The International Day of Peace was marked throughout the world on September 21 with the theme: “End racism. Build Peace.” The event has been marked globally since 1981 when it was instituted by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). It is important that UNGA had declared this as a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace through observing 24 hours of non-violence and cease-fire.

However, achieving world peace goes beyond laying down of arms in just one day in a year. Besides the symbolism of the date, the world must be willing to dismantle barriers to world peace, which include racism, wars, religious extremism, statelessness, poverty, hunger and social inequality, amongst others. We agree no less with the Secretary-General of the UN, Antonio Guterres when he observed: “Racism continues to poison institutions, social structures, and everyday life in every society. It continues to be a driver of persistent inequality. And it continues to deny people their fundamental human rights.” He also pointed out that “it destabilises societies, undermine democracies, erodes the legitimacy of governments, and…the linkages between racism and gender inequality are unmistakable.”

It is sad that at a time the world is celebrating global peace, Nigeria is saddled with insecurity, religious extremism, ethnicism, nepotism, exclusion, gender inequality and abuse of human rights. That is why the government should join their counterparts the world over to address the factors that threaten sustainable national peace and progress. Therefore, it has become necessary for the government to hold conversations with all aggrieved people with a view to finding lasting peace. The insurgency in the North East region, the farmers/herders clashes in the North Central region and the banditry in the North West and the general insecurity in other geopolitical zones are all indicators that the government and more Nigerians should be committed to building national peace among the diverse groups.

Marking the day in Nigeria, the Country Director of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Ms. Vanessa Phala, urged the federal government to dialogue with different social groups and create decent jobs for its growing young population as part of its measures to enhance sustainable peace and progress. While Phala maintained that “achieving peace goes beyond military force,” she argued that “lack of peace can be linked to the lack of employment and economic opportunities for the growing young population.” In the same vein, the United Nations Resident Humanitarian Coordinator (UNRHC) in Nigeria, Matthias Schmale, has warned that Nigeria is living through uncertain times. He urged Nigerians “to come together and promote the values of tolerance, respect, reconciliation, and human dignity, and remember that being peaceful is the responsibility of every person.”

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Also, the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, who spoke at the National Secondary Schools Security Awareness Programme in Abuja, surmised that: “God sees all of us as equals. Peace is not the absence of war. Peace is just the absence of injustice.” In our chequered journey to nationhood, we have passed through bloody military coups and counter coups, a bitter civil war that lasted for 30 months, a long period of military and over two decades of unbroken democratic rule.

We have also passed through a parliamentary system of government to a presidential system of government modeled after that of the United States. This is the time to lay the good foundation for nationhood. Since justice is a necessary condition for peace, we must be willing to right the wrongs of the past, which will ensure healing and peaceful coexistence among all Nigerians. We call on Nigerian leaders to emulate their counterparts in Africa, such as Paul Kagame and others in Asian countries to lead the country to path of peace, progress and development. Although Nigeria missed the 20th Century to catch up with the rest of the developed world, it must not miss the 21st Century.

Despite the squandering the oil riches, we still have other resources we can use to achieve greatness. We can still achieve the dreams of our founding fathers and the hope of the black world by making Nigeria great. The 2023 general election has offered Nigerians another opportunity to elect credible leaders that would propel this sleeping African giant to path of peace and greatness.