The Emir of Fika, Alhaji Mohammadu Abali Ibn Mohammed Idrissa, has called for the strengthening of traditional institutions to tackle insecurity in the country.
He said their roles in peacebuilding cannot be over-emphasized.
He spoke in Abuja at the Managing Conflict in Nigeria Programme tagged ‘Practice Dissemination Workshop on Initiatives to Strengthen Traditional Justice System’, funded by the European Union and the British Council.
Idrissa, who is also the chairman of the Yobe State Council of Traditional Rulers, said traditional rulers are critical to peacebuilding.
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He said the peaceful community development initiative strategy, formulated and funded by the British Council and EU, needed to be sustained to ensure lasting peace in the North East.
Similarly, the Emir of Bade, Yobe State, Alhaji Abubakar Umar Suleiman, said: “The British Council deemed it fit and transferred the custodian of conflict resolution back to the traditional rulers because it is more accessible to the common man at no cost.”
The Emir of Mubi, Adamawa State, Dr Abubakar Isa Ahmadu, asked traditional rulers to make themselves trustworthy so that the people could trust them with their complaints and needs.
The Gangwari Ganye, Adamawa State, Umaru Adamu Sanda, urged traditional rulers to understand the basics of conflict resolution to enable them to perform better as rulers.
In his welcome remarks, National Programme Manager, MCN, Prof. Mohammed Tabu, said the programme focused on managing conflict in the North East and had been implemented in the past six years to enhance the capacity of traditional rulers on peace and conflict resolution.
