A very great key for building up an environment free from war. An important thing that destroys anything war-related. A great factor that helps in building up a society free from conflict. It improves, promotes and helps in the growth of a place. It is peace.
Peace, according to Oxford English Dictionary can be simply defined as the freedom from war or disturbance. It also means the freedom from hostile aggression. Albert Einstein said, that peace cannot be kept by force, it can only be achieved by understanding.
It is everyone’s right as a citizen of a country to experience peace. This is a right that is constitutionally allowed and like the other human rights, the government must make sure it is enjoyed by every citizen. It has great importance on both the well-being of the people and the country itself.
The right to peace determines if all other rights will be enjoyed by the citizens. Peace is the climate of freedom. People living in a non-peaceful society can’t enjoy the freedom of movement, speech and even the right to life. They might get killed at any time thereby breaching the right to life.
However, the health status of a person can be determined from how peaceful the environment he/she lives is. A person living in a place where there is war can have hypertension or even mental illness. Fear will definitely find a place in the heart of the person. Both the northern and southern parts of this country, Nigeria, have not being experiencing peace. The northern part has turned to the abode of the Boko Haram insurgency. Though, some measures have been taken by the government, but it was after a lot of havoc has been caused. The herdsmen are also saying ‘No’ to peace by disturbing the farmers in the southern part, thereby bringing about death and illness to some of the farmers.
Similarly, the level of migration of people and even companies into the country or out of the country can only be determined by how peaceful the country is. A country that hasn’t experienced war in more than five years will be the settlement of a lot of people and the country will develop. Countries like Iraq, Syria and a lot of other countries that are not very peaceful are decreasing in population.
Moreover, some factors are reasons why citizens are been deprived of their right to peace. Military government doesn’t give chance for peace at all. Military leaders punish the citizens without doing anything. They make sure there is fear in the heart of the citizens. They kill the citizens sometimes if they fail to obey their bad rules.
Similarly, corruption among the political leaders has brought about the citizens been deprived of their right to peace. A lot of citizens fear every time an election is to be conducted. A free and fair election has become war. Kidnapping and killing of people during election and even after has turned to a routine for the bloody politicians thereby depriving the citizens of their rights.
Nevertheless, if the right to peace of the people is to be properly enjoyed, there should be peaceful co-existence between everybody in the society. Everybody should love his/her neighbor as his/herself. If this is done by all the people, peace will definitely reign. The rest is up to the government to execute. Anybody caught disrupting the peaceful environment should be properly dealt with, military government should not be allowed and corruption among the political leaders should be eradicated completely. It’s my right, it’s your right, we want peace.