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From Emmanuel Adeyemi Lokoja
As a fallout of the general elections and in it’s bid to ensure peace and egalitarian society the Bishop Hassan Kukah Centre
Wednesday in lokoja trained eminent citizens including community leaders, clergy men, top retired civil servants and others inorder to handle and resolve crises in their various communities
The 50 participants trained were from kwara, Kogi, Nasarawa, Oyo and Benue state which it said represents those from the North central region while 50 other participants will be selected reach from the other five geo political region.
The participants are expected to go and train others in their respective states to handle crises emanating from election matters or communal matters with a view to de escalating crises in the country and making the country a peaceful place to live irrespective of tribe or religion.
Speaking at the training centre , the Project Manager, Kukah Center, Lawson Eselebor said the peace capacity building was an extension of the National Peace Committee to facilitate and advocate overall peace in Nigeria.
Eselebor said the participants would be introduced to practical conflict resolution techniques and strategies to effectively utilise when managing conflict.
Eselebor said the initiative was meant to build capacity of the stakeholders as a result of the fallout from the just concluded general elections in the country.
“There are some consequences from the results of the elections, because we have violence before, during and after the elections at different locations across the country.
”We know that conflict which is the focus for this training is inevitable, with both positive and negative outcomes but it depends on how you manage the situation.
”If conflict is properly managed with the right tools, techniques and approach, then the results will be favourable, but when you avoid conflicts or apply the wrong tools and techniques, they cause violence, destructions, killings as we have seen in these elections, and this is what we want to avoid” he added
The training is also to equip the stakeholders in Kogi on how to work for peace in the upcoming governorship election in the state to prevent conflicts to the barest minimum before, during and after the election.
