A former President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, has identified the struggle for power as the major cause of conflicts in Africa and Nigeria in particular.
He said this while speaking at a programme organized by the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR) and partners in commemoration of the International Day of Peace in Abuja on Tuesday.
‘Actually, 10 top countries are in conflict globally. Three of them are in sub-Saharan Africa. And quite a number of countries around us, including us, are in one form of conflict or the other.
“And when you look at what causes conflict in Africa, most cases is struggle for leadership. Contestation for power. And that is the main cause of conflict.
“Sometimes when you go through a society, and you can tell all kinds of stories. But by the time you do proper analysis, and dig deep, you know that most causes of conflict is leadership struggle. That is why I’m only worried about my country Nigeria,” he said.
The former president who chaired the programme noted that the notion that politics is dirty is wrong, stressing that the players were responsible for the dirty state of politics in Nigeria and Africa in general.
“People say politics is a dirty game. The way we play our politics is the way we want to play it.
“Remember, (Olusegun) Obasanjo, the former president, recently made a statement that politics is not dirty but the people that play the politics come to play politics with their dirty minds and dirty hearts and dirty character.
“And that is why people say politics is dirty. And in that case, we must all begin to think differently. We must cultivate the culture of peace,” he posited.
He said Nigerians and Africans in general must start developing a culture of peace, stressing that peace should be part of their everyday life.
“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.”
Citing the recently conducted governorship election in Edo State, Jonathan said there were more tension after the election that it was before the poll due to the feelings that some things were not done rightly.
He said technology would not solve the problem in Nigeria’s electoral process, noting that the technologies would be manipulated if the human mind is corrupt.
“Here in Nigeria, we talk about technology. Without the human mind ready to do what is right, if we bring the technology, they will manipulate it,” he said.
While delivering his lecture, Dr Samuel Iroye, the Head of Department of Peace and Conflict Studies at the National Open University of Nigeria, said all Nigerians need to play a part in the promotion of the culture of peace in the country.
Dr Iroye who said peace was not an ideology but a practical experience that could be felt called for the engagement of youths in developmental initiatives.
He said to achieve peace, there must be a level playing ground for everyone through education, stressing that the education curriculum in Nigeria doesn’t promote the culture of peace.
“To ensure a culture of peace, we must ensure that we have peace within ourselves”, he said, adding that no one could give what he doesn’t have.
Earlier, the Director General of (IPCR), Dr Joseph Ochogwu, said peace is an orphan, stressing that people like to enjoy it but don’t want to invest in it.
While decrying the level of violence across the world, he charged Nigerians to start investing in the development of the culture of peace.
Jonathan was awarded as a fellow of the IPCR at the event. He is now the second to receive the award. Former head of state, Yakubu Gowon, was the first to be awarded last year.
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