Commandant-General, National Unity and Peace Corps (NUPEC), Dr. Chinedu Nneji, in this Interview with CHRISTIANA NWAOGU, decries the absence of a crisis mediation centre in the country, the controversy over the legalisation of Peace Corps and points out the organisations core mandate among other issues.How Feasible is the Peace Corps job Offer'I believe you are aware that Peace Corps is made up of two agencies merged for the purpose of fostering national unity. Though I cannot speak for the other group because we are still discussing on the merger but I can state categorically that the National Unity and Peace Corps which I oversee, offers authentic jobs and is not engulfed in any mess.National Unity and Peace Corp recently launched Operation Love Your Neighbour as yourself campaign, what do you hope to achieve through this'The campaign is aimed at fostering the needed peace, unity and security in our motherland. I wish to draw your mind back to recent happenings in our dear country, particularly, the farmers/herdsmen crisis.We realised also that if nothing is done at this point to arrest the trend, it could lead to anarchy and lawlessness, thereby, allowing our beloved country to degenerate into avoidable crisis.You were quoted to have announced plans to deploy Officers to Kaduna, sequel to recent killings, what figure are you looking at' Dont you think that the Kaduna Crisis has gone beyond deploying officers with bare hands'We are looking at deploying 100 officers first but will increase the number as the need arises. Well, at this point, the mandate given to us does not permit us to bear or handle arms. Our activities will depend largely on other security agencies such as the Nigerian Army, Police and Civil Defence. In fact, the arrangement is that these major security agencies will accompany our officers to this restive region to preach peace. Our motive is to involve aggrieved parties in a roundtable discussion, dictate their grievances and proffer solution as Peace agents.Do you think it is wise for Mr. President to assent to Peace Corps Bill at this time of lean resources and against the backdrop that you will duplicate the functions of many security agencies'Truth be told, Peace Corps will not in any way duplicate function of other security agencies. Our major mandate is the restoration of peace in warring communities. In fact, our activities are community based and in that case, we are going to established mediation centres nationwide. This has never been considered by any security outfit.Reasons are that most crises that ravage lives and properties often begin at the grassroots. So, if an avenue of sincere dialogue is created, then the issue of inter- communal crisis would be largely addressed. Again, let us not forget in a hurry that Language barrier between indigenes and settlers is a major challenge. Rather than easily address the disputes promptly it over stretches unnecessarily the outcome. To crown it, we have mapped out plans to engage linguistics who will help facilitate the mediation process.Are you worried about the stiff opposition from key security agencies who argue that authenticating your agency will amount to unnecessary overlap their mandates'We are not worried. This is because even the Nigerian Army threw their weight behind us during the public hearing and of course we all know that Nigeria military has been over stretched. We are all aware that rather than concentrate on its Core mandate of protecting the territorial integrity of this great Country, they have been deeply involved in ensuring maximum protection of lives and properties in the North -East.Earnestly, it would therefore be wrong to express fears that we will either hijack or duplicate functions. It is important to remind Nigerians that as human life evolves, new challenges emerge and to address these challenges, new agencies are created to meet up with upcoming traits.Dont you think that the fee-for-job (N48,000 payment for enlistment) alarm recently raised by applicants has discredited the integrity of Peace Corps'Well, speaking for National Unity and Peace Corps which I head, I can boldly say we have since inception, maintained very high level of integrity. As a non- governmental organisation (NGO) which emanated from the Federal Ministry of Interior, we made integrity our watchword. In fact, we are the only NGO supervised by the Ministry of Interior and by so doing; most of our activities come from their directive.I will say that we do not collect money to enlist job seekers; however, prior to this stage, we had an arrangement where applicants were mandated to go for self sponsored courses as requirement for recruitment. Secondly, when we have a task to fulfil, I mean, embarking on mediation programme we also resort to contribution among members in order to adequately finance such assignments since we were not finance by government.You talked about resolving crisis in some warring communities without government support. How many of such cases have your organisation handled'Our organisation started in 1992 under the then Minister of Internal Affairs, who gave a directive that such agency should be registered to cover existing lacunas, where crisis evolve with no organisation directly saddled with bearing it. We have so far mediated and resolved issues between Modakeke and Ile- Ife communities in Osun State. We have also resolved crisis between Juku/ Herdsmen in Taraba state, Umulere and Agulere in Anambra, Izza and Ezilo communities in Ebonyi State, among others.There are other critical issues begging for answers. I mean, issues such as Boko Haram and the Nigerian state, a den we wish to ventured into, especially now that the military has redeemed and restored normalcy in the North East. There are also very disturbing issues such as the wanton killings going on in Kaduna as well as in other unreported areas. We are also targeting the economic sabotage going on in the Niger Delta region.While Nigerians concede that the high level of unemployment in the nation remains a source of concern, they strongly believe that Peace Corps is not the needed answer as they argue that they are other viable alternative s to reducing unemployment. Do you agree with this'There are other viable alternatives to reducing unemployment in Nigeria but the establishment of Peace Corps is one of such. If Peace Corps has been in existence for 24 years and is still vibrant even without government intervention, then Nigeria as a nation needs Peace Corps.Interestingly, the Ministry of Interior under which Peace Corps is expected to be domiciled is said to be opposed to the institutionalising of the Corps at a public hearing on grounds that your proposed mandates are vague. Isnt this rather disturbing'No, I think the ministrys presentation at the public hearing was misunderstood. Their emphasis was that they do not have the financial power or budgetary allocation to absorb this new agency but stressed that if the federal government would increase their allocation to accommodate Peace Corps, they will adhere to the dictate of Mr. President and thus, absorb us. Their stand on this matter was very clear and should therefore not be misinterpreted to misguide Nigerians.If this is achieved what will be your Core mandates'Once Mr. President assents the Act establishing Peace Corp, Nigerians should within three weeks of our kick- off expect a total restoration of peace and normalcy across the nation. This will be largely because we already have trained machineries on ground waiting desperately to deliver on our mandates.Nigerians should be assured that Peace Corps will rather than stay domiciled as speculated in some quarters, generate revenue for government. Take my words; we wont be burden or liability to Nigeria. That will form part of the blueprint I will present to the federal government once I am invited.
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