The 2016 anniversary of the International Day of Peace was observed on Wednesday, September 21. In respect to the effect of peace to humanity, in 1981, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly through a resolution established the International Day of Peace. The day was first celebrated on Tuesday September 21, 1982. The maiden commemoration was meant to coincide with the anniversary of the UN’s opening session, which was held annually on the third Tuesday of September.
Consequently, in 2001, the UN General Assembly unanimous adopted resolution establishing 21st September of every year as an annual day of non-violence and ceasefire. By this resolution, the UN invites all nations and people to honour a cessation of hostilities, and to otherwise commemorate the day through education and raising public awareness on issues related to peace.
Hostility is unfriendly or aggressive behaviour/feelings towards people from other backgrounds. It can also be described as a strong opposition against an idea, a plan or a situation. On its part, conflict is a situation in which individuals, groups or countries are involved in a serious disagreement or argument which often results to violence; it can simply be defined as a state of complete confusion and disorder.
On the other hand, peace is a period of time when there is no enmity, violence or war in a certain locality; more so, it is the state of being calm or quiet, or living in mutual friendship with others.
Hostility and conflict that have over the decades subjected mankind to a state of mockery, have indeed arrested the developmental thrives of most nations across the globe thereby constituting a severe and uncontrollable poverty among the populace. Conflict, as old as the world, has succeeded in crippling the socio-economic growth of many countries due to its cruel and dastardly nature.
Conflicts such as terrorism, assassination, kidnapping, massacre, armed robbery, genocide, etc. have not only brought endless anxiety to the people, but has contributed immensely to the degradation of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the affected country or region. Above all, the dangers of war, or the level of the post-traumatic stress disorder attributed to it, cannot be overemphasized.
Research shows that the rudimentary attribute of several conflicts are directly related to leadership and/or valuable natural resources such as gold, diamond, petroleum, coal, timber, water and so on. Needless to say that, addressing the ownership, control and management of available natural endowments is crucial to maintaining peace and security in any society, thereby sustaining an ideal development needed by all.
Hence, in Nigeria, for instance, it’s imperative for the governments at all levels to include the host communities of the country’s resources in the scheme of things, especially while implementing capital projects. Equitable distribution of leadership positions among the citizens/regions would equally be a welcome idea.
Surely, peace and security are essential foundations for social progress and sustainable development, thus we must quench the fire of extremism among us in order to tackle the root causes of conflict. We must bear in mind that peace is definitely a long journey that we are bound to collectively embark on. Suffice to say; we are expected to hold peace in our hearts and minds, and tenderly nurture it so it would grow and blossom.
It is not anymore news that armed conflict causes untold grief and hardship to families, communities and the entire country involved. Indeed, too many persons are suffering today at the brutal hands of war-mongers and terrorists.
This is why, from the onset, we must learn to teach our children and wards the essence of tolerance and mutual respect. Let’s invest in the schools and teachers toward building a fair and inclusive world that embraces diversity; fight for peace at all cost, as well as defend it with all our might. The various religious bodies have a very vital and inevitable role to play in this regard.
From time to time, we are meant to sensitize our children, relatives, friends, colleagues, associates, and what have you, to emulate the habit of the UN Messengers of Peace, or the likes of Princess Haya, Daniel Barenboim, Paulo Coelho, Michael Douglas, Jane Goodall, Edward Norton, Steve Wonder, Charlie Theron, and Elie Wiesel, just to mention but a few, whom remain distinguished individuals carefully selected from the fields of art, literature, science, entertainment, sports among other fields of public life, who have agreed to help focus worldwide attention on the work of the UN in the area of peace promotion. These prominent icons volunteer their times, resources, energies, talents and passions, to raise awareness of United Nations’ tireless efforts to improve the lives of billions of people worldwide.
The International Day of Peace offers people globally a shared date to think about how they can contribute towards ensuring that natural resources and quest for leadership positions are handled in a mature and tactical manner, thus reducing potential for disputes as well as paving ways for a sustainable future, which is obviously the future we want. Furthermore, in our various homes, we need to see our spouses as best friend, to avoid likely cases of domestic violence that could jeopardize our peace.
As Nigeria joins the rest of the global community to mark the 35th anniversary of the laudable commemoration, there’s a compelling need for holistic condemnation of any act that could result to any form of hostility or conflict around us, in order to sustain a formidable peace needed for both individual and national developments.
Comrade Nwaozor is Chief Executive Director, Centre for Counselling, Research & Career Development, Owerri
