Nigerians have been urged to underplay their ethnic, religious and political differences and embrace a culture of peace and harmony while breaking the barriers of conflict that may arise among them in order to make Nigeria attain its full potential.
This call was made by the Vice-Chancellor of African School of Economics, the pan-African university of excellence, Prof. Mahfouz Adedimeji, on Friday in Abuja. Prof. Adedimeji made the call while making his presentation on “Cultivating a Culture of Peace: Build Bridges, Break Barriers” at the university as part of the activities marking this year’s UN International Day of Peace.
According to the Vice-Chancellor, “Cultivating a Culture of Peace” is this year’s Peace Day theme and it is apt and relevant because that is what the world needs most. Citing UNESCO, he described the culture of peace as “a set of values, attitudes, and behaviours that promote mutual understanding, respect and non-violent resolution of conflict.” He highlighted some of the values and attitudes that Nigerians must embrace as love, patience, forgiveness, truthfulness, trustworthiness, empathy, cooperation, discipline, justice, generosity, gratitude, mutual understanding and respect for one another.
According to the Vice-Chancellor, who is a Fellow of the Society for Peace Studies and Practice, the world is undergoing turbulence with violent conflicts and their associated inhumanity ravaging many places across the world. The solutions to these problems, he said, are to work hard to unite people and communities, foster dialogue, promote mutual understanding and accept diversity.
Prof. Adedimeji emphasized the need to embrace positive mental attitude, noting that the difference between someone who sees a half-empty and a half-full bottle is attitude. He stressed that the window theory by which people seek to blame others for their woes should be replaced by the mirror theory which allows people to focus on themselves with a view to working out solutions.
The former Director of the Centre for Peace and Strategic Studies, University of Ilorin, thereafter enjoined Nigerians to work hard and pray while noting that there are opportunities in challenges and with difficulty there is ease if everyone is positive to embrace good values and positive attitude at all times.
The event was anchored by Elijah Nsikak while contributions were made by various participants, some of whom included Samuel Ugwu, Dede Oluwamuinumidu, Priscilla Ochanya and Pascal Mathias. The three-day event with a seminar and public lecture climaxed with a peace walk on Saturday, the International Peace Day.
Let’s live in unity in spite of diversity – Don
A Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Ilorin, Sola Babatunde, has urged Nigerians to live in peace and unity in spite of their diversity, saying that peace is not the absence of conflict or storm but the ability to handle tough situations creatively.
Prof. Babatunde made the appeal while speaking at a seminar organised by the African School of Economics, otherwise called the Pan-African University of Excellence, on Thursday in Abuja. The seminar was organised as part of the activities marking the 2024 International Day of Peace on Saturday, September 21.
According to the scholar, water is doused with water and not by fire and the way forward for Nigerians in particular and Africans at large is to embrace peace and forgiveness, even if people are genuinely wronged. He noted that development will be elusive in an atmosphere of conflict, rancor and undue antagonism.
While presenting his paper, “The Might of Peace”, Prof. Babatunde emphasized that fostering peace in diversity is deploying strategies to create a synthesis from every thesis and antithesis. He said the secret of success in a pluralistic society is to learn to use conflict and differences constructively because conflict is part of life.
According to the acclaimed lecturer, who was the Director of the Centre for Linguistic Immersion at the University of Ilorin until recently, the world is made of opposites, positive and negative wires, darkness and light, male and female, happiness and sadness and many more. The capacity to maximize both forces to achieve balance and the greater good is the ultimate indicator of being responsible and successful.
To realise the might of peace in one’s life, the Guest Speaker advocated understanding each other’s language, learning and utilizing social skills of interaction, being patient with one another as well as establishing and maintaining relationships.
While welcoming the Guest Speaker and participants to the seminar, the Chairman of the occasion and Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof. Mahfouz Adedimeji, noted that the university was delighted to receive Prof. Babatunde, whom he described as a source of inspiration to many accomplished academics including himself.
He said that African School of Economics was starting a three-day event to mark the International Day of Peace with the seminar. He recalled that the International Day of Peace was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1982 by Resolution 36/67 and it was first observed on September 21, 1982. He added the formal declaration of September 21 as the annual Peace Day was adopted through Resolution 55/582 of the United Nations General Assembly in 2001.
He encouraged participants to attend the remaining activities climazing with a Peace Walk on the Peace Day on Saturday, September 21 and urged Nigerians to be intentional about “Cultivating a Culture of Peace”, which is the theme of this year’s Peace Day. He expressed satisfaction by recalling that the Peace Day is marked by several organisations across the world and his alma mater, the University of Ilorin, has been commemorating it each year since he introduced it about 10 years ago while serving as the Director of its Centre for Peace and Strategic Studies.
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