By Linus Ngantem, Nankyen Rinmark & Esther Mark
The role of traditional rulers in peace building came under focus at the International Peace Conference holding at the University of Jos with a call for specific roles for the traditional institution in peace building.
Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Sonni Tyoden who chaired the session said assigning them roles would enable them contribute more meaningfully to peace building.
The Gbong Gwom Jos, Da Jacob Gyang Buba who was the main speaker at the session entitled, “Tradition and Peace Building” advocated advocated a review of the country’s constitution to allow states establish their own security outfits to handle security challenges.
He stressed that allowing the states to operate independent security bodies will give the Governors power to arrest peculiar security challenges in their respective states instead of Federal Government-controlled security bodies who do not take directives from governors.
Buba urged educational institutions and corporate organizations to embark on research to ascertain the immediate and remote causes of conflicts that could be used to address the problems.
He noted that the indigene-settler dichotomy is being misused and manipulated by selfish individuals and groups to create unnecessary tension among people.
The Royal father called for collaboration between the media, the traditional institutions and the community towards entrenching lasting peace in the society.
Earlier in his opening remark, the Chief of Staff Government House, Jos Mr. Gyang Pwajok said the media should always strive to represent all shades of opinion to avoid undue suspicion among the audience.
He said most violent conflicts are fueled by stories that are in favour of a particular faith against another faith, adding that reporters should verify facts before giving them out to the public.
Also speaking, Teri Thompson of the Woodbury University, Los Angeles, advocated the use of social media such as handsets, Facebook, Twitter and so on to transmit peace messages.
However, participants who contributed to her presentation, said social media have contributed negatively to the peace building process because many people use it to send messages that inflame violence rather than douse tensed situations.
They were unanimous in that the use of social media in peace building is relative as most third world countries are technologically backward.
In his submission, Dean Faculty of Arts, Professor Umar Danfulani stressed the need to empower the youth and rural dwellers to curb the idleness which often lead to restiveness among them.
He described employment creation for the army of employed youth in different parts of the country as a major step towards building peace adding that unless the level of unemployment among the population is arrested, peace building could be difficult to achieve.
Other speakers at the conference called for good governance and strengthening of institutions to help build the peoples’ confidence in government.
Highlights of the occasion was a variety display of the rich cultural heritage of Nigeria by Students of the Theatre and Film Arts Department to the admiration of the participants who came from both within and outside the country.
