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Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero of Kaduna State, North-West Nigeria, has identified lack of employment, religious and ethnic intolerance as the main causes of frequent violence in the state.

He attributed the 11 months violence-free state currently enjoyed in state to the deliberate effort by government to tackle poverty and high unemployment rate.

“We are not unaware that if our youth are gainfully employed, we would enjoy relative peace in the state,” he said.

Yero spoke yesterday at the closing ceremony of the 4th International Conference of the Forum for Cities in Transition held at Murtala Square. He said it is the resolve of his administration to restore peace and tackle the issues that trigger violence in the state.

According to the governor, who personally participated in the group discussions and interactive sessions of the five-day conference organised by Forum for Cities in Transition, FCT, in collaboration with Kaduna State Government, the key to peace is dialogue and understanding one another.

He also noted that the only means of ensuring genuine reconciliation is by getting all aggrieved people to deliberate on ways to resolving their differences.

“The method of deliberation adopted by this forum has also opened a new vista in conference deliberation process,” the governor stated.

While commending the participants who came from different cities across the world that had experienced one form of violence or the other, Yero maintained that it is imperative for all participants to ensure that resolutions reached are put into action, to improve on the level of peace and unity among the diverse people of the participating cities.

The governor assured participating cities of his administration’s readiness to implement the report of the conference, noting that it will further enhance existing peace building process in the state.

•Photo shows Governor Yero.

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