As a way of impacting positively in the lives of the students, the Student Union Government (SUG) of the University of Jos has successfully hosted the maiden edition of the Yakubu Gowon Annual Peace Lecture and awards (YAGAPLA 2013).
The focus was on “The Role of Youths in Peace Building and National Unity: The Yakubu Gowon Case Study”.
Speaking at the occasion, a Jos-based business consultant and motivational speaker, Mr. Victor Kuchili, said education ought to have an engaging curriculum to help in the peace building efforts.
Taking the viewpoint of women, an official of the Fruitful Women Ministry in Jos, Mrs. Judith Martins, in a lecture entitled “The Role of Women in Peace-Building”, noted that the spate of ethno-religious crisis on the Plateau was an indication that the root of the problem has not been addressed.
She identified women as good tools in conflict resolution, adding “they are the ‘care-givers’ who control most of the things that happen at the grassroots -the home in this case”.
While calling on women to initiate peace-building in their various homes by teaching their children to use non-violent means to resolve conflicts among themselves, she urged girls to pursue their education vigorously if they desire to make meaningful contribution to national unity.
President of a departmental students’ association Mr. Nweke Paul, in a paper on “Drugs and Youth Development”, said youths who are under the influence of drugs tend to be prone to conflict and exploitation by conflict initiators.
The Minister of Interior, Comrade Patrick Abba Moro lamented that more than 70% of Nigerians own over 50% of what they do not require.
He called on the upcoming SUG board to sustain the initiative and pledged his support, noting, “government means what it says it wants to do to make this country move forward and I urge you that anywhere you find yourselves, you should not concentrate on yourselves alone, reach out to others”.
EJIKE EMMANUEL
