ZAMAN TARE Holds Public Lecture For Postgraduate Scholarship Students Of KASU

By Frederick Peters, KADUNA.

The Zaman Tare project,Nigeria,has organized a 2- Day public Lecture and dissemination of Knowledge for Postgraduates Students of Kaduna State University,(KASU),doing a research on Interreligious and lntercultural Pluralism under the Zaman Tare scholarship initiative

The project which holds on Tuesday- Wednesday,at the Kaduna State University is funded by European Union,(E.U),and implemented,by Catholic Caritas of Nigeria (CCFN) in collaboration with Catholic Agency for Overseas Development( CAFOD) and Dialogue,Reconciliation and Peace program( DREP)

Speaking the Field Officer,ZAMAN TARE in Kaduna, Mr Innocent Madukwu Okechukwu said ” we are here for a public Lecture and dissemination of information for the post graduates Scholarship students of the Kaduna State University

“Today is the first day of a two day public Lecture and dissemination of knowledge to the first sets of students that were given the Scholarship,they are 9 of them and basically, today, we had 4 presenters and tomorrow we will be having the rest 5 to also present”

He further appreciated the University Community for their support and for participating actively and “also confirming that these researches were conducted and carried out in their community” He added that “The research were conducted in the four LGA that makes up Kaduna metropolis namely Kaduna north, Chikun, Kaduna South and Igabi LGA”

According to him,the research findings and the contributions are commendable saying ” some of the representatives of the university community making their inputs and also asking questions, they Professors and Doctors of the University that were present also made their comments and inputs and I think it has been excellent ” he added

The Representative of the Vice Chancellor and Director, Universal Advancement,Kaduna State University, Dr Ibrahim Maharazu, said the meeting and collaboration is timely “its a good programme,because it has to do with the problems,we are facing in Kaduna State,that is the issue of disturbances,which is virtually affecting every body;whether it is tribal,religious, political”

Adding that “from whatever perspective you look at it,it has come at the right time,because this is a collaborative effort among 4 different organizations that is the Kaduna state university, CAFOD,EU and DREP”he said

According to him,the University community in 2019 signed a memorandum of understanding with these organizations to undertake the Project ‘ Zaman Tare’ on Kaduna, Plateau States and Niger republic, while in kaduna,the project comprised Kaduna north,Kaduna south,Igabi and Chikun LGAs,with the mandate for interreligious and lntercultural pluralism.

Speaking on the findings, he said “we will sit down and harvest the major findings and disseminate all to the relevant stakeholders,the government,security agencies, community leaders,so that each one will look at it and contribute his quota” so that the necessary actions can be taken “so that when we put our hands together,we will be able to achieve peace in Kaduna and our country in general” he stated

On her part,a Professor of Criminology and gender Studies of the University, Mrs Hauwawu Eveyln Yusuf,pointed out that as a major supervisor to 3 of the research presenters today, said ” l am a part of the research that was conducted and I will like to say that they have very fantastic findings that requires publicity, so that policy makers can be aware of what is going on in the community and the opinion of the people

“So that better policies can be put in place to bridge the gap of peace in Kaduna state as a whole” While further emphasizing the need for the media to publicize the findings of the study, through the documents that will be submitted to the policy makers, She reiterated

Speaking a Lecturer from the Department of Political Science, Dr Yakubu Haruna Jaye,noted that we are really faced with a challenge now that we don’t have they Policy Makers in our midst,saying “we did not invite members of the state assembly and proberly some key political leaders in the matters of peace and conflicts in the state

According to him” they are key stakeholders in what we are discussing today and I am suggesting that next time,we are meeting on something like this,we should invite them;we are inviting them because we are discussing issues that are very critical concerning intolerance, insecurity, social political and economic conflicts including ethno-religious segregation in the cities and suburbs “he stressed

One of the research presenters and beneficiary of the Scholarship,Rahab Gregory,from the Department of Christian Religious Studies,while thanking God and the project” ZAMAN TARE for the opportunity given her,said her presentation “is all about the roles of religious leaders and traditional leaders in conflict resolution within Kaduna metropolis

According to her” there have been series of issues of conflicts over and over,you know the indices of conflicts have been in the rise within the metropolis. However,it is known that religious and traditional leaders are viable tools for fostering peace, as such why is it that there’s has been reoccurrences of conflicts,is it that those key agents are not actually doing what is expected of them”she stressed

She maintained further that if recommendations of previous commissions of inquiry are implemented it will go a long way in curtailing conflicts and serving as a deterrent,while also calling for such reports to be made available for public scrutiny “such that the reports do not go against what actually happened” she maintained