A lecturer in the Mass Communication Department in Nasarawa State University, Professor Anthony Igyuve has said unless there is social justice in Nigeria, attaining a sustainable peace that will bring about good governance will remain elusive.
He said with the elections now over, Nigerians must join hands to build a peaceful and prosperous country that will stand the test of time.
Igyuve stated this as a guest speaker at the launch of the “Peace-for-Free” lecture series in Kaduna with the theme: “Sustainable peace beyond elections.”
He said the lecture was targeted at the youths who are normally used as political thugs to cause violence during elections.
The don said what people may see as worse democracy is better than the best of military rule, hence the need to eschew violence and embrace peace through dialogue or legal means with one another.
According to him, “our democracy and elections are revolving and that is why we need to be a credible part of that process so that at the end of the day, we can be proud that we have contributed to democracy sustainability because the worst democracy is better than the best military rule.
“In essence, what we have tried to convey to the people of Kaduna state is a simple message that elections are over and it is now time to build our country, and the people they have elected as their representatives should be allowed to serve and deliver on their electoral promises which can only be done in the atmosphere of peace.
“We have targeted young persons in this peace campaign series because they are the tools some politicians are using to disrupt societal peace.
“Once they have the understanding of a peaceful atmosphere as peace ambassadors, then, those using them to cause violence will have no option but to use legal means to seek redress”, he said.
In an interview with newsmen, the founder and convener, Peace For Free Initiative, Chris Oge Kalu said the peace campaign was a fallout of the 2023 rounds of elections.
“As we all know, a lot of people claimed that the process was marred with a lot of irregularities and all that. So, as a civil society organisation, we quickly moved in to engage the people, especially youth, and ask them to eschew violence and toll the part of peace.
“This is a national peace campaign. We started the campaign in Asaba, Delta State, Lagos in Lagos State, Abakalii, Ebonyi State, Maiduguri, Borno State. We are now in Kaduna from where we will be moving to Jos, Plateau State,” Kalu said.
