Ms Splendour Joe-King, Founder, Splendour Child Empowerment Foundation, an NGO, on Wednesday, launched its ‘Peace Club Nigeria’ Project, to promote peace among students in Nigerian schools.
Joe-King, who is also the Lead Convener, Nigerian Children Call for Peace Project, said the project was aimed at training children to play key roles in peace development of the country.
She added that the clubs which would help change the mindset of young people towards peace, would also curb violent extremism among young persons.
According to her, through this platform, children would be trained, engaged and their potentials harnessed so as to become better leaders of tomorrow.
“We want children to domestic peace and the idea of the peace club is for children to understand that peace is the solution for everything.
“This is because we spend billions of naira every year, trying to fight war but we forget that peace is the only way to tackle this type of problem.
“I also want to call on parents to be involved in their children’s lives, don’t make them feel marginalized in the home and allow them to be part of decision making.
“This will make them feel loved even from their homes and it will be difficult for terrorist to recruit them to cause mayhem,” she said.
On his part, Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal, Isiaka Amao, commended the Convener of the project for the initiative, adding that the Nigerian Air Force would continue to partner with the initiative.
Amao, who was represented by Air Vice Marshal Nelson Calmday, added that the Force on its part, has approved the establishment of Peace Club in all the Air Force schools in the country.
He explained that children must be effectively carried along in the promotion of peace in the country.
He advised young persons to develop a character of peace from their tender age and resist any bad influence from their peers.
Also, Mrs Vera Joe-King, Project Director of the Foundation, said it was important for parents to imbibe the spirit of tolerance and respect for others, in their children.
“Taking advantage of children’s vulnerability will cause more harm than good because these children see some things that even adult do not see.
“If we take advantage of their vulnerability even in security issues, there are informations, they might not feel free to tell us.
“I believe that if children are mainstreamed into peace building and peace development, they will go a long way in fostering peace from the home down to the society,” she said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event had in attendance representatives from Mercy Corps, ActionAid, FCT UBEB, FCT Secondary Education Board, students from various schools in the FCT, among others.
