Former President Dr. Goodluck Jonathan was on Tuesday inducted as a fellow of the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR), making him the
Former President Dr. Goodluck Jonathan was on Tuesday inducted as a fellow of the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR), making him the second person to be so honoured by the Institute. The first is former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, who was decorated with the award last year for his roles in the reintegration of Nigeria after the civil war.
According to the Director General of IPCR, Dr Joseph Ochogwu, Jonathan has done so much in promoting peace and the nation’s democracy, especially being the only Nigerian president so far to hand over to an opposition party.
This took place at a ceremony organized by the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR) to mark this year’s International Day of Peace in Abuja on Tuesday where the former President also made a case for African countries to develop a culture of peace and make it part of their everyday life.
Dr. Jonathan who chaired the event, in his remarks, urged the agencies involved in managing elections to step up their game as a means of deepening the roots of democracy in the country and reducing the conflicts associated with elections.
The former President particularly charged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to always strive to serve as an impartial umpire while he encouraged the judiciary to adjudicate election-related cases without fear or favour.
Comparing INEC to a referee in a football match, the former President tasked the electoral management body to ensure that the rules are strictly followed to avoid impunity on the filed of play. Equally, he challenged the judiciary to see its job as that of the video assisted referee (VAR) which should always step in to correct the mistakes of the referee,
His words: “I always relate elections to the game of soccer. In this game, while the players are on the field, the situation could get so charged that they could hack their opponents down or mishandle the ball but it is the job of the referee to know when to bring order by showing the yellow or red card. If the referee fails to do that the situation could get more serious and result in injuries or cases where players could handle the ball wrongly.
“These days, in the field of soccer, we have seen the introduction of the video assisted referee (VAR). In the case of elections, the VAR is the judiciary that should always step in to correct the mistakes of the umpire.”
Dr. Jonathan who also identified the struggle for power as the major cause of conflicts in Africa further urged the agencies to play their roles well to ensure transparency and fair play.
The former President also frowned at the trend of deploying military personnel for election duties, stressing that the military should not be used to perform civil duties, especially in peace time. He emhasised that this is happening because Nigerians are yet to imbibe the culture of peace during elections, as is the case in other democratic countries.
“If we politicians do not change our political behaviour and embrace a culture of peace and purposefulness, one day this country will face serious crisis arising from the way we conduct our elections. When politicians continue to justify evil in the name of politics, it is no longer politics, it is criminality.”
In charging Nigerians and Africans to start developing a culture of peace as part of their everyday life, the former President stated: “Until we get to that level where we develop the culture of peace in this country, we will always have political conflicts in our election.
“And without us strengthening that effort, without us developing that culture of testing a nation peacefully, we will always be in conflict in Africa and in Nigeria.”
He said further: “Peace is the foundation for sustainable development and without it no nation can achieve meaningful progress. The United Nations was set up at the end of World War II in 1945 to promote world peace and minimize hostilities across the world.
“For us to make meaningful development we must make peace a national culture. Insecurity affects every part of our nation. In Nigeria and many other countries across the Sahel, the cost of living is very high and there is a dimension of the situation being fueled by insecurity. Food security is becoming a major challenge in our country and other countries across the continent today because many of our farmers can no longer go to the farms and this has a multiplier effect on the economy.
This is why we need to invest more in peace initiatives and pay greater attention to issues of human security. Our nation’s development and the growth of the economy is tied to the degree of peace and stability in our land. Let me reiterate the point that I have made in many other platforms. Peace is not rain from heaven, but a product of human conduct. Peace is a manifestation of our human actions. It is the bridge that links prosperity and poverty, reconciles hope with despair, as well as connects order and chaos.”
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