Insecurity: Corps member establishes peace club in Abuja schools

In a bid to enhance peace and harmony among communities and drive sustainable development in the face of the security challenges facing the country, a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member, Eze Precious Uchechi, has established Peace Club in four secondary schools in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Eze Precious Uchechi, currently serving at the Federal Ministry of Justice, graduated from the University of Nigeria with a Bachelor’s degree in law and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2021.

The idea of establishing Peace Clubs in Abuja schools came as a result of the increase in religious intolerance and violent extremism in Nigeria which in recent times, resulted in outbursts in Sokoto, Owo and Abuja, she stated.

With a keen interest in Public International Law especially Peace, Security, Human Rights and Migration specialisations, Precious explained that her ‘Peace Club for Change Project’ would carve a better future for every child, institutionalise Peace education and contribute immensely to Nigeria’s dire need of sustainable peacebuilding if replicated across the board.

After conducting a needs assessment across ten selected schools in Abuja, Precious narrated that achieving the establishment was rigorous as her application letter to the Secondary Education Board (SEB) was declined but was approved by the Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB) to establish Peace Clubs in four schools namely; Junior Secondary School Kagini, JSS Wuse Zone 2, JSS Narai and JSS Karu.

According to her, the project, which garnered support from family, friends, religious leaders and organisations like; the UNODC,  Actionaid, The Pan African Young Diplomats Forum, Haly Hope Foundation and the Center for Peace Advocacy and Sustainable Development, started with a capacity-building workshop/training for the teachers and student-leads of the clubs to equip them with the knowledge and skill-set to manage the clubs effectively and with minimal supervision.

She noted that the workshop was held between Wednesday and Friday across the four schools with facilitators including a United States Institute for Peace GC Fellow, A senior Lecturer and psychotherapist at Baze University, a Programme Coordinator at Actionaid, a UNODC’s Education for Justice Module Resource Person and an officer at Women in Politics forum.

“On the last day of the training, a Peace Club charter was signed by each school delineating the guiding principles, personal resolutions, aspirations and next action point for Club activities in their respective schools.”

Speaking on a sustainability plan for the project after her service year, the youth corp member assured that her team will continue to “visit each of the schools to observe their club activities in coming months to monitor progress and offer support where required.

“Also, following the completion of my service year, the Pan African Young Diplomats Forum, a non-governmental organisation in which I am a member of the management board, has committed to continue the monitoring and supervision of Club activities,” she added.

The Abuja serving corps member, however, decried the insufficient number of teachers in schools, noting that getting teachers to participate in the teachers’ workshop was difficult as most principals were reluctant, complaining about limited teachers.

Aside from enjoining the government to do more in employing more teachers, Precious believes that the inclusion of Peace education and religious tolerance-related modules into the academic curriculum of secondary schools will go a long way in addressing Nigeria’s security challenges and forestalling extreme religious or violent frictions in the future.