The Director General, Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR), Dr. Bakut T. Bakut, has called on the stakeholders to initiate activities that will resolve conflicts across the country.
Though, Nigeria is currently facing some security challenges, Bakut said dialogue is the only way out, saying that peace did not have an alternative.
He spoke in Abuja at the weekend during the closing ceremony of a two- week course on negotiation and mediation organised by the institute.
Represented by the Director, Directorate of Research and Policy Analysis of the institute, Dr Joseph Peter Ochogwo, the DG said study had shown that violence no matter its nature would later be resolved through dialogue and stressed the need for all Nigerians to give peace a chance.
Bakut, while stating the importance of the course, said it was a transformative one and called on its participants who were drawn from the military and other security related outfits to hand down the knowledge acquired during the two-week training.
Also, the Director of Administration at the institute, Mr Sam Abi, who also re-echoed the position of the DG to the participants, expressed the optimism that with the calibre of the course participants, Nigeria has the hope of resolving its various conflicts successfully.
The Head, National Peace Academy, an arm of the institute, Dr. Bosede Awodola, who gave the background to the two-week course, said peace is not negotiable in Nigeria, and urged the participants to use the knowledge acquired during the course for the advancement of the country.
One of the participants, Mr Thompson Bobby, who spoke with journalists at the end of the event, said the course had exposed him to know that there is no alternative to peace, stating that he was well equipped to meditate in any conflict around him.
