By Rita Michael, Bauchi
The Centre for Information Technology and Development, (CITAD) with support of the United State Institute for Peace (USIP) has made a presentation of a book on Community Resilence in the context of Boko Haram insurgency research as a key security strategy for the nation.
The research of the book, according to CITAD, was conducted in over 16 communities across six states of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Kano and Jigawa .
The objective of the book was to understand what factors make communities more resilient to violent action and atrocities perpetrated by terrorists in the Northeast part of the country as well as enhancing communities capacity to bounce back from devastation.
While making a formal presentation of the book at the NUJ Press Centre in Bauchi on Thursday, the Head of Department of the Faculty of Arts of the Bauchi State University, Dr Asabe Sadiya Mohammed, described community resilience as the ability of communities to rebound, maintain and strengthen thier functionality during and after a disturbance or to cope successfully in the face of extreme adversity or shock.
She said, “In this research, we focused on factors that make some communities able to resist, repel and recover from penetration by insurgents and their actions, involving the destruction and decimation of communities.
“In doing this, we looked at community agencies in the context of Boko Haram insurgency and attempt to answer key questions such as ” how do communities act in ways that build thier resilience to insurgency.”
Also, CITAD Research and Communication Assistant, Hamza Ibrahim Chinade, who spoke on outcomes of the research, explained that community resilence prospers when there is a robust community platform for active citizen participation and democratic decision-making which when absent breeds activities of insurgents.
He said, “Addressing challenges of unemployment and poverty, building a credible and acceptable leadership, strengthening community governance , addressing extreme social inequality, encouraging community policing were recommendations of the research to strengthen community resilience to Boko Haram.