Peace advocates have raised awareness about the importance of peacebuilding while urging the country’s youth to embrace the green revolution, nurture, and promote peace through nature.
This call was made at a program organized by the Peace Arena for Youth Foundation (PAY-F) in partnership with the Rotary Club of Akoka, District 9112, and PeaceJam Nigeria, held at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) Auditorium on Saturday.
The event, themed “Eco-harmony: Promoting Peace, Preserving Nature,” had over 200 students, 30 teachers from public schools, Rotarians, and other peace advocates in attendance. The event featured lectures, pep talks, poem recitations, debates, and quiz competitions.
The coordinator of the foundation and President of the Rotary Club of Akoka, District 9112, Dr. Doyin Ogunyemi, described the peace project as one of Rotary’s major projects for 2024/2025.
Ogunyemi urged the government to invest more in promoting peace among students and teach environmental friendliness to prevent flooding, blocked drainages, and other related challenges.
She added, “Rotary Club has seven focus areas, and one of them is peace. Rotary is very interested in promoting peace. I was a beneficiary of the Rotary Peace Fellowship in 2013. Because of that, I established the Peace Arena for Youth Foundation, which now coordinates PeaceJam Nigeria.
With this year’s theme, we are looking at how we can promote peace through our environment. We have been teaching the children about going green, the need to plant trees, and reduce waste. Everything you see today, including the tree planting activities inside UNILAG, is to instill in participants the importance of thinking about nature.
We know that schools have a lot of bullying, and that’s why our curriculum focuses on communication and anger management. This is intended to help students maintain inner peace. Beyond that, we want them to spread peace in their communities. One way to achieve this is by ensuring the environment is kept clean, green, and habitable. They can make their environment more peaceful by conserving nature.
We have heard about climate change and its effects. All of these can cause diseases, including zoonotic diseases. The more we cut down trees, the more animals come out of the forests, interfere with human activities, and spread diseases to humans. We are encouraging the children to think about preserving nature, not just for themselves but for future generations.”
The keynote speaker, Dr. Adebukunola Soile-Balogun, encouraged the youth to take active roles in building peaceful communities while cautioning them about the damaging effects of social media on their future.
She said, “Eco-harmony entails living a sustainable life. It’s about ensuring we live in harmony and maintain peace with everyone around us. It’s about you and ensuring that you live in harmony with others.
At times like this, we realize that ‘Gen Z’ often responds violently to minor issues. They need to live peacefully with those around them and remain calm in the face of anger to achieve their goals.
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They shouldn’t get agitated over everything. There is a lot of tension, but it’s not just affecting the youth; adults are also impacted. The ‘Gen Z’ generation needs guidance and mentorship. If they don’t receive proper training at home, they’ll likely get it from social media or elsewhere, which could be harmful to their future. They need to understand that life on social media is not real. It is misleading and damaging. We are trying to show them that what they see on social media is vastly different from how they should live.
Importantly, they should also learn to live in peace with nature. It’s not just about peaceful coexistence with others but also about preserving the environment. They should care for nature, not just the ground but also the living things around us.
The government should create an environment that promotes peaceful coexistence. When prices of goods and services are high, people become agitated, and society suffers. We know the government can’t do it alone; they need support from everyone, including NGOs, to create the future we desire. But they must ensure basic needs are met with ease.”
The Director for PeaceJam Africa, Wisdom Addo, said the program’s aim is to build a generation of peacebuilders.
He stated, “We organize a one-day PeaceJam Slam where we bring students from schools across the state. Over the years, they have been following the PeaceJam curriculum, and now it’s time for them to showcase what they’ve been learning.
Our program has three pillars: education, inspiration, and action. In the education pillar, students learn about the strategies of peace laureates. In the inspiration pillar, we bring Nobel Peace laureates to share their experiences and what inspired them to win the prize. Then, students put these lessons into action to solve problems in their communities.
The goal of this program is to bring people from diverse backgrounds together to showcase what they’ve been doing in their communities and the networks they’ve built. We aim to see how best they can return to their communities and become agents of peace. We’re starting with the youth, knowing that peacebuilding takes time. Peace is a process; it doesn’t just happen in a vacuum. In their classrooms, how do they resolve conflicts? In their communities and homes? These are the issues we are addressing. Some of these behaviors are learned early in life, but we are building a generation of peacebuilders.”