Rotary International Club, District 9125, Wednesday started the ‘train the trainers’ programme for peace scholars in Abuja.
The programme, which is captured under the club’s grassroots peace sensitization, voter education and human rights awareness agenda, is expected to be stepped down in all 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The District Governor of the Club, Dr. Goddy Nnadi, who spoke during the workshop held at the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR), Abuja, said the workshop was aimed at raising awareness, and to re –trigger Nigeria’s sub-consciousness on the importance of peace.
Represented by the club’s District Secretary, Dr. Alhassan Dan-Hassan, Nnadi, said the establishment of peace in the country and across the globe was paramount to the Rotary International.
He said: “The establishment of peace in our homes, in our communities, in our local government and in Nigeria is very paramount to Rotary International. In the Rotary Club, we have seven areas of focus, and one of them is peace-building and conflict prevention. This underscores the importance of peace to Rotary.
“We should not just talk peace; we must be seen to act peacefully.That means peace is the foundation of anything you can become, and without peace, we won’t be here. That is why Rotary champions the cause of peace. We need peace in this country. We have been troubled, we have been traumatized, but we’re not down. God is with us. We have to rise up for the peace that we have. This peace is not anywhere else, it is within us. Therefore, Rotary stands for peace. And with this programme, ‘train, the trainers’, I hope it will be scaled down to the grassroots”.
In his address of welcome, the Director-General, the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution, IPCR, Dr. Bakut Bakut, who called on Nigerians to use the social media space positively, asked them to believe in the oneness of the country.
He said: “The social media can be used as a negative instrument, but it can also be used as a positive instrument. And that is precisely what I’m saying. If we look at it now, over the months or period of time, we’ve seen the misuse of social media, we have seen the negativity of it. But my message is that we can change the narrative, we can begin to use social media as an instrument of positive things, rather than negative things, and for fake news.
“Today being the International Peace Day, we need to remind ourselves that Nigeria is the only country that we have, and if we do not find a way to live in peace with one another; if we do not find a way to stop the criminality, and stop the insecurity, we may one day wake up and find out that we don’t have a country’’.
Ahead of the 2023 general elections, he said: “But thank God we are preparing for the 2023 election, and we have begun the process of sensitization on making sure that we have a violent- free election, an election that will be peaceful. That is the essence of this training of trainers programme today’’.
The Executive Chair, Rotary Nigeria National Peace-building and Conflict Prevention Committee, Mr. Pietro Uzochukwu Macleo, who spoke with Journalists on the sideline of the event, said the programme was designed to build capacities of the trainees, to train orders at the grassroots on peaceful coexistence.
