…Says society will pay for it if youths not well trained
From Rotimi Agboluaje, Ibadan
Oyo Peace Corps Commandant, Patriot Lukman Adelowo Yekini addressing the press during the rally
There is no gainsaying the fact that peace is sine qua non to development. There is a unanimity among experts, analysts, policy wonks and other stakeholders that for a country to experience growth and transformation, existence of peace is non-negotiable.
The rally could not have come at a better time when various regions of the country are experiencing one form of insecurity or the other. From insurgency in the Northeast, banditry in the Northwest, kidnapping in the Southeast, militancy in South south, kidnapping and ritual killings in the Southwest and herder/farmers’ clashes in North central, the social fabric of the most populous black nation, could be said to be under serious threat.
In order to stem the tide of the security challenges, the Federal Government has deployed many strategies.
Various security agencies have redoubled the efforts. Even the Nigeria Police Force which is saddled with the internal security has stepped up it efforts to tackle the menaces.
Again, a lot of state governments have set up trust funds and joint task force to complement the efforts of the Federal Government. Notwithstanding these efforts and exploits, the security challenges in the country remain intractable.
Peace Corp Officers during the rally
Unabated and hydra-headed, the menace still stares the country in the face. As a corollary , different stakeholders – scholars, retired security officers, nongovernmental organisations, civil society organisations and others – have suggested ways out of the quagmire.
In a bid to contribute its quota to address the snag, Peace Corps of Nigeria (PCN), Oyo State Command, recently went round Ibadan metropolis, preaching the gospel of peace.
The Peace Rally, tagged: “Let’s Live in Peace, Give Peace a Chance”, was led by the State Commandant, Patriot Lukman Adelowo Yekini.
Leading other officers who were sharing flyers and bills that carried messages such as ‘Say No To Violence,’ Give Peace A Chance’, ‘Let’s Live In Peace’ , ‘Say No To Abuse’, and a host of others, Yekini stressed the urgent need for all to embrace peace as the only solution to multifaceted problems bedeviling the country.
The commandant who led officers from its Oluyole Estate headquarters to Mokola, State Secretariat, Iwo Road, Challenge and Molete, maintained that there was a need for peaceful coexistence in order to put an end to insecurity in the land.
Patriot Yekini underscored the essence of peaceful coexistence among Nigerians.
Commandant Yekini explained that peace corps was saddled with the responsibility to re-orient the minds of youths especially students against forms of social vices
Executive Members of the Command
Yekini added that members of the corps across the country observed the peace march, disclosing that the organisation’s core mandate is to ensure peace reigns supreme in Nigeria.
The Peace Corps chief, who observed that social vices such as drug abuse, cultism, examination malpractices, among others are rampant among the youth, said the cardinal focus and mandate of the Peace Corps of Nigeria is to clean up the mind of the youths to make them useful leaders of tomorrow.
“If the youths of today are not properly tutored and properly directed to be true leaders, our society will pay for it, and that’s what Peace Corps is all about.
“We want peace to be in our heart, home, state and everywhere, without peace, their will not be meaningful development in Nigeria and without peace good policies of government will be very difficult to implement”, the University of Lagos-trained Peace Corps chief said.
The Peace Corps commandant who said they are also preaching harmony and peaceful co-existence among the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba, said this would help the nation live together and achieve national progress.
“We are advocating peace for all in the country, let everyone put hands together to achieve peace and make Nigeria great”.
He added that the Peace Corps of Nigeria statutory core mandate is to develop , empower and provide gainful employment for the youths of the country in order to facilitate peace and volunteering community service towards nation building.
” Our main objective is to train, educate and reorient the youths of the nation particularly, student who are future leaders of the country adding that they need to be good citizens to redirect their productive energy towards the socio-economic advancement of the nation”, he added.
All said and done, it is hoped that the populace would heed the peace message of Oyo Peace Corps.
