‘Peace Corps will be community – based’

  Nigeria needs it  – Okino

By Bode Olagoke
Abuja

The acting National Commandant, National Unity and Peace Corps (NUPEC) Dr. Chinnedu Nneji, said his organisation is bringing a new approach to crisis resolution in the country.
He assured that when the Bill is finally signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari, the organisation would be more feasible in communities across the nation.
Nneji disclosed this when he led his team on a courtesy call on the management of Blueprint Newspapers in Abuja.
While commending the newspaper for quality reportage of its activities, especially during the discussion on the Bill at the National Assembly, he said Blueprint “is the number one among the media organisations that have reported activities of the Corps very well”.

He further revealed that the organisation had launched a programme tagged: “Love Your Neighbour as Yourself” aimed at educating people to be adherent to the principles of dialogue.
“Our operations are not going to be city based. It is going to be community based. If you watch other agencies everybody operates at the state capitals and cities but we will go to communities because we intend to use traditional rulers and vigilante groups in our various communities
“If you look at it very well,  there has not been any crisis that has erupted in Nigeria that dialogue is used, that is why we are experiencing all these killings all the time and at the end of the day public enquiry will held and no issue will be resolved and after some time it will come up again.

“It is on this bases we are looking at this campaign to ensure that it get to all the nooks and crannies of the country, get to all the traditional rulers and opinions leaders in our society. And also get to all the head of villages in Nigeria and soon as we are able to link up with these people we will identify the hot spots and issues that may lead to crises, we find the way of dialogue with them and make sure that those issues are resolved.”
Nneji, while appealing to President Muhammadu Buhari to assent to the Peace Corps Bill already passed by the National Assembly, gave the assurance that within three months of its operations, Nigerians would witness total peace across the country.

Editor-In-Chief, Blueprint Newspapers, Hajia Zainab Okino, who led the management team of the paper, said Blueprint had been there for Peace Corps “because we believe that the country and Nigerians need you.
“Our society needs your services and there is no better time than now for us to continue to seek for peace among us. As you have observed the high level of jungle justices here and there, actually calls for people to continue to seek for peace.
While thanking the leadership of Corps for taking it to enviable level, Okiro expressed optimism that the President, as a lover of peace, would assent to the Bill.