The Kukah Centre (TKC) has trained 50 participants on peace and conflict management to intervene in the crises that may occur after the just concluded general elections in the country.
TKC Project Officer, Lawson Eselebor, who stated this during the opening ceremony of a two-day capacity building on peace and conflict management organised for participants from Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa and Oyo states in Lokoja on Wednesday, said the participants were carefully selected based on integrity.
According to him, the objective of the training is to build the capacity of stakeholders to enable them apply the knowledge and techniques acquired from the training to intervene in any forms of conflict that may erupt after the conduct of the presidential, National Assembly, governorship and state House of Assembly elections across the country.
The project officer, who described conflict as inevitable in any society, said it has become imperative to manage it before it snowballs into crises that could cause loss of lives and destruction of property.
“It is evidently clear that there are positive and negative sides of conflict, though it depends on how best it is being handled. The participants of [this] training were carefully selected from Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa and Oyo states on the line of credibility. [Among them] are retired judges, bishops, chief imams, women leaders and youth leaders.
“Conflict, if properly managed with the right tools, techniques and approach, then the result will be favourably, but if it is wrongly handled, it can result in violence which ultimately can cause massive killings and destruction of property,” he said.
He noted that after the training, the participants will further cascade the training to 40 more participants in every state of the federation to ensure peace in all the communities.
In her lecture presentation on peace and conflict management and resolution, Barrister Gloria Ballason said there can never be peace without justice and urged the electoral umpire to remain independent by discharging its statutory obligations transparently and objectively in order to ensure that the conduct of every election in the country is peaceful.