By Bashir Hassan Abubakar
Towards enhancing conflict prevention and mitigation aimed at consolidating peaceful coexistence, and seamless implementation of government policies, with specific focus on farmers-herders crises in Bauchi State, officials of some select Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), Local Government Directors of budget and planning, and some Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have converged to assess the conflict prevention approach in Bauchi State, especially at the LG level.
The meeting was organised by the USAID Nigeria State Accountability, Transparency and Effectiveness (State2State) Activity to x-ray farmers-herders conflict prevention and mitigation approach as it affects basic social service delivery in primary healthcare, basic education and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).
The Two Days meeting tagged “FY 2024 Quarter 3 Bauchi Conflict Prevention and Mitigation Dialogue” ended on Friday 14th June, 2024 with participants proffering recommendations on how to enhance prevention and mitigation of farmers-herders crises for peaceful coexistence in Bauchi communities.
Part of the recommendation was for the CSOs to pay advocacy visit to the new ministry of Internal security on the need to establish conflict prevention committees across the entire LGAs with possible structures at the ward level.
Participants also agreed that there is need for the Bauchi State Government to fully implement WASH law.
The participants further agreed that an advocacy needs to be carried out on the need to implement the full establishment of WASH departments at the local government level.
Earlier at the commencement of the meeting, conflict management specialist of USAID State2State Bauchi field office, Mathias Yake said that the objective of the dialogue was to update and have a shared understanding of government and other stakeholders’ efforts to implement previous action plans, key results achieved, challenges encountered, and lessons learned.
Yake said that the dialogue will also seek to enhance stakeholders’ knowledge, understanding, and skills in conflict analysis and early warning and response mechanisms for preventing the impact of conflict on revenue generation, basic education, primary healthcare, and WASH sectors.
Another objective of the dialogue was to share experience on and increasing understanding of mainstreaming GESI and conflict sensitivity in revenue generation, basic education, primary healthcare, and WASH sectors in Bauchi state.
Yake further said that at the end of the dialogue participants were expected to develop an action plan on agreed next steps to guide the implementation of recommendations.
Some of the participants who shared their experience of the dialogue all agreed that the dialogue was timely especially looking at the setting in of the rainy season that is usually accompanied with pockets of crises between Herders-Farmers