx4v622a04
and upload it as your Facebook profile picture for the next 2.5 weeks.

6. ACT ONLINE. If you can’t join a “Stand Up” event in person, you can participate virtually from October 16 – 18, 2009. Tell friends that have their own website to take action by going to the website and clicking “register” – just like you would for any other event. Once you verify your email, just check the box that says “Online event” in Step One of the Event registration process. At the end of the registration, you’ll get an embed code to use on your website. That’s it!

Forward this message to a friend!

Nigeria is, once again, on the wrong end of a survey of the best governed African countries.

The 2009 Annual Index of African Governance released by the Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Governance last weekend, ranks Nigeria 38 on the governance list of 53 countries in Africa, making it the sixteenth worst governed on the continent.

In the report, Nigeria only scores better than countries such as Togo, Ethiopia, Guinea Bissau, and Sierra Leone.

The publishers of the report, the World Peace Foundation, highlighted the core issues that led to this low ranking. The report said, “Nigeria, despite its vast oil wealth, suffers as in previous years by weak scores for safety and security, participation, rule of law, and human development.”

This confirmed the statement made last week by the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, at the Corporate Council on Africa’s Seventh Biennial US/Africa Business Summit in Washington. Mrs. Clinton described the situation in Nigeria as “heartbreaking”, saying that “the number of people facing food security and health challenges is going up… because the revenues have not been well managed”.

This year’s governance report shows that Mauritius, Seychelles, and Cape Verde – all small Islands – are Africa’s three best governed countries. At the bottom of the list are Chad, Sudan, and Somalia.

For the first time, the index includes North African countries. Tunisia and Algeria are in the top 10. Even though Tunisia’s human rights record is described as “appalling”, the country is rated high in terms of human development, economic opportunity and security. Its scores in these areas somehow compensate for its parlous human rights record.

South Africa, however, slipped to ninth position in the ranking. This, producers of the report said, is due to the country’s low scores in the areas of respect for civil and political rights and the rule of law.

The 2009 Index of African Governance used 57 indicators, including maternal mortality, gross domestic product per capita, respect for human rights and judicial independence, to rate governance in the continent’s 53 nations. The survey, which produced the report was coordinated by Robert Rotberg and Rachel Gisselquist of the Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

For a better life

The authors said, in a statement, that “bettering the lives of all of Africa’s peoples is the overriding purpose of the index. By noting which indicators lag and which have advanced, governments can improve the outcomes for their populations”.

Quality of governance

They also recommended that African countries can improve the quality of governance by allowing “citizens to choose their leaders, that is, to bring to political office, leaders chosen in free, fair, and competitive elections”.

The index provides both a new definition of governance, as well as a comprehensive set of governance measures. Based on five categories of essential political goods, each country is assessed against 58 individual measures, capturing several outcomes and offering a report card on the accomplishments of each country.

Read the full Harvard Report on Africa governance here.

Well, I am absolutely delighted to be here. I’m very grateful to TMG and all of the partners who helped to organize this event. I apologize for keeping you waiting. I’ve had such an extraordinary schedule of meetings today, and I just finished a very interesting and important dialogue with leaders of both the Muslim and Christian communities. And I had to listen to everyone, because everyone had something very important to say.I want to thank you for the work that all of you do. Moshood listed off all of the different affiliations that are represented here. But you are here, in part, because you care about your country. You have worked on behalf of the public or the private sector, civil society, the faith communities, because of your commitment to a better future.

I am here on behalf of President Obama and our Administration and my country to deepen and strengthen our relationship. We have had a long history of friendship and partnership with Nigeria, and we want to do even more. But we recognize, as I have told the government officials with whom I have met today, that Nigeria is at a crossroads, and it is imperative that citizens be engaged and that civic organizations be involved in helping to chart the future of this great nation.
I started my trip in Africa about – over – about a week or so ago – I’ve lost track of time – in Kenya. I was at a town hall meeting much like this at the University of Nairobi, and one of the people in the audience was my friend and a former Nobel Prize winner, Wangari Maathai. And she said something which has stuck with me as I have traveled across this extraordinary continent. She said, “Africa is a rich continent. The gods must have been on our side when they created the planet, and yet we are poor.”

I have seen the best and the most distressing of what is happening in Africa today. Yesterday, I was in eastern Congo, one of the most beautiful landscapes on earth, yet one that is replete with human misery. Today, I am in Nigeria, a country that produces 2 million barrels of oil a day, has the seventh-largest natural gas reserves of any country in the world, but according to the United Nations, the poverty rate in Nigeria has gone up from 46 percent to 76 percent over the last 13 years.

Now, there are many reasons why Nigeria has struggled. There is the destructive legacy of colonialism, there are wars, including a devastating civil war. There are other external forces. But as President Obama said in Ghana in his historic speech, the future of Africa is up to the Africans, and the future of Nigeria is up to the Nigerians. The most immediate source of the disconnect between Nigeria’s wealth and its poverty is a failure of governance at the local, state, and federal level. (Applause.)
And some of that is due, as you know so well, to corruption, others of it to a lack of capacity or mismanagement. But the World Bank recently concluded that Nigeria has lost well over $300 billion during the last three decades as a result of all of these problems. And therefore, it is imperative that we look at where Nigeria is today and, in the spirit of friendship and partnership, of a country that has made its own mistakes, has had its own problems, we look for ways to help one another, and particularly to help the people of this country.

The raw numbers, 300 billion, 2 million barrels of oil – they’re staggering. But they don’t tell you how many hospitals and roads could have been built. They don’t tell you how many schools could have opened, or how many more Nigerians could have attended college, or how many mothers might have survived childbirth if that money had been spent differently. The lack of transparency and accountability has eroded the legitimacy of the government and contributed to the rise of groups that embrace violence and reject the authority of the state. We deplore the attacks perpetrated by any armed group, whether they be religious extremists, militias, or criminals. But addressing the challenges that they and the poverty of the country pose takes more than action by your excellent military or your police. It requires fixing Nigeria’s flawed electoral system – (applause) – establishing a truly independent electoral council.

In order to create a peaceful, stable environment that creates development among the people, citizens need to have confidence that their votes count, that their government cares about them, that democracy can deliver basic services. They need to know that officials will be replaced if they break the law or fail to deliver what they have promised. (Applause.) And they each know that Nigeria’s natural resources, particularly your oil and your gas, will be used to invest in social development programs that benefit all Nigerians, particularly the poorest. We stand ready to work with you and with your government and with civil society to help realize these goals.

The foundation of a democracy is trust. And a democracy doesn’t always behave perfectly. And a democracy is not just about elections. It’s about an independent judiciary and a free press and the protection of minority rights and an active legislative body that holds the executive accountable. It is about building those democratic institutions.

Again, to refer to President Obama’s speech, what Africa needs is not more strong men, it needs more strong democratic institutions that will stand the test of time. (Applause.) Without good governance, no amount of oil or no amount of aid, no amount of effort can guarantee Nigeria’s success. But with good governance, nothing can stop Nigeria. It’s the same message that I have carried in all of my meetings, including my meeting this afternoon with your president. The United States supports the 7-point agenda for reform that was outlined by President Yar’Adua. We believe that delivering on roads and on electricity and on education and all the other points of that agenda will demonstrate the kind of concrete progress that the people of Nigeria are waiting for.

We also believe that civil society has a very big job to do. And by civil society, I include all of the organizations that are formed by citizens, the NGOs, the faith-based groups, everyone working together. You have already helped to elevate the ideals of democracy, but now you must use the political system to encourage Nigeria’s leaders to serve the common good. There need to be watchdog groups, like NEDI to push for transparency. There need to be journalists, including many of you in this audience, who will shine a bright light on any abuses of the public trust or those who would enrich themselves at the expense of Nigeria’s citizens; independent courts and prosecutors, institutions to punish wrongdoers and deter future wrongdoing; citizens who persist and persevere often against long odds.

The capacity for good governance exists in Africa and it exists right here in Nigeria. We have seen it in many places, and we have seen it here in Nigeria. I know that it doesn’t sometimes feel like it’s possible because the climb is so high, but I have great confidence in what Nigeria is capable of doing. If you think about it, you’ve had one election that has made a peaceful transfer of civilian authority to civilian authority. And to the president – your president’s great credit, at his own inaugural address, he admitted that the election that put him in office had been flawed. (Applause.) And I think that there are the ingredients, the ingredients of determination, of effort, that must be mixed into a cake that all of Nigeria can feel they have a part in making and enjoying.

We have seen good governance in other places in your government, such as the action taken recently by all sectors of Nigerian society to fight human trafficking. We watched Nigeria make changes and moved it into the top tier of countries in the world because the society decided to solve a problem. (Applause.)

You have worked with international partners, along with my own country. We’ve seen the start of promising reforms, including reductions in trade barriers and closer cooperation on health care challenges. But there is so much more we can do together. This morning, the foreign minister and I agreed that we would create a bi-national commission to look at all of these issues, to see where the United States could provide technical assistance and support as the changes are made. There are many electoral systems, for example, that work very well in complex societies like Nigeria’s. Think about India where you have 500-600 million people voting. The poorest of the poor in remote areas with no electricity, none of the amenities, vote on computers so that when the results are announced, no one questions them. Think about Indonesia, which has only been a democracy for 10 years, a young democracy like Nigeria’s. After years of military rule and so many problems, they have just completed a hard-fought election with parties that that contested. And there was a winner, and everyone accepted it.

Now, I know a little bit about running in elections – (laughter and applause) – and I have won some elections and I have lost some elections. (Laughter.) And in a democracy, there have to be winners and losers. And part of creating a strong democratic system is that the losers, despite how badly we might feel, accept the outcome because it is for the good of the country that we love. (Applause.)

And of course, in my country, the man I was running against and spent a lot of time and effort to defeat asked me to join his government. (Applause.) So there is a – there is a way to begin to make this transition that will lead to free and fair elections in 2011. We will work with you. We believe so strongly in Nigeria’s positive future. We are grateful for what Nigeria has already done. Tomorrow, I will be in Liberia. The people of Liberia owe their freedom to you – (applause) – the Nigerians, your military, your leaders. The people across Africa owe so much to you. But now, you owe it to yourselves to make sure that your country, which I believe should be not just a leader in Africa, but a leader in the world, produces the kind of results that the intelligence and the hard work of the Nigerian people are capable of producing.

No matter how much President Obama and I want this future for you, it will be up to you to decide whether it happens or not. You are the ones with both the opportunity and the responsibility. But I want you to know, as you walk this path to a stronger democracy that produces results for your people to lift the development of Nigeria up, that you will have us by your side.

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Goal – 5: Maternal Health Goal – 6: Combat HIV/AIDS

Goal – 7: Environmental Sustainability

Goal – 8: Global Partnerships

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Thank you.

Capturing 95% of the total polls, President Umaru Musa Yar’adua is now being advised to prioritize his seven point agenda with Infrastructure particularly Electricity and Transportation as the top priority. Human Capital – investments in health, education and training and Niger Delta regional development had very strong showings too with 57% and 34% respectively.

“As the Umaru Musa Yar’adua administration concludes its 2nd year and looks forward to the next two years, it is particularly important that it prioritizes its development agenda for Nigeria as encapsulated in the 7 point agenda”“From the outcomes of this poll, clearly the voice of the masses has been re-echoed. Currently the 7 point agenda of Mr. President has remain a rhetoric, while CSO’s and the masses have continued to demand accelerated policy design and implementation in major areas of our national life, the Nigerian government have subsumed our needs and demands to personal politics whilst paying lip service to the rule of law” said Ms. Yemisi Ramsome- Kuti, Trustee, Nigeria Network of NGOs (NNNGO).

Continuing, the NNNGO boss said: “Civil society organizations in Nigeria and indeed the Nigerian masses are calling on Mr. President to make our money work for us, prioritize your 7 points agenda and its implementation and let Nigerians enjoy the dividends of democracy in the remaining two years of your tenure”.

Background: 100 submissions were received from 100 civil society organizations – including youth groups, faith based organizations, women groups, unions, networks and individuals – for the “Help President Yaradua to Prioritize” poll. The Nigeria Network of NGOs on the 1st of June 2009 launched through its mailing list and various others a poll seeking Nigerian civil society organizations’ input on what the focus of the present administration should be in the next two years.

The poll was launched as part of the Networks 2009 MDGs campaign. Participants were asked to select more than one point on the 7 point agenda, so percentages added up to more than 100%.

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