An NGO, Search for Common Ground, has rolled out plans to address violence, criminality, and other vices in the Niger Delta zone to complement government efforts.
The country director of the organisation, Fatima Abubakar, disclosed this during a news conference on the national launch of the European Union-funded projects in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the title of the project is “A Community-Centered Approach to Transforming Criminality and Violence in the Niger Delta Region.”
Abubakar said that the project would be officially handled by Search for Common Ground and its consortium partners, Stakeholder Democracy Network (SDN), Academic Associate Peace Works (AAPW), and Partnership Initiative for the Niger Delta (PIND).
She said that the choice of the Niger Delta zone was due to its immense natural resources and rich cultural heritage.
According to her, the place has been a theatre of unrest, with a series of conflicts linked primarily to socio-economic agitations.
Abubakar, however, said that the agitations were by-products of a lack of inclusiveness in wealth distribution, environmental degradation arising from oil exploration, and the absence of commensurate community-focused development.
“This project will set the stage for a significant leap in our collective efforts to respond to and foster inclusive community security approaches that will address the root causes of violence and criminality in the Niger Delta.
“We wish to convey our deep understanding of the local context, challenges, and conflict dynamics that characterize communities in the region.
“The efforts, as reflected in the community-centred approach to transforming criminality and violence in the Niger Delta project, adopt a community-led approach.
“This encourages local communities to offer home-grown solutions to the myriad of conflict drivers in their communities,” she said.
Abubakar said that this would be achieved through inclusive capacity-building activities targeting young people, women, community leaders, and security actors.
She said that the project would foster collaboration among communities to address social exclusion, economic challenges, and environmental degradation while encouraging dialogue.
She said it would also leverage arts and culture-based approaches to bridge divides and foster social cohesion among communities, both online and offline.
Abubakar added that the project would support initiatives that utilised creative expressions to promote unity and understanding, among others.
She said that the 18-month project will be implemented in 33 local government areas and 66 communities in Bayelsa, Delta, and Rivers states.
According to her, the project advocates a bottom-up and human-centric approach in order to reduce the prevalence of criminal activities in the zone.
This, she said, was a paradigm shift from how stakeholders approached the complex issues of oil bunkering, criminality, and security, among others. (NAN)
