By Myke Uzendu, Abuja
The Commandant General of the National Unity and Peace Corps (NUPEC), Dr. Chinedu Nneji has called on the Federal Government to include peace education in primary and secondary school curriculum to ensure that Nigerians will begin to imbibe the culture of peaceful coexistence from an early age.
Dr. Nneji further said that NUPEC is ready to partner with Federal Government to create a workable institution that would regulate the activities of miners and completely eliminate dispute and violent loss of lives in communities where mining activities are going on and also resolve conflicts resulting from banditry, Boko Haram, IPOB and any other deadly groups that could be a problem to the society through Conflict Resolution, Mitigation and Management.
Delivering an address to mark the 2024 International Day of Peace on Friday with the Theme, “Cultivating a Culture of Peace”, the NUPEC boss also called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to consider signing the Peace Corps Bill when it is sent from the National Assembly.
He said, “Humans all over the world had managed to live peacefully over the years. This peaceful coexistence is often marred with conflicts of various magnitudes.
“Governments, Organizations and individuals all over the world have devised various mechanisms to tackle these menace through Alternative Dispute Resolution, Conflict Mitigation and Resolution, Conflict Management, etc.
“In Nigeria, we are battling to manage various conflicts as a Nation. Some of these conflicts take years to resolve and in most cases consume a large number of human lives.
“Elites in our society sometimes do not agree that we can cultivate the culture of peace in our society. This has made us to always expect conflicts throughout our existence.
“The above narrative can change if only we could look inwards and create a workable arrangement where our society could begin to understand that different cultures could exist side by side. If we learn that we are all humans and God who created us knows that we have different orientations but ultimately work towards ensuring a better life for all.
“In order to cultivate this culture in the Nigerian society, the National Unity and Peace Corps is recommending that Peace Education should be inculcated as a subject in both Primary and Secondary schools in Nigeria. We are ready to champion this project and hope to actualise it if our Government accepts our recommendation.
“It’s also recommended that Our Government should equally support the National Unity and Peace Corps in its quest to create a workable institution that would regulate the activities of Miners in Nigeria to completely eliminate dispute and violent loss of lives in communities where mining activities are going on. Our activities would also eliminate issues of the activities of banditry, Boko Haram, IPOB and any other deadly groups that could be a problem to the society through Conflict Resolution, Mitigation and Management”.
Dr. Nneji believes that these recommendations can further be enhanced if the National Assembly fast-track the passage of the Peace Corps Bill and transmit same to President Bola Tinubu for his assent.
He said that establishing NUPEC through the act of Parliament will bring out it’s full potentials and the professionalism of it’s personnel and if deployed will certainly make the society a better place to live.
He said that NUPEC will continue to appreciate President Tinubu and his team if the signing of the bill is actualized.
