The Chairperson of National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) ,Ms. Kathleen Addy, has called on the Ghanaian youth to guard themselves against acts of violent extremists
The Chairperson made this statement at the second National Dialogue on Preventing and Containing Violent Extremism (PCVE) held in Bolgatanga, of the Upper East Region on Monday.
She stressed that although Ghana and the world over were experiencing economic hardship, that does not mean that the youth should allowed themselves to be recruited into violent
The dialogue brought together experts and stakeholders, including the youth, chiefs, security agencies, and religious leaders, among others and it was held on the theme: “Preventing Radicalization of the Youth in the Wake of Coup D’états in the Sub-Region: Perspective from Stakeholders”.
The PCVE is an 18-month European Union-funded project being implemented in eight border regions of the country, namely the Upper East, Upper West, North East, Savannah, Northern, Bono, Bono East, and the Oti Regions.
Under this framework, the NCCE is mandated to create awareness about violent extremism, carry out public education, and facilitate activities to engender among the citizens of Ghana security consciousness, social inclusiveness, community cohesion, and situational awareness.
The Chairperson called for intensified sensitization of the youth to resist attempt by the extremists to recruit them to cause instability.
Mr Emmanuel Owusu, the Upper East Regional Commander of the National Investigation Bureau (NIB), noted that though there were conflict entrepreneurs who benefitted from the woes of others, youth unemployment was a risk factor that had the tendency to trigger the youth to be radicalized.
He indicated that the curiosity of the youth made them vulnerable and gullible to the strategies employed by the extremists to recruit people and urged them to be guarded by the people they associated themselves with.
Ms Pricilla Nyaaba, the Executive Director of the Youth Harvest Foundation and a member of the Upper East Regional Peace Council, called on the government to help build the capacities of young people through vocational training to enable them to be self-employed.
This, she observed, to some extent would help the youth afford their basic needs to reduce their vulnerability and guard themselves against being radicalized by the extremists.
Reverend Father Clement Aapangnuo, Team Leader for Coginta-Ghana, asserted that everyone was a potential violent and radical person, and the moment conditions appeared unfavorable to an individual, they had the propensity of escalating.
He said the government and other social organizations in the country had a major role to play in improving the living conditions of the people to reduce their tendency to be lured by these violent extremists.
