The e United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) says it has trained 402 participants from the Martin Luther Agwai International Leadership and Peacekeeping Centre (MLAILPKC), Lagos in counter terrorism measures.

The Head of UNDP Lagos office,  Mr Williams Tusma, said this at the inauguration of the Counter Violent Extremism (CVE) Course 5/2024, which held at the Nigerian Army School of Finance and Administration (NASFA), Lagos.

Tusma said that beneficiaries from the previous four cohorts of the course were already applying the expertise in their respective places of assignment.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the CVE programme was organised by MLAILPKC in conjunction with the Government of Japan.

Countries participating in the training include Ghana, Cameroun, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, among others.

According to the UNDP representative,  the course, which is the fifth in the series, seeks to boost socio-economic advancement of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region.

“The CVE Course is a testament of our collective resolve to address one of the most pressing contemporary challenges facing humanity and draw participants from six ECOWAS countries.

“It is not debatable that violent extremism poses significant threats to the peace, stability and sustainable development of the ECOWAS sub-region, especially Nigeria.

“The challenges that the menace constitute to the realisation of SDGs and Agenda 2030 in the sub-region are enormous, as such, our response must, be pungent, swift, borderless and unified,” he said.

Mr Tusma recieving a gift from a senior army officer.

Tusma said that the tripartite partnership of MLAILPKC, the Government of Japan and UNDP to counter violent extremism was complementing wider national, regional and continental counter terrorism strategies and frameworks.

“These include the ECOWAS counter-terrorism strategy, and African Union Counter Terrorism Framework, as well as Nigeria’s National Counter Terrorism Strategy and Terrorism Prevention Act.

“The partnership aims to confront the menace bluntly and mitigate the impact of violent extremism on the continent.

“The course will equip the participants with the knowledge and skills to contribute to the fight against violent extremism in West Africa and Africa continent,” he said.

He  urged all the participants to dedicate themselves to the course and acquire requisite knowledge that would engender their contributions to the socio-economic development of the region.

“This requisite knowledge will also help in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals,  and Agenda 2030, as well as African Development Agenda 2063,” he said.

Tusma thanked MLAILPKC, the Government of Japan and the Ministry of Budget and National Planning for their continuous partnership with UNDP and for making the event a reality.

The Defence Attaché to the Nigerian Embassy in Japan, Lt.-Col. Morita Tatsuya, said that Japan remained committed to peace and stability in Africa through human resource development, and in partnership with UN agencies.

Tatsuya said that Japan had consistently shown its commitment to supporting essential training for African-led peace support operations and capacity building in Africa over  the years.

“Japan recognises the significant role of African-led Peace Support Operations in maintaining peace and stability in Africa.

“In Nigeria, we have been supporting the Peacekeeping Operation (PKO) training in partnership with the UNDP and PKO training centres for the past six years.

“Over the years, since the first Defence Attaché was attached to our Embassy in 2015, the friendship between Japan and Nigeria in the area of defence has been strengthened,” he said .

Tatsuya said that the training would provide participants with the necessary knowledge to combat violent extremism and to protect people in Nigeria and the ECOWAS region.

Also, the Special Guest of Honour, Maj.-Gen. Wisdom Etuk, said that it was only through collective and collaborative actions that  the region could address the root causes of violent extremism.

Etuk, who is Commandant, Nigerian Army College of Logistics, Lagos, emphasised the need for a comprehensive approach that encompassed security based counter-terrorism measures and systematic preventive steps to stop violent extremism.

“Violent extremism has continued to threaten global peace, security and human dignity. It exploits fear, ignorance and desperation, leaving destruction and heartbreak in its wake.

“Therefore, to defeat this threat, there is need for concerted efforts through capacity building such as this course in order to promote peace, justice and human dignity.

“The course will help to  develop human capacity to understand the complex drivers of violent extremism, develop effective strategies to prevent radicalisation and foster international cooperation and collaboration,” he said.

He urged participants from other West African countries to feel free to share their experiences and iinsights uring the course.

“According to him,  that will go a long way to enriching the course.

“It is expected that the knowledge you will gain from this Course will empower you to make positive contributions when the need arises,” he said.

The Commandant, MLAILPKC, Maj.-Gen. Taiwo Adedoja, said that to tackle the scourge of violence extremism, governments, civil society and international organisations must collaborate and coordinate efforts.

Adedoja said that such collaboration would help to address its root causes, share information and engage in capacity building.

“Additionally, the asymmetric nature of modern conflicts has necessitated the training of potential peacekeepers to understand how to effectively counter violent extremism.

“Contemporary peacekeeping environments have become highly complex and volatile with different actors, which necessitated the UN, African Union (AU) and other regional bodies to adopt the integrated approach to Peace Support Operations,” he said.

He said that in recent time, violent extremism had become a gateway to terrorism, fuelling devastating attacks, destabilising communities, spreading hatred and claiming countless innocent lives.

He said that the course was designed in line with the UN’s training standards and qualified participants to be deployed in integrated peacekeeping operations under the auspices of UN, AU and ECOWAS.

“I assure you that the centre has erudite facilitators with world class experiences who will impact the required knowledge on the participants.

“We have invited a retinue of erudite scholars from both within and outside the country who are versed in their various fields to handle some of the topics towards enriching the entire course,” he said.

The commandant said that by the end of the course, participants would have been empowered to impact positive changes and contribute to enhancing peace, security and safety of the citizens in Nigeria and Africa.