PCNI charges religious, community leaders on dialogue

The Presidential Commission for North East Initiative (PCNI) has called on community, religious leaders and other stakeholders in the North East on the need to promote peace building through formal and informal channels.

PCNI chairman, Lt Gen. Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma (Rtd) made the call in Bauchi Friday at the opening of a one day Inter-Religious Dialogue For Peaceful Co-existence in the North East organised by PCNI and Green Horizon.

Danjuma, who was represented by the Bauchi State PCNI coordinator, Mallam Bala Inuwa said that, the transition to recovery needs a strong engagement with religious, community leaders and other stakeholders to facilitate an understanding of shared vision for lasting peace.

“The PCNI acknowledges the dynamics and challenges inherent in the quest to rebuild lives and livelihoods as well as social cohesion. PCNI also acknowledges and upholds the need for aggrieved parties to work at closure for their pains and losses,” he said.

Danjuma noted that, the stakeholders must leverage on the norms and values that promote peace, equity and justice to build an enabling environment for resilience and address lingering grievances.

“The PCNI on behalf of government will continue to advocate for the upholding the principle of rule of law while providing the enabling environment for dialogue, mediation and reconciliation as well as reintegration,” Danjuma added.

In his address, Chairman, Green Horizon, Professor Muhammed Tabiu said that, the essence of the interfaith dialogue was to promote peace as a fundamental component of recovery in the North East.

“As you all know, the Boko Haram crisis in the North East of Nigeria devastated the region beyond description. In a period of about eight years, the crisis consumed an estimated 30,000 lives and displaced over 2 million lives from their homes.

” This is said from the destruction of towns and villages, as well as valuable government facilities like schools, hospitals, health centers, courts, police stations, prisons and many more. While the three states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe bore the worst brunt of this monumental calamity, no state in the region was left untouched,”he said.

In a presentation, a lecturer from the Department of Islamic Studies, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Dr Mustapha Isah Kasim stressed that, the need for dialogue between adherents of the Islamic and Christian faith is imperative as the two are being explored by some unscrupulous elements to cause disharmony.

A Christian leader, Ishaya Buba Bahama while speaking said that government must strive to ensure equity and justice as injustice bring about conflicts.

On his part, a Islamic Cleric, Malam Musa Dan’azumi Tafawa Balewa commended PCNI and other stakeholders for organising the Interfaith engagement to ensure religious and communal harmony in the region in order to have a lasting peace.

Speaking, Galadiman Bauchi, District Head of Zungur, Alhaji Sa’idu Jahun said that, traditional rulers as custodians of norms and culture must spearhead all peace building efforts as parts of their primary responsibility.