Community Engagement has been identified as the game changer for enduring projects in the grassroots and very key to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Nigeria.
This came to the front burner at the Community Engagement Workshop Series of the Department of Conflict, Peace and Strategic Studies, Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD) during which respected peace scholars spoke on various topics.
Speaking at the three-day event, the Head, Department of Conflict, Peace and Strategic Studies, Dr. Olaoluwa Babatunde Oyinloye, stressed that Community Engagement is a veritable and non-negotiable necessity towards attaining the Sustainable Development Goals and for enhanced national cohesion.
Dr. Oyinloye, an Associate Professor and a UNESCO Co-Chair on Peace and Citizenship, noted that government at all levels and Non-Governmental Organisations alike in all phases of the project cycle ought to adhere to the tenets of community engagement for national peace and stability.
Speaking in his capacity as the convener of the workshop, Dr. Oyinloye asserted that “community engagement is not a standalone subject neither is it something new or novel, rather it is simply getting the would-be beneficiaries of any proposed intervention involved throughout the phases of such intervention.”
The scholar advanced the idea that this is to enable ownership and adoption of the project by the community and in such way, when a community takes ownership of such interventions, it inevitably becomes enduring.
The UNESCO Co-Chair further admonished the participants to ensure they implement lessons learnt during the workshop for sustainable peace and development.
Closing the event, Dr. Oyinloye commended the Founder of ABUAD, Aare Afe Babalola, SAN for his exceptional foresight and support through different programmes. He said the Founder has continued to loom large in the firmament of humanity because of his vision and large heartedness.
He also thanked the entire management team ably led by the Vice Chancellor, Professor Elisabeta Smaranda Olarinde FCIArb for their exceptional leadership and exceptional devotion to the ABUAD vision.
Oyinloye also saluted the Nigerian Army leadership in particular Generals Olu Irefin (Late) and James Ataguba (retd.) for their wonderful contributions as General Officer Commanding (GOC) 81st Division of the Nigerian Army and Commandant Martin Luther Agwai International Leadership and Peacekeeping Centre Jaji Kaduna, as well as General Onuibogu, GOC 2nd Division, Ibadan for the sustained partnership.
He said that all achievements also bear the imprimatur and hard work of both staff and students (both former and current) of the Conflict, Peace and Strategic Studies Department at ABUAD.
The event was witnessed by notable peace scholars and practitioners in Nigeria including Professor Nathaniel Danjibo of the University of Ibadan, a former President of the Society for Peace Studies and Practice in Nigeria and Dr Yusuf Lanre the Acting General Secretary of the Society, as well as others such as a delegation of the Red Cross Society, representative of the Martin Luther Agwai Leadership and Peacekeeping Centre, Jaji, Kaduna.
The Community Engagement Workshop Series promoted by ABUAD Department of Conflict, Peace and Strategic Studies affirmed the time-tested synergy between Gown and Town which was geared towards fulfilling a cardinal mandate of the institution.
It is worthy of note that ABUAD has consecutively been ranked by the Time Higher Education in Nigeria on its impact rankings as the best university in Nigeria for three consecutive years since 2022 hence the renewal of the UNESCO Chair on Peace and Citizenship by UNESCO.
This further affirms that fact that the institution is indeed a place for functional and qualitative education. And it is no mean feat that out of the six UNESCO chairs in Nigeria, ABUAD holds two of them, namely the UNESCO Chair on Entrepreneurship Education for Sustainable Development and another by Professor Abiodun Ojo.
The UNESCO chair on Peace and Citizenship is jointly held by Professors Akinyoade Demola, Isiaka Alani Badmus and Associate Professor Oyinloye. The trio have maintained that they will continue to justify the confidence reposed in them for the advancement of both their institution and humanity.
