The United Nations (UN) has drummed support for collective actions to promote sustainable peace in Nigeria.
Kimaris Toogood, Peace and Development Advisor of the UN in Nigeria, made the call during the International Day of Peace ceremony organised by the UN Information Centre (UNIC) on Wednesday in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Day with the theme: “Actions for peace” is often observed globally on September 21 of every year.
According to Toogood, three major actions are needed to drive forward peace in the country, and such requires collective efforts.
Toogood said: “Firstly, we need to build the social contract; we need to make sure that institutions are accountable to people and people are accountable to one another.
“This is one way that we can strengthen the social cohesion which drives very strongly here in Nigeria.
“The second point is, we really need to celebrate our peacebuilders. People are building peace every day in this country, and it often goes unnoticed, we see you as the UN and so, peace begins with people.
“We recognise every person here in Nigeria as a member of the UN, and as such, you have the responsibility to act peacefully, be a peace builder in your community, be a peace builder for all.
“Lastly, we really want to remind people to exercise tolerance and acceptance of others, we can build a more peaceful society here in Nigeria, if we remember the core principles of being kind.”
The advisor expressed appreciation to Nigerians for working closely with the UN to build a stronger and more peaceful country through tolerance and mutual understanding.
Also speaking, Mrs Fatima Babba, Director Co-Curricular of the FCT Secondary Education Board, commended the UN for putting the programme together in the country.
She reiterated the need for peace globally, saying without peace nothing could be meaningfully achieved and there is a need for all to embrace peace as a way of life.
According to her, where there is no peace, there could be chaos everywhere, and therefore, it calls for adequate investment in education because without education society cannot be developed.
“As a Board, we are building today’s and future leaders who are the youth, and we know what it means to educate their minds towards peace.
“When children grow, they will extend peace imbibed to their workplace, family, community and everywhere in the world.
“Peace is very important and must be celebrated. Many people cannot go to farms and can’t produce food the nation will feed on, so without peace there will not be meaningful development.
“Peace is needed everywhere we go, in our places of work, places of worship, communities and even at home. if a family is not staying in peace, it will affect the family.
“Achieving peace must be a collective effort, we must have passion to move the nation forward, what is dividing us mostly is differences in religion, ethnicity and political ideologies,” she said.