Leadership (Abuja)
Prince Charles Dickson
15 November 2008
Abuja — The federal government has called on the media to promote peace and understanding among all faiths to prevent defamation of religious and cultural values.
Permanent representative to the UN, Amb. Bukun-Olu Onemola said yesterday at the UN, "We believe that the media should assist in building a culture of peace by targeting programmes that promote peace, religious tolerance and dialogue,"
Onemola made this known at the just concluded UN General Assembly high-level meeting on"Culture of Peace", which centred on inter-faith dialogue. The meeting was initiated by King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with the aim of deepening dialogue among cultures and religions.
He said Nigeria believed that the strategy for building a culture of peace should focus on multifaceted and broad parameters, including the promotion of understanding of each other's ways of life and resolving ongoing conflicts.
He called for a concerted effort in developing institutional frameworks and relevant capacities for peace initiatives, as well as mobilising resources at national and regional levels for peaceful coexistence.
The ambassador called for "continuous inter and intra faith organisations'meetings and periodic seminars on topical issues in order to eliminate intolerance, disunity, conflicts and violence".
He also told the gathering that the federal government had established the Nigerian Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) with the mandate of promoting and fostering understanding among major religious groups.
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