“Int’l Day of Peace, A Time to Reflect on our Roles in Peace Building”- SFCG.
By Christiana Babayo
A non Governmental Organization, Search For Common Ground funded by the European Union, has called on well meaning Nigerians to use the International Day Of Peace celebration to reflect on their roles in peace building.
The project Coordinator Mr Dubi Sonam made this call while giving an opening remark during the lecture session organized as part of activities to commemorate the World Peace Day at the Grand Shield Hotel in Jalingo.
In line with the theme for this year’s celebration, “Cultivating a Culture of Peace” Sonam said sustaining peace is not easy as it requires collective action, commitment and dialogue.
“Today is not just a celebration. If Peace but a reminder of it’s fragile nature, it’s value and our collective responsibility to uphold it. At Search for Common Ground, our mission is to transform the way the world deals with conflict away from the adversarial approaches and towards cooperative solutions.
“As we mark this World Peace Day I call on each of us to reflect on our roles in form steering peace. Sometimes it’s the small actions, a kind word, a willingness to listen and a gesture of solidarity that can make the biggest difference” he said.
Delivering the lecture, Prof Talla Ngarka, Chairman Taraba Independent Peace Committee noted that the culture of peace goes beyond the absence of war; it is a framework built on non violence, Justice, inclusivity and sustainable development.
He also noted that unequal distribution of resources also poses a threat to peace as the feeling of unfairness will always yield complains, rancour and in the end conflict.
Also Speaking, Chairman of the Taraba state Peace Architecture Dialogue, Prof Joseph M Lucas emphasised the importance of dialogue in every situation, noting that some conflicts wouldn’t have escalated if dialogue was used.
The Professor reiterated the importance of establishing a Peace commission in the state while calling on all to be agents and carriers of peace beginning from the home front down to offices and beyond.
