Govt must tackle poverty, injustice to restore peace in Nigeria — Expert

The federal government has been challenged to urgently tackle the prevailing agitation raging across the country before peace could be restored.

A researcher with Bayero University, Aminu Kano Centre for Democratic Research and Training, Mumbayya House, Dr. Mustapha Isiaku, made the call at a stakeholders’ workshop on conflict resolution management and peaceful coexistence in the country.

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The meeting was organised by Afripeace Sustainable Development Foundation in Kano over the weekend.

The renowned conflict management expert said Nigeria is faced with avalanche of unrest across the country due to failure of successive governments to quickly address security, inequality and nepotism in the country.

He warned that rampaging agitations in the country were being fuelled by injustice, uneven distribution of resources, poverty and scarce resources.

The don, who lamented economic inadequacy and total neglect of some parts of the country by the federal government, said the concern of aggrieved segments of the society must be addressed before the agitations escalate.

He believed the farmer-herders crisis could have been avoided if necessary conflict management strategies and dialogue had been deployed.

Earlier speaking, the Programme Manager, Afripeace Foundation, Rahab Yachat Kwaja, explained that the workshop was intended to build capacity of non-governmental organisations, women groups and community leaders on conflict resolution management in their communities.

She said Afripeace, which focused on promotion of education and peace in rural communities, drawn critical stakeholders to discuss violence extremism and how such violence could be mitigated.