By Felix Khanoba
The Acting Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, NUC, Mr Chris Maiyaki, has said Nigeria is in a hurry to produce culturally educated people for peaceful coexistence.
Maiyaki noted that it is well-known that war, instability or any fracas begins in the minds of men, adding that it is where stakeholders need to tackle the matter head-on.
The NUC boss spoke at the grand finale of the 2024 Peace Art Competition organised by Idimuwem Peace and Governance Initiative, IPGI, in collaboration with Black Montessori Education Fund and the Belgium Embassy in Abuja on Tuesday.
The Peace Art Competition was hosted by the Belgium Embassy as part of events marking its celebration of the 2024 International Peace Day, which is commemorated every September 21.
“Peace is a function of education, and this is where the National Universities Commission and all education stakeholders gathered here are preoccupied with, trying to pool consensus around platforms like the Peace Art Competition,” he said.
“Nigeria is in a hurry to produce culturally educated people; where you come from, what you wear and what you eat shouldn’t be a problem to me.
“This event is taking place at time when the call for a reinvention and reimagination of peace and harmony is getting louder by the day.
“It is well-known that war, instability or any fracas begins in the minds of men and it is where we need to address, tackle the matter head-on in such a multi stakeholder collegiate,” Maiyaki said.
The Ambassador of Belgium to Nigeria, Mr Pieter Leenknegt, in his remarks, stressed that there would be no peace in a society where women are locked up at home, entire ethnic groups are suppressed, and one religion allowed as it is the case with Afghanistan where he had served as an ambassador.
Leenknegt noted that what the UN means peace is not just about the absence of fighting, but a culture of peace.
“It’s about actively working for society where everybody is at peace with one another. It’s about culture, it’s about education. That’s why in the UN resolution of 1999, the programme of action was the culture of peace,” he said.
The ambassador also urged the children to keep up their good work of peace art drawing and peace culture.
On her part, the Convener of the Peace Art Competition, Uduak-Abasi Akpabio, restated her belief that peace is a capacity that can be built.
Akpabio noted that Nigeria has so much potentials and one thing it needs to build capacity for is peace.
“One of the things I did was to write books because I was interested in peace education getting into the curriculum but I realized that beyond getting into the curriculum we need to start early to build capacity among children and youth.
“And one way of doing so is to identify mediums and ways that children and youth enjoy and can understand will engage with. Because if I take them to a place and start doing capacity building they would tune off after sometime.
“So identifying one medium that is how we started the peace art competition. And this year we were targeting 8-10 years old because children do understand if you use a medium to they understand and will engage.
“For children, one of the mediums that has been identified is arts. A child may not be able to speak but he can identify, he can make drawings.
“If we look at peace beyond the state of no violence, and we see peace as a capacity under our interactions whether political, economic or social interaction, positively and creatively, for meaningful coexistence and growth. If that is what peace is it should be considered a life skill. And like every life skill it must be built,” she said.
Also speaking, a representative of the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution, Dr. Ayuba Caleb, noted that there are millions of people still suffering due to armed conflicts and other humanitarian catastrophes.
Ayuba stressed the imperative for stakeholders to redouble their resolve to, as a global community, bring these challenges to an end, adding that the IPCR understands that peace guarantees the triumph of the human spirit.
