The president’s special assistant of the President on Community Participation (Central-Norte), Dr. Abiodun Essiet, said Tuesday that about 70 percent of the security challenges faced in the center-north can be resolved through the dialogue and commitment of the community.
Speaking in a training in the development of capacities for the interested parties of the entire center-northern held in the state’s house, Abuja, Essiet, the deployment of non-kinetic media anchored in the communities to resolve the crisis.
“According to our analysis, almost 70 percent of security challenges in the northern center can be addressed through dialogue, reconciliation, intelligence exchange and community’s commitment, instead of through force alone,” he said.
Remembering the launch of June 5 of the Paz Community engagement initiative of Presidential Community (PCEPI) in Jos, State of Plateau, Essiet added: “That historical event was a significant step in our collective journey towards promoting unity, strengthening social cohesion and training communities to take possession of their peace processes.”
He announced that, in line with the implementation of Nigeria of the United Nations periodic recommendations (UPR), its office is associating the International Organization of Communities (ICO) in a project entitled “Promote community peace and strengthening social cohesion in the northern center of Nigeria.”
In the heart of the effort, said Essiet, there is a base network that does not leave behind LGA.
“In the heart of this initiative is the establishment of a peace structure that will cross the 110 local governments in the north central region.”
“This structure will not only exist on behalf; it will be an active platform … focusing on gathering and sharing intelligence, facilitating continuous dialogue and helping us identify underlying problems and fundamental causes of conflict. Ultimately, this peace structure will serve as the backbone of the consolidation of sustainable peace in our region,” he said.
She emphasized that addressing early local disputes is decisive: “Once we resolve internal communal conflicts and address the fundamental causes of tension. We will already be halfway to overcome insecurity in the north center”, while armed crime remains for security agencies.
The training presented sessions about the consolidation of peace consolidation and conflict resolution, conflict dynamics and community participation and the collection of intelligence for peace, together with the SWOT of state breakdown sessions to assign risks, interested parties and interventions.
“This training is not just about acquiring knowledge; it is about forging associations, developing trust and developing strategies that directly affect our communities,” Essiet told participants. “I urge each participant to be open, interactive and collaborative.”
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The interested parties highlighted forests and borders as pressure points.
The general commander of the Nigeria Forest Security Service (NFSS), Ambassador Joshua Osatimehin Wole, said Nigeria has 1,129 forest reserves, with 174 in the center-north.
He asked for cooperation between more strict agencies and an effective forest control, identifying Niger, Kwara and Benue as epicentres that require greater surveillance.
“For sustainable peace in our communities, all our wooded regions must be well coordinated and preserved. We need to protect forests,” he said.
“We must create additional security agencies to carry out a continuous security surveillance. Three states border international borders: Niger, Kwara and Benue, and they are the epicentiles of insecurity. They should inter -institutional cooperation and the effective control of our forests.” “What Nigeria is currently going beyond the Farmers-Behers clashes. We must also consider the post-gaddafi. Spirmed by the Sahel after the fall of Gaddafi.
The director of the MacArthur Foundation, Kole Shettima, stressed the centrality of development stability: “Unless there is peace, you can’t do what you want to do. Peace is essential and primary,” he said.
He urged the National Assembly to strengthen traditional institutions. “We have to historically look how our elders resolved conflicts and learn from it.”
The project coordinator, Jacob Alagbe, said the program brings together actors at the state level to promote peaceful coexistence and social cohesion, with results that feed on specific state action plans.
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