I just replied a friend on Facebook that Nigerians in Southern Kaduna can live in peace, if they choose to, with a deliberate emphasis on the word 'choice' - just as Plateau has done so now.
Yesterday a peace deal was signed by 56 communities of southern plateau after committing all sorts of violations to deprive others of their constitutionally guaranteed rights over a period of 15 years. After all the sufferings and dehumanization, they took the bold step of acknowledging the rights of all to live and their duty to let live. Kudos.
Southern Kaduna can do the same. Since the Kafanchan crisis of 1987, A section of the community started treating the other as unfit for peace and undeserving of any rights, including the right to life. They did so with an impunity that went unpunished for 30 years. Now everybody is talking about peace.
True, peace is not only good but the best, always. However, more important is the realization that it is a matter of choice - a choice between upholding the constitution of our country and violating it. Whoever wants peace must not only yearn to enjoy it as a right but also has a duty to respect it for others. To yearn for the right in the former and abandon the duty in the latter precipitates the unrest and violence we witness anywhere we have crisis. There, the balance between right and duty has been severed.
The communities in Plateau have made their choice for peace. Those of Southern Kaduna can have peace too, but only if they choose to. Whenever they take that bold step, we will applaud them.
Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde
23/12/16
23/12/16
No comments:
Post a Comment