Worried by the lingering spate of crises in Taraba State which have retarded the state’s development, the Kukah Centre, Secretariat of the National Peace Committee in collaboration with the UNESCO, and the Taraba Independent Peace Committee have begun moves to end the crises.
Dr Nneka Okafor, Head of Sector, Social and Human Sciences at the UNESCO Regional Office in Abuja while speaking at the two-day peace summit in Jalingo at the weekend said Peace was the only thing that can bring stability into any society and UNESCO is determined to ensure that Taraba remains peaceful.
“UNESCO is designated by the United Nations as an agency responsible for the culture of peace.
“Going forward, we will work towards the establishment of a school peace club that targets students in one of the universities in the state,” she said.
In an exclusive interview with AREWA PUNCH, Dr Atta Barkindo, the Director of Kukah Centre and head of the Secretariat of the National Peace Committee, who represented the Chairman and former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar noted that peace is the hallmark of development. As such, the summit was carefully put together to address issues that often result in conflicts.
Barkindo said, “The administration is new, and we carefully selected participants so we can dialogue and come up with policy recommendations that we can hand over to the new Governor to see what we can do to address these problems.
“The conflicts that happened in Taraba 15 years ago are different from the conflicts of today because the dynamics have changed, the social conditions have changed, and the context has changed.
“Therefore, we require a new form of thinking and a new form of critical evaluation about what is really important for us to do.
“As a people who want to build a nation, we must learn how to manage diversity. We must promote peace in this beautiful state that God has blessed this country with. If today, Taraba goes up in flames, there will be hunger in Nigeria,” Barkindo warned.
