By Abbas Bamalli
An NGO, Mercy Corps, has taken conflict resolution dialogue to some Katsina communities mostly affected by the recurring herder-farmer conflicts.
The community dialogue was held in Kankara and Danmusa Local Government Areas (LGAs) on Monday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that a similar dialogue was held at the state level, organised by the state government in collaboration with the NGO.
Stakeholders at the meeting designed concrete steps towards preventing and mitigating tensions and violence during the up-coming 2024 farming season.
Addressing the stakeholders at the event in Kankara, Magdalene Musa, a representative of the NGO ,said the dialogue was aimed at promoting locally-driven peace initiatives through interest-based negotiation.
According to her, the dialogue was organised through the Conflict Mitigation and Community Reconciliation in Northwest Nigeria (CMCR-NW) project.
She said the project was an 18-months comprehensive pilot programme toward reducing community violence in Batsari, Danmusa, Jibia and Kankara LGAs of the state.
Musa said the project seeks to strengthen peace building processes to support the implementation of political and community responses to violence.
“It’s also to strengthen the governance system to promote social cohesion and address the needs and grievances of the community, as the farming season is coming.
“Expected output and outcome of the dialogue is conflict prevention strategy, including action plans to address the impact of conflict on farming and grazing developed.
“The conflict dialogue specifically focuses on rainy/farming season scenario planning, conflict assessment, and mitigation strategies,” she said.
Musa further noted that the local government dialogue was to inform stakeholders at that level on the action plan provided at the state level dialogue.
She pointed out that this was to enable the participants, who were from Kankara and Ketare districts to also step the plan down to their various communities
“Different stakeholders will brainstorm to design concrete steps towards preventing and mitigating tensions and violence during the up-coming 2024 farming season,” Musa said
In his response, the Director, Personnel Management of the LGA, Alhaji Sa’ad Safana, commended the effort, saying that it would encourage them to strengthen the capacity of their committee on conflict resolution.
According to him, the local government used to have a standing committee set-up purposely for conflict resolution, with leadership across traditional leaders.
He assured the commitment of the present administration in the state towards providing basic social amenities, especially schools, and ensuring access to quality education by all citizens.
Safana further revealed that the LGA, in collaboration with the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), had recently sensitised people on the effect of drug abuse in fuelling conflict.
Participants at the dialogue meeting, which included traditional, religious and community leaders, among others, expressed their commitment towards achieving the objectives of the dialogue.
The dialogue was also organised in collaboration with the International Organisation for Migration and the Centre for Democracy and Development funded by the European Union.
NAN