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By Able Winnard
Unionism and campus politics have been identified as the bedrock of conflicts and violence amongst students of the University of Cross River State, UNICROSS.
This was a fall fallout of a oneone-dayace Dialogue Session held with students of the university as part of activities of the Sport for Peace Project carried out by the Center for Healthworks Development and Research Initiative (CHEDRES) and funded by Partners for Peace in the Niger Delta.
Also identified as drivers of crisis within the university environment is a high rate of drug abuse and cult-related activities among students, extortion, etc.
Addressing participants at the event, Dr Moses Abang, National Secretary of P4P informed that the project was necessary as dialogues of this nature will help open up the space for actions to be taken that will further reduce the rate of crimes and cult-related activities within the University community. He, therefore, urged management and other peacebuilding organizations to make good use of the data harvested from the project.
Earlier the Project Coordinator and Executive Director of the Center for Healthworks Development and Research Initiative, Mr Felix Ukam appreciated the University authorities for opening their doors to welcome the project into the school as peace and security should be the primary concern of everyone.
Ukam who was represented by Mrs Jane Iwara the Admin Officer of CHEDRES, hinted that the project Integrating Sports into Peace Building to Reduce Crime in the University of Cross River State is a pilot project which will be sustained and scaled up next year.
In a similar development, Ukorebi Esien, State Coordinator, Partners For Peace in the Niger Delta, in a one-day Training of Peace Facilitators on Peace Building and Conflict Management in UNICROSS, noted that the University has the potential for development if peace and security are taken seriously.
He also went further to enlighten participants on the Early Warning Early Response (EWER) reporting system of crime within the University as one of the vital tools for monitoring conflict.
The peace-building conversation was geared towards the promotion of Peace within the campus and the establishment of the Peace Club in UNICROSS.