Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, the former president of Nigeria, has noted that power struggles continue to be the main source of war on the African continent. He added that as technology is susceptible to manipulation by dishonest human brains, there is nothing it can do to rectify the rigged Nigerian electoral procedures. In observance of the International Day of Peace in Abuja, Jonathan made the statement on Tuesday at an event hosted by the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR) and its partners. Jonathan received recognition as a Fellow as well. After Gen. Yakubu Gowon (Rtd), the Head of State of Nigeria who managed the country’s reintegration following the Civil War, received the same honor last year, he became the second person to get it.
Speaking at the event, Jonathan said: “Actually, 10 top countries are in conflict globally. Three of them are in sub-Saharan Africa. And quite a number of countries around us, including us, are in one form of conflict or the other.“And when you look at what causes conflict in Africa, most cases is struggle for leadership, contestation for power. And that is the main cause of conflict.“Sometimes when you go through a society, and you can tell all kinds of stories. But by the time you do proper analysis, and dig deep, you know that most causes of conflict is leadership struggle. That is why I’m only worried about my country Nigeria.”
The former president, who served as the program’s chair, emphasized that the players are to blame for the shady condition of politics in Nigeria and throughout Africa, pointing out that the idea that politics is nasty is incorrect. “People say politics is a dirty game,” he continued. Our political strategy is the one we wish to use. Recall that former President Olusegun Obasanjo recently declared that politics is not dirty, but rather that those who participate in it do so with tainted hearts and minds. as well as shady nature. And for that reason, people claim that politics is unclean. And then we all need to start thinking differently. “We need to foster a culture of peace,” he continued.
He stated that peace should be ingrained in Nigerians’ daily lives and that Africans in general need to begin cultivating a culture of peace. “And without us strengthening that effort, without us developing that culture of testing a nation peacefully, we will always be in conflict in Africa and in Nigeria.” “Until we reach that level where we develop the culture of peace in this country, we will always have political conflicts in our election.” Citing the recent Edo State governorship election, the former president—who is still the first Nigerian president to cede power to an opposition party after losing at the polls—noted that tensions were higher following the election than they were before.
Noting that technology would be influenced if the human mind is corrupt, he said that it would not be able to resolve the issue with Nigeria’s voting process. We discuss about technology here in Nigeria. If we provide the technology, they will manipulate it because the human mind isn’t ready to do what’s right,” he stated. All Nigerians must contribute to the advancement of the nation’s culture of peace, according to Dr. Samuel Iroye, Head of the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies at the National Open University of Nigeria, who gave the lecture. While asserting that peace was a tangible experience rather than an ideology, Iroye urged young participation in development projects.
He emphasized that education in Nigeria does not foster a culture of peace and that in order to bring about peace, everyone must have equal access to education. No one could give what he doesn’t have, he added, adding that “in order to ensure a culture of peace, we must ensure that we have peace within ourselves.” Peace is an orphan, according to Dr. Joseph Ochogwu, Director General of the IPCR, who also stated that although people like to enjoy it, they don’t want to invest in it. He urged Nigerians to begin making investments in the growth of a culture of peace while lamenting the extent of violence in the world.
