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| Central area of Bauchi, a state in peace |
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| Bauchi State Secretariat- all calm |
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| Gombe- People passing by the police station on Emir's drive- life as usual |
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| Another shot of a normal day on Emir's drive, Gombe
Bauchi and Gombe on same Path to
Sustainable Peace
Civil
society organizations in Bauchi and Gombe states are playing proactive roles in
ensuring sustainable peace in their respective states. In Bauchi the
Muslim-Christian Peace movement is at the fore front of organizing dialogues
and media chats on promotion of peace. It collaborates with other organizations
and government to identify possible conflict issues and areas towards nipping
them in the bud. The Coordinator of the movement, Aminu Garba Sidi says “we
have not had any violent conflict for more than a year, and we shall not have
any again, insha Allah!”
In
Gombe there is also a similar Muslim and Christian forum working for peace. At
the same time individual organizations such as Muslim Students Society (MSS), National
Council for Muslim youth organizations (NACOMYO), the Integrity Consultative
Forum and Islamic Medical Association (IMAN) among others are also pursuing
various peace initiatives through leadership trainings and empowerment of
youths. Nasir Aliyu, the Vice Amir of the MSS says “Peace is important to
development and we are lucky here in Gombe we are at peace, we have had very
few cases of violence and we pray it remains that way”
However
a number of youths in both states blame politics for the few cases of violence
witnessed in the states. “Apart from the bank and police station attacks by
suspected ‘boko haram’ members, who come into the state just to carry out their
acts and leave, all other conflicts were caused by politicians and we will soon
check them” a youth at a notorious area of Bauchi called “Bayan Gari” said.
Another
youth in Gombe claims that “all these talk about security is politics, after
the 2015 elections you will not hear it again”
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