Nigeria’s former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, has accepted
to lead a national discourse against violent extremism championed by Boko Haram
terrorists and similar groups in the country.
The forum is being championed by Club de Madrid (CdM), in
collaboration with the Office of the National Security Adviser to the President
(ONSA) with the support of Preventing Violent Extremism (PAVE) and European
Union (EU).
A statement issued by the Press Officer of CdM, Luis Pérez,
in Jos, Plateau State capital, that the NSA, Maj-Gen. Babagana Monguno (rtd),
will also give updates on the ongoing counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency
operations in the North East.
Perez said that Obasanjo is the Nigerian member and
representative of CdM, which is an independent non-profit organization,
composed of more than 100 former presidents and prime ministers from 69
democratic countries.
According to him, the forum this week bring together the
former president, Monguno and ket national interlocutors from policy-makers to
media actors, regional organizations, civil society representatives and
grassroots practitioners to deliberate on ‘Preventing and Countering Violent
Extremism (PCVE) in Nigeria.
He said the aim of the meeting is “to highlight the
importance of delivering credible positive-narratives; bridging the gap between
government and civil society actors; and to reorient narratives of political,
community and religious leaders, and media towards tolerance, inclusion and
dialogue”.
“The National
Workshop will include case studies, thematic roundtables and focused attention
on steps towards improving existing practices and policies on delivering
alternative narratives to challenge violent extremism.
“On the first day, the ONSA will present the current
challenges and opportunity for advancing a PCVE framework and action plan for
Nigeria. Since 2016, the Federal Government of Nigeria has made important
efforts in developing a National Policy Framework and Action Plan on Preventing
and Countering Violent Extremism. This framework seeks to guide the development
of a national approach to tackle violent extremism.
“Thereafter, a Civil Society Working Group will be organized
to discuss the role of civil society in Nigeria, their challenges and what
needs to be done in order to strengthen civil society engagement in the
implementation of the National Action Plan on P/CVE.
“The conclusions will then be presented to the key
governmental and non-governmental actors in an advocacy effort to support
national policy frameworks on this front. The outcomes of the Workshop will
ultimately be incorporated in a final recommendations report – main outcome of
the project – on delivering alternative narratives to counter violent
extremism.”
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