Peace and security education: A critical factor for sustainable peace and national development

Abstract

Peace and security of life and property has been recognized by scholars and citizens as the primary condition for progress and development of any society. Meanwhile, there is a clear linkage between poor governance on one hand and insecurity and violent conflict on the other. But there are many dimensions of peace including negative peace (absence of direct violence) and positive peace (absence of predisposing factors to violence) as well as philosophical, sociological and political dimensions. Similarly, security is conceptualized to combine elements of national security, economic development and basic human rights. In every society, there are certain critical factors for sustainable peace and they include justice, just and accountable governance, protection of human rights, equitable distribution of resources and peace and security education. Using Nigeria as a case study, the paper argued that the three key problems capable of compromising the peace and security of Nigeria are ethno-religious conflicts, Niger delta crisis and electoral violence. The paper concluded that peace and security education is a critical factor in producing sustainable peace in any society. Key words: Peace, security, conflict, development, human rights, sustainable Peace, peace and security education.