By; AMOS TAUNA, Kaduna
The Global Peace Foundation Nigeria (GPFN), has appealed to Nigerians, irrespective of cultural, religious, and regional dispositions, to cultivate the culture of non-violence in the way they deal with one another in any misunderstanding between groups.
In a message to Nigerians of the United Nations International Day for Non Violence, the Country Director, Global Peace Foundation Nigeria, Rev. John Joseph Hayab noted the need to promote civic culture in the way people live and settle disputes.
He explained, “Therefore, Global Peace Foundation Nigeria’s belief is in line with the vision of the UN, stressing that that Nigeria’s diversity should be an asset, making positive use of it to showcase good conduct from the way people relate with one another.
“It was on 15 June 2007 that the United Nations General Assembly voted to establish 2 October as the International Day of Non-Violence. The resolution by the General Assembly invites all members of the UN system to commemorate 2 October in an appropriate manner and disseminate the message of non-violence, including through education and public awareness,” he said.
He added, “The 2nd of October is Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday, the man thought of as the father of and promoter of the Non-violence approach to settling the crisis.”
Rev. Hayab observed that the absence of a non-violent culture in many homes, communities and institutions today has led to the display of atrocious practices where a person kills, hacks and treats fellow human beings in a way that even animals will not do to any of their kind.
Besides, he added that a violent society makes children think that the best way to get what they want is by the use of force instead of friendly attitudes and dialogue.
The Global Peace Foundation Nigeria, therefore appealed to all and sundry to denounce any form of violent approach to settling disputes at home, communities and organisations, saying that embracing nonviolence in social interaction is the only solution to the ongoing insecurity in the country.
He noted that when Nigerians truly develop a nonviolent approach that could curtail wife battering, halting killings of fellow citizens with the security forces becoming more civic in the way they treat fellow citizens, things would go the best way for the country.
He said the Global Peace Foundation Nigeria joins the UN and peace lovers all over the world to commemorate this day with a strong plea to all to denounce any form of violence and cultivate the non-violent approach in their everyday interaction with others since Nigerians are one Family Under God.
“We are to teach our children at home and in schools to recognize and embrace nonviolent communication as a strategy of settling disputes for us to attain a peaceful, equitable and sustainable world,” he emphasized.
