LAGOS – A university lecturer, Dr Philip Ujomu, on Sunday urged political elites in Nigeria to nurture the culture of peace and stop playing politics with the nation’s security challenge.
Ujomu, a senior lecturer in the Department of Philosophy, University of Benin, made the plea in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
He spoke against the backdrop of the International Day of Peace celebrated every Sept.21 and the 2014 theme is: “Right of Peoples to Peace”.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia says, “International Day of Peace, sometimes unofficially known as World Peace Day, is observed annually on Sept. 21.
“It is dedicated to world peace, and specifically the absence of war and violence, such as might be occasioned by a temporary ceasefire in a combat zone for humanitarian aid access.
“The day was first celebrated in 1982, and is kept by many nations, political groups, military groups, and peoples.”
Ujomu said that the nation’s political elites have major role to play in nurturing the culture of peace.
“Political elites wield so much influence among their followers. Sometimes this influence is deployed negatively as seen in electoral violence in Nigeria.
“Our politicians must stop playing politics with security, instead, collective efforts should be mobilised in the quest to arrest insurgency in the country,” he said. [eap_ad_1] Ujomu also advised Nigerians to imbibe the spirit of nationalism for the country to develop.
According to him, we can surmount our developmental challenges, if the national interest is not sacrificed on the altar of selfish political interest.
“Nigerians can afford to sacrifice any part of their lives on the altar of selfish interest and politics.
“Once we don’t have a common purpose, a sense of belonging, then it will be difficult for us to surmount our developmental and security challenges,’’ Ujomu said.
He commended the Federal Government for promoting peaceful co-existence among Nigerians through its various programmes. (NAN)
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