The Lux Terra Leadership Foundation, in collaboration with its partners the Development Initiative of West Africa (DIWA), has completed the Training of Trainers Course for Christian community stakeholders in three selected Middle Belt states of Benue, Nasarawa and Plateau. This course which was in two parts was designed to equip those tagged Gatekeepers of Peace with needed knowledge, insight and skills for building and maintaining peaceful coexistence among the people of diverse religious and ethnic attachments in the Middle Belt states which have been bedeviled with violent conflicts and attacks over the years.
The course dwelt on critical areas such as Christian Leadership; Perspectives on Conflict, Violence and Peace; Christian Approach to Peace; Christian Response to Violence; Conflict Transformation; Interfaith Relations and Dialogue; Communication Skills; Adult Learning Skills; Conflict Analysis; Trauma-Sensitive Leadership; Breaking the Cycle of Violence with Forgiveness among others. In all, 135 beneficiaries were trained across three local governments from each of the three states from the month of May to the month of July.
In the same vein, the Foundation has also successfully supervised the planning and execution of first line Step Down Training programmes organised by the trained Christian stakeholders in each of the local governments covered. These training programmes served as an avenue for the Gatekeepers of Peace to step down to other major Christian stakeholders in their respective communities the lessons and perspectives learnt during the Training of Trainers course. Running simultaneously in each state, the Lux Terra team was on hand to ensure that the right messages are passed by the Gatekeepers of Peace and that the Step Down Training beneficiaries also gain new and valuable insights for peace-building in their communities.
The Step Down Training which spanned a total of three weeks took place in the communities from which the Gatekeepers of Peace were selected. In Benue State, Guma, Logo and Makurdi local governments; in Nasarawa State, Awe, Doma and Lafia local governments; and in Plateau State, Barkin Ladi, Jos North and Riyom local governments.
Lux Terra continues to advocate for peaceful coexistence and unity across the nation, and hopes that with efforts such as these and the continued efforts of beneficiaries to step down to next line beneficiaries, this can indeed snowball into an ecosystem of peace, unity and harmony across the selected states, the Middle Belt and Nigeria as a whole.
