The Secretary to the Adamawa state government, Dr Bashir Ahmed, says the state government is to establish a Peace and Conflict Resolution and Social Mobilisation Commission to promote peace and harmonious coexistence in the state.
Ahmed made the disclosure at a stakeholders’ meeting on strategies for entrenching peace building in the state, held on Tuesday, in Yola.
According to him, a bill for the establishment of the state’s Peace and Conflict Resolution and Social Mobilisation had since been passed by the state Assembly.
“I am happy to report that the Bill establishing the Adamawa State Peace and Conflict Resolution and Social Mobilisation was passed by the state Assembly.
“The bill has since been assented to by the governor, Ahmadu Fintiri and steps are being taken to establish the commission.
“It is our hope that when the commission is constituted, issues of conflict resolutions will be adequately addressed, as government is willing to provide all necessary support for sustainable peace across the state,” Ahmed said.
In his remarks, Prof. Liman Tukur, Vice Chancellor, Modibbo Adama University of Technology (MAUTECH)Yola, said the significance of the meeting was to provide an avenue for participants to interact and cross fertilise ideas to come up with recommendations that would fast track policy formulation on peace building in the state.
Also, Dr Jude Momodu, Director, Centre for Peace and Security Studies, MAUTECH, said the meeting was convened in collaboration with U.S Institute of Peace (USIP).
Momodu said the core objective of the meeting was to see how a peace building commission would be established in the state.
“Today, we are having a meeting with policy makers to see how we can get a functional peace building commission in the state that had been passed and guided by the law.
“After the meeting, the Centre and the participants would make follow up to ensure that the commission came on board, which can also handle issues of conflict and related matters,” Momodu said.
Abdussamad Zango, Country Manager, USIP, described the purpose of the meeting as to see how communities could live together in peace and harmony.
“In most cases, we focus on trying to prevent conflicts which today is difficult to prevent, but the most important thing is to have a mechanism for mitigation, to solve disputes through dialogue and coexistence.
“The meeting we are having today in Adamawa, is similar to that of Kaduna and Plateau, where we assisted those states that are trying to establish peace building institutions, by providing them with technology, training and experience in terms of international best practices,” Zango said.
