By Our Reporter
Precious Pertals Empowerment Centre, with support from the Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND), has organised a peacebuilding workshop for members of the Ugboland Host Community Development Trust (HCDT) in Akure, Ondo State.
The capacity-building session was convened to equip Peace Committee members with practical tools for resolving disputes, preventing conflicts, and promoting harmony within the host communities.
According to Dr. Chukwudi Njoku, Peacebuilding Coordinator at PIND, the initiative is designed to reposition the Ugboland HCDT Peace Committee as a community-led structure capable of addressing grievances and curbing youth restiveness, criminality, and leadership tussles.
Executive Director of Precious Pertals, Mrs. Stella-Ikeokwu Nathaniel, said the programme was crafted to broaden participants’ understanding of peacebuilding approaches and strengthen conflict-management processes within the HCDT framework. She noted that although the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) has replaced the former GMOU model, effective conflict management remains critical to the success of community development structures.
The workshop also featured technical sessions. Peacebuilding expert, Mr. Franklin Oloniju, drew a distinction between “negative peace,” described as superficial calm, and “positive peace,” which promotes genuine social cohesion and sustainable community systems.
Similarly, the State Commandant of the NSCDC, CC Ibiloye Joshua JP, represented by PSO DCC Odunayo Yusuf, delivered a session on mindset transformation, stressing the influence of attitudes, beliefs, and bias on social behaviour while urging participants to embrace diversity and shared responsibility.
A panel session further reviewed conflict trends within the Ugboland HCDT. Panelists — Chief Ojajuni, Chief Mrs. Olamide Falana, and Damilola Adetimehin — offered insights on strengthening trust, improving communication, and reinforcing unity among stakeholders.
Chairman of the Ugboland HCDT Management Committee, Dr. Mann Alli, applauded PIND and Precious Pertals for what he described as a timely intervention, adding that many Peace Committee members were receiving formal peacebuilding training for the first time.
At the end of the workshop, participants reaffirmed their commitment to dialogue, peaceful coexistence, and collective action to ensure that development projects in Ugboland are implemented in an atmosphere of trust, inclusion, and long-term stability.
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