The International Association of World Peace Advocates, IAWPA has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to set up a Committee that would reconcile Nigerians and ensure there is peace and unity across the country.

The African Director of IAWPA, Ambassador John Metchie made the call on Monday, in a goodwill message to President Tinubu and the people of Nigeria, on this year’s Democracy Day celebration.

He also commended the President for signing the Electricity Act 2023 into law, saying it would contribute to rapid infrastructural development of the country and expressed joy that the Act is in line with the Light-Up Umueri Project, his personal initiative which has been distributing solar powered energy to hundreds of households in the community where he is the President General.

Dr, Metchie who is also the Prime Minister of Anambra Association of Town Unions (ASATU), expressed the hope that with the signing into law of the Electricity Act, the President would as well sign the Nigerian Hunters and Forest Security Service (NHFSS) Bill into law, soon.

Metchie issued the statement in Dubai, United Arab Emirate (UAE) where he is scheduled for a meeting of the Global Eminent Peace Ambassadors to review decisions taken at the UN-Habitat Assembly meeting which took place last week in Nairobi Kenya.

He said that the highly contested 2023 presidential election in Nigeria shows that the country and its people have come to a consensus that democracy is the best form of government, adding however, that the election witnessed unprecedented level of hate speech and threat of violence, the need therefore, for a committee for healing and national reconciliation.

Metchie noted that according to data available at the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), there were over 53 reported incidents of hate speeches during the 2023 general election and that the hurting speeches were made by politically exposed persons including governors, lawmakers and community leaders and others, which he said bruised a lot of individuals and groups across the country.

He said for the administration of President Bola Tinubu to achieve its set objectives, all hands must be on deck to support the efforts of the President, adding that there must be a deliberate attempt by the government to carry all citizens along, irrespective of their ethnic, political and religious leanings.

On the President’s assent to the Electricity Bill, Metchie said that the law which empowers states, firms and individuals to generate electricity is one of the best decisions of the federal government in recent times, as according to him, the law satisfies the yearnings and aspirations of majority of Nigerians for the unbundling of some sectors of the nation’s economy, including electricity, education and police, among others.

Metchie who is also the Deputy Commander General of the Nigerian Hunters and Forest Security Service (NHFSS) in charge of Technical Services, therefore expressed hope that with the prompt action of the President in signing the Electricity Act into law less than two weeks of his assumption of office, there was hope that the NHFSS Bill which Tinubu inherited from his predecessor, would also be assented to very soon.

He said he was sure President Tinubu would assent to the Bill because of the strategic roles officers and men of the NHFSS are expected to play towards effective security of lives and property of the people of Nigeria.

He said that most criminal elements known as terrorists, gunmen, bandits and kidnappers, among others, use the forests as their hideout and also retire back to the forests after carrying out their nefarious activities.

He stated that apart from curbing the various crimes mentioned above, signing the Bill into law, would enable government recruit thousands of young men and women as hunters, which would help to solve the issue of acute unemployment, one of the most serious challenge facing the nation.