After spending part of last fall in the war-torn nation of Bosnia, Okey Onyejekwe told about the devastation he had observed to a small group of Ohio State students and faculty.Onyejekwe, associate professor of African-American and African Studies, shared his impressions and experiences at Oxley Hall Tuesday. The lecture was sponsored by the Ohio State Center for Slavic and East European Studies.”The massiveness of the physical destruction was extremely depressing,” he said.Onyejekwe served as an international election supervisor for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The organization is one of several working to bring both peace and democracy to Bosnia and the surrounding nations.Over 200,000 died and more than 2.7 million people have been displaced by the war, which gripped the region until the Dayton Peace Accords were signed in 1995, Onyejekwe said. Members of the audience raised several concerns. Some questioned the possibility of further redistribution of land, and the ability to maintain the peace once the U.N. and U.S. troops are pulled out. Others were concerned with the difficulties faced in attempting to force different ethnic groups to live in the same region. While the system of introducing democracy to the area is flawed, it is far better than the alternative – continued bloodshed, Onyejekwe said. Even though the process is difficult, he said he is optimistic.”The situation remains fluid and potentially dangerous, but we cannot underestimate the changes that have taken place,” he said.