Mr Abdullahi Gana, the Commandant General, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) on Thursday said that the corps resolved no fewer than 14,000 civil conflicts nationwide in 2018.
Gana disclosed this at a one-day workshop on “Transformational Leadership in Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism for Security Agencies, Media and Civil Society Organisations in Abuja.
The workshop was organised by the Royal Initiative against Poverty and Starvation (RIAPS), a nongovernmental organisation, in collaboration with the NSCDC.
Gana said the cases were handled through the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism of the corps which, according to him, is gaining popularity and acceptance by Nigerians.
Represented by Mr Kabiru Gambo, the Acting Deputy Commandant General of the Corps in charge of the Crisis Management Directorate, Gana said that he hoped the 2019 figure would surpass that of 2018.
The NSCDC boss said although the fight against violent extremism across the country had been quite challenging, it was not insurmountable.
“Without hesitation, we recognise the effort of the Nigerian Army in collaboration with other security agencies in this fight, for this is the reason for the existing peace in the country.
“We all know that without peace and security the kind of development we yearn for will continually be a mirage.
“Irrespective of efforts and achievements recorded in the area of countering violent extremism by RIAPS, NSCDC and other agencies, effort of all stakeholders are crucial to eradicating violent extremism in Nigeria,” he said.
Mr James Okpanachi, the founder of RIAPS said transformational leadership at all levels of government and society was needed to end the insurgency and terrorism in the country.
“The workshop on Transformational Leadership Prevention and Countering Violent Extremism speaks for itself.
“This theme came about because looking at the strategy you understand that we cannot implement certain policies without the place of leadership.
“There is a connection between leadership and violent extremism and we have consciously and intentionally chosen the word transformational leadership because not every leadership leads to transformation.
“So we are here not just to talk about the what but the how also. These are the doors we want to close today.
“The aims and objectives of this workshop is to create the structure and system of country and implement some of the leadership models to help us deal with violent extremism,” he stated.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the workshop, which is the second edition, was organised by RIAPS for the security agencies, media and the Civil Society. (NAN)
