BY EMMANUEL NDON
Peace is described as a concept of societal friendship and harmony where hostility and violence are absent. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflicts such as war and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups.
Throughout history, leaders have used peacemaking and diplomacy to establish a type of behavioral restraint that has resulted in the establishment of regional peace or economic growth through various forms of agreements.
This tradition takes root from the outset of the world when God made the covenant of peace with His people as recorded in Ezekiel 37:26. God said, ̏Moreover, I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore”.
From the foregoing, it can be said that peace is a prerequisite for the attainment of different groups or individual potentials.
As democracy supports peaceful relations between states, economic prosperity, and human capacity development of people, peace makes possible the development of stable political institutions, more productive economic activity, and a more civilized and enlightened social life.
Without establishing a stable climate of peace, human rights cannot be safeguarded, democratic institutions cannot function effectively, prosperity cannot flourish and human beings cannot discover their potentials for achievement of set goals and attainment of inner fulfillment.
Peace is imperative for a thriving democracy. And this is why it became needful to set up the Maintain Peace Movement, MPM as a vehicle to drive peace and sustain the same in Akwa Ibom State.
The philosophy and ideational leaning of MPM are that peace exists presently and needs not only to be sustained but jealously guarded. Peace is an essential element of society without which no development can thrive.
The government, therefore, has a responsibility to sustain the peace it has brought to bear, particularly viewed from the fact that it was one commodity that eluded the people in time past.
Within the state, the evidence of peace can be viewed from the favorable environment the state offers for different aspects of economic activities and the overall economic growth.
It is on record that due to the conducive atmosphere made possible by the peaceful disposition of the state, Akwa Ibom had attained an enviable status of second foreign direct investment destination in the country.
That was in addition to the massive boost in infrastructural development made possible by an atmosphere of peace.
On the political front, the tolerant feature of the present administration has ensured that dissenting voices flourish under the principle of free speech.
All these are products of the prevailing peace which is a reflection of what the state’s chief executive stands for.
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Peacebuilding seeks to address the underlying causes of conflict, helping people to resolve their differences peacefully and lay the foundations to prevent future violence.
Thus, the mandate of MPM is to instill and sustain peace in its overall context: Freedom from civil disturbance; a state of security or order within a community provided for by law or custom; freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions; and harmony in personal relations.
MPM also seeks to create the necessary awareness and communication to ensure that the gains achieved in the state as a result of the existing peace are sustained.
The MPM believes that one way of achieving this is by encouraging the enthronement of a new government that is acceptable by the majority of Akwa Ibom people and not one who access power through violence.
Since the present administration is interested in sustaining its impressive legacies for the good of all citizens, the MPM’s responsibility is to mobilize the relevant stakeholders and all lovers of peace against reversing the wheel of progress.
As noted by John Kennedy, “Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures”.
This is the task before Maintain Peace Movement.
