By Angela Atabo
The Universal Peace Federation (UPF), has called for collaboration between governments at all levels, clerics and other stakeholders to foster peaceful coexistence and religious tolerance for national development.
Rev. George Ogurie, Sub regional President UPF West Africa, made the call during a peace road walk to mark the 2024 United Nations Day of the victims of Acts of Violence based on Religion or belief.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN),reports that the peace walk was done in over 120 countries around the world to mark the 12th anniversary of the founder of UPF, Dr Sun Myung Moon, a peace advocate.
Ogurie, who is also the African Regional Coordinator for the Interreligious Association for Peace and Development (IAPD), spoke on “Creating a National Environment for Peace, Unity, Development”.
According to him, UPF gathered religious leaders to spur discussions on ways to address disunity and religious conflict.
He said that religious intolerance had led to a lot of deaths, thus the need to address it collectively by governemnt and clerics.
“So many times those victims are innocent people who are just taken advantage of.
“So, the commemoration by the United Nations to think about those who are victims of conflicts arising from religious intolerance is to call the attention of religious leaders, and even politicians.
“Many times political people actually use religion to advance their own causes.
“This is to call their attention that taking advantage of something that is sacred for their own personal gains is an ill wind that does not blow any good,” he said.
Ogurie called for the adoption of the International Peace Highway, as proposed by Moon, for regional and global peace integration.
Also speaking, Simeon Uwa, Executive Secretary of the International Summit Council for Peace (ISCP)-Africa, said that the walk was a symbolism of oneness and peaceful integration.
Uwa said that the founder of UPF believed that if the world was connected by roads and bridges, it would be harmonious for people to live peacefully with one nother.
“That was a way of eliminating violence from among people.
“This resonates with the world we have today which is emerged in conflicts.
“So if we aspire to live harmoniously with one another, eliminating issues of tension, we can actually achieve mileage in terms of development ” Uwa said.
Mrs Joy Fan, FCT Coordinator for UPF Nigeria, said that UPF was collaborating with religious leaders to drive the message of hope so that it could cascade down to members.
“UPF decided to collaborate with religious organisation to teach the tenants of peace.
“We believe that we are one human being under God; one global universe under God so religion should not bring us conflict,” he said.
Dr George Ikpot, the Secretary-General of UPF Nigeria , called on the government and religious leaders to synergise and proffer solutions to religious intolerance.
NAN reports the event, with the theme“Religion and the Creation of World Peace” gathered government officials, religious leaders, security agencies among others to spur commitment on peacebuilding. (NAN)
