Oyo govt. trains LG principal officers on conflict management
Oyo State government, on Wednesday, began a three-day training on conflict management for principal officers of local government councils in the state.
The workshop, organised by the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, is aimed at addressing some of the major challenges hindering smooth administration of government at the grassroots.
The theme of the workshop is: “Conflict Management: A Veritable Tool to Attain Sustainable Transformation Agenda at the Grassroots.”
Declaring the workshop open in Ibadan, Commissioner for Local Government, Chief Bayo Lawal, said that it was designed to find lasting solutions to the various internal crises retarding developments across the councils.
Although Lawal noted that local government administration was the closest to the people, he, however, said that its impact could only be seen and felt under an atmosphere of peace and good governance.
He said that administration at the local government level needed to be repositioned in terms of focusing and resetting of the mind.
This, according to him, will make people at the grassroots benefit from the giant strides of the present administration in the state.
Lawal urged the local government officials to embrace peaceful resolution of any disagreement in their respective councils.
“The era politics of bitterness is gone. You must eschew animosity, acrimony and bickering.
“Friction and disagreement are part of human nature. What distinguishes one person from another is the ability to rise above pettiness and embrace collaborative approach to life.
“As leaders, we must accept the fact that conflict of interest is inherent in man and the reality is that we are created differently, from different backgrounds and orientations.
“Yet, for our survival, we must relate interdependently and have to co-exist. Therefore, the only sensible and intelligent way of resolving differences and clashes of interest is through dialogue,” the commissioner stated.
Newsmen reports that two guest lecturers, Prof. Albert Olawale of Institute of Peace and Strategic Studies, University of Ibadan and Prof. Yisa Yusuf of Department of English in the same institution, are expected to deliver papers at the workshop.
While Olawale is billed to deliver his paper “Conflict Management: A Veritable Tool to Attain Sustainable Transformation Agenda at the Grassroots, Yusuf will speak on “Language as a Tool for Peace, Social Mobilisation and Development.
