UFUK dialogue for peaceful elections

One of these was a conference organised by the UFUK Dialogue Foundation with the theme Love and Tolerance: Two Dynamics for Personal and Social Reform on January 21, 2015, at Institute of Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR) Conference Hall in Abuja.
It attracted government officials, traditional and religious leaders, dignitaries from various ethnic groups, Nigerian and international scholars from different backgrounds. The major objective of the conference was to provide a common platform for people to discuss the importance of love and tolerance as key steps for personal and social reform as well as interfaith or inter-ethnic dialogue for mutual understanding. In his welcome address, the Director of UFUK Dialogue Foundation, Oguzhan Dirican said the conference ‘is a continuation of international conference series organized by UFUK Dialogue Foundation that encourages and supports peace, tolerance and dialogue. The idea is inspired by the book, ‘Toward a Global Civilization of Love and Tolerance’, written by Fethullah Gulen. Copies of the book were distributed to participants.
In his welcome remarks the Director General of IPCR Professor Oshita Oshita said by organising the conference, Ufuk Foundation and the IPCR had provided a forum for ‘experience-sharing, candid expression of view and exchange of policy relevant views on the chosen topics.’ Goodwill messages were presented by a representative of the Minister of National Planning Dr Abubakar Sulaiman, His Eminence Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto, who was represented by Dr Sani Lugga, the Wazirin Katsina , Cardinal John Onaiyekan, Archbishop of Abuja and Reverend Nicholas Okoh, Archbishop and Primate.
The conference had two sessions. The first, moderated by my humble self focused on Love and Tolerance as Dynamics of Personal Reform and it had three speakers. Professor Oshita O Oshita, the Director General of IPCR Abuja, Dr Kahlid Abubakar Aliyu, the Secretary General of the Jamatu Nasril Islam Kaduna and Dr Hannatu Ladi Ibrahim an Ambassador of Peace from Gombe State. The second session on Love and Tolerance as Dynamics for Social Reform session was moderated by Professor Oshita and the presenters were Hakan Yesilova, the Chief Editor, Fountain Magazine who came all the way from Turkey, Reverend Father Cornelius Omonokhua of the Catholic Secretariat Abuja and my humble self. The presentations were followed by a question and answer slot for the audience during which participants asked questions or made interesting observations on the papers presented. My paper was titled Social Dynamics and Credible Elections: Ensuring Participation of Vulnerable and Marginalised Groups.. The paper focused on politics and inclusivity for vulnerable members of our society women, youth, people with disability and internally displaced persons. Democracy that is not inclusive is deficient. Engagement with young people and other excluded groups is imperative. Electoral processes as a critical foundation for democracy have to be inclusive. They must ensure that the marginalised make input on issues where they are directly or indirectly affected, and guarantee that they will benefit from any changes. Such changes must focus on correcting exclusion of vulnerable groups by creating the enabling environment for Inclusivity. The Secretary General of Foundation Ercan Ulgar delivered the vote of thanks and wished participants journey mercies to their various destinations.
As we were leaving the hall, a sister who sat next to me wanted to know more about the foundation’s work. I referred her to the UFUK staff, Mrs Ayshe Yigit who invited me to the conference. She was also the first person to introduce me to Fethullah Gulen’s interfaith and cultural activities and the UFUK slogan ‘Reserve a seat in our hearts for everyone.”   Gulen is introduced as a Turkish-born ‘Islamic scholar and thinker and a prolific writer and poet. He was trained in the religious sciences by several celebrated Muslim scholars and spiritual masters. After his studies he became a preacher and teacher. He focused on encouraging the younger generation to harmonise intellectual enlightenment with wise spirituality and a caring and humane activism’. As for the foundation and its activities, I told her I have had opportunities to participate in seminars and iftar events organised in Ramadan. Five of us were also invited to a conference in Istanbul Turkey under Abant Platform to promote dialogue and culture of co- existence among professionals from different parts of the world.  The Abant Platform is founded by Journalists and Writers Foundation to promote democratic engagement as an intellectual forum for expanding social consensus and the coexistence of society`s rich cultural resources within a peaceful environment in Turkey.
Ufuk foundation is mainly concerned with opinion and information exchange between ethnic, cultural, religious and ideological entities in order to nurture mutual understanding and peaceful coexistence. Its purpose is to contribute to peaceful coexistence and dialogue by bringing together intellectuals from all political spectrums with different cultural, religious, ethnic and ideological backgrounds from a multi-disciplinary perspective.
Last year, Ufuk collaborated with Nigerian Turkish Nile University, South African and Indonesian Embassies, to organise a panel discussion titled ‘Experience of Democracy in diverse Societies’ where intellectuals discussed the issue citing examples from situations in South Africa, Nigeria and Indonesia. Ufuk Dialogue Foundation also collaborated with the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR), held a workshop titled ‘Experiences of West Africa and Turkey in Peace and Sustainable development’, where  participants presented papers on peace and sustainable development.