The Borno State Government has charged the youths to take the lead in peacebuilding, conflict management, and learning how to be tolerant regardless of faith and ethnicity.
The State Commissioner for Information and Internal Security, Prof Usman Tar, made this known during an inauguration of 100 awardees of youths as Peace Advocates in Borno State held in Maiduguri.
He urged the youths to take advantage of their population in Nigeria, just like China took advantage of their population and brought innovation to boost their economy.
“Today, we are inaugurating the young peace ambassadors who will be going into the society, trickling down the capacity of peacebuilding and tolerance that we have taught them.
“The outcome of this exercise is that we now have critical young minds that will serve as ambassadors of peace, go out and target specific communities, as well as teach the art of peace, conflict resolution, conflict management, peacebuilding, and diplomacy.
“So that the society will be more tolerant, more engaging, and society will learn to live side by side with people of all faiths and tendencies,” he said.
Earlier, the founder of Peace Ambassadors Centre for Humanitarian Aid and Empowerment, Amb Ahmed Shehu, said youths are critical stakeholders in peace processes, urging the people in the community to identify the youths in their community and give them the necessary support.
“As a civil society, we thought we had to play our role in ensuring we had a stable society.
“We carefully selected young people and voices across all sectors, from the media, CSOs, and academia. Our dream is that you will go back to the community and change the narratives,” Ahmed said