By John Oba
Abuja
Disturbed over the rise of radicalisation and violent extremism in the country, federal government’s apex agency on matters of peace, conflict and security, the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR), in collaboration with a non-governmental organisation (NGO), Peace Building Development Foundation (PBDF), other state and non-state actors will hold a national workshop on radicalisation, de-radicalisation and counter-radicalisation.
A statement issued by Michael Abu, media assistant to the Director-General of the IPCR, Prof. Oshita Oshita, noted that the workshop which had been scheduled for July 26 and 27, 2016, would be declared open by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari, who is the Special Guest of Honour with the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Hon. Khadija Bukar A. Ibrahim, as the Chief Host.
The two-day workshop is aimed to generate inputs for the programming of activities that would focus on the prevention of violent extremism through training and empirical research to boost the social and value re-orientation of Nigerian youths.
“Nearly 500 participants expected to grace the workshop from within and outside Abuja are to proffer new and better ways of dealing with the challenges of insecurity confronting the country,” the statement said.
It added:
“The major aims of the workshop among others include, promoting understanding of the drivers of youth radicalisation and identify factors for resistance and coping mechanisms against these drivers that would spur the policy that would mitigate radicalisation; creation of awareness of the typologies and drivers of radicalisation and violent extremism in Nigeria, including their local architecture and dynamics; as well as to provide an outline for delegitimising the dominant narratives of violent extremists and address the role of private establishments, academic institutions, NGOs and other MDAs in radicalisation research, interventions and networking.”
