Minister says security, education crucial to peace building

The Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, says improving human security and education are crucial to peace-building and can only be achieved through the collective efforts of stakeholders.

Adamu made the observation on Monday in Abuja at the 2017 Commonwealth Day Celebration tagged: “A peace-Building Commonwealth”.

The minister said that the role of peace building could not be overemphasized, adding that no progress was possible without a peaceful environment.

According to Adamu, stakeholders need to address the causes for absence of peace and as well ensure freedom for all.

“It follows that peace-building should be the agenda of all countries, national institutions; peace building efforts should be the responsibility of all and sundry.

“It is against this backdrop that the Federal Ministry of Education takes the issue of education of Nigerian child very seriously.

“They are the building blocks of peace in the society and our future.

“If children at an early age are offered the right education, taught the rudiment of patriotism and civic responsibility, only then will the kind of peace required for progress and development in a nation will be entrenched,’’ he said.

The minister explained that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari had put in place a number of strategies aimed at boosting education.

He said that the strategies were set out in the recently launched Ministerial Strategic Plan (MSP) on education to provide access to education from basic to tertiary levels.

“If any group of Nigerian children is left out in the scheme of education, it will constitute danger to the society and the world in general.

“The search for peace and the issue of security management must be sustained as a holistic one. We must be involved in recreating and revamping the nation’s security,’’ he said.

He further said that to ensure peace, a lot more needed to be done to control the irresponsibility, sensationalism and dissemination of disinformation in the social media.

Also, Prof. Anthony Anwukah, Minister of State for Education, said one of the ways to curb insecurity was to train the youths in vocation and technical knowledge.

Anwukah said this would enable them acquire some skills with a view to empowering them for self employment.

According to him, the empowerment of the youths is crucial to peace-building as well as encourages good governance and development of democratic institutions.

The minister, however, called on Nigerians to advocate and advance the course of peace building from the families, communities, states and the federation.

“It is not enough to advocate and sensitise people on peace building without considering the likely causes of conflicts or lack of peace.

“The adoption of the rule of law in democratic processes curtails corruption and ensures peace in the society.

“Peace-building also entails peaceful co-existence, sharing views and perspective, freedom of speech and association,’’ he said.

Anwukah further said the ministry was determined in its policies on vocational and technical education toward ensuring that Nigerian child was self-reliant and employed.

He said that appropriate curriculum had been developed in civic education and social studies as processes with a view to inculcating peace-building behaviours in school children.

Anwukah noted that access to quality education and effective learning need could translate to peaceful co-existence and socio-economic and political development of the country.

Similarly, the Acting Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Dr Hussaini Adamu, said the ministry was working to be at the forefront of achieving lasting peace and prosperity in the country.

Adamu said that the ministry was also working hard to ensure that Nigerian children, especially out-of-school children, normadic children and other sets of indigent group have access to quality education.

Mr Paul Arkwright, British High Commissioner to Nigeria said the United Kingdom would continue to uphold the commonwealth nations to foster peace and human rights.