THE ROLE OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS IN PEACE BUILDING IN MAIDUGURI

CHAPTER ONE

1.1.INTRODUCTION

Highest on the list of prime value for Maiduguri a town in Bornu state, Nigeria, is peace. Peace is the most valuable public commodity, yet the most elusive (Francis David, 2006). These four years (2009-2014) of Insurgency has brought loss of lives and halted economic activities in various parts of Maiduguri. The activities of bokoharam have brought devastating effects on Maiduguri which has resulted in loss of lives both human and livestock,  suffering, destruction of infrastructures and public/private facilities, disruption of economic/socio-economic activities like  agricultural, trade etc.  This situation has threatened not only the internal peace and security of Maiduguri but also the peace in Nigeria and beyond. So alarming is the fact that most of these areas affected by insurgency lack the will to stop this social charade and have fallen prey to continuous usury and subtle manipulation by politicians who take advantage of this situation to involve in shady deals like kidnapping and arm deals using insurgency as a cover (Chiedu, 2013). Peace building has therefore become the most pressing challenge faced by Nigeria at large and Maiduguri in particular. This situation is so partly because of feudal system of leadership which encourages total submission to authority without question which carries with it, ineffective terror control means.

Despite the effort of government through its institutions like the armed forces, religious bodies, NGOs etc, to curb the excesses of insurgence in Maiduguri, peace has continued to elude her and  sustainable development, stopped. On that note, this project will seek to show the role of NGOs in peace building in Maiduguri.