Stakeholders have unanimously called on governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri of Adamawa State not to allow appointments into the Adamawa State peace, conflict resolution and social mobilization commission to be politicized.
They made the position during a stakeholders meeting to entrench peace building in Adamawa State convened by the Center for Peace and Security Studies, Modibbo Adama University, Yola in conjunction with the United States Institute of Peace (USIP).
Adamawa State house of assembly has last year passed the the bill for a law to create the commission to ensure that recurring crises like farmers/herders, Waja/Lunguda ethnic violence etc have been nipped in the bud.
During deliberations, there was concurrence and convergence on the fact that the incursion of politics has killed similar commissions in the past, making them to instead of proffering solutions to the challenges for which they were created, end up becoming part of the challenges.
Elucidating the position, Dr. Saheed Onwomikoko, Coordinator Center for Peace and Security Studies, Modibbo Adama University Yola, said, one of the recommendations they will make to the governor is to ensure that appointments into the commission should be merit based.
“We will recommend to the governor that when it comes to issue of appointment, we expect persons with the requisite professionalism, technicality and competence not political considerations,” he said.
Onwomikoko noted that one of the key concerns of stakeholders necessitating the program was how to put Adamawa state on the road map of peace, stability and development, noting that, such could not be achieved if the operations of the commission is married to politics.
“We are looking at how to put Adamawa State back on track when it comes to issues of peace and you can see the discussion of people here today revolves around how to make the new commission that Adamawa State has just signed into law which is Adamawa State peace conflict resolution and social mobilization commission into effective work so that issues of conflict and tensions in the state can be nipped in the bud quickly.
“How to make the commission very effective over time is one of our core concerns,” he said.
He noted that the concerns stems from the fact that in the past, many commissions were created to resolve a specific challenge but only ended up compounding those challenges.
“How to minimize the manipulation of the commission is another consideration. Over time, that has been the issue in Nigeria such that, when you create a commission, for a specific purpose, it begins to serve other purposes that are contrary to the mission that the organization was created for,” he said.
In her presentation, Barr Fatima Raji from the state ministry of justice said the process of the creation of the peace commission has reached advanced stage as governor Fintiri has signed the enabling law adding that when the law is gazetted the commission will surely come into being.
She noted that unlike the peace agency established in the past which covered only the seven local governments ravaged by Boko Haram insurgency, the mandate of the new commission will cover the entire state.
She said the commission based on the law that established it, has a life span of ten years and will cease to be in place thereafter.
Raji added that the main objective of the commission is the promotion of peace and harmonious coexistence among citizens adding that the principles of the commission include upholding impartiality, fairness, transparency, justice, protection of human rights to ensuring public participation and respect for diversity of the state.
In his welcome address, the director of the center for peace and security studies Modibbo Adama University, Dr. Jude Momodu said the aim of the workshop is to fashion out how best peace building can be entrenched in the state as well as examined the challenges that the state is grappling with.
He pointed out that the mass media as critical stakeholders have vital role to play in peace process and called on journalists to make government realize the importance of establishing a peace agency so as to minimize and address conflicts when they arise.