Minister urges youths to be soldiers of peace

The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Solomon Dalung has advised youths in the country to be soldiers of peace.

Dalung stated this at the 2017 International Day of Peace celebration organised by the Peace Corps of Nigeria (PCN) in Abuja on Thursday, September 21.

“It is therefore expected that we all, especially young people should take it upon ourselves to do all at our disposal to entrench peace in all we say, where we go and in all we do," Dalung said.

“It is in light of what we are discussing, that I encourage every young person to be seen as a Soldier of peace, to ensure peace globally. This is the sacrifice required from us all.”Dalung charged Nigerian youths to embrace dialogue rather than war.

The minister also charged the youth to support the present administration’s effort towards stemming the spate of vices, such as hate speech, terrorism and corruption which he said had plagued the country.Earlier, the National Commandant of PCN, Dickson Akoh said peace was a vital commodity in every society.

He noted that injustice and grievances could only be achieved through constructive dialogue and negotiations.

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“As desirable and crucial as peace is to development, in Nigeria, this vital commodity has been under intense pressure in recent times as a result of hate speeches, ethnic agitations and divisive politics; all in the name of restructuring and self-determination.

“However, the granite truth is that, addressing injustice of whatever form or seeking ideal restructuring cannot be achieved on the altar of violence, perhaps, also not by hate speeches. This can only be achieved based on the universal principles of constructive dialogue and integrated negotiations, which modern democracy avails us”, Akoh said.

He therefore, enjoined the youths, communities and the government to intensify efforts to end conflicts of all kinds and promote peace and harmony.

The United Nations (UN) had, through a resolution in 1981, agreed that all nations and people must live in peace.

In 2001, the UN General Assembly declared September 21, as International Day of Peace with its maiden edition 2002.