The founder, Peace for Free Initiative (PFI), Chris Oge Kalu, has identified football as a tool to promote peace, unity, and development irrespective of tribe, religion, region, or ethnicity in the country. He made this known during the opening ceremony of Fitness Football Club Super Cup competition held at the Denobles Sports Centre in Jikoyi Abuja at the weekend, saying that football could bring Nigerians together in unity, progress, and development.
The 2023 Six Aside Super Cup was themed: “Sustainable Peace Beyond Election,” and was a contest between Team Oji and Team Oluchi. Kalu said that football makes us understand what unity, peace, and development are about, adding that it also helps to alleviate poverty and create avenues for employment for our teeming youths. He further stated that with this type of initiative, Nigerians can remain united and achieve their goals as a united nation.
“Our advocacy outreach is now being extended to sports with the goal of engaging citizens, particularly the youths. Sports, particularly the football game is a major driver of unity in Nigeria, and today, we are leveraging on this tournament to bring unity and sustainable peace amongst the youths of this country,” he said.
According to him, “This is exactly our message since the Peace For Free Lecture Series was launched nationwide in February 2023, promoting peace and unity across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria including: Delta, Lagos, Ebonyi, Kaduna, Plateau, Borno states, and Abuja the Federal Capital Territory.
“On 27 April 2016, the General Assembly and the Security Council adopted “twin” resolutions on peacebuilding, which outlined a new approach for peacebuilding while introducing the term ‘sustaining peace’”.
He said according to United Nations, “Sustaining peace should be broadly understood as a goal and a process with activities aimed at the prevention of conflict, underpinned by the people-centred approach of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and grounded in international human rights laws and standards.”
He said this ensures a defining role particularly for young people who constitute a greater percentage of the Nigerian population, adding that the National Bureau of Statistics estimates that 60 per cent of the country’s population is under the age of 25, placing Nigeria as the country with the youngest population in Africa.
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