Excitement As Arewa Youths Honour Gospel Artist, Film Producer

The Federal Government and Arewa Youth Consultative Council (AYCC) have said that peace building is required to remove Nigeria from the negative global encyclopedia of crisis.

They wondered why insecurity would continue to persist in Nigeria, despite the concerted efforts to ensure peace.

While the government said peace would continue to be elusive if the country does not address its value system, the Arewa youths blamed politicians who feast on the crisis for their personal interests.

The Director-General of National Orientation Agency (a parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation), Garba Abari, represented by its Deputy Director of Legal Services, Williams Dogo, bared his mind in Abuja during the presentation of Peace Ambassador award to Isoko, Delta State -born gospel artist and film producer, Dr. Josephine Oghale-Abraham by AYCC in recognition of her exceptional role in peacebuilding in Nigeria.

The event held in NICON Luxury Hotel, Abuja was full of excitement as Nigerians shunned their ethnic and religious difference to attend.

Oghale-Abraham, CEO of Love of the World Initiative was also a former staff of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL).

According to Abari, Nigeria needed peace to become a developed country, adding that the country’s value system also needed to be revamped to succeed in the fight against insecurity.

The NOA DG called all Nigerians to emulate the exceptional qualities of the awardee in peace-building across the country.

He said, “The moment we begin to have people like her (the recipient) who are independently working for the peace of Nigeria, their efforts will always supersede the efforts of those politicians and whoever is trying to destabilize the country.

“I must tell you that we have lost our long cherished values. What Nigerians need is value orientation. We all know the kind of love that existed between Nigerians years back irrespective of religion, tribe, or ethnic group.

“Unfortunately, like I said, we have lost our values, those values that preach peace, tolerance, love and harmony. Unless we go back to those values, we will still be chasing peace and it will continue to elude us. This is just the problem.”

He said the NOA, having realized the need for value reorientation, has decided in partnership, with the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other-Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to formulate a national ethics and integrity policy.

“The whole idea is to project and promote our national core values, which are enshrined in our constitution, specifically Section 23. When we do that, Nigerians will be peaceful, and Nigerians will be peace lovers”, he added.

The President of AYCC, Ambassador Zaid Ayuba, said that the AYCC had observed the philanthropic and nation-building efforts of Oghale-Abraham and had come to appreciate her.

He said the organization had recognized her efforts in educational sponsorships, assistance on healthcare, feeding the orphans, widows and supporting the financially challenged individuals in various communities, saying she is “a dedicated mentor to youth and aspiring young entrepreneurs in

Arewa”.

He blamed politicians for the spate of insecurity in the country, saying that everyone “just have to manage the peace process”.

“The politicians are responsible, any country that is having politicians at the helm of the affairs will always have some kind of peculiar problem. In Nigeria, wherever you go, as far as the country will continue to have politicians, we just have to manage our peace process. We can never do away with instability”, he said.

Oghale-Abraham said that she was going about her activities without knowing that a day of recognition was coming,

“I have heard about AYCC and read about their activities but never thought of an award from them. Being a Southerner and receiving an award from a Northern group showed that a lot of narratives being paddled about relationships in the country are incorrect”, she said.

She said that the story about hate, divisions and religious differences driven mostly by politicians do not exist in reality.

The awardee said that she had declined many awards in the past for lack of merit by the organisers.

“Nigeria is our project and with this group of youths, you can tell that there is hope for Nigeria; the North and South will be united and Nigeria will be great again. We can start by just loving one another; if we do not love and have respect for one another, we will not be loved and respected internationally, ” she said.