Dr. Seidu Alidu delivering the lecture
In his opening remarks the Provost of the College of Humanities, Professor Samuel Agyei-Mensah indicated that vigilantism had become a subject of national interest thus the purpose of the lecture was to initiate a scholarly discussion around the subject in an attempt to find possible solutions to the phenomenon.
Professor S. Agyei-Mensah, Provost, College of Humanities delivering the opening remarks
Dr. Seidu Alidu, in exploring the historical background of vigilantism stated that the phenomenon dates back to the pre-independence 1948 riots through to the post-independence era witnessing four successful and several aborted coup d’états, violent bye/national level elections, student riots, mob justice and police brutalities.
He identified political vigilante groups as diverse set of violent actors who are often created for a specific purpose or during a specific time period for the furtherance of a political objective by violence. The members of these vigilante groups are usually the youth predominantly male with lower socioeconomic and educational background. Economic, social and political factors have been identified as correlates of vigilantism.
He added that activities of vigilante groups have serious implications on governance in the area of direct violence (effects on the citizenry), structural violence (inability or unwillingness of the state to take action against vigilante groups) and cultural violence (when beneficiaries of vigilante activities justify their actions).
A section of the audience
In his recommendations regarding dealing with vigilantism, Dr. Alidu proposed the reduction of incentives for vigilante activities including demonetization of our democracy, de-politicization of the security services and the judiciary, reduction of poverty and inequality, and job creation amongst others.
The lecture was attended by a cross-section of faculty and students and ended with a vibrant question and answer session.
A participant asking question
