Ojoma Yusuf,Yola
Search For Common Ground (SFCG) Nigeria organized an experience sharing season with Journalists drawn from Adamawa and Taraba states Northeast Nigeria.The Workshop which was held at Jalingo, Taraba State Capital tagged: Contributing to the Mitigation of conflict over natural resources between farmer and herder communities in Adamawa and Taraba states, COMITAS.
The farmer-herder clashes over the years in Nigeria have been a source of concern, particularly in the North Central, North Eastern, and North Western axis of the country.
According to reports, these conflicts are triggered by competition over natural resources due to demographic growth, expansion of human settlements, privatization of land, year-round farming practices, environmental degradation, and climate change among other reasons.
The event is aimed to foster peaceful co-existence through effective journalism and to show case of previous reports that highlight the effort in promoting peaceful co-existence focusing on lessons learned during the COMITAS project.
Speaking at the workshop, Mr Jeji Williams, Chief of Staff to the Taraba State Government called on the media practitioner to apply the knowledge acquired into practices toward achieving the objective of the project.
According to him,media practitioners were the relevant stakeholders in ensuring peaceful co-existence in society.
During a robust discussion session, the COMITAS project manager, Gambo Wada, explained that the purpose of the experience sharing is to get the Journalists unveiled their view while covering the project.
He explained that the project is funded by the European Union and is being implemented by Search For Common Ground , Mercy Corps and IOM to build socio cohesion by using existing media practitioners from Phase 1 and also partnering with all Journalists to achieve their goal of bridging peace.
Lending his Voice, Mr Victor Baba Okpanachi the Media Coordinator has also called on the media practitioner to intensify their media coverage and create more awareness to enhance the notifications on COMITAS as the project is coming to an end
Some of the journalists express their joy by stating how impactful reporting COMITAS Project has been and assured to double their efforts.
