Former Chief of Army Staff and Chairman Middle Belt Brain Trust (MBBT) General Martin Luther Agwai (retd) has stated that as an experienced old soldier, security entails fairness, equity and inclusiveness.
According to him, the world today faces numerous conflict challenges; from the Middle East to Sub-Saharan Africa, adding that extremism and unhealthy rivalry is becoming the norm. With the increasing connectivity and reach, people have become copycats of violent acts.
Gen Agwai spoke at a conflict sensitivity workshop and retreat for senior Government officials organised by the Plateau Peace Building Agency (PPBA) in partnership with the Middle Belt Brain Trust (MBBT), Institute for Integrated Transition (IFIT), and funding support from the UK FCDO in Jos, the Plateau State capital.
According to him, Pathways for Peace, the joint 2018 United Nations and World Bank report on preventing conflict, concludes that “for each US$1 invested in prevention, about US$16 is saved down the road.”
He argued that resources that would have been used to advance the development and comfort of the people are diverted to resolving conflicts. For this reason, the Middle Belt Brain Trust (MBBT) was formed to mitigate contemporary conflict and governance challenges concentrated in Benue, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Plateau, and Taraba State.
General Agwai maintained that as part of the strategy, MBBT work in partnership with State Governments and her institution to implement a Locally
initiated and locally-led approach stressing that research and outreach findings have shown that they deal with complex problems in a dynamic context requiring simultaneous actions.
“For these reasons, MBBT focuses on critical medium-term structural and institutional challenges that have an outsized impact on the Middle Belt’s violence and prospects of peace and prosperity.
Meanwhile, Plateau State Governor Barr Caleb Mutfwang, while declaring that the two-day workshop had opened, said they live in a multi-cultural, religious, and ethnic society that has taken a global dimension.
The governor explained that conflict is a daily occurrence in any society, stressing that conflict is bound to happen even in a family setting. He commended the Plateau State Peace Building Agency and the MBBT for their collaboration in ensuring sustainable peace in Plateau and other neighbouring states.
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