JamzNG Latest News, Gist, Entertainment in Nigeria
Dr. Inhabitun Essiet, the President’s Special Assistant for the commitment of the community (center-north), states that almost 70 % of insecurity in the region can be addressed through non-Kinetic strategies based on the community.
It made it known in a training for the construction of capacity for the parties concerned throughout the center-north, held on Tuesday at the State House, Abuja.
“From our analysis, almost 70 % of security challenges in the North Central can be addressed through dialogue, reconciliation, sharing of intelligence and the commitment of the community, rather than only through strength,” he said.
Essiet highlighted how the launch of June 5 of the Presidential Community Engagement Peace Initiative (Pcei) in Jos, Plateau, is already producing results.
“That historical event was a significant step in our collective journey towards the promotion of the unit, the strengthening of social cohesion and the strengthening of communities to assume the property of their peace processes”.
He said his office is working with the International Communities Organization (ICO) on an initiative of peace in line with the commitments of the Nigeria Universal Periodic Review (UPR).
The project is entitled: “Promote the peace of the community and strengthen social cohesion in the North North Center”.
Essiet explained that a basic network has been developed to ensure that each local government is included.
“At the center of this initiative is the establishment of a peace structure that will cross all 110 areas of the local government of the North Center Region.
“This structure will not only exist in the name; it will be an active platform, focusing on the collection and sharing of intelligence, on the facilitation of continuous dialogue and help us
“Ultimately, this peace structure will act as a spine of the construction of sustainable peace in our region,” he observed.
He stressed that the resolution of local disputes remained critical for long -term peace of the region.
“Once we managed to resolve the internal common conflicts and face the radical causes of the tension, we will already be halfway to overcome the insecurity in the North Central, while armed crime remains for safety agencies.
“This formation does not only concern the acquisition of knowledge; it is a matter of forging partnerships, building trust and developing strategies that will have a direct impact on our communities,” added Essiet.
The interested parties identified porous forests and boundaries as the main pressure points that feed insecurity in the center north.
Amb. Joshua Osatimehin Wole, general commander of the Nigerian forest security service (NFSS) has revealed that Nigeria has 1,129 forest reserves, with 174 only in the center of the north.
He asked for stronger collaboration between agencies and greater forest security, especially in Niger, Kwara and Benue.
“For sustainable peace in our communities, all our forest regions must be well coordinated and preserved. We must protect the forests,” he said.
“We must create further security agencies to conduct continuous security surveillance.
“Three states of international border border: Niger, Kwara and Benue, and are the epicenter of insecurity.
“There should be an inter-agency cooperation and effective control of our forests”.
Kole Shettimo, director of the MacArthur Foundation, stressed that stability has remained fundamental for development.
“Unless there is peace, you can’t do what you want to do. Peace is essential and fundamental,” he said.
He also urged the National Assembly to strengthen traditional institutions and learn from indigenous conflict resolution models.
The coordinator of the Jacob Alagbe project said that the program brought together the actors at the state level to create specific action plans of the state that promote peace and social harmony.
Freedomonline reports that training included sessions on conflict dynamics, intelligence collection, community involvement and peace construction strategies.
