Twenty-two tribal, religious, youth and women leaders and influencers from across Nigeria have participated in the training conducted by the Cairo Centre for Conflict Resolution and Peace-Keeping in Africa (CCCPA) on preventing radical­ism and extremism.
The training which comes as part of the current UNDP project funded by the Gov­ernment of Japan, “Consolidating Peace, Se­curity and Stability in Africa-2016” ended last month march 2017.
The training is the first of its kind in Afri­ca to address the prevention of radicalization as a community-based engagement, using traditional and Islamic inclusive narratives.
The program aims to equip local leaders and influencers with the necessary knowl­edge and skills to refute extremist interpre­tations of Islam, while propagating an al­ternative narrative of peace and coexistence within their local communities
The training provides a unique approach through the inclusion of fundamental and straightforward explanations of the rules and ethics of war and peace in Islam.
A distinguished Azhari scholar delves into the foundations of peace narratives in Islam, while trainers, with in-depth exper­tise in Nigerian affairs, analyze the local con­text within which those narratives have an impact.
The distinctiveness of CCCPA’s approach also relies on the understanding of radical­ization and extremism in Nigeria through conflict analysis.
This approach takes into consideration the individuality of the pathway towards radicalization while acknowledging both contextual as well as personal variables.
The training is exercise-based to pro­vide an interactive and engaging space for participants while allowing them perform content analysis of extremist narratives and build their own inclusive peace narratives.
Among them were teachers, journalists, public servants and members of the civil so­ciety. - The Authority