AS Nigeria prepares to celebrate democracy day on Wednesday, Centre for Peace Advancement in Nigeria in Nigeria (CEPAN), an NGO in Jos, has trained 550 youths to serve as change agents in Plateau.

The youths, according to Rev Samuel Goro, CEPAN Executive Director, have also been trained on skills to engage political leaders toward ensuring quality and responsive representation.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the youths, drawn from six communities of Jos South and Jos North Local Governments, were trained as agents that would accelerate developmental processes and organise campaigns against drug abuse and violence

“One hundred and sixty youths were trained; they, in turn, stepped down the training in their various communities amounting to 550 beneficiaries,” Goro told NAN.

According to him, CEPAN works to create peaceful communities in Nigeria by promoting peace-building and development through dialogue, conciliation services, training, research and disseminating accurate and reliable information on peace and development.

He said that the youths were selected from six communities of Anglo-Jos, Dadin Kowa, Ungwan Rogo, Kabong, Nasarawa Gwom and Tudun Wada, adding that they were trained under CEPAN’s one year project tagged: Youth Participation in Political Processes in Plateau.

“We built their capacities as vanguards of peace and development; we also trained them on roles they were expected to play in ensuring political stability and promotion of electoral roles and responsibilities.

“We also took them through measures that would prepare them to tackle elected politicians so as to ensure participatory governance,” he said.

Goro said that the training was also to rid them of social vices such as drug abuse and thuggery that hurt societal peace and makes youths vulnerable to be engaged by politicians for evil acts,” he said.

He said that the campaigns against drug abuse, through synergy with community leaders and the security agencies, had yielded results as many addicts were receiving counseling while the converts were interfacing with other addicts in their communities.

-NAN

BE

– June 11, 2019 @ 08:37 GMT |