THE United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has allayed the fear
in the minds of Nigerians that 2015 general elections would mar the
country. It assured that the election was “a possible turning point for
the best for Nigeria.” The UNDP Resident Representative in Nigeria, Mr. Daouda Toure, who
said this yesterday while on a courtesy call to the National Institute
for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), reassured that Nigeria would
come out stronger from the elections.
Toure said: “Since conflict is a part of every society, you have to
begin to address it even before it starts: the culture of peace must be
inculcated in the minds of our politicians before the elections. We are
therefore delighted to be associated with this initiative by NIPSS to
strengthen the capacity of political parties so they become key pillars
of Nigeria’s democratic polity.”
According to Toure: “Democratic Governance Development (DGD) and
NIPSS developed a curriculum to equip young party leaders with the
fundamentals to drive a robust democratic engagement - it provides
strategic and techniques for how parties can become stronger
institutions themselves.” But NIPSS said that as a foremost institute in West Africa and
indeed Africa and part of its mandate to strengthen the capacity of
political parties in Nigeria for peaceful elections, it has taken it
upon itself to strengthen the capacity of political parties with a view
to bringing stability, national unity and meaningful participatory
democracy in Nigerian political system.
The Director-General of the institute, Prof. Tijjani Muhammad
Bande, while thanking UNDP for its immense support, said that the
institute had trained about 200 political party officials, including
chairmen, secretaries, treasurers, financial secretaries, women leaders,
legal advisers and publicity secretaries at the national levels, adding
that the training would be extended to leaders at the state and ward
levels before the 2015 elections.With Toure on the visit were his wife, Mrs. Toure, DGD Project
Director, Dr. Mourtada Deme, UNESCO Director and Prof. Alidou Hassana,
among others.
Source: The Guardian
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