Culture of Peace

In a world where tolerance and due process are fast playing second fiddle to violence, preaching peaceful co-existence becomes vital. Numerous conflict situations in Nigeria are largely avoidable, but most people would rather administer their warped idea of justice than seek redress through the appropriate platforms. From inter-communal conflicts to ethnic and resource-based clashes, Nigeria\’s conflict issues are surging. Hence, it requires effective actions to counteract the growing culture of intolerance in society. However, it is imperative to ask, is peace becoming an illusion?

In line with Huffpost, it is largely true that conflict and warfare are part of human existence. As humans go about their daily routine and quest for survival and growth, there is the likelihood of clashes of interest and ideas. As interests often tend to be at polar ends, chances of violence cannot be ruled out. This goes to justify the social contract theory where people surrender some of their natural rights to the state in return for the protection of lives and properties. Such protections are mostly from fellow, often violent, beings and forces of nature. As such, the state owes it to its citizens to protect them from human beings who employ violence to achieve selfish ends.

In Nigeria, there are episodes of inter-communal clashes resulting from incidents that tolerance and seeking redress through proper channels could solve. In April 2019, disputes between two friends led to renewed violence between Tiv and Jukun tribes in Taraba and Benue states. In 2019, the Institute for Economics and Peace adjudged Nigeria as one of the least peaceful countries in the world in terms of absence of violence or fear of violence. Nigeria ranked 148th position out of 163 countries evaluated. Government and relevant stakeholders should be looking towards programmes that will counteract the growing tendencies towards resorting to violence at the slightest provocation. In Learning Peace, Nextier argues that since measures put in place to address ethnoreligious conflicts seem not to be achieving desired results, there is a need to explore other options.

It posits that peace education in Nigerian secondary and tertiary institutions can change the negative ethnoreligious and cultural narratives in the country. Inculcating the culture of peace in the young generation will significantly reduce the tendencies of violent situations. Imperatively, employing educational platforms as a vehicle for propagating the culture of peace becomes necessary. Also, religious and cultural institutions should be involved in this strategy to become useful drivers of peace culture in the country. By interfacing with religious and traditional bodies, government can cultivate the culture of peace amongst its people.

In the same measure, it is important to promote peace while also improving the capacity of the justice system and relevant agencies in addressing redresses presented to it. The capacity of security agencies should be improved to adequately accommodate and respond swiftly to complaints laid before it. While beckoning on Nigerians to seek redress through approved channels, it is important to rebuild people’s trust. When the justice system and security outfits are seen as efficient and transparent in dealing with cases brought before them, it will discourage the tendencies of people taking laws into their hands in the morbid desire for justice.