Firm launches community engagement initiative programme in five states

As part of effort to stop youth extremism and violence in the country, Micro Development Consulting Limited (MDCL), in collaboration with Office of National Security Adviser (NSA), has launched a Community Engagement Initiative (CEI) in five states of Borno, Yobe, Plateau, Kaduna, and Kano respectively.

The project tagged, ‘Positive Voices Campaign Project’, which is funded by the Department For International Development (DFID), through the Nigeria Stability and Reconciliation Programme (NSRP), would train selected youths as role models whereby they would impact people in their various communities in promoting peace and stability.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO), MDCL, Mrs. Furera Jumare, explained that the youths would be sent out to develop mini projects that they (youths) can do for their communities through positive message in terms of tolerance, peace and issues of countering violent extremism.

According to her: “we are sending them out there to develop mini projects that they can do for their community that will embed in those project positive messaging in terms of tolerance, peace and issues of countering violent extremism, and we called them positive voices. Basically, they are role models.”

On how the youths were selected from the five states, she said the firm did a baseline study by selecting two people from each states to underpin the project, adding that those selected were trained on leadership, conflict management and project management and they will in turn embark on mini projects in their various communities.

“What we have done before this day and before selecting the positive voices we did a baseline study that was meant to underpin the project. After the baseline study we went across the five states based on certain criteria selected these groups of young men and women that you see here today over the past 4 days.

“We trained them on leadership, conflict management and project management especially project planning because they are going to go into their community to embark on mini project.

“It is a positive sign that our project is going to be successful and after a while this pilot we are starting with five states is going to be rolled across Nigeria after 18 months,” she said

Programme Manager, Nigeria Stability and Reconciliation Programme (NSRP), Dr. Ukoha Ukiwu noted that the task of peace building is to work out modalities that would help us to promoting peace across the federation, noting that the training would serve as a tool in which they would be able to counter radicalism in the society.

“This is a way to present to the public this project that is intended to empower young Nigerians to be able to reach out to their peers and to their communities in terms of impacting them positively to take action against violence extremism,” he said