The Catholic Caritas Foundation of Nigeria (CCFN) has trained 54 community leaders and stakeholders in Plateau on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the four-day training was part of its Zaman Tare (Living Together) project being funded by the European Union.
The Zaman Tare project is being implemented in collaboration with Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) and Dialogue, Reconciliation and Peace Centre (DREP).
Speaking at the close of the exercise on Friday in Jos, Mr Daniel Ogabiela, the Programme Officer, Peace Building abd Governance of CAFOD, said that the four-day training began on Tuesady.
According him, the training is aimed at equipping community leaders with the necessary skills that would enable them resolve misunderstanding among residents professionally.
He said the training had equipped the participants with the right skills to enable them mediate, negotiate and resolve misunderstanding among the people out of court.
”The whole idea is to equip these community leaders with the professional and right skills to enable them mediate, negotiate and resolve conflicts in the communities without necessarily going to court or police station to do that.
”By this, we are encouraging out of court settlement; that if people have this kind of consciousness in the community, where they can resolve their problems within, it will go a long way in promoting peaceful coexistence.
”If people will believe in the ability of their community leaders to resolve their conflicts, then a peaceful society is sure because they will begin to understand each other toward living together in peace,” he said.
Ogabiela explained that the organisation decided to engage the services of professionals to conduct the training to give room for follow-up.
”These participants are expected to be mediators in the communities to resolve problems among the people in a professional manner,
”So, these professionals will do a follow up and mentoring of participants as they go into the communities to put the knowledge gained into practice, ” he said.
Mr Stephen Pam, one of the participants commended the organisers for the exercise, saying that the knowledge gained would enable him to resolve conflicts in his community amicably.
”This training is an eye-opener for me; it exposes me to many professional ways of resolving conflicts in the society.
”It taught me patience, justice, equity and the need to desist from being bias when resolving issues that may likely lead to conflict in the community,” he said.
Also, Mary Dung, another participant, said that the training had shaped her understanding on the need to tolerate and accommodate other members of the community devoid of religious or ethnic affiliations.
”I am so grateful to be part of this intensive training because the knowledge I gained from the exercise will help to properly resolve conflicts in my community.
”And by the time conflicts are resolved in a professional manner, we will have peace and social cohesion in our communities,” she said.
NAN reports that the training facilitated by the Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators (ICMC), drew
participants from communities in Jos North and Jos South Local Government Areas including Dadin kowa, Abattoir, Nasarawa Gwom, Filin ball, Jenta Adamu, among others.
