By: Kehinde Amusan
The former head of state of Nigeria, Gen. Abdulsalami A. Abubakar advised Nigerian youths upon the coming general election of the country. He emphasized this advisement at the maiden edition of the annual peace lecture of his foundation which was hosted by the Abdulsalami A. Abubakar Postgraduate Hall, University of Ibadan in conjunction with the school management on Friday, 21st of September, 2018 in the Trenchard Hall. This was to celebrate the international peace day and also to partly mark University of Ibadan 70th year anniversary.
The guest lecturer, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar (GCFR, CSG) while addressing the topic – “Collaborative peace building” quoted Dalai Lama of Tibetan Buddhism, explaining “Peace does not mean an absence of conflicts; differences will always be there. Peace means solving these differences through peaceful means; through dialogue, education, knowledge; and through humane ways.” Speaking of nonviolence, he acknowledge the sagacity of Martins Luther King jnr who once said that “nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral question of our time – the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to violence and oppression.”
Gen. Abdulsalami A. Abubakar further congratulated the Nigerian youth for their not too young to run. According to him, “The youths not only own the future but also today that is damaged with conflict.” “My own generation may have been found wanting in managing conflict, but yours should not.”, he added. He also admonished the youth that, “if you fail to start working for peace now; your own generation may find it difficult to make amendment” like his is trying to. He further articulated the thought of the former president of USA, J. F Kennedy on peace, stating that “peace does not rest in the charters and covenants alone. It lies in the hearts and minds of all people. So let us not rest all our hopes on parchment and on paper, let us strive to build peace, a desire for peace, a willingness to work for peace in the hearts and minds of all of our people. I believe that we can. I believe the problems of human destiny are not beyond the reach of human beings.” He added that there is the need for Nigerians to focus more on addressing the challenges, development and crisis in the land.
On ensuring sanity in the coming general election of Nigeria, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar appealed that the politicians should be more conciliatory in their approach. He further acknowledged the role universities have played in ensuring sanity in the Nigeria election. While addressing how violence is perpetuated in Nigeria, he said that some people believe violence is politically motivated while some people “blame it on poverty, ignorance, negligence and ethnicity but the youth are the ones being used to perpetrate this violence.” “In the process, many of them get killed.”, he added. According to him, “What is needed now and here is the the change of attitude of all of us.” “Let us pay more attention to what unite us in the wide lan; Let us learn to accommodate one another for the betterment of our nation.”, he stated. He further affirmed that the violence and crisis in Nigeria can only be solved religiously through religious fathers or clerics, and educationally or academically.
On a concluding note, the guest lecturer quoted late king Hussein of Jordan, who said “I have said this in the past and I will continue to repeat it as long as I live: Whoever tries to hurt our national unity is my enemy until the day of judgement.” He added that Nigerians should “work for peace; we have no other place to run” should the country be entangled in destructive violence.
