UN Lacks Mechanism for Preventing Conflicts, Varsity Don Claims

Seriki Adinoyi in Jos

Professor of Comparative Literature, University of Jos (UNIJOS), Jeff Doki yesterday claimed that the United Nations lacked effective mechanisms for preventing conflict and war.

Consequently, Doki urged the federal government to expand the academic curriculum for Conflict Management and Peace Studies in universities to include other attributes like love, mercy, and forgiveness.

He made the suggestions at the institution’s 107 inaugural lecture titled, ‘Poetry and Global Peace’ held at the university’s main campus.

At the lecture, Doki explained that the failure of the United Nations to effectively respond to war and genocide and the Cold War to provide peace dividends since the 1990s have made it apparent that the existing mechanisms for preventing war and conflict were inadequate or non-existent. 

He said the curriculum for conflict management and peace studies “should be expanded to include other attributes of Peace like love, mercy, and forgiveness.

“It is not enough to teach university students principles and traditional approaches like mediation, negotiation, arbitration, and international law.

“It is also inadequate to lay emphasis only on 21st-century approaches like humanitarian intervention, preventive diplomacy and peacekeeping.

“In schools, colleges, and our communities, citizens should be encouraged to know that today the whole concept of security and peace has been expanded to mean the individual and his community as well as his environment. In other words, we can create a peaceful environment for ourselves.

“We should encourage our students and children to develop a reading culture. Our growth as a nation retarded and stagnated because we don’t have a reading culture. What we have in Nigeria is a television and football-watching culture.

“It is only when we read that we’ll discover the beauty of poetry as a perennial source of joy and a viable instrument for the resolution of conflicts in society. 

“It seems clear to me that in Nigeria we develop the leg and not the head. A footballer who wins a trophy is rewarded by the president with a mansion in the FCT Abuja but a first-class graduate does not enjoy even the small benefit of a handshake with a minister at a convocation ceremony.”

Doki said that since the global community and Cold War have failed to effectively respond to war and genocide since the 1990s, it was apparent that the existing mechanisms for preventing war/conflict were inadequate or non-existent. 

At the lecture, the Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Tanko Yusuf, who was represented by his deputy, Prof. Joash Amupitan commended the Lecturer for doing justice to the topic, affirming that in spite of diverse languages, cultures, laws, and traditions, poets can unite the vast expanse of human society through their passion and understanding.