My speech for the 2024 International Day of Education
Learning for Lasting Peace
If education truly promotes peace, would there be war?
As the founder of the Change A Child Initiative, a non-profit dedicated to connecting young people in marginalized communities to learn about the sustainable development goals and how their contributions shape the world they want to see, the international day of education (January 24) always serves as a major reminder of the importance of the work I do.
This year’s theme — Learning for lasting peace is at the intersection of the work we do; education and peacebuilding, so it was a great opportunity to remind young students about what a good vantage position they are in to shapen the world they want to live in.
I had a speaking session with the children of Topfield Schools in Ajegunle, Lagos, and the below was my speech.
It is a privilege to stand before you today and I hope you leave here more empowered than you entered.
If education truly promotes peace, then we’re opining that the people who make up Hamas are all illiterate. That the gang members who marred my childhood and are still marring yours with gang violence are all unlearned, and that all war apologists in the world never had the opportunity to be educated.
This is not true so far.
So, you could say learning does not automatically lead to lasting peace, and you would be right. This is because between learning and achieving lasting peace lies the most important variable in the equation — You and I.
One of the most-recognized terrorists in the world, Osama Bin-Laden, for one, was educated up to university and Wikipedia suggests he may have earned more than one degree in college.
The man who ordered the capture in broad day light, and subsequent murder of journalist, Khashoggi, has a law degree.
The most well-known leader of the Boko Haram terrorist group, Abubakar Shekau, was educated and spoke four languages.
We are witnessing that beyond learning, it is what learners make of what they have learned that counts. It is you and I who learn, you and I take the steps after hearing and learning, you and I who contribute to lasting peace for our community, and world.
How do you use what you’ve learned?
You and I are the architects putting our efforts together to construct the lasting peace we want to see in the world.
What exactly is a peaceful community?
You have given good definitions, but the truth is that even without war, a community could still be considered not peaceful. Our community, Ajegunle, is a good example of this. We are not at war, but are you at peace living here?
When was the last time you ran?
I ask this because I remember that all through the 20+ years I lived here with my family, I never stopped running; to and from school, to my house, on my street. Just running. Almost every week.
As a child growing up in Ajegunle, it was imperative that you develop Olympic-worthy muscles to always run for your life as soon as the need arose due to the prevalence of gang violence.
Oh, that still happens? You still run?
Do you agree that even without war, Ajegunle is not peaceful? Yes, exactly.
The former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, defined peace as “a way of being, of interacting with others, of living on this planet.”
The outlook of lasting peace to the people in Gaza is not the same as what it looks like for young girls in Afghanistan, and isn’t the same for you as a young girl/boy living in Ajegunle.
I like to define a peaceful community as one where EVERY CHILD can access the first twelve years of education, where girls/women are NEVER excluded from opportunities on the basis of being less/weaker; where sanitation and environmental-awareness is a community business, where empathy and global citizenship education is encouraged in the curriculum.
Another reason why you are the most important variable is that whatever the dividend or consequence the presence or absence of lasting peace brings to our community affects you and I.
For every time you tell a girl she cannot be class captain just because she is a girl, you are bringing about conflict. For every waste you dispose on the streets, you are endangering lives in your community and hampering the peace. Have you ever stopped to wonder what happens to that nylon you threw on the ground on your way to school? To that spoiled food you threw in the canal?
What if you and I, as individuals, and collectively as young people in Ajegunle, decide to take our future into our hands and begin to build the kind of world we want to live in?
And, how can you contribute?
Well, the change can start with you. What is the future you see for yourself? It’s in your hands to start the building process together with your classmates, with me, your parents and teachers. You don’t have all the knowledge yet, but it’ll come to you as you keep on constructing a better future.
So, on this International Day of education, as the world comes together to celebrate how education has changed lives with the theme learning for lasting peace, what will your story be after hearing all this?
The ball is in your court. What’s your next move?
Everyday I get to speak to young people is a good day. Some of them may not get it at first, but this is why we especially why we created a school club as a form of follow-up to connect more on what we can do to create a sustainable world.
Like our motto states — When you change a child, you change a community, and through one community, you change the world.
References
- Osama Bin-Laden — Wikipedia
- Peace means dignity, well-being for all, not just absence of war — UN officials — United Nations
- Abubakar Shekau — Wikipedia
