The federal government has launched the Presidential Community Engagement Peace Initiative, aimed at promoting peacebuilding, dialogue, and social cohesion across communities in Nigeria’s North Central region.
The initiative, according to the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President on Community Engagement (North Central), Dr. Abiodun Essiet, seeks to strengthen community-based peace structures and foster collaboration among diverse religious, cultural, and ethnic groups.
Dr. Essiet, in a statement issued on Thursday, said the initiative aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s mandate to sustain peace and unity across the country by engaging communities directly and inclusively.
“We launched the Presidential Community Engagement Peace Initiative to promote peacebuilding and strengthen social cohesion, and we have started setting up community-based peace structures in collaboration with state peace agencies across the 121 local government areas in the North Central region,” she said.
She disclosed that the initiative has so far been implemented in 43 local government areas across Kogi and Benue states, while the next phase will take place in Plateau State this week. The engagements in Plateau will involve all 17 local government areas in partnership with the Plateau Peace Building Agency (PPBA).
Dr. Essiet explained that the community peace engagements will bring together key stakeholders and interest groups to foster dialogue and reconciliation, including:
