Modest Thoughts with Ayuba, Yilgak'ha, April 27, 2023; loisayuba420@gmail.com; 08116181263)
Peace is the most priceless virtue known to man. The Hausa adage, 'Zaman lafiya ya fi Zaman dan tsarki' which literally translates: To be at peace is worth more than being a king's son says it all. When peace eludes a man, community or nation, there is big trouble because nothing works normally under chaotic atmosphere.
Peace is a fluid concept. While some perceived it as an internal construction; others perceived peace as an external construction. Whichever standpoint one takes, peace is an ideal and a state of mind that is, relatively, at rest from life's contradictions which might be internal or external. In other words, peace is an ideal that is constructed upon the theory of relativity because there is nothing absolute about it.
A classical demonstration of the relativity of peace is rooted in the idea that 'peace is not the absence of war'. Hear exactly what Mata Amritanandamayi has to say: 'Peace is not just the absence of war' and conflict but must be fostered within individual, within family and within society. Simply transferring the world's nuclear weapons to mesuem will not in itself bring about world peace. The nuclear weapon of the Mind must be eliminated.' This suggest that peace is mindset that is achievable through personal unpacking of one's negative thoughts to allow for the cultivation of faith and patience within a challenging world.
Peace is the single most important ambition in life. It is part of this ambition that the scripture in Psalm 34:14-15 (KJV) commands and cautions people everywhere in the world as follows: "Depart from evil, and do good; Seek peace, and pursue it. The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry." These are profound cautionary words of command given that crises, are practically unsettling experiences in life that can be settled through righteous actions and prayers to God.
It is unfortunate that despite the clear and definite instruction for men to pursue peace; the world is in a severe state of jeopardy because men have glaringly chosen to violate the onerous instruction of God. In the pursuit of evil schemes or dessires, people have failed to realise that the solution to world's greatest contradictions cannot be found in any 'theory, philosophy, religion or political agenda, but in a person, a totally unique Person' as expressed by Robert and Janet Dann's praise on the book, 'Storms of the Mind: Freedom is a Choice' which was written by Pusonnam Yiri and published in 2015.
The 'totally unique Person' referred to, in that masterpiece is Jesus Christ whom Isaiah 9:6 (NIV) wrote these prophetic lines about his birth: "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." In other words, peace is in Christ alone. This implies that when men take their eyes off Jesus Christ, troubles overan them!
The causes of conflicts and strife in human societies or nations, also, are summarily and categorically stated in the scriptures. The gospel according to James 1:4 (NLT), for instance, probes: 'What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you?" Certainly, yes! Whenever or where ever there is conflict, check the morality or quality of the desires of its dwelling members. It will be found that some or all of the members are needlessly and irrationally selfish, bias and or corrupt. It is the constructive deconstruction of these triggers that allow for real and sustained peace in any society or nation.
Individuals, families, business organisations and/or nations desire peace but crises in the world are leading people into frustration (Yiri, 2015). The missing link when it comes to the issues of peace and conflict management, especially, in developing countries like Nigeria is that, there is always desiring but no conscious pursuing of peace. The mechanisms for resolving crises or conflict in these climes are lacking in basic ingredients for efficiency and effectiveness.
The attainment of peace is an action packed process which starts with a desire for it. This desire is further backed with deliberate will to pursue peace and, finally, with all men. In other words, peace is achievable through tripate but interdependent functions of desire, will and inclusiveness. Lasting or sustained peace is an action induced desire that does not discriminate. It is a networking enterprise that is sustained by genuine love for self and others as well!
It is germane to not that threat to peace anywhere is threat to peace anywhere. Nobody boasts of peace when his neighbourhood or neighbours are at war. This means that genuine peace or practical war have bumerang effects on man's ecosystem. Every individual action has corporate implications in a world that has been reduced into a global village.
There is no peace in individualism and exclusivity. When people feel marginalised and excused in a family, community or nation, the tendency is to take on destructive measures that all may lose or for the disadvantaged to gain access. If it is ours, then we can protect it together; if I am not involved, then you do not have to present to me about it; if it is ours together but you want to shortchange me, then there shall be no peace in this house. This is the monologue and mindset that characterised the marginalised.
There is no peace in competition but collaboration. Competition breed envy and hatred but collaboration promotes understanding and teamwork. The only caveat is that we don't collaborate or partner in crime or compete perpetrating crime. The only health competition that is allowed is one that is centred on selfless value addition.
There is no peace in social inequality. In Karl Marx's dialectics, all social upheavals stem from class struggle between the rich and the poor. The more a society becomes less stratified or less unequal, the more the chances for peace and tranquility.
There are no peace in poverty. A society or nation whose membership lives in abject poverty is seating on a time bomb. A hungry man, is an angry man, says an old proverb. Therefore, peace building initiatives should be centred around demarketing laziness, free riding, rent seeking and the institution of functional reward system for the society. A balance should be stricken between rewarding hardwork and punishing counter-productive tendencies.
There is peace in work and work in peace; there is dignity in labour and dignity in peace. When people are committed to work and the creation or adding to the value change of society, no one will have the time for conflict. Hence, the peace that comes from the laboratory hypothesis which states that obsession with laboratory activities technically translates into peace, especially why great and novel discoveries are made in the process. Show me idle people and I will show you potential crises merchant in the womb of time.
There is no peace in segregation, stereotyping and prejudices. In the spirit of justice do not label any member of the society; give every one the opportunity to defend himself even when suspected. Do not act blindly but ask questions to be sure. Mark Twain's analogy of the ants drive home the message better.
According to Twain, 'if you collect a 100 black ants and 100 fire ants and put them in a jar, nothing will happen but if you take the jar, shake it violently and keep it on a table, the ant will start killing each other. Red believes the black is the enemy; black believes red is the enemy while the real enemy is the person who shook the jar.' He concluded that same is true of society: Men versus women, black versus white, faith versus science, young versus old, etc. Before we fight each other, we must ask ourselves, who shook the jar?'. This is a profound analogy in costly assumptions and the need to exercise restraint and always ask questions. Doing so will spare innocent persons who would become victims without questions.
To say the least, the world is troubled from every side but not without salient causes which might be remote or immediate. Terrorism and insurgency do not happen; banditry saparatists movements do not occur; poverty or diseases that are ravaging developing countries like Nigeria do not manifest; drug abuse and criminality do not just happen; climate change and environmental pollution do not just occur; corruption and political thuggery do not just happen; the ongoing clash of civilisation or moral war on social media do not emerge; earthquakes and environmental degradations which individually cause pains or crises of mass destruction in parts of the world often have causes that are mainly linked to tendencies of twisted minds and the remedy is to reset or renew the mindsets of men through godly instruction.
The world should learn from the recent miship in Sudan, Ukraine-Russia on the one hand and Nigerian Civil war, Rwandan genocide, Nazism in Germany on the other. Amongst other dehumanising conflicts, the world had bad times with World War I, World War II as well as the contradictions Liberia, Sierra Leone, Democratic Republic of Congo; Kenya, etc. The casualty figures, physical and psychological effects these unsettling and hostile circumstances brought upon the world can only be imagine. Peace we need but war, never. Never again shall innocent men and women be consumed by terror of war(s)!
Now, I can see clearly why the present Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) emphasise on issues of equity, inclusion and ustainability. Any peace that is built on the foundation of trinity shall stand otherwise doomed. With creative inclusiveness; patriotic equity and the commitment to sustain love and unity of purpose, the world shall be a paradise for all.
When good is done, it is not only the end users that benefit but even those that make it happen. When evil is perpetrated, it is not only the victims that suffer but the perpetrators because the evil that men do lives after them. We are either culprits or victims of the contradictions facing the world today. Can we give peace a chance? Yes, we should!
