The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Nigeria, has reiterated its commitment to transitional justice for communities affected by insurgency in the North-East.
Dauda Garuba, CDD’s executive director, made this known in an interview with journalists on the sidelines of the inauguration of the renovated and equipped lecture hall by the centre at the University of Maiduguri.
The project was handed over to the university’s Centre for Peace, Diplomatic and Development Studies (CPDDS).
Mr Garuba explained that transitional justice needed to be practicalised academically, hence the provision of a conducive hall for the university to support its MSc programme in peace studies.
“The transitional justice programme in this university is to help the process of peacebuilding so that people will learn to accommodate one another and move on with life after conflict,” he explained.
According to him, the CDD is also sponsoring a Hausa radio programme to promote dialogue by providing a platform for affected communities to participate in peace-building in the sub-region.
Speaking at the event, the director of the university’s CPDDS, Abubakar Muazu, lauded CDD for the intervention.
According to Mr Muazu, the centre aims to produce graduates that will contribute to peacebuilding in the North-East, and Nigeria in general.
“Students now have a conducive environment where they can sit down, conduct lectures, carry out seminars, organise practical sessions, and discuss issues around peace, particularly in the North East, which is suffering from the ravaging attacks of Boko Haram.
“This facility will provide us the opportunity to rub minds with our students and build their capacity on what they can do to bring sustainable peace, not only in the northeast and Nigeria but the whole Lake Chad region,” Mr Muazu said.
(NAN)
