STUDENTS PRAY FOR PEACE (PAGE 35, MIRROR, DEC 19)

From Benjamin Xornam Glover, Bawku.

THE unending conflict in Bawku in the Upper East Region has thrown a spanner in the education of the youth in the area, compelling them to cry out to God to touch the hearts of the feuding factions.
More than 1,700 students of the Bawku Senior High School held an inter-faith service to pray for lasting peace in the area.
Also present at the prayer session were about 144 members of staff and management of the school, as well as other peace-loving people in Bawku.
The touching move by the students attracted officers from the municipal office of the National Commission for Civic Education and the Ghana Education Service. A representative of the paramount chief of Bawku, as well as members of the Bawku Inter-Ethic Peace Committee and the Inter-Faith Dialogue Committee, also joined the youth to pray for peace, which has eluded the people for a very long time.
The programme was characterised by Christian and Islamic readings, intercessory prayers, as well as the presentation of peace messages by the bodies present.
The objective of the service, according to the organisers, was to enable the school community to add its voice to the call by state and non-state organisations for an end to the protracted hostilities in the Bawku municipality.
The Headmaster of the school, Mr Bismarck Simon Kpuli, said peace was dear to the hearts of the school community, as it was of paramount importance to the development of the area.
He said for a long time peace had eluded the inhabitants of Bawku and stalled commercial activities and social cohesion. He, therefore, called on everyone to join the school in crying to God for the “re-emergence” of peace in Bawku to enable the children, who were the future leaders, to have access to uninterrupted educational opportunities.
Mr Kpuli reminded the people of Bawku of their collective responsibility towards ensuring and sustaining a violent-free atmosphere for the moral, spiritual and academic development of the children.
He expressed regret that under the current turbulent circumstances, the vision of the school administration, which was to build eminent personalities out of their students, might remain a mirage, adding, “That must be of great concern to everyone.”
He was, however, optimistic that with one voice in prayer to God, peace would surely return to Bawku.
The Personal Secretary to Bawku Naba Asigri Abugrago, Mr Thomas Abilba, commended the management of the school for putting together the prayer service with the aim of praying for peace in Bawku.
According to him, the students who are the future leaders deserved proper moulding by adults.
He reminded the students of the greater need for religious tolerance and charged them and others in Bawku to resolve their differences through laid down conflict resolution mechanisms.
Mr Leonard Dakura of the Municipal Education Directorate urged the students to be law abiding, since discipline was a tool for the promotion of peace.
He advised them to co-operate with the school authorities to ensure that they achieved their objective for being in school.
The Bawku Municipal Director of the NCCE, Mr P.P Apabey Baba, reminded the school community that peace was a process which required sustained and concerted efforts by all.
He called on the students to study hard to ensure that they acquired the necessary skills needed for development and also continue to work towards sustainable peace in Bawku.