Groups under the auspices of Tearfund, the Joint Initiative for Strategic Religious Action (JISRA), and other developmental partners have complemented the effort of the government in transforming conflict situations in several communities across Kaduna and Plateau states, leading to peaceful coexistence.
The development was revealed on Thursday in Abuja by the Tearfund Programme Development and Partnerships Manager in Nigeria, George Songu, at the Tearfund PhotoVoice Exhibition Concept Note under the theme “Restoring Hope, Renewing the Earth, Rebuilding Communities.”
According to Songu, Tearfund has been in the vanguard of promoting environmental and economic sustainability (EES) as well as peaceful co-existence and social cohesion in conflict-prone and affected communities in Nigeria.
He disclosed that the body has, over the years, employed its unique community-led peacebuilding and conflict transformation intervention models, adding that the organisation is contributing to shifting norms and behaviours amongst conflict-prone communities.
“The organisation’s focus on peacebuilding and corporate priority is to see peace-filled and reconciled societies where peacebuilders are influencing peace and transforming conflict in their communities. Tearfund’s modus operandi to achieving this entails nurturing, equipping, and connecting communities (NEC) Model.
“We are here this evening, to showcase the great work tearfund is doing across different locations in Nigeria and across thematic areas, speaking to peace, building climate change and environment, environmental and economic sustainability, promoting climate smart agriculture, and then also working together with stakeholders to foster peaceful coexistence and social cohesion across locations that have been bedevid by conflict.
“And part of what we are showcasing here today is the impact of the JISRA project, the joint intervention on strategic and religious actions, galvanizing even the potentials of religious and faith actors, whether from the Christian or the Muslim faith and other traditional religions to join forces and raise their voice against the incessant conflicts that we see across the country, we have helped to transform conflict situations leading to peaceful coexistence for several communities across Kaduna and plateau states.
“Through this project, we have also seen government agencies and institutions also come together to promote policies that foster peaceful coexistence and put an end to the incessant conflicts that we’re seeing on the plateau and in Kaduna.
“For plateau specifically, there are communities that could not come together; the Christian the Muslim communities could not come together to do anything. But as a result of this project, we have seen zero or no conflicts at all on the Plateau.”
Also speaking, Country Coordinator of JISRA Nigeria, Jude Likita explained that the idea of the program is to raise the platform and to deliberately set up tables for conversations around joint religious actions that lead to peace and create cohesive societies
Likita noted that the aim of the PhotoVoice Exhibition is to showcases inspiring stories of change, narratives, resilience, and transformation witnessed across communities in Nigeria, adding that Tearfund and its partners have worked over the years across regions affected by conflict and disasters to transform relationships, challenging exclusionary narratives, and nurturing community resilience.
