By; JACOB ONJEWU DICKSON, Kaduna.
The Global Peace Foundation, Nigeria has organized a three day capacity peace building and training workshop for members of six communities within the three Kaduna Senatorial zones to drive the message of “One Family Under God” campaign.
In his speech, the Country Director, Global Peace Foundation (Nigeria ), Mr. John Oko explained that the “One Family Under God” Campaign by the Global Peace Foundation (Nigeria ) is a value based peace building and conflict prevention initiative that seeks to mitigate sectarian violence and sustaining social cohension among various faiths, ethnic and tribal groups.
According to him, all people, regardless of race, religion, ethnicity and nationality are members of One Family Under God; have intrinsic value endowed by the creator; shared principles and values are the foundation for social cohesion.
The Country Director, who further explained that the Global Peace Foundation is equally building a global network of grassroots leaders to develop community , expressed optimism that , ” The message of peace and conflict resolution can be imbibed with hope that all differences amongst our people can be resolved “.
He also , “We started this pilot campaign programme of ‘One Family Under God’ in Kaduna by visiting various communities across six local government areas to scale up the message and bridge gaps of divide.
“We don’t claim to bring problem, but facilitate the process of working together, believing that once this is done, we can overcome the challenges.
“People are divided along tribe, religion and politics, it is our hope that the message of ‘One Family Under God’ can strengthen relationships amongst families and communities” he stated.
Director General of Interfaith Matters, Engineer Namadi Musa, who represented Kaduna Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai commended Global Peace Foundation for organizing the workshop described as “apt and timely”, especially when the government was working to create atmosphere where peace thrives.
According to him, the el-Rufai led administration welcomes any development and meaningful discussion that will bring about sustainable peace in the state.
“Anywhere we hear about people talking peace, we try and get in touch because our role as a government is to provide good government and an environment for peace to reign”.
While pointing out that there should be good synergy between government and Global Peace Foundation for peaceful coexistence in Kaduna, he expressed disappointment that the politicians, who use community members to fuel such crisis, are not in attendance.
He however, called on community leaders to help identify community members that always used to fuel crisis.
Stressing that “We can’t have peace until we know and fish out the ‘bad eggs’ that that live within our communities”.
