Commonwealth Secretary General attributes Boko Haram’s insurgency to ‘challenges of diversity’

The history of The Commonwealth, an association of 54 countries, with the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II as the symbolic head, is a mixed grill of some sort. Many ordinary Nigerians are ignorant of its activities or what it stands for. What some remember about the association was its involvement in the June 12, 1993 election controversy, when Chief Emeka Anyaoku, its Secretary General at that time and former United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan visited Chief Moshood Kashimawo Abiola, the acclaimed winner of that election in prison in June 1997, shortly before he passed on.

However, the association currently undertakes many activities in several spheres, in conjunction with its member countries under two core goals: Peace and Democracy; Pro Poor Growth and Sustainable Development.

Last week, Mr. Kamalesh Sharma, who was appointed Secretary General in 2008, sat with ROTIMI LAWRENCE OYEKANMI at the association’s secretariat in London, and spoke extensively on the various ways by which the Commonwealth assists Nigeria and other member nations and why the association would remain relevant for a long time.

Sharma, who was at various times, India’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, was educated at Cambridge University where he read Literature. He is also a fellow of Harvard University. Excerpts:

How is the Commonwealth helping Nigeria and other African member countries entrench democracy?

Through institution building that has a lasting impact, whether at the human level or at the level of nations. What the Commonwealth does is to become a partner in what the member states want to do themselves. Here, we concentrate a lot on institutions, like the electoral commission, human rights commission, the judicial services commission, independent media commission. Where is it, that we can assist in developing them; creating good working methods, best practices, to ensure sustainability? The society’s resilience is increased when all of these institutions that should be serving the citizens are improving at all times.

And also, depending on the need at any particular point in time, whether in the field of judiciary, where we are also happy to meet that need as part of institutional strengthening, what is it that we can do for you in this particular case? Where do you want to do more? All of the African countries can become beneficiaries of this.

Corruption is a serious problem threatening democracy in Nigeria and many other African member countries. I know that the association may not be well disposed to interfering in the internal affairs of its member countries, yet, it is expected that as an important institution, it is capable of influencing governments, even if discreetly. What is the organisation doing to check corruption?

If you can regulate, organise and make transparent your finances, then you’re taking a big step forward. But more than that, if there is any legislative or any other effort that is needed, we are ready, immediately, to make a contribution.

We have now opened an Anti-corruption Centre for Africa in Botswana. The idea of this centre is that, on a continuous basis, the best practices, which are visible all over, should be exchanged between all the member states. What causes corruption has common features. So, what the solutions can be, for everybody together, something which is collective and which could be brought to the secretariat, we shall be very happy to work on it. We are doing a lot of remarkable work in many fields, as far as corruption is concerned.

One other area in which we are particularly active is the extractive industry. Big money is involved and we are prepared to help to have modern laws developed in those areas, which are designed to make sure that all that is done in the extractive industry is done in a way that is transparent and has public accountability.

We also have a facility, which is available to all the member states and public administrators, who are active in the field of countering and defeating corruption in their societies.

Trade is another issue. Commonwealth members tend to engage in international trade with countries outside of the association than they do among themselves. What is the organisation doing to encourage trade among its members?

Right now, we are working on a facility, which will enable export finance to be released for traders, through existing banking channels. This is being explored and it’s one dimension we’re working on.

The second one is, what is it we can do, in the next CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting), by way of encouraging results in the 10th ministerial conference of the World Trade Organisation, which will take place in Bali (Indonesia) in December? We’ve done it before, we’ve done it in Malta. This is one dimension we’re working on. And for the small states, we will try and build their capacities and negotiating abilities, to enable them find their feet, supporting them at the critical points, through advocacy in multilateral negotiations.

We have, also, a desk at the secretariat, which issues regular releases on hot topics on trade, where developing countries need to be particularly watchful and where we can give information.

And lastly, we are also involved with the group of 20, the G20, together with the francophone. So, we’re working hard on many fronts for developing countries, in advancing their economies.

Conflict resolution is another important tenet of the Commonwealth. In Nigeria, we have the Boko Haram insurgency in the north, threatening the country’s democracy and crippling economic activities in that region. In what ways does Commonwealth help its members in this kind of situation?

We have countries that are so diverse that I often said that we used to talk about two Ds, which are Democracy and Development. We can now add the third one, which is Diversity.

Respect for diversity is a huge challenge in contemporary societies, not just in Nigeria, but everywhere. What we are doing is to help look at what the principal elements are, socially, that have to be integrated.

There is a commission on Respect and Understanding (set up in 2005 at the request of Commonwealth Heads of Government, with the mandate to explore initiatives to promote mutual understanding and respect among all faiths and communities in the association), which has produced a report: ‘Civil Paths to Peace.’ I think it is one of the most significant contributions globally, which has recently come out of the Commonwealth.

We are also trying to create applications of this great idea in education curriculum. The other area is reconciliation. We are going to have a workshop on reconciliation (the workshop was held on May 2). What is the experience of various member states that have had to overcome social disharmony and how did they manage to do it? I am sure that the distillation of this workshop will be very helpful.

It is for each member state to see, from what we are able to offer, by way of historical practices; successful, social, political, and economical approaches which member states have been able to make, and to pick from that, which is applicable in their circumstances.

Freedom of movement of Commonwealth citizens is another issue. To come to the United Kingdom for instance, I had to get a visa. If I want to go to Uganda or South Africa, I must also obtain a visa. Why can’t Commonwealth countries allow freedom of movement like some European countries did under the Schengen Agreement?

In the early years of the Commonwealth, there was a lot of Commonwealth identity, in terms of visas, work permits, educational exchanges and so on. Progressively, through the decades, this has changed.

We are doing an exercise right now, to promote the movement of people. What can we do to facilitate free movement of people, taking into cognizance that the world is now much more complex than it was 50 years ago?  The fact that you are members of an organisation, yet, there are immigrant concerns, there are concerns about the ratio of the people from outside, vis a vis the locals, and so on.

Taking all these concerns into account, what is it that we can propose to our leaders, that will facilitate the movement of the people more than is the case now? We are working on that.

Is the Commonwealth scholarship scheme still subsisting? Are member nations sharing educational resources?

The Commonwealth scholarship and fellowship programme is one of our flagships, together with the Commonwealth games and both are youth related. It is our endeavour, always, to increase the scope and even have a directory of everyone who’s been a beneficiary of these programmes. It is also our constant endeavour to increase the opportunities. And this can be done by members contributing finances. It can also be done by member countries offering commonwealth scholarships and fellowships to others. For instance, I have one country right now that has donated 30 scholarships. So, we can keep on increasing the number all the time. That’s an important thing to do.

You were appointed in 2008 as Secretary General. How has the journey been like from that point till now?

I have been very ambitious about this organisation and making it a very contemporary organisation. The world is moving so swiftly around you, that you’re either moving backwards or you’re moving forward. There is no such thing as staying still anymore.

So, as an organisation, you always have to ask yourself, how are you moving forward? And this is in value setting that you’re doing for yourselves, because we’re a great value-based organisation. How are you actually advancing your values in practical terms? Not only that, how are you helping the marginalised, the small, the vulnerable, in real economic terms in every possible way, given your strengths? Politically, economically and socially, how are you making those contemporary contributions in terms of outcomes?

Secondly, what are the means that you’re using? I mentioned one – platforms; another one is what we call strategic partnerships. How can you advise member countries on how to achieve what they have set out to achieve?

We all have the capacity. We’re an evolving organisation and there are so many statistics now that show the enormous growth rates within the Commonwealth and the wealth that is being generated. So, how are we sharing it?

We’re working on a software that will enable any member state, depending on what they want, to very easily find out, where in the Commonwealth they can get their kind of help and their kind of support.  This is what I have been trying to do since 2008.

Lastly, what are the challenges of having to cope with 54 diverse member countries in the Commonwealth?

Institutional change is the toughest thing in the world. How to move a ship around, quickly in another new direction is not easy. But I have had a lot of encouragement from member states, the Eminent Persons Group, has also been very helpful. We now have a Charter, which incorporates all of the ideals we have had as an organisation.

So, it is the support of the people, the citizens that has enabled us to keep moving forward, so that we can continue to serve them, the young people, and governments.