THISDAYonline

President Olusegun Obasanjo has assured Nigerians of a violent-free elections, saying that government was committed to eliminating violence from the polity.

Represented by the Minister for Cooperation and Integration in Africa, Chief Abimbola Ogunkelu, at the opening ceremony of the second stakeholders workshop on peace research and conflict resolution held yesterday in Abuja, the president said, "political violence is undermining the security of our democratic system, and this is a serious challenge that this government has accepted to fight"

He stressed that " as the April elections draw near, there is no doubt that we must double our efforts and become even more vigilant to thwart the insidious machinations of a tiny but emboldened minority who want a return to the days of lawlessness, mutual recrimination and breakdown of law and order".

Noting that political violence undermines the health of a society as it threatens national stability and erodes confidence in the system apart from the trauma it inflicts on individuals and groups, he lamented that government has in the past been forced, to channel scarce resources into rebuilding infrastructure destroyed during violent conflicts and catering for the internally displaced persons through humanitarian aids.

Obasanjo called for the immediate establishment of a Peace Fund at the disposal of the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR) for the enhancement of its duties and the execution of its mandate.

Earlier, Director General of IPCR, Dr.Sunday Ochoche said, "Peace does not just happen, if we want peace we must invest and give it the attention it deserves"

He also expressed gratitude to the World Bank, United Nation's Development Project, (UNDP), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and British Government's Department of International Development (DFID) for their immense assistance to the Institute.