The Benue State government has commended the Elohim Development Foundation (EDF), led by Dr Victoria Daaor, for its dialogue initiative fostering peaceful coexistence between the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) and the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN).
This is even as the Benue State secretary of MACBAN, Ibrahim Galma, who spoke on behalf of the chairman, Alhaji Risku Mohammed, also affirmed that the EDF dialogue initiative is the best thing that has happened to the lives of their members. It has brought farmers and herders together as one family since the commencement of the farmer/herder crisis.
The security adviser to the Benue State governor on Security, Joseph Har, who made this known during the commemoration of EDF at 20, said the dialogue initiative of EDF has helped in achieving peace in many communities across the state, a feat which was difficult to achieve
According to him, “I want to narrow this dialogue initiative to myself, this initiative has helped me and my family to live together as one happy family, and I am proud of this young woman.”
He said, “ You have saved many lives in Benue communities with your dialogue initiative. Most issues that would have escalated into communal crises, we invited you to, and through your dialogue training, all parties involved embrace peace and are now living together. Happily, I want to say that many crises we are having today are a result of the absence of dialogue.”
According to the MACBAN secretary, “At the onset of the crisis, we made several attempts to hold meetings with AFAN to no avail, but when the founder of EDF approached both associations, we accepted and came together for a training. Since then, we have been working together in collaboration with the crises-affected Local Governments and sensitising farmers and herders on the need for dialogue, and it has been yielding positive results.”
Galma said that so far, they have visited nine local governments in Benue and Nasarawa to speak to both parties, especially at the borders between Benue and Nasarawa states. He said this dialogue initiative has helped them a lot in most of the communities they have visited.
In a welcome address, the founder of Elohim Development Foundation, Dr Daaor, disclosed that the idea of EDF was borne out of her passion for children and young people who seem to have no hope for the future, especially the girl child, as a way of bringing them together and giving them hope again.
