Recovering Better For An Equitable And Sustainable World -By Funmilayo Adesanya-Davies

KEYNOTE ADDRESS DELIVERED ON THE THEME “RECOVERING BETTER FOR AN EQUITABLE AND SUSTAINABLE WORLD” BY BISHOP AMB. FUNMILAYO ADESANYA-DAVIES ON THE OCCASION OF INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE / APPOINTMENT AND PRESENTATION OF CERTIFICATES TO UN-POLAC INTERNATIONAL PEACE ADVOCATES, ON TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 21ST, 2021 AT LAGOS AIRPORT HOTEL, IKEJA, LAGOS, NIGERIA

0.0 PROTOCOL

Chief Host; Prof. Obong Halo B. Eton, Director General, UN-POLAC,
Host; Country President, UN-POLAC,
Chairman of the Occasion; Arakunrin Olurotimi Odurayo Akeredolu
Executive Governor of Ondo State
Special Guest of Honour; Mr. William Tsuma, Nigeria Crises Preventor
and Recovery Advisor, UNDP
Traditional Rulers, Lord Spiritual and Temporal,
Government Officials, Distinguished Entrepreneurs,
Ladies and gentlemen &
The Gentlemen Press.

1.0 OPENING AND GREETINGS

It is my honour and pleasure again to address us all at another auspicious occasion of the 2021 INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE / APPOINTMENT AND PRESENTATION OF CERTIFICATES TO NEW UN-POLAC INTERNATIONAL PEACE ADVOCATES WITH THE THEME: “RECOVERING BETTER FOR AN EQUITABLE AND SUSTAINABLE WORLD.
Again, today is also a special day of honour and privilege to me, as my day of DECORATION, CELEBRATION AND SWEARING-IN ON MY APPOINTMENT AS THE NEWLY APPOINTED COUNTRY PRESIDENT OF UN-POLAC. I say a big thank you, to the POLAC LION, Prof. Obong Halo B. Eton, Director General, for the opportunity to be of service to mankind in this great United Nations (UN) project capacity.

The high turn out at this event, in spite of the 3rd. wave of COVID-19 pandemic (The Delta Variant), right here in Ikeja, Lagos, from all over the nation is a clear proof of the commitment of UN-POLAC Peace Advocates to participate in worthy developmental efforts of national and international concern. It is a proof that the dignified Peace Advocates in Nigeria are concerned and resilient at solving insurgency, insecurity and peace related problems through advocacy; that hold promise for improving the lot of our citizenry, in the nation, particularly in this time of general national economic down tone, distress/unrest in Africa and the world in general in the face of on-going COVID-19 pandemic. It would soon be history.

The THEME: “RECOVERING BETTER FOR AN EQUITABLE AND SUSTAINABLE WORLD” you will all agree IS RIGHTLY CHOSEN FOR THIS YEAR’S INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE / APPOINTMENT AND PRESENTATION OF CERTIFICATES TO UN-POLAC INTERNATIONAL PEACE ADVOCATES in this notable season.

2.0 INTRODUCTION
Ladies and Gentlemen: It’s time for us all as individuals, nations and continents of the world to focus our lives and societies on the choiced theme by the UN for 2021 INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE: “RECOVERING BETTER FOR AN EQUITABLE AND SUSTAINABLE WORLD”. So that all as individuals, and our world has missed and lost over the years could be recovered again by the special grace of God in Christ.

3.0 BACKGROUND
The Sustainable Development Goals
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals, were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity. The 17 SDGs are integrated—they recognize that action in one area will affect outcomes in others, and that development must balance social, economic and environmental sustainability.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were born at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro in 2012. The objective was to produce a set of universal goals that meet the urgent environmental, political and economic challenges facing our world. The SDGs replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which started a global effort in 2000 to tackle the indignity of poverty. The MDGs established measurable, universally-agreed objectives for tackling extreme poverty and hunger, preventing deadly diseases, and expanding primary education to all children, among other development priorities.

There are currently 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which have replaced the former Millennium Development Goals (MDGs):
1. NO POVERTY
2. ZERO HUNGER
3. GOOD HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
4. QUALITY EDUCATION
5. GENDER EQUALITY
6. CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION
7. AFFORDABLE AND CLEAN ENERGY
8. DECENT WORK AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
9. INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE
10. REDUCED INEQUALITIES
11. SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND COMMUNITIES
12. RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION
13. CLIMATE ACTION
14. LIFE BELOW WATER
15. LIFE ON LAND
16. PEACE, JUSTICE AND STRONG INSTITUTIONS
17. PARTNERSHIPS FOR THE GOALS
We will observe these are very cogent and relevant goals. Thanks and kudos to the United Nations.

4.0 CURRENT ISSUES AND SITUATIONS
I intend to focus on issue No 16, PEACE, JUSTICE AND STRONG INSTITUTIONS, which is the primary concern of the UN-POLAC INTERNATIONAL PEACE ADVOCATES, as well as, the current burning issue in our country, continent and the entire globe. In line with the current situation, the President, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has raised his fears in the past few weeks, that with the United States’ pull-out from Afghanistan and the subsequent takeover of power by the Taliban, Africa has automatically become ‘the new frontline of terror and global militancy’. Adding that, “For Africa to defeat the growing terrorism on its soil, the president argued, it would require more than US military aid but the entire world coming together for its sake. President Buhari stated this in an article published in the Financial Times of London on Sunday.
Further, in the words of President Buhari, “the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic had provided some form of oxygen for insurgents to sustain their hostilities globally, reiterating that, “Africa’s fight against terror is the world’s fight.” However, in the same breath, he similarly expressed optimism that Africa would defeat the terrorist, “one highway, one rail link — and one job — at a time.” As he called for global action, warning that sooner or later, the reverberations would be felt beyond Africa.

I want to seize this opportunity to affirm today, and allay the fears of the President, “that there would be no such terror and militancy Islamist take over, either in Nigeria or Africa, we the Peace Advocates believe. Rather, there would be peace in our borders and all over the continent, as we plan to fully restructure and regionalise Nigeria as soon as possible by the special grace of the Almighty God.”

Practically, in order to combat insecurity and injustice finally from the root in our nation Nigeria, I would sincerely advice that ”Mr. President yields to the various calls of the citizenry that have called for restructuring. The President will need to exercise the will power to restructure and regionalise Nigeria and there shall be love, peace, unity and progress again. It’s time to compartmentalise this nation, decentralise it, it’s time to regionalise it for our good! We can even consider a name, such as “UNITED NATIONS OF NIGERIA” (UNN), consisting of FIVE (5) UNITED NATIONS OF NIGERIA, as we had three regions in the past, namely:
(1) ODUDUWA YORUBA REPUBLIC
(2) AREWA ISLAMIC REPUBLIC
(3) MIDDLE-BELT REPUBLIC
(4) BIAFRA CHRISTIAN REPUBLIC
(5) NIGER DELTA REPUBLIC

This does not stop us from retaining the mega and merger name, NIGERIA. Mere constitution review cannot manage the issues in the Country as it stands now, I opine in the face of this current insurgency the nation is going through. It’s time to give the Nation, Nigeria a new and complete face lift because “a little leaven, they say, leavens all.”

5:0 DISCUSSION
We would recall the International Terror Index has described Nigeria’s Boko Haram and Fulani Militias in Nigeria as the first and fourth “deadliest terrorist organisations in the world” respectively. ‘Nigeria cited as the Most Dangerous Place to live in the World’, says US Congress- The newspaper headlines of Feb 4, 2017.

Therefore, it is high time we set to restructure and regionalise the country; rather than beating about the bush and chasing after shadows, harassing and declaring the likes of Sunday Igboho wanted, and demonizing and pursuing Nnamdi Kanu; FG should rather wake up and bring all these notoriety of terrorists and bandits in Nigeria to book. Secessionists would hands off, once the nation is restructured! “Moreso, it’s unwise to be tagging terrorists as ‘repentant’ like repentant-Boko-Haram for instance for God’s sake, treating them kids gloves!”
To be specific, while all the battles rage against Christians in Nigeria, Africa and the world at large by terrorist jihadits, and they are being persecuted, beheaded and slaughtered, the facts still remain that, THE MESSIAH (Al-Masih) is Jesus Christ. He alone is called the Messiah (Al-Masih) in the Qur’an. He is given this title eleven times and occasionally, he is referred to solely by this title without being referred to by name. Jesus is chiefly called the Messiah in passages that are alleged to have been revealed to Muhammad at Medina after the Hijra. Significantly, the title only appears in the Qur’an after Muhammad has made some contact with the Jews and Christians of Arabia.

In Hebrew, the word Messiah means “the Anointed One”. It became in time a title for the one who was to come, the final herald of God’s salvation, the Redeemer of the world. Jesus Christ is also referred to as THE WORD OF GOD (Kalimatullah). Jesus is called “His word” in Surah 4:171, meaning the Word of God the Qur’an. In Surah 3:45, we also read that the angels said to Mary “Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a word from Him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary”. More than once in the Qur’an, He is also called A SPIRIT FROM GOD (Ruhullah). “Spirit of God” (Ruhullah). The expression in Surah 4:171, ruhun-minhu (“a spirit from him”) is used in exactly the same form in Surah 58:22 where it is said that God strengthens true believers with “a spirit from Him”. The Qur’an speaks about Jesus Christ just as the Bible puts it i.e the Qur’an is as Christly as the Bible and Christianity.

Finally, there is not a single verse in the Qur’an which recommends the forcible conversion of non-Muslims. In fact, the Qur’an does not agree with the idea of forcible conversions. Islam means ‘submission’ or ‘peace’. Not only has the Qur’an not demanded the forcible conversion of others, it has also declared that the practice of forcible conversion is, in itself, an abomination. “Let there be no compulsion in religion; truth stands out clear from error.” (Quran 2:256). Rather, Jesus Christ the Messiah, the Word of God, the form of God and the Spirit of God is the way, and the Christians are called the people of THE WAY. The Lord Jesus Christ answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (John 14:6). We thank for the lives of our true and peaceful Muslims.

IT IS TIME TO RECOVER BETTER FOR AN EQUITABLE AND SUSTAINABLE WORLD, where everyone would be happy in spite of their religions!

6.00 CONCLUSION
There is the need for us as Peace Advocates in Nigeria to be committed to always pray and pay attention to the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We, the Peace Advocates in Nigeria shall continue always to remain strong for the PEACE AND JUSTICE of the nation, and the world in general by the special grace of God.

7.0 CLOSING REMARKS
On this note, I hereby congratulate the entire members of UN-POLAC PEACE ADVOCATES, THE NEWLY APPOINTED MEMBERS and all our friends and well wishers. PEACE, NOBLE!!! PEACE, NOBLE!!! PEACE, NOBLE!!!

Thank you all for your kind attention.
Long Live POLAC, Long Live United Nations, Long Live Nigeria

BISHOP AMB. PROF. FUNMILAYO ADESANYA-DAVIES
INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR, COUNTRY PRESIDENT, UN-POLAC
(NIGERIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, MASS ACTION JOINT ALLIANCE – MAJA 2019).