ARCHBISHOP KAIGAMA STRESSES IMPORTANCE OF COOPERATION AND LOVE FOR PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE

 

 

The Catholic Archbishop of Jos and President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama has reiterated the need for collaboration, cooperation and love among all the people of Plateau State, to ensure the return of the area to the glorious days when “Jos was the destination choice in Nigeria.”

 

The Archbishop made the call in his address at the recent inauguration of the Dialogue, Reconciliation and Peace (DREP) Centre, located in Kwang, Gold & Base, Rayfield, in Jos South Local Government Area. He described the Centre as the little contribution and Valentine Gift of the Catholic Church of Jos Archdiocese to all the people of Plateau State towards “the realization of true love, peace and trust” among all the people.

 

According to him, the vision of the centre is to develop friendship, heal hearts that....read more are broken, promote and enhance respect for human dignity; while the mission is: “A commitment to provide a safe space for dialogue and reconciliation among diverse religious, ethnic and political groups in Plateau State and beyond and to support capacity development for transforming violent conflict.

 

Archbishop Kaigama added that DREP is a melting pot for the aggrieved and the aggressors, where both sides can meet and iron out their bone of contention in true love, tolerance and understanding; and thereby foster peaceful coexistence for progress and development.

 

He expressed the hope that with the centre, the people of the area can rally round and “again trust one another unconditionally; live our lives free from fear; celebrate together, mourn together where need be and sit together as brothers and sisters too resolve our conflicts non-violently.”

 

He continued: “The overall goal of the project is to create a rallying point for organized dialogue between the different stakeholders in peace building efforts and to provide a neutral space for dialogue between political, ethnic and religious groups.”

 

Speaking on the areas of interest of the centre, Archbishop Kaigama disclosed that it will among other things focus on the problems of the polarization of Christians and Muslims in Jos and environs, the “revenge” mentality among youth, for the killings and destruction of property and the gap created by prejudice and ignorance of religions.

 

Noting that some progress has been made in the reconciliation efforts of the Church and the centre in the area, the Archbishop stated: “My brothers and sisters, there are more things that bind us together than divide us. In spite of our political, religious and ethnic differences, we are bound together by our common humanity and we have what it takes to re-focus our energies on our common humanity to realize all our hopes and dreams, because that is what God expects of us.”

 

According to the CBCN President, the centre will place emphasis on education, orientation and mobilization programmes for youths because of their importance and their crucial role in conflict situations.

 

Giving details on the centre, Archbishop Kaigama disclosed that the first training programme of the centre will be in Advanced Mediation and Dialogue Facilitation Skills for an initial 15-Member Volunteer Resource Team. These will become the Centre’s Corp of Trainers and Facilitators who will lead the centre’s interventions and serve as Resource Persons to other organizations needing the services of the centre.

 

Other programmes to be implemented by the centre include: facilitated dialogue sessions, peace building and conflict transformation, skills training, psycho-social support services, sports and arts of peace, professional networking events, trust and confidence building events, and remedial classes for students in Jos.