By Pwanagba Agabus, Jos
Despite the deteriorating peace and security situation in some parts of Plateau State in the last few weeks, two communities of Kunga/Naraguta in Jos North LGA and Bukuru/Gyel of Jos South LGA have resolved to continue to foster social cohesion in their respective communities through active collaboration to address issues of common concern.
The two communities that hitherto suffered violent conflicts in the past believes that collaboration amongst the various ethno-religious groups residing in those communities would not only foster cooperation but, help in building community resilience while checking societal ills especially amongst the youth.
The communities brought these to the fore recently during series of dialogue sessions held in the respective communities as part of efforts aimed at fostering social cohesion, peacebuilding and identifying early warning signs with a view to encouraging early response at mitigating violent conflict.
The sessions were facilitated under the Peace Action for Rapid and Transformative Nigeria Early Warning, PARTNER Project is a Five-year project being implemented by a consortium of partners led by Mercy Corps Nigeria and the Plateau Peace Building Agency, PPBA with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) across Eighteen communities in Plateau State.
Mr. Danjuma Dawop, Chief of Party (CoP) PARTNER Project who facilitated the sessions disclosed that it provided “the communities the opportunity to present projects which they collective agreed to carry out in their respective communities that they would want to implement based on priority”.
“For instance, Kunga/Naraguta community has identified drugs and substance abuse as one of the issues affecting their community. Even though this issue is not the cause of conflict in the community but, it is an accelerant of conflict”.
“So we are going to help them address such issues through awareness creation and sensitization; dialogue, as well as, mindset change and reorientation among the youth of the community,” Dawop said.
Also speaking, the Team Lead of the PARTNER Project team at the Plateau Peace Building Agency, PPBA Kyendi Dale said “previously, we trained the Community Based Reconciliation Groups (CBRGs) and the Early Warning Early Response Groups (EWERGs) on Interest Based Negotiation (IBN) and Early Warning Early Response (EWER). And during those trainings, the communities came up with action plans that they are going to do collectively”.
“That is why these dialogue sessions were designed to support them in organizing themselves into taking action and to also come up with ways on how to implement those action plans”, Dale added.
On his part, the Turakin Rigizah District in Jos North LGA, Mr. Sani Lenge commended Mercy Corps and PPBA for selecting the community for the implementation of the project describing it as one of the things that has restored peace and build confidence in the community in the last few years.
The traditional leader used the forum to call on troubled communities across the state to shun acts that are capable of threatening the peace and security of their communities even as he called for continues collaboration amongst communities for all-round development.
In his own contribution, Mallam Isa Waziiri the representative of the Ardo of Jos North LGA disclosed that the PARTNER Project was an eye opener for the community as it has afforded them the rare opportunity of engaging with issues bedeviling their communities collectively irrespective of ethnic or religious consideration.
Waziri then urged the government and other non-state actors to also cite such projects in other troubled communities or those who suffered violent conflicts in the past so as to help them address the legacies left behind by the internecine conflict.
Hajiya Rashida Inuwa who is the Secretary of the CBRG for Kunga/Naraguta called on parents especially the womenfolk to ensure they monitor the activities of their children and wards as according to her “as a mother, you can tell if your child or ward is amongst those causing problem in the community or not.
“Therefore, as parents and women, we must inculcate good moral values in our children in order to build a better society”.
High points of the dialogue sessions which took place at the two communities were the resolved to expand the existing Primary Health Care facility located at Kunga/Naraguta community to meet the growing population and, the provision of a water point at Bukuru/Gyel community for both domestic and animal consumption.
