EMMANUEL NLEWEDUM, Port Harcourt
European Union (EU) through a peacebuilding organisation; Search For Common Ground, SFCG, has trained scores of traditional rulers and community leaders in Rivers State on peacebuilding and conflict management.
The traditional rulers and community leaders were trained and equipped with the required skills to enable them promote peace, prevent and manage conflicts in their various communities in a three days capacity building programme held between Tuesday 8th – Thursday 10th April, 2025 at the Villa Tuscana Hotel, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
SFCG’s Lead Consultant for Capacity Building, Mr. Cyril Bieh, while addressing Journalists at the start of the three days programme tagged; “Refresher training of trainers for capacity strengthening to community leaders on inclusive leadership and conflict transformation,” said the programme was part of the organisation’s comnmunity-centred approach to transforming criminality and violence in the Niger Delta’ Project,
Bieh said the training was aimed at strengthening the skills of the participants in preventing violence and managing conflicts through dialogue in their various communities.
He added that the training was also geared towards tackling and ensuring reduction of criminality and other forms of violence across communities in the Niger Delta region.
Bieh said, “We have had this training for the past 3 months now. First, we started with the youths, and now we are focused on traditional rulers and community leaders.
“The idea around this training is to ensure that the Niger Delta region becomes more peaceful, and here today, we have senior community leaders, including first class and second class chiefs who are trusted custodians of their communities as participants for this training.
“This training will make them understand that whatever happens in their communities is a key issue for them, and that they are key stakeholders in this project.
“They are being trained on how they can transform violence and conflicts in their various communities. In doing so, identity is key, they must first know themselves then also know other members of the community which are conflicting aspects within them.
“Other approaches that can help transform conflict which we also talked about were conversation and collaboration. And one of those approaches is the idea that you must have a collaborative mindset and also have a win-win situation.”
He informed the participants especially the traditional rulers that the essence of the capacity training was not just to acquire the knowledge alone, but urged that they should also adopt and implement the knowledge acquired in their various communities to prevent and manage conflicts and promote peace in their domains.
“We believe that after this training, when they get back to their communities, there will be great changes. Definitely they are going to transform their Communities,” he said.
In an interview with newsmen, one of the participants, His Royal Highness, Ambassador Jonas Gogo Mininioyo, the Opalama of Ikuru Town in Andoni local government area of Rivers State, commended the European Union and Search For Common Ground for their commitment in promoting peace in Rivers State, Niger Delta region.
The monarch described the training as timely and apt, considering the present situation in Rivers State and the Niger Delta region.
He said the training is one of the best for traditional rulers and community leaders in the state as it provides them with more knowledge on how to resolve conflicts and crisis in their communities, and ensure a peaceful environment.
He called on other NGOs and agencies to emulate SFCG and think of how to impact the society and promote peace and development in the state.
“This is the best, they gave us insights on how to lead our people as traditional rulers. I said it is the best because it has gone down to the grassroots.
“If you live in a community where there is no peace, that community and her residents will not live fine. So, having been trained on conflict resolution, as traditional rulers, we now know how to use the common ground approach in resolving crisis and conflicts in our domain.
“As traditional rulers and community leaders, we have to collaborate with our subjects, know them, be sincere and transparent to them, and be development conscious. You will even be blessed if all these are implemented. But when a leader is selfish, he cannot carry his people along.”
The traditional ruler emphasized on the importance of the training in ensuring sustainable peace and development in the state and Niger Delta region.
“So, this training is a very important to all traditional rulers in Rivers State and Niger Delta, to manage or even avoid conflicts in our communities because when there is peace, investors will come and there will be development, employment will be possible for the unemployed and the youths will be happy, so, there is need for collaboration.”
Also speaking, former Chairman of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni local government area in Rivers State, Hon. Austin Ahiamadu expressed satisfaction with the training and commended SFCG for their peacebuilding and conflict resolution approaches in the region.
He said, “Am impressed with what am seeing, I must commend Search For Common Ground and the European Union who is funding this project, they are going a great work in training youths, security agencies and stakeholders, including traditional rulers on how to manage conflicts and how to promote peace in our domains.
“Niger Delta, especially Rivers State is the hub of the oil and gas, and they are bringing this training here. It’s a good one, very commendable. They have preached, and its now left for our people to go home and practicalize what they have been trained on,” he said.
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