The United Kingdom Foreign and CommonWealth Development Office in Nigeria through its programme, strengthening peace and resilience, has organised a four-day training workshop for traditional rulers on conflict resolution and mediation

Declaring the training open, Katsina Governor, Mallam Dikko Umar Radda who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Barr. Abdullahi Faskari, highlighted the role of the traditional rulers on peace resolution which he said cannot be overstretched.

He said: “We all know that peace is fundamental and significant for socio-economic development in the society and without peace, nothing can be achieved.

”Any attempt  to.strengthen the issue of having peace in the society is very significant and important for all of us,as these traditional rulers were the closest to the people and everything starts from there.

“This is surely inherent in their own activities from time immemorial for them to settle people for peaceful coexistence.so attempts to bring about modernisation, new ideas, ways and knowledge that will improve their activities, I think is a welcome development”.

Radda further added that bringing peace in Nigeria is the sole responsibility of everyone and that It is a religious duty for everyone and whoever comes to assist on this regard

Underscoring the importance of the training in Katsina State, the team lead, SPRiNG programme, Dr. Ukoha Ukiwo, noted that considering the laudable contribution of the Nigerian government in maintaining peace especially in Africa, the UK government has indicated interest to promote efforts to restore peace and establish security.

He said: “The interest in Nigeria is because of its important role played especially in maintaining peace and security across Africa and there are concerns all over the world that if Nigeria is not stable, Africa will also be unstable”

“Nigeria is very important to the world that is why the UK government is quite interested in supporting the effort of the Nigerian actors and institutions to address issues that affect peace and security in Nigeria.

“All it has to do is to work with Nigerian stakeholders like you to ensure that we are better even to respond to issues around conflict, security, stability particularly that are also related to access to natural resources in a more peaceful way. 

The Training Coordinator, Green Horizon, Prof Muhammed Tabiu, said the programme was aimed at equipping and strengthening the traditional rulers’ skills on mediation as well as basic knowledge of the justice system in Nigeria.

He further added that Katsina State and the rest of the North-West region of Nigeria have become even more important because of the destructions that were brought about by the criminality, banditry and terrorism and that traditional rulers are up to the task if they are equipped with relevant skills, techniques for maintaining law and order and conflict resolution. 

He said: “The subject matter is mediation and conflict resolution aimed at sharpening the participant’s skills and to improve their capabilities to make peace, mediate between members of their communities as well as maintain law and order”.

The participants were expected to be equipped with the basic knowledge of the justice system in Nigeria in order to build their confidence especially when interacting with law enforcement agents during conflict resolution ,mediation and family disputes.