Group seeks inclusion of traditional, religious leaders in peace building structures

The Conflict Research Network, West Africa (CORN), has advised governments at all levels to incorporate traditional and religious leaders in peace building structures across the country.
CORN Director, Dr Tarila Marclint Ebiede made the call in a statement made available to TVN on Thursday through the Director of Communications of the organisation, Professor Oludayo Tade.
Ebiede, in the statement, maintained that traditional and religious institutions play significant roles in fostering community cohesion.
Ebiede also urged President Bola Tinubu to initiate a national peace policy that integrates federal, state and local peace building institutions.
He added that this will help to ensure that all government policies are conflict sensitive and do not contribute to conflict.
He also used the opportunity to appeal to the federal government to empower national peace building institutions such as Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution, National Boundaries Commission, National Orientation Agency and other relevant institutions to work with state and local actors to build peace in Nigeria’s conflict zones.
“The levers of peace study were conducted in the six geopolitical zones and extracted data from 220 interviews and 44 focus group discussions with peace builders at the state and local government levels in Nigeria. The research on levers of Peace in Nigeria showed that sustainability of peace requires resources.
“There is inadequate resources to sustain the peace building efforts in Nigeria at the moment. The capabilities of states and communities should be strengthened, with specific focus on their abilities to effectively and proactively respond to early warning signs.
“Closer relations between and among contiguous states should be bolstered in ways that enable them to collaboratively identify and respond to common security challenges.
“Traditional and religious institutions play significant roles in fostering community cohesion and should be incorporated into the peace building structures,” he added.
Group seeks inclusion of traditional, religious leaders in peace building structures