Immediate past Vice President and former First Lady of the Republic of Liberia, Dr. Jewel Howard-Taylor has disclosed what Nigeria’s former President Olusegun Obasanjo said about 21 years ago that she still lives by today.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Dr. Howard-Taylor to have made the disclosure on Monday in Abuja at the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the African First Ladies Peace Mission (AFLPM) and the Mediation Training Institute (MTI) – Nigeria.
“In 2003 when he came to negotiate peace for Liberia, in the midst of everyone talking about what they wanted and what they needed, His Excellency, former President Olusegun Obasanjo made just a simple statement.
“The simple statement made by former President Olusegun Obasanjo has stayed with me my entire life. He said, in the midst of all of the noise, that without peace, there can be no development.
“The development and a better way of life is what we actually seek. If we want development and a better way of life, then, we must all work for peace, which is a necessary precursor of national and personal development,” Howard-Taylor said.
TNG reports AFLPM (Mission de Paix des Premieres Dames D’Afrique, MIPREDA in French), was established in 1995 to promote peace and harmony in Africa, after the Beijing Conference on Women in Beijing, China.
Speaking on the rationale behind the MoU signing with MTI-Nigeria, Howard-Taylor, who is Secretary General of AFLPM-MIPREDA, said: “There is a need that we have to make sure that people are trained. Mediation, peace-keeping and sustaining the peace are skills.
“The skills that we will be learning as a part of our serious collaboration with the MTI and all of our other members, we are promising you that it will not just be another signing of an MoU. We had so many ideas before we got to this point”.
Speaking further, she said: “At the home front is where it begins. If a home is a home of love, empathy, discussions and hope; if everyone has people coming out from that home, who are now peace-keepers, society will be better. The message of peace should be taken to the grassroots level. We will use a lot of digital ways to do that because that is the best way to get into every home.
“But we must work together to ensure that the mentality of 62% of our young people is changed. We want a better life. We want an Africa that we can be proud of. All of us must work together to ensure the Africa we desire, for indeed without peace, there can be no development”.
TNG reports Vice President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Female Parliamentary Association (ECOFEPA), Senator Biodun Olujimi was present at the MoU signing ceremony between AFLPM-MIPREDA and MTI-Nigeria.
Also present at the ceremony are Amb. Segun Ogunyanwo, President, MTI-Nigeria; Sir (Dr) Patrick Coker, Board Member, MTI-Nigeria; Amb. Matthew Alao, UNDP Team Lead, Governance, Peace & Security; Mr Jide Ojo, Public Affairs Analyst, Dr Rosemary Chikwendu, and amongst others.