Dr Bakut Bakut, the Director-General, Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR), says that the International World Peace Day is aimed at “recovering better for an equitable and sustainable world”.
Bakut said this at a press conference on Tuesday to announce the International Peace Day celebration billed for Sept. 21.
The celebration has the theme: “Recovering Better for an Equitable and Sustainable World”.
The United Nations (UN) uses the day to call for a “ceasefire” globally, by combatants or parties in violent conflict.
Part of the UN’s call is to generally request people across the world to spread the ideals of peace, love, compassion, kindness, and hope for all.
He added that countries across the world would be marking the event with different activities targeted at realising the objectives of the theme for the year.
He said that IPCR, in collaboration with diverse stakeholders and partners would cue into the UN mandate of ceasefire in sensitising parties in violent and conflict areas across the country.
“The UN has prioritised assistance for recovery from the Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the celebration this year.
“However, Nigeria’s disquieting conflict dynamics and manifestations have necessitated the prioritisation of the conflict while also attending to recovering from the COVID-19, due to a nexus between both incidences.
“IPCR, in its quest to galvanise cooperation on conflict de-escalation and strengthen national cohesion on the promotion of peace in the country by adopting a non-violent approach to the resolution of conflict.
“Many of the stakeholders drawn from the security sector, civil society groups, ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) as well as development partners, are leveraging on various on-going peace-building programmes in communities to achieve a ‘Ceasefire’ or ‘Silence the Gun’,” he said.
The director-general added that five of the IPCR’s newly created Peace-building Zonal Offices would be fully engaged with partners in their different locations.
According to him, the entries so far received are for those to be conducted in 13 states and the FCT. The states are Plateau, Enugu, Ekiti, Lagos, Osun, Bauchi, Borno, Adamawa, Kano, Kaduna, Delta, Bayelsa, and Cross River.
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He said the military was intensifying peacebuilding and sensitisation efforts to promote civil-military relations in Nigeria’s conflict theatres.
Other efforts being made by the military include a novelty match by veteran soldiers, an annual peace lecture, and open-air events which will feature art exhibitions, music, poems and peace messages.
Some stakeholders at the conference urged Nigerians to embrace peace and make conscious efforts to eradicate conflicts.
