The Rotary International District 9125 has called everyone to eliminate conflicts, serve humanity and work towards achieving global peace and economic empowerment.
The District Governor, Ayo Oyedokun made the call at a seminar tagged ‘World Understanding and Peace Day’ to mark the 117 years of the global network.
The District has about 1.4 million neighbours, friends, leaders, and problem-solvers who unite and take action to solve problems around literacy, peace, water and health.
Promotion peace
Oyedokun explained that the seminar would promote peace among everyone and community around the world and promote people’s consciousness to live in peace as a nation.
He said; ”We need to eliminate poverty, we need to ensure that communities have access to quality education, potable water, security and other basic amenities.
“As a nation, we need peace and when all the people work together as one we can achieve peace, when people help one another, we can achieve peace, when people understand one another, we can achieve peace, when we put aside personal interest and make it collective interest, we can achieve peace, when all people lay down their arms and weapons, we can achieve peace, when there’s too much poverty in the land, idleness sets in and wrong things start causing chaos and disaffection…All people, all nations need to rise up to embrace peace and that is why we must proclaim that peace must return to our land and the world.”
He pledged commitment of Rotarians in his district to serve humanity, end poverty and promote peace anywhere they find themselves.
The Coordinator of Counter Terrorism Centre in the Office of National Security Adviser, Rear Admiral Yaminu Musa (rtd) said youths must be engaged in the process of peace as they have been targets of negative influence, radicalisation and recruitment into extremism groups.
He spoke on the theme; “Achieving Peace in a Changing world “explaining that government is adopting non kinetic approach to end terrorism in Nigeria.
This he said could erode the confidence and trust among citizens on the capacity of the state to guarantee their safety and security
According to Musa, it is imperative governments design development programmes to address issues associated with conditions favourable to radicalisation.
He called on governments to make efforts to remove conditions that promote radicalisation and extremism, especially among women and youths.
Such conditions, he said, included illiteracy, poverty, unemployment, neglect, and human right abuse.
The Commandant of National Defence College Rear Admiral Murtala Bashir said Nigeria was facing security challenges, which the armed forces and other security agencies were responding to professionally.
Bashir, represented by Brigadier General Mike Alechenu, noted that the success of the efforts might, however, be difficult to attain without the participation and commitment of critical stakeholders in the civil society.
He said the programmes of Rotary International, such as the summit, were unquantifiable non-kinetic contributions in ensuring peace and development in Nigeria.
Mercy Chukwudiebere
