By Laide Akinboade, Abuja

The Global Alliance for Peace and Unity (GAPU) has called on Nigerians and the International Communities to disregard all stories that depict the country in a restive and terror condition.

“Nigeria isn’t a war zone as portrayed by the media and some politicians,” said GAPU’s President, Hon.

Pevkyaa said among other objectives, GAPU was created to correct such misinformation that hits up Nigeria’s polity and escalates violence. “As an organization, we are committed to peacebuilding/development, societal unity and sustainability, national patriotism, and global interactions about peace,” he noted.

Speaking, Chairman of the deliberation, Rt. Hon. Jonathan Gbefwi, reiterated the importance of peace to national progress and development.

“Look around you, look at areas where you have insecurity,” he began, “what is the pace of development in such areas? What does the future portend for them?” He asked rhetorically.

Gbefwi continued, “Make a comparison of a war-ridden country like Syria and other countries of the world that haven’t experienced war for a very long time, you’ll see the huge gap in their developmental trajectory; and must agree that peace, which can only be gotten from unity, must abound, for any country to experience any meaningful development.” 

He also assured the peace stakeholders that the outcome of the deliberation would be taken back to the Federal House of Assembly for further deliberations and implementation.

Alluding to Gbefwi’s proposition on peace, the All Progressive Congress (APC) Deputy National Woman Leader, Hon. Zainab Ibrahim called for more women and youth inclusion in peace-building deliberations; and said, “If you do a proper check wherever there is a conflict, you will always discover that the men are at fault, and are the ones sustaining the problem; while the women are the ones that try to make the peace.” This triggered a spasm of both laughter and argument in the audience.

To buttress her point, Zainab made a reference to the former conflict situation in Liberia before the emergence of a female president, Ellen Sirleaf, who she gave credit for the peace and development enjoyed in the country to date.

While delivering a lecture, the Director of Human Resources in the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), Muhammed Basir, debunked the notion that the killing of a non-Islam is a service to Allah (God).

Quoting the Quran he said: “It is written that a believer of Allah must honour and protect a neighbor, as he who kills a single soul kills an entire generation.”

The Director who was represented by Usman Dankabo taught that the Quran was a message that promotes peace with God and fellow men regardless of their religion or other socio-political affiliations; and added that “actions contrary to peace are clear ignorance of the true messages in the Koran.

Goodwill messages and reaffirmations to peace-building were made by the Deputy Majority Leader of the Nasarawa House of Assembly, Umar Tunga; Managing Director Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), Adeoye Fadeyibi; Former Chief of Defense Intelligence, AVM Monday Morgan, represented by Prof. Regina Morgan; and the Director General, Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) Salihu Dembos, represented by Mrs. Oganya Simon (GM NTA International).

In the Communiqué issued after the deliberations, stakeholders held that to further consolidate the peace process, all forms of violence in the 2023 general elections must be avoided. National Programmes that promote unity like the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme, and inter-ethnic and inter-religious marriage should be encouraged; while a community approach and dialogue to peacebuilding should be adopted.