The question of peace cannot over or under-emphasize – Catholic Clergy belittle   … Saying it is something must be spoken irrespective of class, religion  

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By: Joy Odor/Kaduna

The Co-ordinator, Justices, Development and Peace Commission (JDPC) Kaduna Archdiocese, Revered Father Joshua Achir has said that the question of peace cannot over-emphasize or under- emphasized, saying it is something that must be spoken of anywhere and at any time by all irrespective of class, religion, region, tribe and background.

Revered Father Joshua Achir stated this to newsmen during a stakeholders meeting of the official inauguration of Young Ambassadors for Peace for School Principals and Head Teachers of Catholic School at the Catholic Secretariat, Kaduna, North-West, Nigeria on Monday, 24th of July, 2018.

He was of the opinion that if the question of peace is preached by young people, Nigeria tomorrow will certainly be better than today, and urged the respected principal and Heads teachers of schools to join hands together to better the society by helping the young people to show respect, preach peace, safety and dignity for all.

The Co-ordinator enjoined the teachers to support Young Ambassadors for Peace project, pointing out that posterity will not forget them while commending them for making their presence available in spite of their tie schedule and commitment and believed that if the stakeholders advance the course the society will be a better place.

“It was at the celebration of the last International Day for Peace held by the JDPC on 29th of September, 2017 that a young school girl from our Lady of Fatima Secondary school spurred me to thought.

“After the guest speaker keynote address and panelist discussion, she put up her hand to speak and in the course of her contribution, she said l want to be the 1st female president of Nigeria and that won her and applause at the gathered assembly.

“But again, continuing with her contributions, she said if the politicians steal, we should steal more, anything that the politicians do, that we should do more.

“This was a thought provoking for me. At this point l decided to engage the young students, in the course of interaction with them, the question of the formation of the ‘Young Ambassadors for Peace’ came to mind and there after, l engage the Head of Program Mr. Emmanuel Tagwai and he key into it following the antecedents of the fact that not too long ago, the JDPC project, with Nigerians Stability and Reconciliation Program ended and lessons learnt, majorly concerned the question of addressing violence in a non-violent manner and advocating for peace.

“The question of peace cannot over-emphasize or under- emphasized, it is something that must be spoken of everywhere, every time and at any time by all irrespective of class, religion, region, tribe and background.

“Just in my thoughts and with strong conviction, if the question of peace is preached by young people, our tomorrow will certainly be better than today. Respected principal schools and Heads of schools, note that together we can.

“Let us join hands together to better our society by helping the young people to show them respect, preach peace, safety and dignity for all.

“Let us support this project of the Young Ambassadors for Peace and l tell us, posterity will not forget us. I will like to thank you for making your presence available to us in spite of your tie schedule and commitment; you still find time to come. We cannot help but say a very big thank you and l believed that if we advance this course, sooner or later, we ourselves will be happy and our society will be a better place” Rev. Fr, Achir stressed.

In his remark, the JDPC Program Manger, Mr. Emmanuel Tagwai advocated that children are critical stakeholders in peace building because they are mostly affected in any crises as well as the women as they are key people that can bring about peace by bringing them in their younger age.

According to him, It is the JDPC mandate to have a peaceful and a developed society that is peaceful, stressing that Kaduna State and Nigeria in general cannot have a peaceful society if the stakeholders do not do anything at all which is why JDPC is nurturing the taught and making it a reality by ensuring that Young Ambassadors for Peace is part of its peace building program.

“Part of what we shared in some of our peace building activities is that we realized that children are critical stakeholders in peace building.

“The children are mostly affected in any crises as well as women and they are the key people that can bring about peace by bringing them in their younger age.

“It is our mandate as JDPC to have a peaceful and a developed society that is peaceful and we cannot have a peaceful society if we do not do anything at all which is why we nurturing this taught and making it a reality by ensuring that is part of our peace building program.

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