From Wilson Okereke, Afikpo
The 2023 United Nations International Day of Peace was particularly colourful in Ebonyi State courtesy of the state command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
The officers and men of the command practically took the city by storm on September 30, when they marched round major streets in the metropolis, waving flag of peace amidst chants and songs.
The outdoor event which attracted solidarity from members of the sister Correctional Services was eventually followed by a public lecture, the following day at the NSCDC State Command Headquarters, Abakaliki.
At the event, State Commandant of NSCDC, Felix Gbolade underscored the need for peaceful co-existence among citizens of the world, adding that the holocaust that came on the wake of World War 11 prompted the League of Nations to form the United Nations Organisation with a sole purpose of averting a future repeat of the same problem.
However, he noted that “there are still little holocausts here and there, which made the United Nations and governments to seek ways to put an end to them.
“So, for Federal Government, state governments, even local governments areas, NGOs, security agencies, the press and the common man, all of us must put our hands on deck to ensure that peace is achieved and sustained.”
He urged that anything that could breach peace any anywhere, should be promptly reported to the security agencies.
The Comptroller of Immigration in the state, Catherine Uzzih said that peace is achievable if people employ contentment in their everyday living.
She observed that people troop out of the country in droves in search of greener pastures noting that if such efforts were dutifully applied locally, Nigeria would be a haven to live in.
According to her, several citizens of countries neighbouring Nigeria look up to her as a safe haven for greener pastures; this in turn breeds insecurity, especially with the vast, uncontrolled borders.
Representative of the Department of State Services, Chris Michael stressed the need for recourse to family values to reorientate people’s minds towards peace-building.
For the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), 80 percent of insecurity in the society is attributable to the influence of hard drugs.
Assistant Controller, Narcotics, Erapa Godwin urged parents to avail themselves of the available rehabilitation programme of the agency to dissuade their wards from involving in drug addiction.
In a paper by Dr Celestine Ukeoma of NSCDC on “Human rights to peace,” he posited that the abuse of human rights in the society was a causative factor to insecurity and other breach of public peace.
“There are constraints on the enforceability of the rights to peace since most of them are non-justiciable. This is one of the principles of democracy and to disregard it or any abuse of it amounts to abuse of democracy.
“And any abuse of the tenets like the rule of law will be counter-productive,” he said.