FG Trains Monarchs, Others on Peace Building in Nasarawa

Emmanuel Ukumba in Lafia

The federal government, through the Institute for Peace and Conflict

Resolution in collaboration with the Nasarawa State Government, yesterday commenced a three-day training on peace-building and conflict management for traditional rulers, local government officials and other stakeholders in Nasarawa State.

The state Governor, Umaru Al-Makura, who declared the workshop open, said the timing of the event was apt considering the intermittent communal disharmony, boundary disputes as well as herdsmen and farmers clashes in the state.

Al-Makura, who was represented by his deputy, Silas Agara, commended the institute for choosing the state as the pilot phase for the peace building and conflict management project aimed at stemming the tide of rising violent conflicts in some parts of the country.

Al-Makura said: “It is my belief that this workshop will devise methodologies that would be in tune with local realities and beyond conventional conflict resolution mechanism to build the capacity of the target groups.

“The local government functionaries and community leaders are the closest to the people at the grassroots and require community based strategies to manage and resolve conflicts.”

He noted that the concept of the workshop was in line with the state government’s initiative for conflict management.

“Since assumption of office in 2011, the state government adopted a community-based conflict resolution mechanism involving all stakeholders from

communities, districts, local government and state levels in pre and post conflict management in our communities.

“This bottom-up broad-based approach has continued to yield positive

results in our quest to ensure peaceful and harmonious co-existence among the diverse ethnic nationalities in the state,” Al-Makura added.

Earlier, the Director General of the institute, Prof. Oshita Oshita, said

the choice of Nasarawa State as pilot for the workshop was borne out of the persistence of the state government in ensuring peace.

Oshita said the strategic conflict assessment conducted by the

institute revealed that the state has great potential for peace, which must be exploited.

“This training will provide an opportunity to highlight some of the

peace potential and give the participants the skills needed to ensure peace in the state,” Oshita maintained.

He said the workshop would subsequently be held in Benue, Taraba

and Kaduna States.

Chairman of the state Traditional Council of Chiefs and Emir of Lafia,

Alhaji Mustapha Agwai, commended the organisers for putting up the programme at this time of rampant insecurity across the country.