Youth Peace and Nation Building A Proposal for Co-Curricular Activities In Junior and Senior Secondary Schools in Lagos State of Nigeria Presented by African Foundation for Peace and Love Initiatives Introduction and Problem Statement Youth violence is rapidly destroying the fabrics of African communities. In the last 60 years no sub-sector of the African communities has been spared of youth violence. Youth violence comes in various colors and shades, overwhelming and intimidating the authorities.  Youth violence is everywhere: at homes among siblings, in the neighborhoods among the people, on buses and trains, at sport arenas, public places and entertainment houses, but most unfortunately in institutions of learning. The hardest hit sector by youth violence is the schools, and the authorities appear overwhelmed and helpless. At this juncture in the history of youth development in Africa, new leaders must emerge who have the discernment and determination to do something bold, urgent and rapid to curtail youth violence. The call of the problem sounds louder than religious, tribal or political partisanship. This is something on which everyone must work if we want to make a difference. Teachers, parents, religious leaders, the civic society, professionals, business men and women, we all must figure out how to do the work of reorienting our youths from violence to peace, from hatred to love. Youth Violence has a History in Nigeria Up till 1973, schools, colleges, and universities campuses were the most peaceful among Nigerian communities, except for occasional fan-related quarrels occurring during inter-house sports, school competitions, or soccer engagements. Like everything that had a good beginning, students mass rallies were seen as a march of solidarity to demand for amenities such as adequate water supply, uninterrupted electricity, cheap transportation, and good education, etc. Before long every little agitation by the students are often hijacked by cult members and miscreants turning them to large scale, violent and deadly riots, resulting in the lost of lives of several students at their prime age. Throughout the 80s and 90s and even as recently as few months ago, students’ riot continued to be very destructive, targeting teachers and professors, damaging campus facilities such as classrooms, libraries, and school properties, killing fellow students and destroying public and private properties.  The most unfortunate outcome is that it is the students who are losing and their violent agitations hardly make any difference within or outside the campuses. No tangible gains or benefits are derived directly or indirectly from violence in the schools whether for short, mid or long term. The Importance of a Vision Vision is the vehicle of progress and development. A people are doomed when there is no backward, composite or forward looking vision. Africa continued to wallow in chaos, decadence and poverty because the leaders lacked a vision, the followers were bereft of a mission and as a consequence, the youths are disillusioned. Time is on for Africa to birth its own vision, grow its own mission and mastermind its own destiny. The Birth of a New Vision In August of 1996, after a deadly riot involving the students of the Ilaro Polytechnic and the school hosting communities, during which several students were killed, the Lord shared a vision with Reverend Titus K. Oyeyemi, couched in these words: “Africa, the Future Land of Peace.” Upon receiving this divine vision, Reverend Oyeyemi set aside six years to design, develop and plan how to turn the mission into a vision.   After several years of studies and research, Reverend Oyeyemi came to the conclusion that for a lasting peace to come to Africa, every sub-culture of the African communities must be made to receive some element of structured education for peace and encouraged to pursue some social-cultural adjustment programs.  During his research and studies, Reverend Oyeyemi founded the organization African Projects for Peace and Love Initiatives (APPLI) and created a number of channels through which he envisaged that the structured education for peace can be implemented and the socio-cultural adjustments programs can be promoted. The Organization and its Mission APPLI is a grassroots proactive peace organization set up with the objective of promoting ethno religious harmony in Africa through structured education for peace. A 501 c 3 NGO, with its headquarters in the United States of America, APPLI is developing continental Peace chapters throughout Africa. APPLI’s chapter in Nigeria is called African Foundation for Peace and Love Initiatives (AFPLI). AFPLI will be in charge of running the Youth Peace and Nation Building Program in Nigeria’s Jr. and Sr. Secondary Schools, as well as in other grassroots communities, religious and educational institutions in Nigeria. The mission of APPLI is to promote peace as an alternative to war, love as an alternative to hatred, hope as an alternative to despair, and wholeness as an alternative to disease and decay, and most importantly, to give the African peoples the opportunities to take the initiatives for, develop and own their peace efforts. The Core Objective and Mission of the Program The core objective and mission for Youth Peace and Nation Building program is to convert the militant and violent African youths in schools and colleges to peace loving and resourceful youths for nation building, progress and development through the structured education for peace and socio-cultural adjustment programs designed and developed by APPLI. The Channels for Implementing the Program The following are the channels through which AFPLI/APPLI envisioned to accomplish its program of Youth Peace and Nation Building 1.        Forming Peace Clubs in all schools 2.        Conducting individual and intercollegiate seminars, training, workshops and conferences 3.        Organizing extra-mural activities for students 4.        Establishment of Peace Education Centers 5.        Promoting youth economic empowerment programs and developing youths of character, honor,   responsibility and accountability 6.        Teaching African youths how to resolve conflicts peacefully without resorting to violence 7.        Infusing the Youth Peace and Nation Building Curriculum into the existing academic curriculum What we have done i.        The organization has launched more than 35 grassroots peace and love clubs in Nigeria since its inception less than two years ago. ii.        The organization has conducted more than 15 street peace rallies in the Lagos, Ogun, and Ondo States of Nigeria. Our first street peace rallies were conducted to encourage the peaceful elections of April 2003. iii.        The organization is working with various universities in Nigeria to launch their peace clubs. We have launched peace clubs in the following schools:         Olabisi Onabanjo University Ago Iwoye, Ogun State         Federal University of Technology, Akure in Ondo State         Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, Ondo state,         Single Gate Nursery and Primary School, Akowonj, Lagos State         Pentecostal Children School, Dopemu Agege,  Lagos State iv.        The organization has designed and developed two major curriculums         A 40-course post-secondary peace curriculum entitled “Equipping the New African Peacebuilder”         A 52-lesson curriculum entitled “Youth Peace and Nation Building for Jr. and Sr. Secondary Schools”         We are also building a library of resources and engaging in network activities with existing institutions, NGOs, community and religious leaders.         We are also building international working relationships to make our work conform to international standards. v.        In collaboration with the Federal University of Technology Akure, APPLI has inaugurated a steering committee to work on how its Youth Economic Empowerment Program will take off. vi.        The organization as a faith-base, distributes symbolic peace items such as peace t-shirts to make the faith confession for Africa Future Land of Peace a public slogan. Types of Peace Clubs Launched by APPLI/AFPLI 1.        The KAIROS Peace Clubs for schools, colleges and universities 2.        The KAYERO Peace Clubs for religious and community institutions 3.        The African children of Peace Clubs for kindergarten, nursery/primary schools 4.        The Youth for Peace Alliance Clubs (YPAC) for secondary schools 5.        The New World Peace Legacy Clubs 6.        The Intercessors for Peace Club The Prospects of the Clubs Our approach to school and campus peace is unique in itself. Instead of confrontation, we are introducing dialogue. Instead of escalating conflict, we are de-escalating conflicts. We take proactive steps to promote campus peace. The students that have become members of our peace clubs have expressed satisfaction with the approach. The teachers and the professors have embraced it and are prepared to support its growth and continuity on their campuses. Through the clubs we have reached out to future generations of leaders of Africa to cultivate a new lifestyle of peace as against the erroneous inclination to use violence to settle all conflicts. The clubs have a great future not only for the schools and their students but for the society at large. Since all the sub-cultures and sub-sectors of the communities are involved, we hope that we will all be working together to achieve one goal: A Future Africa Land of Peace. The Call for Change Everyone knows that a change is over due for Africa. But no-one knows where to begin. Change is not bliss because it demands a price and a sacrifice. However, if any people can endure the anguish of change and pay the price for development, change will usher in for them a new world. At personal level, the key to successful living is continuous personal change. At societal level, change calls for socio-cultural adjustments. For change to come leaders in every sector of the society must embrace a vision for change and their behavior must reflect a transformational paradigm. Everyone must be prepared to contribute behaviors and lifestyles that will encourage, promote and enhance change. The need for change cannot be externalized; it has to start with the inner convictions of the individual. A Proposal for Change The information contained in this presentation is not a case study. It is a proposal and an aid memoir for youth peace and nation building. It is also a tool for change. However, to make this proposal an effective tool for change, various pedagogical approaches will be employed. Participants in the programs being promoted through this proposal will engage in extra-mural activities, role plays, case studies, youth peace and nation building, youth economic empowerment projects, leadership training, career counseling, character development, building the body, soul and spirit, learning positive peer pressure tactics, information technology and globalization, creativity and innovation, and most importantly, character. Phases of Implementation We will discuss the phases of the implementation of this program as far as Junior and Senior Secondary Schools are concerned in the following paragraphs. Phase 1- Preparatory Stage Develop the necessary internal capacities; create teachers and students’ awareness; secure teachers and students participations; generate parental and public supports. During this stage club constitutions will be reviewed to reflect or accommodate any suggestions by teachers, students, parents, and other interested parties in the community. A thorough examination of materials and resources will be done and teachers will be asked to volunteer to train in their use and application. Teachers and facilitators’ training will be discussed under a special heading. Phase 2 – Starting the Peace Clubs Starting the grassroots peace clubs and conducting the awareness street peace rallies. Adequate planning will go into the launching of the grassroots peace clubs in the schools. Since AFPLI/APPLI has launched many peace clubs at institutions of higher learning and at privately owned lower schools such as kindergartens, nurseries, primaries and secondary schools, there is ample experience to draw from. Phase 3 – Putting the Clubs to Work The ultimate objective of AFPLI/APPLI is to promote the formation of clusters of peace clubs in each School District, that is each school in the district will eventual have its own peace club. With the establishments of these clusters of peace clubs, it will be possible to promote separate and group activities for individual or group of schools, both at District and State Levels. APPLI will present to each school District a draft time- table of its scheduled programs and would request for comments and responses. The program will include extra-mural activities, lectures, workshops, seminars and conferences. Leaders in all sectors of the society: working and retired teachers, government officials, businessmen and women, religious leaders, the police and royal fathers, and professionals in youth peace, mediation and conflict resolutions will be engaged as resources during workshops, conferences, and seminars. Phase 4 – Infusing our Peace Curriculum into the Existing Academic Curriculum This is the ultimate goal of APPLI in the presentation of the structured education for peace. To achieve this goal, necessary enabling environments would have to be created. A number of building blocks and step by step events that will lead to this achievement have been conceptualized. A 52 weeks lesson entitled “Youth Peace and Nation Building” has been developed which students of Junior and Senior secondary can do on weekly basis the same way as sex and health education. To prepare professional teachers for this purpose, a post-secondary peace academy has been conceived, and the 40-course curriculum entitled “Equipping New African Peace builder” that would be taught at the academy has already been designed and developed. Preparation is at a high level to start the post-secondary peace academy. Pending the time when the peace academy will graduate its first students, short term training will be conducted for teachers and other volunteers engaged in the youth peace and nation building program. Modalities for Implementation The following items might constitute the preliminary discussions: i.        Review of the constitution and other conceptual materials ii.        Determining the roles of school administrators and faculties (teachers) iii.        Creating the necessary awareness iv.        Designing and developing the necessary time-schedules v.        Starting the peace clubs Methods of Implementation As usual a working committee will be commissioned between AFPLI/APPLI and the School District Authority. This working committee will work through the modalities for implementation and submit a report. The report when approved by a majority of the working committee and where necessary the body of teachers, parents, governments and interested members of the public will become the implementation working paper. Cluster of Peace Clubs and Teachers’ Involvements The idea, as mentioned above is to establish a cluster of peace clubs in each School District with every school having its own peace clubs, its own activities, its own facilitators and leaders. However, the clubs will run similar programs. To ensure smooth running of the programs, each school will have to assign teachers to the preliminary training programs. The working committee will work with AFPLI/APPLI in formulating the time schedule for the necessary training programs. Funding the Program AFPLI/APPLI is a 501 c 3 NGO and as such will depend on donations received from members of the public, grants, foundations, governments, etc. to finance this program. Call for Support No matter how good a vision is, it cannot survive unless everyone decided to give it a chance by believing the vision and participating in the vision. We are using this opportunity to solicit the total support of your School District to make this program a success not only in your District, but in other Districts as well. We wish to impress it upon everyone that we are a young organization. Just as any young baby needs to be nurtured and accommodated, we appeal to the larger society to please give us a chance to prove ourselves. We promise you that we will not let you down. Any confidence reposed in us will be adequately reciprocated. Please click here for implementing training for launching of Y-PAC and staffing structure for Y- PAC. Eniola Ogundipe, (B.Sc. Town Planning and Urban Development) National Secretary, AFPLI (Oct. 26, 2005)