Dr Bakut Bakut, the Director-General of the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution, IPCR, said on Wednesday that dialogue remained the best option to achieving peace in any country.
The theme of the symposium is “the role of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Nigeria’s core conflicts”.
“Dialogue remains the only potent tool for achieving peace.
“We do not have any other nation except Nigeria, so we should contribute meaningfully towards her growth, development and stability, he said.
Bakut said the symposium is aimed at redefining roles for CSOs in conflict resolution and peacebuilding in Nigeria and to enhance the relationship between state actors and the CSOs.
Mr Daniel Mann, the Resident Representative of Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), said the symposium was organised to explore the contributions of CSOs and their involvement in Nigeria’s core conflicts.
Mann, represented by Mr Chidie Ugwu the FES’ Project Manager, said the symposium would explore the roles of CSOs in peace building and conflict management in Nigeria’s core conflicts.
He said: “Most importantly, it will bring under scrutiny how civil society interacted with the formal sectors in the country, that is the security agencies and government agencies.
“Militancy, insurgency, armed banditry, and criminality have exposed the entire country to underdevelopment, insecurity and extreme poverty amidst wealth and plenty.
“The symposium is to be understood in the light of the cognizance that peace building is a product of a multiplicity of efforts and interventions, by both traditional and non-traditional security sectors.”
