The Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR) Monday said training Nigerians in negotiation and mediation would go a long way in helping to address conflicts and build sustainable peace.
IPCR Director General,Director General Dr Joseph Ochogwu, said this in Abuja on Monday.
Ochogwu made the submission during the opening of a week-long Strategic Leadership Course On Mediation and Negotiation.
He described mediation as a critical conflict resolution skill for Nigerians in a variety of fields such as business, international relations, law and public policy, among others.
Ochogwu said: “Mediation is an extension or elaboration of the negotiation process that involves a third party.
“This third party works with the disputing parties to help them improve their communication and analysis of the conflict situation.
“This is so that they can themselves identify and choose an option for resolving the conflict that meets the interests or needs of all of the disputants.
“Unlike arbitration, in which the intermediary listens to the arguments of both sides and makes a decision for the disputants, a mediator helps the disputants to design their own solution.
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“We should always focus on the problem rather than blaming particular individuals, identify the issues at stake, and invite others to join you in thinking about solutions”.
The IPCR Chief said that the state of insecurity had heightened the sufferings of people, disrupted their social and communal life, deepened public distrust in the State and among government functionaries, and sustained the vicious cycle of instability and under-development.
Ochogwu added: “This is why IPCR has taken the responsibility to train and equip Nigerians on peace-keeping tools that will help in tackling conflicts and foster sustainable peace in the country.
“We are training participants such as politicians, academics, civil servants, democrats, and business people to equip them with negotiation and mediation skills as drivers that will ensure sustainable peace and curb violence.
“Today’s training which we started is to build a group of Nigerians that will be able to engage at the family, community, state, and national levels and even internationally.
“We believe that these negotiation and mediation skills they have acquired here will enable them to transform themselves and become agents of change across every strata of life.
“They are also expected to replicate the skills they’ve learned to sustain peace for nation-building”.
Ezenwoko Anthony, a participant, expressed appreciation to the Institute for organising the training, saying that it would equip beneficiaries with the necessary tools for conflict prevention.
“This training will help my perception that court cases are not just to resolve litigation issues but aimed at reaching the deeper roots of the problem at stake and then solve it,” Anthony said.
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