Wa, Sept. 17, GNA - Prof Haruna Yakubu, Vice Chancellor of the University of Development Studies(UDS), has announced that the University will establish in Wa, a centre for Conflict and Peace Studies. This was made known at the general meeting of the Upper West Regional House of chiefs in Wa on Thursday. He said that the centre, when established would open its doors to traditional rulers and members of the public to help train them on how to avoid conflicts in the society and thereby help in the maintenance of peace in the three northern regions. He explained that the establishment of the centre was part of the

University's social responsibility to promote and sustain peace in the

north through amicable settlement of disputes. The Vice Chancellor, therefore, appealed to chiefs to patronise the centre when established and to help to build the capacity of its staff to maintain peace in the north. Professor Yakubu also noted that the UDS had observed that there had been many chieftaincy succession disputes in the Upper West, Upper

East and Northern Regions, some of which had been handled peacefully

through various dispute resolution mechanisms. He, however, commended chiefs and other stakeholders for resolving

to engage in peaceful resolutions of disputes and urged them to use the

expertise of personnel of the centre both formally and informally in

examining some of the cases that would come before them. Professor Yakubu said UDS was open to the society and thus

appealed to traditional rulers and other stakeholders to take advantage

of its expertise and products to help design development plans. "The North in general is a deprived area. We would like to look

beyond and concentrate on solutions and hopefully, UDS is a resource for you all", the Vice Chancellor told the Chiefs. He appealed to the chiefs to consider the establishment of an

Education Foundation Fund in their traditional areas to unearth the

development potentials of their people and also help to reduce poverty

that had plagued the north. "I am therefore encouraging all chiefs to do all in your power to

promote education in your areas. I encourage you to set up scholarship

schemes in your traditional areas for best but needy students especially in science and medicine and do not lose sight of the girl child in this

regard", he admonished. He also used the opportunity to thank members of the Regional

House of Chiefs for giving their conference hall to the UDS, which was used as a lecture, hall and making available their guest house for masters' programme. The Vice-Chancellor gave the assurance that the UDS Campus in Wa

would make a positive impact on the education and livelihood of the people in the Region in the near future. Professor Yakubu expressed his gratitude to landlords who offered accommodation to students and appealed to all and sundry to be kind

and tolerant with the students during their stay with them.