COMRADE PIRE PARK MAIDAMBE
Man is said to be a social animal and as such we live in families, clusters, and communities etc. Fortunately for us in Nigeria, we are a multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-cultural diverse nation.
Our diversity can be a strength and at the same time a weakness, if not properly harnessed.
Most often, we tend to think in the negative and see our strength (multi-ethnicity, religion etc) as a weakness; but easily forget that there are siblings, families, communities, states, nations that are of same ethnicity, religion language, culture etc that are at war with themselves – South-Sudan, Eritrea , Somali etc.
Therefore, this then shows that being of same ethnic, religious or cultural stock is not a guarantee of peaceful coexistence.
On the contrary, the biggest world economies in the world today, are mostly multi-ethnic, multicultural, multi religious – the USA, Russia, China, UK etc.
Peaceful coexistence is as the common saying “as you make your bed so you lie on it “ – meaning, if we promote the fault lines, we are bound to reap crisis. To build peaceful coexistence we are to exploit our strengths in those things that will build national cohesion, using the same frailties and turning them into building blocks.
To promote peaceful coexistence, we therefore, have to do some, if not all of the following:
1. Treat all people with kindness, regardless of race, gender orientation, religion etc.
2.Attend peace and promote rallies or functions as Ekoonibaje Yam festival.
3.Avoid violence of any kind.
4.Embrace diversity and get to know other cultures by traveling to different places.
5. Create a platform and use it to promote and support peaceful coexistence.
6.Talk to kids about peaceful virtues and how to avoid violence.
7. Take care of the environment.
8. Learn to forgive others, even long standing enemies.
9. Developing meaningful relationships outside your own ethnic group.
10. Practice self-love and care so you can radiate greatness to others.
11. Learn to apologize when wrong, even if it’s belated.
May God grant us the ability to promote peaceful coexistence in all facets of society.