The Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR) says it will collaborate with stakeholders in the education sector to make youths to embrace peace in the country, using poetry and short storybooks.
The Director-General, IPCR, Mr Bakut Bakut disclosed this during a news briefing on Wednesday in Abuja
According to him, the project is in partnership with stakeholders in peace and education sector tagged: “Poetry and Short Story: Youths and Peace Building in Nigeria”.
He said that the project was designed to inculcate the culture of peaceful coexistence in the minds and thoughts of youths and also as part of the efforts of mainstreaming peace into the secondary schools’ curriculum.
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According to him, the project is also to provide a platform for attitudinal change from the culture of violence to the culture of peace, especially among Nigeria youths in the secondary schools using poetry and short stories.
“To build the spirit of patriotism, solidarity, love, forgiveness, understanding and tolerance in the hearts and minds of students in secondary schools across Nigeria using poetry and short stories.
“To raise a generation of peacebuilders from the secondary schools level by propagating the tenets of the culture of peace using the instrumentation of poetry and short stories,” he said.
Bakut explained that the competition was opened to all Nigerians to produce poetry and short stories on peace targeting secondary schools across the country.
He listed the objectives of the project to include: nationwide literary competition on poetry and short storybooks for secondary schools.
Also, there will be a conference on youths, peace and security and public presentation of the books and award to winners in each category, and advocacy on the inclusion of the books in the secondary school curriculum.
Bakut said that the institute has a link with the Federal Ministry of Education on the project, adding that it would be carried out together and would be inculcated into the secondary school curriculum.
He added that the poetry and short stories would also be made available online to ensure all youths have access to it.
According to him, there is a plan to produce same or drama for primary school pupils in 2020 and also produce for tertiary institutions in 2021.
He said that the submission of entry would run from Aug.28 to Oct.19, 2019 through IPCR website (www.ipcr.gov.ng).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the first, second and third winners of the competition would part with N250, 000, N200, 000 and N150, 000 respectively for poetry and same for short stories.
Mr Andy Nkemneme, Chairman, Poetry and Short Stories for Peacebuilding Committee, said the institute plans to catch them young by putting into the education system poetry books on peace.
“Our target is to see if we can put peace books into our curriculum.
“We need to start talking to them at their young age so they do not become a recruitment ground for insurgency, cultism and various vices in the country,” he said.’
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