Former President of Nigeria,
Goodluck Jonathan, has reacted to the xenophobic attacks going on across
Africa.
Jonathan spoke during a keynote
address he presented on Thursday at the ongoing International Peace Summit in
Sao Tome and Principe.
He urged African leaders to
protect lives and property on the continent.
Jonathan said: “To make
meaningful progress, Africans must be encouraged to treat one another as
brothers and sisters, in love and unity.
“Relations within and between
nations should never be allowed to degenerate to a level where citizens will
resort to self-help by visiting violence on fellow Africans and their
legitimate business interests.
“Growth and development can only
be cultivated and sustained when leaders ensure that the rights and freedoms of
citizens, as well as migrants, are respected and protected.”
The conference has in attendance
serving and former African leaders including Sao Tome President Evaristo
Carvalho, Prime Minister Jorge Bom Jesus, former President of Niger Mahamane
Ousmane and former President of Guinea Bissau, Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo.
Jonathan, Chairman of the African
wing of the newly inaugurated International Summit Council for Peace, ISCP,
added: “For peace to thrive, we must first build hope in the lives of the
people because hope inspires love, love promotes peace, peace engenders justice
while justice guarantees freedom and trust.
“These universal virtues are central
to our quest for a peaceful and prosperous continent.
“I believe that the theme,
‘Building a Peaceful and Prosperous Africa Centered on Universal Values:
Interdependence, mutual prosperity, and Universal Values’, speaks directly to
the need for a concerted effort towards healing a troubled world.
“I will continue to state that
the dream of the ISCP is consistent with my ideals and that of my Foundation.
The Goodluck Jonathan Foundation, GJF, is committed to the principles that
strengthen democracy, good governance, peace, and stability while promoting
prosperity through youth empowerment in Africa.
“Building peace is a task for
every one of us, irrespective of the position one occupies; whether as a leader
or a follower, peace is an ideal which we must deliberately work for. Peace is
not rained from heaven, it is a seed we plant and nurture for it to grow and
bear fruits in our families, countries and the world at large.
“Peace, justice and democracy are
some of the greatest ideas of our world. It is the tripod upon which
sustainable development stands. Peace and development are mutually linked; none
can survive in the absence of the other.”
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