Kaduna’s peace narrative (II)

This segment will discuss the activities undertaken by civil society organisations in building peace in Kaduna.Religious leaders because of the respect and trust they generate at the grassroots are viewed as the major promoters of peace in their communities and people look up to them for intervention in times of crisis and permanent engagement for […]

This segment will discuss the activities undertaken by civil society organisations in building peace in Kaduna.
Religious leaders because of the respect and trust they generate at the grassroots are viewed as the major promoters of peace in their communities and people look up to them for intervention in times of crisis and permanent engagement for long term peace building. Most of the activities shared in this discourse were undertaken under an interfaith platform.
Civil society initiatives for promoting Muslim-Christian dialogue in Kaduna began in 1996 under the auspices of Academic Associates Peace Works (AAPW) and SEMA.
The Interfaith Mediation Centre (IMC) under the joint leadership of a pastor and an Imam has been organising conflict management and capacity building workshops for mixed Muslim and Christian youth leaders and Training of Trainers TOT workshops on trauma counselling and reconciliation for community youth leaders, women leaders, ward self-help groups and other groups.
Another initiative from community leaders is the Even Development Project EDP which organised peace building workshops for traditional and opinion leaders. The Women Opinion Leaders Forum, WOLF, organised reconciliation and peace building workshops for women and youth leaders, leaders of cultural organizations and town unions.
ABANTU for Deve-lopment, a gender focused organisation has been organising peace works and one of its initiative was Reflection Seminars on Peace. In 2000, the Kawo New Extension Women’s Association KANEWA, a community based organization, brought women leaders from a diverse ethnic and religious groups, together for a peace building and reconciliation workshop. SEMA conducted reconciliation fora for youth groups and both KANEWA and SEMA facilitated the establishment of a coalition of NGOs and CBOs working in Conflict Resolution – the Conflict Resolution Network, CRESNET.
Two women’s groups, Alhidaya Charities and the Help Desk Trust, HDT, and other NGOs the Vision Trust Foundation, VTF, the Community Youth for Development CYD have embarked on providing skills and jobs for the unemployed youth in Kaduna town that are always ready to be used for looting and destruction of property during conflicts. Working in collaboration with the National Directorate of Employment, these NGOs have trained over one thousand youth under an apprenticeship scheme. Incorporated into this skills-acquisition programme is a peace and tolerance component to transform the youth into change agents for promoting reconciliation in the society.
An inter-religious delegation of senior Muslim and Christian leaders organised a fact-finding visit to Nigeria on 22 May 2012, where an increase in violence has threatened relations between the two religious communities in Northern Nigeria.
The delegation was led by Rev. Dr Olav FykseTveit, General Secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), and Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad of Jordan, Chairman of the Royal Aal Al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought. In addition to investigating first-hand the situation and factors in the present tensions, the delegation by its presence was expressing to the political and religious leaders in Nigeria the concerns of the international community about the violence. The delegation said “The joint involvement of Christian and Muslim leaders in this visit is meant not only to encourage an end to the violence but also to serve as an example of inter-religious cooperation in fostering peace and harmony between people of different religions,”
The Coalition of Peace workers in Kaduna also added its voice to the search for peace in the state.  On January 7 2012 the coalition said ‘At this moment of crisis and turmoil, we stand in solidarity with all Nigerian people of goodwill. We represent Christian and Muslim men and women from Kaduna State whose religious beliefs drive us to stop violent conflicts, and seek to create stability and peace. As Coalition of Peace workers, we stand in support and solidarity with every endeavour to realize peaceful coexistence among people from all religious traditions in Nigeria and beyond. We bear witness to the struggle of people of different faiths, ethnicities and interest groups in this great country of Nigeria to live in peace, with mutual respect.
We support every effort to realize that vision. We affirm the sacredness of all life, the spirit of good neighbourliness among all people and the protection of human dignity across all faith traditions. Shoulder-to-shoulder, together we represent Islam and Christianity, two great Abrahamic faiths. We are unified in our conviction that:
-Respect for human life and dignity is a central tenet of all religions – it is our shared duty and obligation to respect each life, which is sacred to us all. We are all one family in this universe.
-Violence of any kind has no place in any society. In light of the acts of the recent days and weeks, we mourn with the families of the victims. Amid their cries, we hear ever louder the call for vigorous, respectful discourse and dialogue among Nigeria’s men and women, and a shared commitment to moving forward together to build a thriving society.
-We call on all the people of Nigeria to join us by pursuing peace in your daily lives – with the goal of building a more powerful nation, where every man, woman and child has the opportunity to live a full and abundant life free from persecution and fear, regardless of religious persuasion.
-We condemn the misuse and abuse of religion and ethnicity by Political and Religious leaders in the promotion of violence of any kind.
-We call on the Nigerian government to listen to and dialogue with aggrieved persons to put to an end to destructions of lives and property of its citizens.
-We beckon to the Nigerian youth, who are the future generation: Your own destinies and the destiny of this nation are in your hands. We implore you to shun violence, extremism, militancy, religious and political manipulation, and exploitation by conflict entrepreneurs. We counsel you to develop a clear vision of your positive role in the history of your nation and the human family, and to become peace-ambassadors in the various fields of human endeavour.
With these encouraging stories to share, we continue working at the Steering Committee of the Forum of Cities in Transition FCT Conference established by the Governor of Kaduna State Alhaji Muktar Ramalan Yero.  We believe that the state with the support of all its citizens will make Nigeria a proud host of the forthcoming event.