Olawale Rasheed reports the search for sustainable peace within the Nigerian federation as the nation marks its 52nd independence anniversary.NIGERIA at 52 coincides with a time when flashpoints across the world are widening and concerted efforts are being made to restore peace for sustainable development. Nigerians from various walks of life are brainstorming, holding roundtable and policy sessions on corrective agenda for national revival.The Boko Haram insurgency, the criminal manifestation in many southern states and the increasing militant posture on the federalist challenges compel thoughts and discourse to ascertain what is wrong and define what should be the way out. Even when many agreed that the nation has got many things right, there was a consensus that a lot still needed to be done for the nation to realise its full potential and fulfill the yearnings of its citizens for good governance. The Centre for Peace and Security in Africa (CPSA) organised a roundtable on sustainable peace for sustainable development and the presidency, through the president's aide on youth matters, also held a session on consolidating the gains of the past and correcting the present for the future.At the centre's roundtable, organised in collaboration with the Shehu Yar'Adua Centre were academics, civil society activists and other stakeholders who believed the nation's progression is being impeded by some structural and attitudinal challenges. Executive Vice Chairman of the CPSA, Prince Adetokunbo Kayode, told the audience that the roundtable was designed to provide actionable recommendations for all stakeholders in the Nigerian project. According to him,'we all know the problems but we must dwell on the solutions now as the citizens are eager for resolution rather than disputations. We should come up with direct solutions to challenges in the areas of governance, security and pro-people development. This is what the nation needs now to build on what is on ground. We are here to complement the efforts of other stakeholders in resolving the many challenges of existence facing our federation,' Prince Kayode, a former Minister of Defence, said.The six panelists, in their contributions, identified the root of many national ills and concluded that solutions were possible if there was national political will. Professor Sam Egwu, a political scientist, affirmed that the crisis of development facing Nigeria and other parts of the world were attributable to unequal distribution of economic and political powers, which he said was reinforced by globalisation and neo-liberal economic ideology.'Disparity in resource distribution generates expansion of violence. So, we must urgently address the issue of wealth redistribution. The other problem has to do with the wrong configuration of the states. States in Africa focus on projecting power for the utility of the elite. So, the state internalises the core of the conflict. We must rethink the structure of our states.'We must also abandon identity politics. The ruling elite rely on politics of ethnic and religious identity to divide and mobilise the citizens in their quest for power. We must shift from national security to human security. We must have more pro-poor focus than what we have now,'' Egwu, a consultant with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said.Another panelist, Dr Otive Igbuzor, former Country Director of Action Aid International, noted that 'positive peace is the absence of unjust structure and unequal relationship. The issue facing our nation is inequality. We have systemic, structural injustice. In fact, the threat to our national security is internal rather than external. For us to have genuine peace, we must institute a just and accountable government, promote human rights of the citizens, correct imbalance in resource distribution and embark on nationwide security and peace education. We must transform the character of the Nigerian nation and demonstrate political will in tackling identified loopholes in the nation state.'' A member of the medium, Martins Onoja of The Guardian newspapers, cited the collapse of the education system as a contributory factor to national malaise, proposing that state of emergency be declared in the sector. According to him, poor state of education accounts for the ease of recruitment into extremist activities. The poor state of education led to poor workforce and degeneration in societal moral values.Other contributors cited challenges facing Nigeria as a continental matter as all countries of the world are facing one challenges or the other. The Security and Political Commissioner of Economic Community of West Africa, Mrs Salamatu Hussaini Suleiman, said the regional body was working hard to eliminate sources of conflict across the region, stating that a lot had been done by leaders of the region to ensure national equity and social justice for sustainable peace.She said, 'Our leaders are aware of the challenges. The heads of state have met more than six times this year alone. We are not there yet but I think we are on the road. Speaking as a Nigerian, I think we have a duty to join hand with government to solve the many policy and developmental challenges facing the nation. What should delight Nigerians is that the nation is making progress and leading many developing countries on many indices.''If most panelists hit hard at the government and the state, another panelist, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Youth and Student Matters, Comrade Jude Imagwe, changed the focus of the debate when he urged the nation to take time to look at followership in the governance paradigm. According to the presidential aide, Nigerians at this point must look at what they can also do to help fix the nation instead of holding unto criticism of the administration.'We have a duty to also sit up and resolve to play our part. This starts from our environment to our monitoring of local officials. It is time Nigerians actively support good programmes and reject politicians' attempt to politicise every national issue. Secuirty, for example, rests not only with government, but also with the citizens too.'Solutions are to be sourced from both the citizenry and government. I can assure you all that Mr President is doing all humanly possible to fix our developmental challenges. Youths are being mainstreamed into governance and the issue of integration of youths into peace building measures are very high on the presidential table,'' he said.If the centre's programme contained a mix of youths and adults at the roundtable, another roundtable organised by the presidency itself focused only on selected youth leaders. The event, coordinated by Comrade Imagwe, pointedly required participants to raise pressing national challenges and proffer ways out.'Our main reason for gathering is not to lament at our situation, but to list what needs to be done that are not being done. We are here to also discuss what is being done but needs to be done rightly or better. Nigeria at 52 provides opportunities and challenges. How we assess the opportunities to overcome the challenges is the core of this exercise,'' the presidential aide said.With about 40 youth leaders in attendance, many recommendations were made in various sectors. Some of the ways out mentioned by the youth leaders include mass action in skill acquisition training, combating corruption in the public sector, restoration of justice in the political system, integration of religious leaders in peace building, adoption of Sufism instead of salafism, abandoning of ethnicity in governance and return of the nation to true federalism.Speaking on the state of the nation, Prince Kayode promised to ensure that the many suggestions and proposals from the roundtable got to the appropriate quarters for action.
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