Media Group Leads Campaign Against Violence in Nigeria
A media rights group, Journalists for Democratic Rights, JODER and the Ford Foundation have
Stepped up efforts to ensure peace and conflict prevention in the South East and Niger Delta. The initiative was aimed
at training critical stakeholders on peace building and conflict prevention.
To achieve this, JODER and the New-York based international donor group held series of workshops and training for
critical stakeholders in the South East and Niger Delta last week.
No fewer than 70 community leaders, faith Based groups and civil society organisations attended the weeklong
event which saw the officials paying advocacy visits to conflict-ridden communities in the two volatile geo-political
zones. The theme of the project is tagged: Promoting Peace, Democracy and Stability in Nigeria through the Media,
Socio-Cultural Institutions and Youth-Driven Community Based Groups The participants were made to pass through rigorous training and exercises on conflict management and peace building mechanism. In Enugu, the participants visited Nimo community that recently witnessed violent attacks leading to the death of several people and Bori, Ogoniland where oil clean-up has recently been initiated by the Nigerian government.
According the Executive Director, JODER, Mr. Adewale Adeoye, “one of the greatest threats to Nigeria’s renaissance is the deep ethnic and religious divisions which often lead to avoidable violent conflict. ”He said that since Nigeria returned to representative government in 1999, over 15,000 lives have been lost to conflict fuelled by ethnic and religious differences. These ethnic divisions continue to play out across the country. “It is on this basis that
the Journalists for Democratic Rights, (JODER) with the FordFoundation West African Regional Office is organizing a one-day Summit/Workshop Training for critical stakeholders
with strategic focus on promoting peace, conflict prevention
and sustainable development. The training is devoted to
ethnic, religious and other important leaders on strategies
for peace-building and conflict prevention. Dr Tony
Nwezeigwe of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka who attended
the event said the training has been useful toparticipants
who became more conscious that conflict could be resolved
through non-violent means.
An official of the Nigerian Civil
War Veterans, Mr Ike Nwalunor said “ The training is
driving the people towards sustainable development, peaceful
advocacy and a robust culture of debate. He said one of the
greatest threats to democracy in Nigeria is injustice, lack
of opportunities, poverty,extremists positions of contending
parties and lack of space for dialogue.”Dr Felix Tuodolo
who represented theBayelsa State Governor said the
“Niger-Delta crisis in not only a Nigerian problem but a
major challenge of peace building to United Nations, (UN)”
saying that the contending interests need to come to a round
table to resolve the lingering dispute. He said even in the
absent of a solution coming from the state, the people on
their own can start the peace-building process
for sustainable livelihood in the area. The training
identified flash-points and work out strategies for addressing
conflicts that might emanate from such areas, strengthened
organizations in peace building and conflict
management. It also increased the capacity of organizations
in community and grassroots mobilization for peaceful
coexistence
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