The Yobe State Ministry of Religious Affairs in conjunction with the Multi-sectoral Crisis Recovery Project (MCRP) has organised a three-day workshop for religious leaders on the imperative of reconciliation and peace building as well as inter and intra religious dialogue across the state.
The commissioner for religious affairs, Hon Mala Musti while declaring the training open in Damaturu said the training was organised in order to enhance the understanding of the participants most of whom were chief imams of Jumma’at on the importance of peace and tolerance in the society.
Musti, represented by the director religious affairs of the ministry, Mohammed Bashir Sleiman Kukuri said, being a state recuperating from the effects of Boko Haram insurgency, the Yobe State government under the leadership of Hon Mai Mala Buni considers the promotion of peace and reconciliation as key in its post-insurgency process.
He commended the cordial working relationship existing between the ministry and security agencies such as police, military, civil defence, among others in the quest for peaceful and egalitarian society.
“Here in Yobe, the administration of Hon Mai Mala Buni has been doing a lot in supporting the activities of the Ministry of Religious Affairs for the effective promotion of peace as a tool in the post-insurgency recovery process,” he said.
The commissioner of police, Garba Ahmed represented by ACP Abdussalam Abdulrazak commended the organisers of the training urging them to consider the inclusion of youths and women into the peace and reconciliation process as foot soldiers and victims of any crisis.
The chairman of the occasion who is the chief imam of the Yobe Mosque and Islamic Centre, Ustaz Hudu Mohammed Yusuf described the event as apt taking into cognisance the importance of peace and reconciliation in nation building.
“The entire people of Yobe State and indeed the Northeast are fully aware of the value and importance of peace hence all hands must be on deck for the promotion of peace and understanding among the people,” he said.
