A retreat participant holds up a sign in support of the “One Family Under God” campaign.

Last week, the second of the Interreligious Youth Leadership Retreats series organized by the Global Peace Foundation – Nigeria was held in Northern Kaduna. The initiative is drawing significant partners together in this effort to ease religious tensions in the region, like H.E. Hajiya Amina Namadi Sambo, wife of the Vice-President of Nigeria. The timely retreat gained media attention as an effort that has implications that reach beyond religious relations, into national cohesion, economic development and political stability. The following article covering the retreat is written by Midat Joseph and published in Nigerian news outlet Leadership 19-Jul-2014 |

‘Too Much Emphasis on Religion Destroying North’

by: Midat Joseph The Global Peace Foundation, an international organisation committed to peace building in the world, yesterday blamed the backwardness in Northern Nigeria on too much emphasis on politics of religion. Speaking yesterday at a 2-day sensitization programme on religious tolerance in the North, entitled “One Family Under One God”, the northern coordinator of the group, Rev Joseph Hayab noted that ethnic and religious sentiments have become the bane of progress of the region.

Rev. Joseph Hayab, “We should learn to stay together and co-exist peacefully with one another because we cannot do without one another.”

“The economy, social and political status of our region are crumbling because we allow religious and ethnic sentiments to divide us while other parts of the country are progressing despite their religious differences,” Hayab said. The Foundation which cautioned Northern Muslim and Christian youths to avoid fomenting violence in the region under the guise of religion, said no religion is a ticket to causing crisis. Rev Hayab, who is also the special adviser on religion (Christian matters) to the Kaduna State governor, Mukhtar Ramalan Yero, cautioned the people of the North against using religion to divide themselves. He said, “We should learn to stay together and co-exist peacefully with one another because we cannot do without one another”.

Also speaking at the occasion, special adviser to Governor Yero on Islamic religion, Sheikh Abdullahi Maraya traced the origin of human existence, noting that all human beings are offshoots of Adam and Eve in the Biblical Garden of Eden. Sheikh Maraya, therefore, said that for one to kill another person in the name of religious crisis means killing one’s brother or sister because of the common origin of people all over the world. He said, “In this part of the country, we are retrogressing on daily basis because of internal clash out of religious sentiments, we are faced with unnecessary violence in Kaduna State, but we are all children ofAdam and Eve. If a Muslim is killed, we have lost a member of our distinct family, if a Christian is killed, we have lost a member of our distinct family, and even if a pagan is killed, we have also lost a member of our distinct family. “So we must shun violence and work together as brothers and sisters despite our religious and tribal differences. We can take example from the people in Southern part of the country, they happily stay together, religion never cause problem for them, they inter marry joyfully, Muslim marrying Christian, Christian marrying Muslim, nobody fight over religion. “Today, the southern part of the country is progressing educationally, socially and otherwise, while in the North we are lagging behind in every aspect of development because of destructions and violence in the region”. Meanwhile, the country Director of the Foundation, John Oko told newsmen in an interview shortly after the opening ceremony of the event that this was the second leg of the occasion in Kaduna Central Senatorial zone, with first leg in Southern Kaduna senatorial district some months ago. Oko said the essence of the campaign against violence in the country was to compliment the efforts of government at all levels in finding solutions to crisis of various nature in the country.

Retreat participants take a group shot.

The original article appears on Leadership: http://leadership.ng/news/377840/much-emphasis-religion–destroying-north

For a FULL ALBUM of the retreat visit: http://www.globalpeace.org/new-photo-galleries/2nd-interfaith-youth-leaders-retreat-kaduna-central

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“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” Mother Teresa

 The 2012 UNIFEM report entitled “Women, War and Peace” observed that the quality and implementation of peace agreements were drastically improved when women were involved.  A recent post on the Global Peace Foundation offers some explanation of what women bring to the table when they engage in peacebuilding. The post is based on remarks of the wife of Vice-President of Nigeria and founder of I-CARE Women & Youths Initiative, and more recently patron of the newest chapter of Global Peace Women in Nigeria, H.E. Hajiya Amina Namadi Sambo, at the women’s session of the Global Peace Convention 2013.

First, says H.E. Hajiya Sambo, women possess “God-given qualities that facilitate peace building and conflict resolution.” She describes women as innately empathetic, and lend a helping hand to others. For example, a mother will “rise above self-interest,” to place the interests her family before her own. According to H.E. Hajiya Sambo, women are also honest, forthright, patient, and compassionate. These characteristics make women effective facilitators and collaborators. H.E. Hajiya Sambo strongly suggests that women be allowed to apply these unique qualities in multiple venues such as public office, community service, and family.

While she challenges traditional views of women by strongly advocating for women in public roles, H.E. Hajiya Sambo also affirms women’s “God-given role to be mothers”. She calls the family “the basic tool for peace” and places women at the center. She describes how mothers secure peace at home and educate the next generation with the values of peace. To this end, she encourages women to seek for peace in themselves as they advocate peace to their husbands, fathers, brothers and sons. As the heart of the family, women are key players both in fostering the culture of peace and implementing peace policies. It has been proven that through grass-roots networks of women and families, policies can be widely and effectively implemented with little resources. Thus, the second reason why women are important in peacebuilding is because they are crucial players in the family.

“The importance of women in building sustainable peace in the world can no longer be overlooked”, says H.E. Hajiya Sambo. Women’s role in the family and their unique God-given abilities open the way for humanity to reconnect and remember that “we belong to each other.”

Through ICare Women and Youth, initiated after seeing firsthand the situation of women in Nigeria during a visit to all 23 local governments, H.E. Hajiya Sambo has worked to tackle poverty and inequality of women by increasing women’s participation in decision making in the family and larger society. ICare offers skills training to help women strengthen the economic foundation of their families, as well as education on issues such as malaria, AIDS and basic health and sanitation.

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