By Our Reporter
The National Commandant, Peace Corps of Nigeria (PCN), Dickson Akoh has called on Nigerians to take a deep inspiration and reflect on the lessons learnt during Covid-19 pandemic in promoting peace in the country.
He explained that the pandemic has further made manifest that humans across the globe can work together towards eradicating common enemy regardless of political, religion and racial differences.
He disclosed this on Monday at the 2020 United Nations International Day of Peace in Abuja.
Akoh said ” It is instructive for us to draw deep inspiration from the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and its effects on human coexistence. The pandemic has further made manifest the fact that we are not really each other’s enemy.
“If we have no peace , it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other. Common enemies of such as injustice , disease, poverty, banditry and all forms of criminality finds finds inroads due to the fact that we have allowed our differences to severe the cord of peace. ”
The Commandant stressed the need to explore the ideals of conflict prevention through peace education and social justice in order to save the country enormous resources being expended on the fight against terrorism and other forms of violent conflicts.
According to him, “Peace, as a concept, is knowledge-driven and it can only be manifested when we have peace within ourselves.
“At this point in our existence, when the very essence of humanity is progressively being eroded, the idea of peace is gradually being viewed as weakness and being humane is seen as a lineament of illiteracy, we owe it a duty to ourselves to launch a global campaign for peace in order to save the human race from the danger of possible extinction.
“Peace is a principal factor for economic growth. No economy thrives in a conflict riddled atmosphere,” he added.
He admitted that conflict is a natural consequence of human coexistence, which was underscored by the divergence in the beliefs, cultures, tribes, races and religions.
He therefore called on Nigerians to place premium on the need to better understand the diversities in order to achieve a common grounds and live in harmony irrespective of individual differences.
The theme adopted for this year’s celebration is “Shaping Peace Together : Panacea for Living In Harmony.”
The United Nations General Assembly had in 2002 declared September 21st of every year as a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace through the cessation of all forms of hostilities across the world.
