Violence Not An Option, U.S. Right Group Tells Nigerian Youths

By Oluwatope Lawanson, Lagos

A U.S.-based Human Right Movement, the A.D. King Foundation on Tuesday, advised Nigerian youths not to lose hope in the transformation of Nigeria, saying violence should not be an option.

The Chief Executive Officer of the foundation, Prof. Babs Onabanjo made the submission in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

Onabanjo said that the change the youths desired could be achieved in a non-violent form a campaign that the foundation had been pursuing.

“It is sad that Nigerian youths have been asking questions which there seems there are not answers to, but the fact is that the answer is not in one person’s hand to provide.

“If there is crisis or the crisis persists, what we should do is to seek for the solution and I am sure that there is hope for Nigeria.

“Our young leaders must have hope and not resort to violence; they should know that the hope will be challenged by their sacrifice and commitment to being good and doing the right thing.
“It is essential for the leaders to have followers, therefore, they must have integrity and influence.

“They must be able to communicate and persuade people in a reasonable way without resorting to violence,” he said.
Onabanjo said that some countries in the world had achieved greatness out of their problems without resorting to violence, a virtue Nigerian youths should emulate.

“Dr Martin Luther King said “Peace is not an absent of conflict, but the presence of Justice where there is no justice, there won’t be peace.

“The change our youths so desire can be achieved without violence because violence will not bring the right result, the youths need to appeal to other consciences to get result.

“The Civil Right Movement in the U.S., did not achieve their results through violence, also the Berlin Walls crumbled without violence, so also the Apartheid regime in South Africa collapsed without shooting a gun.

“We should not lose hope yet although things seem not right, we should concentrate and believe that we will get it right; also our youths should engage the leaders constructively and positively”, he said.

A.D. King Foundation Inc., is a non-violent conflict resolution entity formed to revolutionise the mindset, attitude and behaviour that promote violence and war with non-violent principles, methods and direct actions.

The mission is to promote youth empowerment development and non-violent social change strategies as a way of life throughout the world.(NAN)