Don Advocates Convocation For Regional Peace Dialogue In Southeast, Southwest Regions

ENUGU – As Nigeria continues to grapple with the issue of Separatists agitation in parts of the country, the Director, Institute For Peace, Conflict and Development Studies, Enugu State University of Science and Technology(ESUT, professor Felix Asogwa, has advocated convocation of Regional level peace dialogue at the different geo-political zones of country.

He said:”This should be the first step towards the National Peace dialogue to consolidate on the outcome of these regional level peace dialogue especially in regions witnessing heightened agitation such as the Southeast and Southwest parts of the nation.

According to him,”The peace dialogue sessions should be a form of truth and reconciliation commission that would address the underlying causes of the separatist agitation and involving all competing interests including the state and non-state actors.

“In other words, the agitators should be listened to and their grievances collated and addressed. The authorities should be interested in identifying and addressing the fundamental root causes of the agitation” he stated.

Asogwa, a Professor of political science, International Relations and Strategic Studies gave the advice weekend while delivering the 42nd Inaugural lecture of the Enugu state university of Science and Technology ESUT entitled ” From Confrontation to Consensus:” Re-engaging the Separatist Agitators for Sustainable Peace in the Nigerian State”.

He noted that it was clear that the strategies adopted by government in response to the separatist agitations have not yielded the needed result of terminating the agitations.

Professor Asogwa therefore, posited that there is urgent need to re-examine the existing strategies for mitigating the threats to peace and security in Nigeria.

The ESUT peace institute Director further stressed that many people concur that the government’s military response has further popularized these agitators, and has been counter productive.

He opined that the gap in the existing strategies, which has been predominantly military in nature and new pathways towards sustainable peace and security needed to be explored.

The inaugural lecturer suggested consensus building in managing separatist agitation in Nigeria, stating that the first step in this direction should be the release of the leaders and members of the separatist movements in detention in Nigeria, especially the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafran (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and his followers.

“This is in line with several court rulings and calls by different leaders in Nigeria especially in Southeast (Asogwa, 2023). This will no doubt douse the tension and create the necessary stable environment for dialogue”

“Past efforts aimed at quelling the increasing spate of agitation have focused attention on the fall outs of the agitations rather than the causes (Asogwa, 2023).

” Therefore, the engagement of the agitators directly, rather the military option, which has tended to radicalize them remain the most viable option to explore” he maintained.

“These arrangements should be guaranteed by the leaders of the different regions in Nigeria especially the state governments” he stated