PIND Trains 390 Rivers Youths On Conflict Transformation, Non-adversarial Engagement

Poised to enhance the capacity of youths as well as change their mindsets for them to see the need to manage misunderstanding or disagreement without necessarily resorting to violence, the foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND) has trained at least 390 youths on conflict transformation.

Speaking during the two-day training held in Port Harcourt, the peace building programme manager at the PIND foundation, David  Udofia informed that the workshop was crucial for youths to have an understanding of how they can address issues of concerns without necessarily adopting the violent approach.

He said the training which was supported by the European Union (EU) was organised to enhance the capacity of the participants to change their mindsets and manage disagreement and misunderstanding without resorting to violence.

“It starts with them having an understanding of conflict and also having the view that people think differently and that has to do with the idea of perception because the way some people perceive issues are not the same.

So, it’s good to broaden their horizon in terms of understanding issues so that they can respond appropriately for peace to reign within our communities because most of the time their actions are being influenced by what I say is their perceived views and this perception is also influenced by the level of information that is available, he stated.

The PIND peace building manager said that the youths who attended the training have demonstrated that their capacities have been enhanced to handle conflict and expressed hope that getting to their various communities, they would apply what they have learnt.

“They already have the understanding of the negative impacts of violence; it disrupts development in a community and the resources even at the government level that would have been used for high infrastructural development would be diverted to manage conflict when it erupts.

There are various conflicts of various dimensions in the Niger Delta. It still goes back to the fact that we really need to understand the concept of conflict; that it is a disagreement, a misunderstanding.

What we need to do in order to prevent it from escalating to violence, its reaction, perception, how do we respond to disagreed views so that it will not lead to violence, he noted.

David Udofia who maintained that youths within the Niger Delta need to be engaged more on this type of training, stressed the need  to constantly engage the youths for them to have a broader perspective of their actions and how it can affect them negatively when it is not well managed.

“The reason we really want to have youths to embrace peace is that without peace there can be no development.

So, when they embrace peace, most of their expectations will be met. Let them embrace peace so that sustainable development can take place within the region. Sustainable peace and sustainable development are related. It doesn’t mean that there would be no conflict. What it entails is that people within that community have what it takes to manage conflict when it erupts so that it will not escalate to violence, he explained.