Establishment of Plateau Peace Agency by Governor Lalong is the best solution to conflict Prevention in Plateau State, says Lengman

By Pam Moses

The Director General of the Plateau State Peace Building Agency (PPBA) Mr Joseph Lengmang has disclosed that the Establishment of Plateau Peace Agency by the APC Administration of Governor Simon Lalong is the best solution to conflict prevention in Plateau State.

Lengmang said the Agency was a creation of the Government with the initiative and understanding that it was easier to prevent violent conflict than to manage the aftermath.

The DG stated this while speaking during an Intra dialogue for farmers from Plateau Northern Senatorial District held at the PPBA office Jos.

“The essence and reason for the creation of the Agency by Governor Lalong was for creating a platform in building peace in our community, creating a common ground for the peaceful resolution of conflict, being proactive in preventing violence and moving away from the old practice of merely reacting to conflict by sending security response instead of seeking to understand the underlying issues”.

He encouraged all the participant farmers from the Six Local Governments Areas that made up the Northern Zone to know that peace was a collective, multi stakeholder process, saying the Agency and the State alone cannot achieve the kind of peace the state desire.

He stress that as humans, the true test of civilization was to think through difficulties and finding solutions to resolve them.

Lengman further emphasized that it was important for the indigenous people to proffer solutions instead of the Government bringing proposals as it was the people who knew the challenges they were going through.

He however commended the effort of the U.S Embassy, Abuja for funding the dialogue meeting and charged farmers to actively contribute their quota to the peace building process in the state.

Also Speaking the Director of Programs, in the Agency Hajiya Lantana Bako urged the farmers in the state to set their objectives and a platform with recommendations for the government to help them resolve the issues through a pronouncement as an indication of their stance.

She further emphasized that the peaceful resolution of conflict between herders and farmers would be resolved through that process.

Bako reiterated the commitments of the Agency in its resolve to find peace between farmers and herders.

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Establishment of Plateau Peace Agency by Governor Lalong is the best solution to conflict Prevention in Plateau State, says Joseph Lengman