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Ighodalo takes first RNI international peace dialogue to Belgium, calls for more dialogue

By Eniola Daniel
11 December 2022   |   7:07 am
President, of Rebuild Nigeria Initiative, Ituah Ighodalo will on Tuesday, December 13, 2022, lead personalities to Antwerp, Belgium for the first International Peace Dialogue For Nigeria.

President, of Rebuild Nigeria Initiative, Ituah Ighodalo will on Tuesday, December 13, 2022, lead personalities to Antwerp, Belgium for the first International Peace Dialogue For Nigeria.

The Group’s Vice President, Collins Nweke, said the dialogue would hold at the Venerable Chapel of The Cathedral of Antwerp, Belgium.
Topics to be discussed include The State of Peace in Nigeria, the Fault Lines of Peace in Nigeria, International Perspectives on Conflict Resolution, and Interacting for Peace in Nigeria, amongst others.

The first of such consultative sessions was launched with corporate Nigeria in Lagos on November 17, 2022.

Hosted by the Catholic Bishop of Antwerp, Monsignor Johan Bonny, the dialogue has attracted Nigerian experts and notable global figures in areas of peace dialogue and conflict resolution. Ighodalo said the group believes that facilitating peace dialogues at subnational, national, and international levels reinforces the importance of peace as a cornerstone of civil well-being, security, political and socioeconomic prosperity. “Peace is the panacea to the Nigeria of our dreams, just as justice and equity are the bedrocks of nationhood.”

Drawing from her years of experience in Countering Violent Extremism (CVE), RNI Executive Secretary, Dr Fatima Akilu opined that with the mistrust, mutual suspicion, and division caused by Nigeria’s fault lines, it is difficult for growth and development to thrive. If unchecked quickly, retaining the current status quo practices can lead to the escalation of internal disagreements which could result in Nigeria total disintegration.

Speaking on the goal of the Rebuild Nigeria Initiative, Nweke stressed that the group intends to assemble all willing players, and build a coalition of non-state actors to interrogate different aspects of securing and sustaining lasting peace from a global perspective. “Our ambition is to reach a possible consensus on a common collaborative approach based on international best practices in conflict resolution adapted to the
Nigerian realities.”

Speakers at the dialogue are Dr. Fatima Akilu, Pastor Ituah Ighodalo; Catholic Bishop of Antwerp, Belgium Monsignor Johan Bonny and foremost Belgian politician and expert on comparative cultures, Meyrem Almaci.

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