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Nigeria to sustain promotion of Commonwealth ideas

By Kanayo Umeh, Abuja
14 March 2017   |   1:57 am
As Nigeria joins 52 other member nations to commemorate the 2017 Commonwealth Day, the Federal Government says it will continue to promote the ideas of the organisation.

Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu

Queen highlights ‘cornerstones’ for peace
As Nigeria joins 52 other member nations to commemorate the 2017 Commonwealth Day, the Federal Government says it will continue to promote the ideas of the organisation.

The Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, at the Commonwealth Day Celebration in Abuja, yesterday, maintained that Nigeria, in the last couple of years, had tried to maintain core values of Commonwealth nations, which were peace, fairness and equity.

The minister maintained that the Commonwealth has proved an effective partnership for development for member-nations.

He said: “The commitment to the idea of the Commonwealth has proved deep and deep-seated and long-standing more because of what it promises than the benefits that can be seen or felt.’’

Adamu noted that the theme of this year’s celebration: “A peace-building Commonwealth,” embraces strategies for peace-building and member nation’s commitment and undertaking to build and sustain a more peaceful and more stable world.

“Improving human security is the main task of peace-building; and this can only come from the cooperative efforts of different actors and stakeholders in government and civil society organization’s, at the international community, state, national and international levels to address the causes for the absence of peace and to ensure that life is lived in freedom from fear of any kind.’’

In her annual message to the Commonwealth, the Queen and Head of Commonwealth highlighted respect and understanding between nations as the key to peace.

“The cornerstones on which peace is founded are, quite simply, respect and understanding for one another. Working together, we build peace by defending the dignity of every individual and community.

“By upholding justice and the rule of law, and by striving for societies that are fair and offer opportunities for all, we overcome division and find reconciliation, so that the benefits of progress and prosperity may be multiplied and shared.

“As members of the Commonwealth family, we can find much to be thankful for in the inheritances we have received from those who came before us. Through consensus and co-operation, great things have been achieved,” she stated.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives yesterday pledged its determination to improving the welfare of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the country.

The lawmakers also expressed willingness to initiate policies that would protect and enhance the living conditions of children across the country.

The Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara stated this in Abuja when the leadership of the National Assembly met with pupils of the “School Without Walls’’ drawn from the four IDP camps in Abuja.

The pupils, numbering 657, who had come to mark the 2017 Commonwealth Day with the legislature, are among thousands that have in recent years been affected by insurgents’ activities in the northeastern part of the country.

The Speaker advised the pupils to dedicate themselves to the promotion of peace in the country, irrespective of their ages, saying that the future of the country lay in their hands.

He expressed concern that recent killings, kidnapping, inter communal clashes, terrorism and militancy recorded in the country had militated against a peaceful society.

Earlier, the Clerk to the National Assembly, Mr. Mohammed Sani-Omolori noted that the day was set aside by the United Nations to preach and promote tolerance among children of the world.

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