Plateau Governor Jonah Jang on Monday reviewed the security challenges in the country and declared that Nigerians must embrace dialogue so as to listen to each other.
“We must promote more dialogue so as to bridge communication gaps and boost mutual confidence and understanding,’’ Jang said in Jos at the commencement of an inter-communion dialogue and conflict mediation organised for communities in Plateau.
The dialogue, sponsored by the Canadian Embassy, is being organised by the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue.
The governor said, “it is only through such dialogues that solutions to the lingering issues could be found.
“Dialogues are very crucial because they are the processes for sharing our feelings, interests and needs toward harmonious co-existence,’’ he said.
Jang lamented that the communities had opted for violence to resolve their differences for the past 10 years, instead of the dialogue they were currently exploring, and pointed out that no one had gained from the bloodshed.
“That we are all here is a confirmation that we are all losers in the violence we opted for. So, we have a chance to correct all the ills of the past toward a better and more secured future,’’ he said.
The governor expressed government’s readiness to parley with groups and also clarify its position on every issue, and challenged representatives of the communities to be very frank in their submissions at the sessions.
He said that “so much resources’’ had been sunk into containing the violence in the past 10 years, and thanked the organisers for creating the avenue for more broadminded talks.
All groups involved in the Plateau crises – Berom, Fulani, Hausa, Afizere, Anaguta are participating in the talks.
Other groups – the Yoruba, South-South, Igbos, Women, Youths, religious bodies and traditional rulers – are participating as observers in the five-day talks.
