ICMC state chairman, seeks resolution of conflicts, differences with empathy

Ini Billie, Uyo

The Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators (ICMC), Akwa Ibom State has advocated that justice and equality are made daily realities other than ideologies.

State Chairman, ICMC, Dr Rosalyn Essien, who said the culture of peace and justice must be practically seen in the thoughts, actions and words of people, called for the resolution of conflicts and differences with empathy.

Speaking in Uyo on Monday, 23 September 2024 in commemoration of the International Day of Peace which had the theme, “Cultivating a Culture of Peace”, Essien described peace as a reflection of understanding, respect, and compassion in every aspect of life.

She explained that teaching and living a life of peace would create ripple effects that would impact the world, adding that the future of peace rests on how people are daily treated than on treaties and negotiations.

“Cultivating a culture of peace is a multidimensional approach, integrating social, environmental, economic, and personal development. By addressing root causes of violence and inequality, while promoting respect for human dignity and the planet, societies can move towards lasting peace.

“The ultimate goal is not just to avoid conflict, but to build a resilient foundation where peace becomes ingrained in everyday life through sustainable development, equity, and mutual respect.

“To build a culture of peace, we must begin with ourselves- our thoughts, our actions, and our words. It’s about listening, embracing differences, and resolving conflicts with empathy rather than aggression. It’s about ensuring that justice and equality are not just ideals but lived realities for all.

“I call on each of us to make peace a daily practice. It starts in our homes, our schools, and our communities. When we teach peace live peace and demand peace, we create ripples that can spread across the world.

“Let us remember that the future of peace rests not only in treaties and negotiations but in how we treat one another every day. Together we can cultivate a culture of peace for ourselves and for generations to come”, she stated.

Also speaking, Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Information, Mr Ini Ememobong said peace was relative and dependent on its usage as what would mean peace to one person, would mean something different to another.

Ememobong used the analogy of Europe’s argument for greener energy sources, and wanting Africa to adopt it at a time when the continent was still grappling with how to generate energy from fossil fuel.

He explained that Africa is expected to pay for using expensive green energy, a situation that makes Africa’s development more expensive than that of Europe.

“With climate change can we have peace with the proposition for the mitigation of climate change? When we are saying, let’s look for greener sources of energy and Africa is saying with every other part of the world, use fossil fuel to industrialise and now at the time we are about to get into our industrialisation, you are saying that oh, climate change is happening and we cannot continue to emit and that if we go through the industrialisation phase that we are going to worsen the earth.

“And so the question is, you already went through this path to get to where you are, now we are not allowed to get to this path. And now the cost of clean energy is expensive so the question is, who will pay for this clean energy? Because it now makes Africa’s development more extremely expensive than the European development.

“We are not going to define what peace is and agree globally but when we know peace, we see it; but then the difference is that there are people who achieve peace by inflicting pain on others, so we must again look at the sources of peace.

“The conclusion of attaining global peace is cultivating a culture of peace. Culture is not natural, culture can be learnt, and culture can be unlearnt, and re-learnt. Therefore, I recommend we undertake deeper studies in emotional intelligence because emotional intelligence will come to the rescue in attaining manageable peace.

“Immediately I can understand myself, I can understand my triggers, then I can be able to prevent what someone may do that will hurt me, and I can be able to create fences for myself and avoidance is part of it, and together all of us can live if all of us has emotional intelligence”, he stated.