INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE 2024

Theme: Cultivating a Culture of Peace

Date: September 19 - 21, 2024

Time: 10:00 AM

Venue: University Auditorium

“The attitude of gratitude takes you to the altitude” – Vice Chancellor, Prof Mahfouz Adedimeji lectures on peace.

Commemorating the United Nations International Day of Peace on September 19th - 21st, 2024, the Vice Chancellor of the African School of Economics, Abuja, delivered a lecture at the university where he sued for peaceful co-existence among Nigerians.

The three-day event with the theme "Cultivating a Culture of Peace" and the sub-theme "Build Bridges, Break Barriers", featured an opening-day lecture by Professor Olusola Timothy Babatunde on what he titled, ‘The Might of Peace.’

Professor Babatunde noted that peace is not the absence of conflict but the ability to create a synthesis by fusing a thesis with an antithesis. Among other things, he highlighted patience, positive thinking, and the literal and metaphorical ability to understand each other’s languages, as the essentials of maintaining peace in diversity.

The Vice Chancellor, Prof. M.A Adedimeji, chairing day two, dissected the culture of peace from a political, sociological, philosophical, and religious perspective. He opined that love, gratitude, empathy, attitude, respect among other things are the primary pillars in cultivating a culture of peace.

Citing examples from the “Window and Mirror” theory, and the “Boiling Frog” theory, he analysed Nigeria’s political blame game and how it has failed to produce tangible results over the years. He asserted that the onus is on everyone to look inward for a way to create peace and better society. Participants of the commemorative lecture were encouraged to reflect on the concept of peace and its relevance in their daily lives.

Day three of the event, September 21, 2024, featured a walk for peace by participants at their preferred locations, a symbolic gesture of commitment to building a more peaceful world.

The International Day of Peace continues to serve as a reminder of the collective responsibility we all share to work towards a more harmonious and equitable future for all.

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