The Justice Development and Peace Commission (JDPC) of the Catholic Archdiocese of Jos, has launched a project to promote religious and cultural pluralism in Nigeria.
Speaking at the event on Thursday in Jos, the Project Manager, Rev. Fr. Basil Kassam, said that the project was in partnership with Observatoire Pharos, a French organization.
Kassam explained that the project, tagged ”Incubator of Pluralism Actors in Nigeria”, would be implemented in 12 communities of six Local Government Areas of Plateau and Bauchi states.
He added that Observatoire Pharos was currently supporting similar projects in Niger, Burkinafaso, and Mali.
The manager explained the project would target largely young people, between the ages of 18 and 30, with the aim of de-escalating conflicts in the communities
”This project is to provide tangible support towards building peaceful coexistence in communities affected by conflicts
”The project will have a deeper look at aspects of religious and cultural dimensions of conflicts in order to intensify social cohesion,
”It is designed to provide solutions to the religious and cultural conflicts that we are currently going through,” he said.
Kassam explained that 20 organizations would form a network that would collectively implement the project in the benefitting communities.
In a goodwill message, Jacob Pwakim, the Chairman of Plateau Peace Practitioners Network (PPPN), thanked JDPC and Observatoire Pharos for the initiative, adding that making young people the fulcrum of the project would yield positive results in the peace-building process.
Similarly, Alhaji Sani Tanko, the Director of Finance of the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) in Plateau, called for tolerance among Nigerians and advised the people to love one another, irrespective of their cultural and religious backgrounds
Also, the Director of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Kanneng Pam, advised the government to incorporate pluralism in the curriculum of secondary schools, saying such would further deepen peaceful coexistence in our society.
There were goodwill messages from the Plateau Peace Building Agency (PPBA) and other organizations.