A don at Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD), Prof Olaoluwa Oyinloye, has warned Nigerians against tribal sentiments in electing public officials during general elections.
The don, who is the UNESCO Co-Chair on Peace and Citizenship, stated this at the closing of a two-day Professional Capacity Building Workshop organised by the Department of Conflict, Peace and Strategic Studies of ABUAD with the theme, “The Alternative to Violence Project (AVP).”
The expert on peace and conflict strategic studies, Professor Olaoluwa Oyinloye said that the continued war between Russia and Ukraine could have led to the third world but for the existence of the balance of power.
The scholar who expressed the view that peace could be achieved globally if right things are done also identified balance of power as one of the major panacea to incidence of conflict and violence in any nation.
Speaking on other conditions for peace in any society he said, “Peace is relative and it depends on the system we are operating and the condition under which we are operating the systems.
“For example we have not had world war three despite all the noises we have heard between Russia and Ukraine, Russia and NETO and Russia and EU. Why? This is simply because there is balance of power and balance of terror occasioned by the possession of nuclear arms by both Russia and the Western world.
“So, balance of power is one of the key ingredients to having sustainable peace in any society. There is also the need to have tolerance and flexibility despite incompatibility.
“With religious differences, we should be able to tolerate each other even though our religion, mode of worship and others may not be compatible. There is the need to imbibe intolerance.
“Another key factor is that we should have mutual understanding of our rights, interests and intentions. If we have this condition despite our divergent rights, interests and intents then we can be talking about peace in our society”.
On why constructive conflict management is imperative for peace, he said, ” Conflicts are normal, ubiquitous and they are like the air we inhale and we should be glad when the conflicts are happening, especially, when they have not degenerated into violence
‘’So, conflicts are normal but it should be constructively and creatively managed. Even though we see conflict as normal in the field of Peace Studies, what we always speak against is violence because it destroys things, it makes it difficult for people to live together in peace”.
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