The Plateau Peace Building Agency (PPBA) with support from the GIZ (German International Cooperation) through the Peacecore project organized a 3-Day training for Local Government Councils (LGCs) Security Secretaries and Officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC). The theme for the training: Strengthening the capacity of Security Desk Officers for effective coordination and decentralization of conflict prevention and peacebuilding in Plateau State was held on the 14th -16th February, 2022 at Crest Hotels and Gardens, Jos-Plateau State, Nigeria.
Since the establishment of the Plateau Peace Building Agency (PPBA) in 2016 as a state’s dedicated institutional structure for conflict prevention and peace building, the Agency is driven by a standard operational principle of building a robust multi-stakeholder partnership for peace. Some levels of achievements have been recorded over the years; however significant gaps remain especially the non-existence of formalized institutional structures at the local government levels.
The information strength at the grassroots where our challenges of conflicts are mostly found, coupled with the limitation in the state peace and security infrastructures brings to the fore an urgent need to bridge the gap of non-existence of formalized structures for conflict prevention and peacebuilding across the 17 LGAs of Plateau state. This way, the Peace and Security Desk Officers when adequately equipped can enhance effective decentralization and coordination of PPBA activities, and thereby contributes to the transformation processes of the farmer herder conflict as well as security of lives and property across the various local government areas. In this light, the Desk Officers can thus become strong strategic partners of PPBA in Peace building efforts.
The objective of the training is to further deepen the already existing partnership for conflict prevention and peace building between PPBA and the local government councils as well as NSCDC Plateau State command. By strengthening the capacity of our partners, we are equally expanding the momentum for conflict prevention and peace building as well as decentralizing the operations of PPBA across the length and breadth of Plateau State.
This is quite important because with the complex nature of the challenges of peace and security facing us, no organization or agency of government can be able to address all emerging questions of peace and security unilaterally, rather it will require collaborative partnership of other stakeholders.
The training simultaneously marked important milestones in the implementation of the GIZ Peacecore Project as well as the Plateau State Roadmap to Peace Strategic Plan Document developed by PPBA in 2018.Participants at the training were drawn from Local Government Council’s Security Secretaries as well as Officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) across the 17 LGAs of Plateau State for effective synergy in service delivery.
The training sessions were quite interactive with series of practical exercises coordinated by three (3) facilitators.