Community engagement, key to enduring projects in grassroots — Don

The Head, Department of Conflict, Peace and Strategic Studies at Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) Dr Babatunde Oyinloye, has said constant engagement with the communities is key to having enduring projects in the grassroots in a bid to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Nigeria.

He spoke at the Community Engagement Workshop Series of the Department of Conflict, Peace and Strategic Studies, ABUAD during which respected peace scholars spoke on various topics.

Speaking at the three-day event, Oyinloye, stressed that community engagement is a veritable and non-negotiable necessity towards attaining the SDGs and for enhanced national cohesion.

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.

In his closing remarks, Dr. Oyinloye commended the founder of ABUAD, Aare Afe Babalola, SAN for his exceptional foresight and support through different programmes, adding that he has continued to loom large in the firmament of humanity because of his vision and large-heartedness.

“This further affirms the 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 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.

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