Residents, stakeholders and peace advocates converged on Saturday in Erin-Osun for a town hall meeting organised under the “Preach for Peace” initiative, with participants stressing the need for dialogue, unity and peaceful coexistence among communities.
The event, themed “Building Bridges: Healing Communities – Together for Peace,” brought together community members, youth representatives and peace ambassadors to discuss conflict prevention and strategies for sustaining harmony in the area.
Speaking during the programme, the Communication Officer of the project, Faridah Igbayilola, said the initiative was designed to foster peace within communities in Osun State and strengthen local peace-building efforts.
According to her, the project began in February with virtual training sessions for selected participants from affected communities, alongside capacity-building programmes for media practitioners on conflict-sensitive and resolution-focused reporting.
She explained that the initiative was also addressing the spread of fake news, which she described as one of the factors capable of escalating communal tension.
“The project aims to bridge peace and strengthen peace-building. We trained participants from the communities and also engaged media personnel on the need for conflict-sensitive reporting,” she said.
Igbayilola added that the organisers had received support and acceptance from residents across the participating communities.
“On a scale of one to ten, I would say we have achieved about seven, and that is encouraging because the communities have welcomed and accommodated us,” she noted.
She further stressed that the communities had long-standing ties through intermarriages, businesses and social engagements, saying the initiative was meant to preserve those relationships and minimise communal clashes and boundary disputes.
Also speaking, a community member, Abubakar Olawale, described peace as essential for development and progress in any society.
“If we have peace, many things in our community will improve because without peace, nothing successful can be achieved,” he said.
Another participant and peace ambassador, Adeola Rajidat, said the programme had equipped participants with mediation and conflict-resolution skills.
“They taught us how to promote peace in our community and encouraged us to become mediators who remain neutral during conflicts,” she said.
Rajidat disclosed that plans were underway to organise dialogue sessions among students and youths within the communities to encourage open communication and peaceful relationships.
The organisers expressed optimism that continued engagement and dialogue would strengthen unity and prevent future communal disputes in the affected areas.
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