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Fashola Implores UN To Seek Civilised Ways Of Resolving Conflicts Globally

Jan 19, 2009 - Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) on Monday implored the United Nations (UN) to seek more civilized ways of resolving conflicts globally.

Governor Fashola who made the call while receiving an award as the Governor of the Decade for Peace by the Yitzhak Rabin Centre for African development at the Lagos House Alausa said the time has come for the world body and men of goodwill and peace to put on their thinking caps to find ways of resolving conflicts that are compatible with the status of man as human beings.

He added that now is the time for all men to rededicate themselves towards finding more civilized ways of resolving conflicts which are prevalent around the world.

He warned the world to be wary of the imminent outbreak of a third war world in the light of pockets of conflicts around the world.

Said he: “This warning is based pockets of conflicts that are opening up around the world, so that we do not go to a Third World War. There is a need to guide against the outbreak of a Third world war”.

The Governor who commended the declaration of a one week ceasefire in Gaza in the conflict between Isreali and Palestine soldiers, also called for an extension of the period of the ceasefire from the one week duration.

Governor Fashola also said “I think the events that led to the formation of the League of Nations after the World War One and the United Nations after the Second World War now deserve an urgent re-think and revaluation”.

He said all conflicts is about the issue of property and land, lamenting that it is regrettable that man loses lives over land that does not belong to him and which he did not create.

“Why should we lose lives over lands that do not belong to us, why should we lose lives over lands that we did not create and we will not take away …over land that is just there for us to use” he asked.

The Governor explained that as God has given man dominion over all other animals he created, adding that man should do away with philistinic instinct of engaging in the might is right to resolve all conflicts.

He added that novel ways could be considered for deciding conflicts such that the boxing champion of a particular country would be made to engage that of another country in a contest that will have an international arbitrator to regulate.

The Governor speaking on the award said that he was honoured to be associated with an award in the name of Yishak Rabin whom he described as a man of immense stature and of peace.

He said the award could not have been possible without the input of his colleagues in the state executive council, permanent secretary with all public servants and more importantly the 18 million lagosians whose abiding faith and continued support have made all achievements possible.

He lamented that present day happenings at international airports have turned them into places of fear rather than spots for pleasure for passengers, attributing this to the absence of men like late Yishak Rabin.

“On reflection, our international airports have become places of fears rather than places of pleasure and tourism. One of the reasons why that have happened is the absence of people like Rabin in our midst.

This is a sad legacy that causes of peace for which they laid their lives have thrived in their absence and we must rededicate our lives by finding lasting solutions to areas of conflicts”, he added.

The Governor identified the cause of the conflicts as land and property ownership and reminded all that God created man and make him have dominion over all other creatures on earth.

He disclosed that Lagos has been promoting conflict resolution strategies for both commercial and civil disputes through its conflict and alternative dispute resolutions centres and the arbitration centre.

He promised the collaboration of the state Arbitration centre with the Rabin Arbitration centre towards resolving peace in the region.

Dr Blessing Oginni, the President of the centre said Fashola had continued to build bridges of peace, foster peaceful co-existence and goodwill through its many programmes among Lagosians.

“You are a leader who has embraced the leadership qualities of Rabin who fostered peaceful co-existence in the Middle East until his death in 1995”, Dr Oginni added.

He promised to facilitate a joint agriculture venture between the Israeli Government and the Lagos State Government through his centre as a means of empowering many residents of the state.

Dr Oginni who was accompanied by members of his executive to present the award to Fashola disclosed that the Yitzak Rabin Centre for African Development is affiliated to the Yitzak Rabin International Centre in Israel.