Borno govt, NGO engages traditional rulers on peace building, reintegration process

Borno govt, NGO engages traditional rulers on peace building, reintegration process

By Ladi Dapson

The Borno state government has engaged the traditional rulers to provide a platform for sensitization, engagement and
dialogue on the peace building and reintegration process in Borno state.

The State Commissioner for Information and Internal Security, Prof Umaru Tar made this known during a one-day townhall meeting with traditional leaders on integration and sustainable peace in Borno State organized by Peace Ambassadors Centre for Humanitarian Aid and Empowerment(PACHE) held in Maiduguri on Wednesday.

Prof Tar said the aim of the town meeting was to have constructive discussions with traditional rulers on the way forward for the Borno State government on restoration with the regards to peace, security and development after more a decade of insurgency.

“The key recommendation is that the government should look inward and consult widely at the grassroots levels. The traditional rulers are the representatives of the people.

They said our approaches should be changed, “Top down approach to governance was discouraged by the townhall meeting, while bottom up to governance was strongly encouraged, so going forward state government will be speaking more to the grassroots consistuency and traditional rulers downward.

“So we invited the traditional rulers to give their input on the way forward, we have received a lot of suggestions on how to return the IDPs back to their homes, on how to secure our vital infrastructure as well as our are rebuilding process.”Prof Tar said.

He said that the Borno government state has switched from humanitarian to restoration mode, “we are recovering vital infrastructure, way of life and return of IDPs to their ancestral homes.

The President of PACHE, Ahmed Shehu stressed that as a Civil Society they observed the role of traditional institutions has not been well represented in the entire process hence the meeting and conversations became imperative.

“There are complaints that they have not been carrying along so instead of lamenting and apportioned blames so the whole idea is have honest conversations.

“We have more than 80 traditional rulers in this meeting and 56 of them are from the Borno Emirate so this tell you that it is a subject that everyone want to involve in the process. I think it is important that the state government listen to the people.”he advised.

Also, speaking the District of Yerwa, Engr Abba Sanda noted the traditional institutions play a vital roles in the society, urging the state government to adopt all inclusive approach that will gain the confidence of the citizens in the reintegration process.

” We need sit down with critical stakeholders and discuss with them to their problems and how to solve them, all inclusive approach is the answer to our problems.”he opined.

The townhall meeting with the Theme: “Together We Shall Build Borno Back Better”was sponsor by the British Council and implemented by Peace Ambassadors Centre for Humanitarian Aid & Empowerment in partnership with the Borno State Ministry of Information and Internal Security.

Borno govt, NGO engages traditional rulers on peace building, reintegration process