COMMUNITY DAY OF SOLIDARITY WITH VICTIMS OF VIOLENT CONFLICTS
PRESS RELEASE
THE CONFERENCE OF AUTOCHTHONOUS
ETHNIC COMMUNITIES DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATIONS
(CONAECDA)
Secretariat: Izere
Arena Lamingo Road Jos Plateau State.
E-Mail: conaecda@gmail.com
COMMUNITY DAY OF
SOLIDARITY WITH VICTIMS OF VIOLENT CONFLICTS
CONAECDA 2018 approved the observation of the 10th
day of November every year as the Community Day of Solidarity with Victims of
Violent Conflicts. 10th November 2019 is the first time the
communities will observe the day. The objectives of setting aside the day
includes:
1.
To
highlight the plight of Victims still alive.
2.
To
remember those killed in the violence.
3.
To
celebrate those who sacrificed their lives to save others.
4.
To
celebrate those who exhibited heroism in the mist of danger as they promote
peace and reconciliation or save the lives of other.
5.
To
highlight issues fueling conflicts and help find solutions to them.
6.
To
challenge individuals, groups and governments on the need to address drivers of
conflict and assist victims.
7.
To
promote social justice, peace building and restitution and reconciliation.
The 2019 Day is being celebrated under the theme: “beyond
figures; giving the Victims a Voice.” The following activities are designed to
highlight the plight of Victims and to speak out against the increasing
violence in Nigeria.
1.
Rallies
where and when possible.
2.
Press
releases/ Conferences.
3.
Feature
discussions on Radio and Television.
4.
Feature
articles in newspapers and magazines.
5.
Symposiums
6.
Prayers
in Churches and Mosques.
7.
Donations
to victim support funds
8.
Visit
to victims (individuals, families and Communities).
Though not all these activities will be carried out this
year, it is important to use this medium to call on all Nigerians and friends
of this great country to take seriously the growing use of violence as a means
of achieving political, economic, religious and even personal goals. The
increasing use of violence leaves behind painful physical, moral, social and
spiritual wounds that are difficult to heal. We are yet to heal the wounds of
the Nigerian civil war, of violent inter ethnic and inter religious conflicts.
Today we have lost thousands of soldiers, policemen and other security personnel;
these too are fathers and mothers, sons and daughters they are not just
numbers. In our communities, men and women die in their thousands, not counting
the maimed, the traumatized, the homeless, the orphans and the abused the
displaced who now live as refugees and IDPs.
Nigeria is a large and diverse state; it is so easy to be
oblivious to the violence and evil going on in any part of the country because
it is so far away. If however we are to learn any lesson from history we need
to know that what may appear to be so far away will on the long run affect us
all. We need to sympatise with all victims and help them to recover and integrate
fully into peaceful communities, but above all things we need to stop rewarding
the use of violence as instrument of National discussions. It is high time we
courageously address the national questions using peaceful means; to establish
a national structure that does not only guarantee the rights of individuals but
the rights of communities and the Ethnic Nationalities that constitute the
Nigerian State. We must face the truth that our federation is fragile and that
while there are forces of division and those of unity; there are also forces of
dominance and those seeking liberation. Our democracy remains fragile with
little confidence in the democratic processes and a win by all means mentality
that fuels electoral conflicts. There are growing violent ideologies especially
that linked to religious groups and the growing religious competition for
dominance; the rise of violent Islamist groups and the increasing interfaith
distrust endanger all of us.
Our security is so weak that it has failed to secure us, we
have failed our compatriots when it mattered most; killed in their sleep,
kidnapped on the high ways; maimed and displaced by their fellow countrymen.
Abandoned to their fate and sometimes blamed for the evil that befell them. Our
cities are not secure, our villages are all potential murder fields, and our
highways are not safe. We blame each other for the curse that we refuse to destroy.
Please let us all seek out victims and help them in any way
we can.
May we all work for peace and justice for all.
God Bless Nigeria.
Suleman A.D. Sukukum
Secretary General
CONAECDA
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