THE PEACEMAKER'S PLEDGE

BY JOHN ODEY ADUMA, PUBLISHER AND BRITISH CHEVENING SCHOLAR, UNITED KINGDOM

Nigeria will not break up...Nigeria will never, ever break up! But Nigeria will prevail!

Fellow Nigerians, hold thou it neither tight nor loosely, but handle thou it with great care.

Be ye therefore, wise as a serpent...

...And peaceful as doves!

I am a person of peace

I don't fight, I don't kill,

I can get angry, I can disagree with you,

But it won't go down with the sun

I am a lover of peace, I hate violence.

I don't kill because life is precious to God

I am peaceful; I am not violent

This life is given to me as a prize;

So I will do all to preserve it.

I won't spill blood,

So don't approach me to kill

Anybody for money

Because I just won't do it for any price!

You may not even go elsewhere

Because I'm not sure you will get someone

To kill your political opponent,

Or business partner,

Or whosoever you disagree with.

I will not attack anyone violently,

Life is precious to God,

I'll rather donate blood than shed blood.

I will not steal, kill, maim and destroy,

I'll rather love

And do all to enhance life on earth

For the upliftment of mankind

And the glory of God.

This is my pledge, this is my resolve,

So help me God.

*This message was first presented to the Government and people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by the Movement for African Renaissance and Universal Brotherhood (now Movement for African Renaissance and Global Peace) in a giant  gold-plated plaque on October 14, 2002, during a courtesy call by the Author on former President Olusegun Obasanjo at the State House in Abuja.