Honourable Yakubu Dogara, Speaker, House of Representatives has said that Nigeria must win the war against violence in order to attain full civilisation.
Dogara stated this on Friday in Jos at the annual cultural festival of Berom people of Plateau known as the “Nzem Berom”.
The Speaker who was the chairman of the event said that the violence confronting the country must be stopped at all cost.
He said “I have said it many times, we cannot afford to lose the fight against violence and still keep our civilisation.
“Any nation that has lost the fight against violence, has always lost its civilisation.
“Take the situation with the Northeast where I come from, as an example, there are communities where you can’t find anything as representatives of the government.
“Police stations are gone. Roads, buildings, hospitals and schools have all been destroyed.
“How long it is going to take us before we even get back to the position where we were prior to the breakout of violence?”
Dogara noted that he had reflected long on the issues pertaining to the violence in the country, and discovered that most Nigerians dwell on errors, which serve as fuel for violence.
The speaker said that for instance, there was an error that tells us that a whole ethnic group could just be wiped out.
According to him, any person who utilises his senses should know that it is highly impossible to talk of just wiping out an ethnic group, except the God that created them decides to wipe them out Himself.
“I have also heard of the error that stipulates that violence can be cured by more violence.
“There has never been a conflict in the world, not even where the best of the war machines are used, that the weapons of war were thought to have resolved and brought peace.
“Peace has always been obtained at the table of brotherhood. So that is another error.
“We can defeat violence in Nigeria, if we are determined to do so and we have the leaders who are willing to do so.
“It is also an error to say that some people are being killed because of cattle rustling.
In a goodwill message for the festival, which attracted different tribes within and outside Plateau, Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Solomon Dalung, commended Berom nation for a befitting cultural festival.
Dalung also tasked the people on unity, saying that Plateau was known for peace and hospitality.
“Our ancestors were peaceful people. Our ancestors were hospitable people and that was why they succeeded in all that they were doing.
“For us, present leaders, we must invest our time and energy in promotion and protection of people of Plateau,” he said.
The minister added that the leaders, particularly politicians, would disappoint the people and God if they could not unite and proffer solutions to the challenges bedeviling the state and country.
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