IOM, European Union engages Over 300 Stakeholders, Communities in Zamfara

From Aliyu Buhari Gusau

International Organization for Migration in collaboration with European Union engages over 300 Direct Beneficiaries in Town Hall Meeting to foster peaceful coexistence in Zamfara State.

In a Statement Singed by the Representatives of IOM, Danjuma Mohammed, PhD (Field peace building associate), and Ahmed Buba (project assistant, DTM field operations), issued to  Journalists in Gusau the State Capital.

According to the Statement, the Town hall Meeting held at Bungudu and Gusau local Government respectively,  Danjuma Mohammed, PhD (Field peace building associate), Said the Town hall Meeting is as part of the effort to implement the Conflict Prevention, Crises Response and Resilience (CPCRR) Project.

Danjuma Mohammed, PhD noted that, the Meeting aims to promote peaceful coexistence and strengthen community-based mechanisms for conflict prevention and resolution, particularly in areas affected by farmer–herder tensions and other communal disputes.

“The project focuses on dialogue, building the capacity of community structures, and fostering collaboration among local stakeholders to improve resilience and reduce the risk of violence” Danjuma Explained.

Danjuma point out that, the Meeting is to strengthen dialogue and collaboration among key stakeholders on issues related to farmer–herder relations and community peace building and resilience. 

In his Speech at the Meeting,  Ahmad Buba, Said the Meetings served as a platform for community members and relevant actors to openly discuss prevailing challenges, share perspectives, and identify locally driven solutions to promote peaceful coexistence.

Ahmed Buba narrrated that, the Participants in the town hall meetings included members of the farmers–herders conflict resolution committees for Bungudu and Gusau, Community Peace and Resilience Committees, farmers, herders, trade unions, local security agencies (ASKARAWA and YAN SA KAI).

Others are  CBOs, CSOs, traditional leaders, religious leaders, women groups, PWDs, and representatives of MDAs. The engagement brought together diverse stakeholders to strengthen coordination, encourage dialogue, and enhance community-led mechanisms for conflict prevention and resolution.

In their Seprates Speeches, representatives of Emirs of Gusau and Bungudu, District Head of Mayana, District head of Gada Biyu Gusau, District Head of Mayana, Chairman ASKARAWA, Chairman Vigilante, Damba IDPs support group Said that, they lived in a fear, everyone is just freak. Poverty is looming.

“We can no longer sustain our families and therefore in our very eyes, they travel in search of greener pasture at younger age, abandoning their education and moral discipline they require to keep themselves relevant in the society’’

‘’Today, we are living in a fragment society, we cannot clearly say what lead us to that destination, we desist from being our brothers keepers” 

“We stopped seeing community responsibility as collective responsibilities, We all want with community problems at our various household level. We don't invest in our former school that has been dgraded, instead we opt for private schools, samething for gutters and drainages, That's why we experience moral and societal decay before our very eyes”

“We don't support others, our immediate becomes unsatisfied with what we provide for them. They become greedy and want to make money the easiest way”

‘’We abandoned our culture, especially the traditional way of engaging our children in learning our cultures and religious injunctions at earlier stage and relied on heavenly western education, and social media to what our children becomes, Secretary Local Government Education Authority, Gusau’’

‘’IDPs and other migrants are left unattended, many of whom dies of deceases, hunger, Malnutrition and traumatic attacks. Their children are not going to schools, women facing all form sexual abuses and harassment and we all feel this is normal and will come to pass” 

‘’In the past, we are guidians of own territories. Today, we blame government for everything including our household chores. Nobody wants to take responsibility. We forgot our civic responsibility of protecting our immediate environment by reporting any new person in our community to the community leaders up to the Emirate council for document or verification of the person involved”

“No peace without justice. So many things my predicessors said is happening because we refuse to justly deals with issues. Our selfishness is the root causes of these problems”

“If we can truly return to our creator and reflect, we will change in the insecurity and other forms of social vices. Smoking, drugs abuse and the farmers and herders conflicts, the kidnappings and cattle rustling is terrible affecting the economy of Zamfara and perhaps northwest Nigeria”

“We have reached to a level of final destruction. If a farmer should have to be escorted to his farm, it means no farming, or the farming is for the privilege only”

“EU the consortium of IOM, CDD and Mercy Corps and Zamfara state government are doing the work of God. Because the peacebuilding program targeting grass-roots community members. The EWER sensitization is something we know from Holy Scriptures orchestrated by prophets and their desciplines, but of a sudden, EU and its partners took up when the entire system collapsed, not even religious leaders payment attention to that”

“We don't know why security is skeptical in responding emergency calls. But we often time saw compromising the security situation, collecting bribes from anticipated criminals plying our roads too”

“We was crippled forever by the bandits in the course of serving our people as one of the Yan Sa Kai.  During my service, we caught so many youth who claimed to have travelled to south, only for them to enter bush and join bandits. So parents need to pay attention”

“Another thing bothering our system is tribal favoritism. We may commit same crime but treated differently on the basis of tribe. If this does not change, there is no day peace will reign in our society” Chairman Miyetti Allah, Bungudu LGA.

“Men refuse recognize us as equal people with potentials to support in providing the security. We have a lot of technicalities to help provide the same synergy men offer”

 “In the past five years, no adult will sleep except if he is seek. Up till now, many of us sleep after 12:00 AM daily. We stroll around the streets, guarding our territory.  This this has reduced drastically when we started receiving EWER from you-IOM”

“In conclusion, the facilitators of the dialogue assured the participants of the readiness and commitment of IOM and the European Union in partnership with the Zamfara State Government to addressing conflict issues in the communities they work and beyond”