By Joy Ude
The Movement of the Survival of Ogoni People,(MOSOP),on Thursday trained stakeholders in the Niger Delta environment to embrace peace for conflict resolution.
The group made the call during a two day retreat organised by Habitats Protection and sustainable Development (HAPSDI),in collaboration with MOSOP for their Officer in Port Harcourt.
My name is Engr.Olu Andah, the current president of MOSOB, said that the aim of the retreat was to enhance the organisational, resource mobilization capacities of MOSOP officers.
Andah said that the retreat would also enhance the capacity of the stakeholders to drive social movement and sustainable development.
The group President said that he did assessment of the original structure and capacity inherited by his administration to see that the group needs capacity building to succeed as a movement.
“The MOSOB that we inherited didn’t have any viable structure which includes Secretariat, funds,that’s why we needed support from some other outlets, Like the NGO habitats sustainability and PIND which has been in the vanguard of training organisations on how to resolve conflicts.
“The Partnership Initiative In the Niger Delta (PIND),has touched so many areas of conflict management, how to utilize the resources available as communities or organisations.
“PIND and Habitats Sustainability gave us sufficient encouragement as the state Executives,and the National executives, and the kingdom Coordinators that oversee what is happening in each kingdom with the affiliates of youth wing and the women wing,”he said.
Andah said that MOSOP would continue to train and retain its stakeholders on how to resolve and manage conflicts within their affiliates and within the kingdoms to ensure that their parttern of resolving conflicts enhance the growth of the organisation.
Andah said that there was a huge gap in resolution of conflicts in the Niger Delta and Nigeria, urging government and stakeholders at all levels to utilize available resources effectively to sustain the economy.
He urged members to replicate all that was thought during the training, saying that unity,and selfless sacrifice would sustain the group
He appealed to members to work with sincerity of purpose, understanding the objective mission of MOSOP abinitio,
Andah called for support from the stakeholders,not necessarily finance but support in terms of bringing ideas to actualize the main objectives of MOSOP.
Mr David Udofia,the Peace Building Programme Manager, PIND Foundation in the Niger Delta Region, trained the stakeholders on the theme “Organisational and Workplace Conflict Management”.
Udofia stated that the training would help the group understand that conflict was an integral part of human existence, and was inevitable and an integral part of human existence.
Udofia said that nothing was wrong about conflict, but the management process that leads to the positive as well as the negative conflict referred to as the constructive and destructive measure of conflict.
“We have talked about considering the causes of conflict, looking at perception, poor communications, opinion, lack of compromise tolerance, self interest, ignorance, lack of empathy, prejudice and assumptions,”he said.
Udofia also trained the members on another theme “Resource Mobilization and Group Work”stating that resource mobilization was not all about money, it can come in terms of human, materials, facilities, free services among others.
Udofia advised the stakeholders to see conflict as an integral part of organisational existence, and not to dread conflict, but continue to mobilize resources for their sustenance.
