The
UNESCO Club of Aji Sukai Ndateh Memorial Senior Secondary School at Mile 7
Bakau recently organised a symposium on Peace and Conflict Resolution for its
members.
Participants
at the convergence were drawn from various schools in the Kanifing Municipality
as well as from the University of The Gambia, the Islamic Online University and
the UNESCO Federation Office.
In
his welcoming remarks, Vice Principal of Aji Sukai Ndateh Memorial Senior
Secondary School, Abraham A. Joof, said the symposium came at a better time,
more so on the theme of “Peace and Conflict Resolution”, which is a pertinent
issue for global leaders.
Peace
is everybody’s business and people should spare time and resources to always
maintain it as well as restore it where it has been missing.
Peace
promotes unity among people, Mr Joof said, adding that where there is no peace
there is no progress and development.
He
was quick to add that the symposium was one of a kind and should be utilised by
anyone who wants to enjoy peace.
He
advised the participants to take stock and make use of knowledge gained from
the speakers’ presentations.
“The
school is the best training ground for youngsters who want future leadership
roles,” he said.
For
his part, the coordinator of the UNESCO Club at the school, Mr Yero Mballow
(alias Professor Mballow), thanked participants for being part of the occasion.
Dilating
on the essence of peace and conflict resolution, Mr Mballow said people are at
a crossroads, where “one signpost reads produce and the other reads perish”.
He
disclosed that if people want to enjoy peace they must nurture it just as a
grain is nurtured to grow to maturity.
He
further revealed that for people to live in peace, people must be ready to
establish unity among themselves and work together in harmony.
The
attitude of “racism, tribalism, hatred, Zionism and crimes among people” should
be a thing of the past, he advised.
“We
cannot have peace if we do not encourage unity and mutual cooperation among
ourselves,” Mr Mballow said.
Africa,
he posited, has wallowed in problems and trouble long in enough on the heels of
many conflicts, especially during the last decade.
Africa
has lost billions of dollars and its glory on the altar of war, he said.
He
said that if Africa fails to choose its future then the continent will continue
to live in conflicts.
“Having
wonderful ideas is what we should consider as an essence of intellectual
development,” he concluded.
In
his remarks, Mr Lamin Ceesay, secretary general of the UNESCO Federation of the
Gambia, also spoke at length.
He
said that UNESCO is peace and stands for peace. He disclosed that people should
preach peace everywhere they are so the society can be violence free.
Speakers
on the occasion included Dr Ebrima Drammeh, a former lecturer of the UTG and
GTTI, and Mr Mbassy of Gambia Methodist Academy.
