Initiative 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 on Friday at the opening of a one-day inter-religious dialogue for […]

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 on 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, Malam Bala Inuwa said the transition to recovery needs a strong engagement with all stakeholders to facilitate an understanding of shared vision for lasting peace.

He said PCNI acknowledges the dynamics and challenges inherent in the quest to rebuild lives and livelihoods as well as social cohesion.

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

A lecturer in the Department of Islamic Studies, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Dr Mustapha Isah Kasim, stressed the need for dialogue between adherents of the Islamic and Christian faiths as imperative as the two are being explored by some unscrupulous elements to cause disharmony.

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

An Islamic cleric, Malam Musa Dan’azumi Tafawa Balewa, commended PCNI and other stakeholders for organising the engagement in order to have lasting peace.

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